I have had four different pedometers in the last five years. I think they are fun and I believe that they do have the effect of making me walk more. Every one of those pedometers has been made by Omron. Omron seems to have the pedometer space locked up. So, in writing this review I want to spell it out that the choice is probably not between Omron and another brand but rather between this Omron and another.

The HJ-321 is a sensitive pedometer that does a great job of differentiating between motion and steps. This is its real strength. Today I went for a “walk” in a museum. While I did move my feet, most of my movement was made up of small shuffles and not of real steps. The HJ-321 ignored by shuffling. Although I spent two hours on my feet in the exhibit, the HJ-321 only counted about 500 steps. If sensitivity is good, then its size is also a plus. This is a very small object. It is not obtrusive at all.

It has the advanced functions that were not available a few years back: aerobic steps, 7 days of memory, and calories burned. It also has regular steps and distance, but of course those have been standard for years. The LED goes blank when you are not using it but the system is still tracking your steps.

My all-time favorite Omron is the HJ 112. That pedometer has the same advanced functionalities but it differs in how you use it. It is easier to check your steps, because unlike the HJ 321, its LED is always on.

The main difference is how you keep it on your body. The 321 has a very small clip. It does not seem trustworthy. Pedometers tend to get lost. Indeed, I lost my previous three pedometers. The 112 had a great clipping system that easily affixed to a belt, a waistband, or a pocket. My 112 remained on my body for over a year. I doubt that the 321 will last that long. For me, keeping the pedometer is the defining difference-maker. A lost pedometer, even one with lots of features, is not useful. I think the 321 does great things, but it doesn’t have a good clasp and so I would not recommend it to another stepper. The 321 is better than many other pedometers but for the same price you can get the 112.

I received this shortly after I got a Fitbit, so I got to compare the two. They’re both very lightweight and work similarly, in that you can put them in a pocket or bag or clip them on anywhere, unlike other pedometers that have to be positioned a certain way. Unlike the Fitbit, the Omron has to be calibrated by measuring your steps and entering the measurements; Fitbit guesses your step length based on your height, or you can enter steps manually. I found that Fitbit counts about 10 more steps on average than the Omron, but the Fitbit is better at tracking when you’re fairly active and very active, even for just a few minutes. Omron only counts “aerobic” steps if you take more than 60 steps per minute for 10 minutes.

Both of them require you to push a button to see the display – I’d rather have that than have the battery run down quickly. Fitbit’s backlit display is easier to see in a dim room while the Omron’s is much easier to see outdoors or in bright light. Both also have distance, calories and time of day.

Of course, the Fitbit has the extensive online tools and graphs, and mobile apps, that the Omron doesn’t have, thus the vast price difference. But if you’re not going to use all that, then this is a good alternative. I also like how you can see information for the past seven days on the Omron by pushing a button; the Fitbit stores that info but you can only see on the device the steps for the past day.

I have several pedometers from very good to horrible. The very good pedometer accurately counts my steps while I am walking. However it also counts steps if it is just sitting in my car. I compared the “good” pedometer to this Omron HJ-321 and Omron wins. It accurately counted my steps as I walked around the house and up and down stairs. As it rode in the car for an hour to work, it counted 12 steps while the “good” pedometer counted over 200. I attached a strap to it with a clip so I could have a backup in case the enclosed clip failed. The clip that comes with this pedometer has teeth kind of like velcro so it clings to the clothing and is not to likely to slip off. The pedometer slides into this clip so if you want to carry it in a pocket, you can just slide it out of the clip. It is small and slender so no one has to know you are counting your steps. One day I carried it in a shirt pocket and another clipped to my waste band. When I took a quick two mile walk, it measured my steps and also counted the time as aerobic steps. I was able to set up my stride length so it also calculated the distance I had walked. For the price, this is a great pedometer. I compared the price of this one to some offered in a large chain department store and for the same price I could get a piece of plastic that requires a small earthquake before it counted steps.

In addition to counting steps here are a couple of other pluses. The display turns off and it continues counting steps so you don’t wast battery power. Did I mention it uses a battery? The buttons on the front are almost flush with the ped so you don’t accidentally clear your steps during the day. It stores several days of steps so you can monitor how you’re doing over time. The only thing missing that I wish it had was the ability to upload my steps to my computer. For that I would expect to pay a lot more.