Nintendo Pokemon Go Plus

Okay, I know these things are hard to find and people still have a lot of questions about how they work so I'll try to cover it all! If you want my opinion regarding whether or not you should buy it without reading my whole spiel, the simplest way to answer that is: It depends. Is it worth paying more than retail for it? No. Is it worth retail price if you play Pokemon Go all the time? Probably. What it CAN do - In short, it can hatch eggs, earn buddy candy, collect goodies from Pokestops and catch (some) Pokemon. It tracks your distance traveled, but you need to keep your phone near you. It utilizes existing bluetooth technology, so you still need to keep your phone fairly close for it to work. The app needs to be running in the background, but your phone can be locked, saving tons of battery life. What it CAN'T do - Technically it CAN catch rare and high CP Pokemon, but its very very very unlikely. It only uses regular Pokeballs and it only tries to catch them once. If it fails, the Pokemon flees. You don't get another chance. How many times have you successfully caught a rare or high CP Pokemon in one throw with a regular Pokeball? Nuff said. It's build quality is actually pretty good given that it's designed for "kids." It feels very solid and the light is pretty bright in normal light. The button feels nice, not at all cheap, and it's very responsive. The bracelet is what it is, a woven bracelet with a plastic clasp. It's not the coolest looking bracelet, but it's highly adjustable. As an adult female, I have to cinch it almost all the way down to keep it snug so it doesn't slide around. It's about double the size of my wrist at it's biggest. You shouldn't have any issue with it fitting you unless you're a Snorlax. Despite it having a plastic latch, the way it's designed prevents it from falling off. You have to loosen it and slide it over your wrist to take it off, so no worries that it's going to open and fall off. You can also choose to use it as a clip and put it wherever you want. I've seen people wearing them as a clip on rubber bracelets. I can't speak to how secure this it, but the option is there. You probably want to keep it somewhere close to your skin so you can feel the vibrations, so it probably won't be very beneficial if you keep it in a purse or loose pocket as the vibration is not strong enough to detect unless it's touching you. Setup was super easy. The whole process took only minutes each, and I set up three of them. It comes attached to the clip, though attaching it to the bracelet requires a small screwdriver. This is the same way you would change the battery, which looks to be a larger watch battery, a CR2032. Once you've decided if you're going clip or bracelet, you're ready to pair it. First, make sure your bluetooth is turned on. It will need to remain on any time you want to play with the Plus. Now, all you need to do is open your Pokemon Go app, click on the Pokeball at the bottom of the screen to access your options, and click settings in the upper right. There's a new option for Pokemon Go Plus here. If you don't see the option, you need to update your app either in iTunes or the Google Play store. If you do see the option, just click it and once there, push the button on your Plus. It will blink a couple times and should almost immediately appear in your app. Just tap it and you're done. Very simple! i did have one minor issue with one of the devices I set up, but after restarting my phone it paired up just fine. It communicates via the light and vibration. If you're near a Pokemon or Pokestop, it will vibrate. If the light is green, a Pokemon you've already caught is nearby. If it's yellow, it's a Pokemon you've never caught before. If it's blue, you're in range of a Pokestop. Pushing the button will cause it to attempt to catch the Pokemon or collect the goodies from the Pokestop. A rainbow array indicates you've caught the Pokemon while a flashing red light lets you know it failed. You only get one chance and the Pokemon flees, so if you get the yellow light, you probably want to open up your app and catch it the old fashioned way with your more powerful balls. If you push the button at a Pokestop, the light blinks once for each item it collects. It's very simple to use and understand. One question I had was whether or not you can still use the app while using the Pokemon Go Plus. The answer is thankfully yes! When your Plus is paired successfully with your phone, you will see a little icon in the upper left of your game screen. If it's grayed out, it means your Plus got disconnected somehow, probably due to getting too far from your phone. Reconnecting is as simple as pressing the icon in the app and then pressing the button on your Plus when it tells you to do so. When your Plus is connected and ready, the icon is "lit" and will remain on your screen. When a Pokemon is nearby, a line will be drawn from the icon to the location of the Pokemon and a little red circle will appear above it's head. At that point, you can choose to press the button on your Plus to catch it, or you can tap it and catch it like normal. Notifications will pop up in-game letting you know if you were successful or not, and if your phone is locked when you attempt to catch it, you'll get a notification on your lock screen with the same info. For those who actively play the game, I can see using this to collect Pokestops and to catch common Pokemon quickly and efficiently while still using the app. My favorite part of having the Plus is that I can progress in the game during times when I can't normally play, such as when I'm at work or school. Since it tracks your distance traveled without needing the app open anymore, I "play" all day and collect xp, candy and goodies much longer than I can when I'm actually using the app and draining my battery at record speeds. It allows me to play in situations where I can't pull my phone out to play for whatever reason, and I think this is going to be the real draw for a lot of people. It doesn't really enhance the active playing of the game in a way that would justify the purchase price, but it absolutely allows you to progress more quickly simply because you can make progress without actually playing now. You'll still need to actively play within the app to battle, power up Pokemon, transfer extras, evolve, etc, but the mundane parts of the game have now become much quicker and more efficient. Lastly, I know a lot of people are on the fence given how hard these are to find right now and considering the Apple Watch is going to have a very similar app for Pokemon Go. From what we know now, the Apple Watch app will be able to do everything the Pokemon Go Plus can do, except catch Pokemon. You need to open your app to catch all Pokemon. On the flip side, given the Apple Watch's display, it can show you what Pokemon is nearby so you can decide if you even want to try to catch it. It will also show you when your eggs are hatching so you can see what you got in addition to showing you any medals you earn as you receive them. It's really a personal choice as far as which one you want. Keep in mind the Apple Watch has no release date at the time of this review. They've only given us a very vague "late 2016," So you may want to pick up the Plus if you find one at retail to tide you over until the app is released. For Android users, the Plus is your only option right now. I hope this helps you make the decision regarding whether or not you should pick one up! Overall I think it's well worth it for the avid active player, and probably worth it for casuals as well given that it makes the process much less time consuming and more efficient. If you have questions I haven't answered, feel free to drop a comment!