A pedometer is an electronic device capable of detecting certain motions that indicate walking, running, or jogging. Each time it detects such motion, it registers a step.
Over the past decade or so, manufacturers have greatly improved the accuracy of these devices. As a result, you can now buy a very dependable stand-alone pedometer or a fitness tracker with an integrated pedometer at a very reasonable price.
Below we’ve brought together our list of the 10 best pedometers, updated for 2023.
Rankings
1. 3DFitBud 3D Pedometer
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3D Active and FitBud may not be household names (yet), but their 3D Pedometer is super easy to use right out of the box. It provides a large, clear readout that older folks won’t strain to read, and the step counter is as accurate as those you’ll find on more expensive devices.
What we like: We like how compact the FitBud is. How light and easy to sling it is. We appreciate the accuracy, the clarity of the readout, and that it comes with a battery installed. It’s also ready to go right out of the box.
Flaws: It’s pretty easy to mistakenly hit the reset button. If you do, you’ll have to start over. So be careful when handling the device.
2. Realalt 3DTriSport Walking 3D Pedometer
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The Realalt 3D TriSport provides a large display and doesn’t require a complicated setup process. You can wear it clipped to your belt or slung around your neck via the included lanyard. It’s also versatile and can be used just to count steps or to measure distance walked and calories burned.
What we like: We like the dedicated simplicity of this device. We also like that it’s light and easy to sling around the neck via the lanyard. It’s also available in a variety of different colors.
Flaws: About the only obvious flaw is that the belt clip seems like something of an afterthought. So, you’re better off slinging it around the neck.
3. Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer
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The HJ-112 from Omron is small and accurate and can be slipped into your pocket while you walk. It’s durable, light, and provides a half dozen tracking modes including aerobic steps, elapsed time and calories burned. It also stores collected data for a week so you can review it.
What we like: The HJ-112 is not as finicky as some other pedometers when it comes to positioning. So you can obtain a pretty accurate read no matter how you carry it. We like that. We also appreciate the effort they put into the non-step filters. And you can’t beat the affordable price.
Flaws: It can get a bit confused if you suddenly hop off the sidewalk onto a path with mixed terrain. Some folks might think it’s kind of large too.
4. Fitbit Charge 3
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While the Charge 3 is not a pedometer per se, it does have a highly accurate pedometer built into it. That pedometer is easy to access, and the data can be synced with dozens of health apps. You can also wear it in the pool.
What we like: The pedometer is accurate and easy to activate. We like how fast it charges. And we appreciate that it enables you to track different types of activity like running, walking and biking.
Flaws: Some of the other features like the heart rate monitor can be a bit hit-or-miss. But if you’re okay with that, the pedometer should serve you well.
5. Ozo Fitness SC2 Digital Pedometer
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The SC2 from Ozo is a small, lightweight, dependable pedometer that provides a big sturdy clip and doesn’t require an engineering degree to set up. It features a triple-access sensor that detects walking motion no matter its position relative to that motion.
What we like: We like how compact and light this pedometer is. We appreciate the overall accuracy, while the quick start guide is helpful and uncluttered. Also, it will track calories burned, speed, and elapsed time, as well as steps.
Flaws: On the one hand, you can clip it anywhere. On the other hand, the digital display may be too small for older folks to read.
6. Letscom Fitness Tracker HR
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The Letscom Fitness tracker HR does an outstanding job tracking steps. It also allows you to track heart rate, sleep quality, and a score of other metrics. It’s stylish, durable, waterproof, and available in 8 different colors.
What we like: We appreciate the accuracy of the integrated pedometer. And that the information it gleans can be fed through an array of fitness apps that help you interpret it in a big picture way. We also like that it’s available in 8 different colors.
Flaws: It will need to be set up and synced with your smartphone. The screen also tends to light up for no apparent reason.
7. Pingko Portable Sport Pedometer
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Pingko is easy to use, accurate, affordable, light, and durable. The Pingko Sports Pedometer is a no-frills device that provides a big, easy to read display and works for up to a year off a single battery.
What we like: We like that, although it’s small, it provides a nice big readout. We appreciate the battery-saving 1-minute auto-shutdown feature. And we also appreciate that it provides distance in both kilometers and miles.
Flaws: It can be temperamental. That is, you may have to move it around a bit to find a place where it’s effective. It also gets discombobulated if you change the length of your stride.
8. Garmin Vivofit 3
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The Vivofit 3 from Garmin is a first-rate fitness tracker that also happens to feature a first-rate pedometer. Being a fitness tracker, you’re able to sync it with innumerable health-related apps to see how your activity is affecting other aspects of your overall health.
What we like: There’s no arguing with the Garmin quality or versatility. The pedometer is as accurate as any out there, and the wristband is comfy and light. It’s also compatible with any late-model Android or iOS phone.
Flaws: About the only real downside here is that the step counter display is relatively small.
9. OZO Fitness SC 3D Digital Pedometer
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The Ozo Fitness SC 3D is both laudably simple and highly accurate. Slip it in your pocket, clip it to your belt or wear it around your neck, and you’ll get a clear picture of your true activity level. Measures steps, calories burned, elapsed time, and distance with a high degree of precision.
What we like: We like how compact, light and accurate the device is and that it’s available in several colors. The display is also easy for everyone to read, and setup is relatively simple. We also appreciate the accuracy and that you have a choice of clipping it to your belt or slinging it.
Flaws: It’s prone to resetting itself if you carry it in your pocket.
10. OneTweak New EZ-1 Pedometer
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The last of our best pedometers is from OneTweak. EZ-1 is simple to use and presents its info on an easy to read screen. It can store up to a months’ worth of data for recall and comes with a durable lanyard that makes carrying the device a no-hassle experience.
What we like: We appreciate that you can sling or clip the device. We like the big, clear readout. It’s good that it keeps a week’s worth of data on hand for recall, and the pause function is something we’d like to see in every pedometer. It’s also lightweight and affordable.
Flaws: It’s very sensitive to motion. Also, it’s pretty easy to hit the reset button accidentally.
Who Needs A Pedometer?
Pedometers can make it easier for a person to keep track of the amount of walking, running, or jogging they do. That, in turn, can help them devise an effective diet and exercise plan. So who needs a pedometer? Anyone interested in better overall health who doesn’t want to be bothered manually counting thousands of steps every time they go for a walk.
If a person wants to know more than just how many steps they took, they may want to pick up a fitness tracker. Many offer a pedometer as one of their features. There are many good fitness trackers on the market. Including the ones we profiled above like the Fitbit Charge 3.
How We Ranked
There are all kinds of pedometers on the market today, many of them sporting leading-edge designs that look more like alien jewelry than pedometers. But while, in principle, we’re big fans of pushing the design envelope, if a design interferes with the ability of the user to access information, then it’s not much good. Therefore, you’ll notice our list includes plenty of pedometers that are simple in design and execution and put a premium on readability.
We also considered size. Because, while miniaturization is the rule in the 21st century, the pedometer needs to be at least big enough to accommodate a large, easy to read screen. So there are a few smaller devices on our list, but they all have screens designed for humans. Ease of use is also essential because these are pedometers intended to count steps. Not quantum computers designed to handle trillions of calculations per second.
We also considered to build quality, style, and wearability. As far as extra features were concerned, our view is that they’re nice, but they’re secondary. In a few cases, we chose fitness trackers with built-in pedometers. Not, however, just because the fitness tracker offered more bells and whistles. But because the pedometer it provided was first-rate. The bells and whistles were just icing on the cake.
FAQs
Q: Why do people need pedometers?
A: Convenience is the hallmark of most high-tech devices, and the pedometer is no different. Sure, you could try and count in your head the number of steps you take. But chances are something during your walk will distract you, and you’ll wind up losing count. Even if you don’t, who wants to spend their time walking through the park on a beautiful spring day counting steps? Let the pedometer do the counting for you and enjoy your life.
Q: Is a simple step counter better than a multi-function pedometer?
A: Whether one thing is better than the other depends entirely on what metrics you want to track. If you are strictly interested in obtaining a device that will provide a reliable approximation of how many steps you take, then a simple pedometer should suffice. If, however, you also want to track your heart rate, the number of calories you’re burning, your blood pressure, body temperature, and more, then you’ll want a fitness tracker. Just remember that the more functions involved, the more complicated the device. A lot of older folks who weren’t spoonfed digital technology since infancy don’t want to be bothered with setting up a fitness tracker and learning all the ins and outs. They just want to know how many steps they’re taking. For them, a pedometer should be just fine.
Q: Are pedometers the same as fitness trackers?
A: While many fitness trackers include a pedometer as one of their features that doesn’t change the fact that they’re a fitness tracker. Fitness trackers track a variety of metrics. Some will even monitor your bodily functions while you sleep. That’s pretty far removed from counting steps. Dedicated pedometers, like many of the items on our list, are designed and built to count steps. That’s it. Some will offer a couple of other features, such as calorie counting. But they’re primary purpose is to count steps. They don’t sync with your smartphone or provide you access to hundreds of fitness apps. Most don’t even offer any type of internet access. They count steps. That’s why they’re called pedometers.
Q: What’s the best way to wear a pedometer?
A: Most dedicated pedometers offer two ways to wear them: either slung around the neck or clipped to a pocket or belt. Fitness trackers that include pedometers are worn around the wrist like a watch. Most pedometers will come with suggestions regarding the best place to wear them. But if experience teaches us anything it’s that finding the best, most effective spot where you’ll get the most accurate readings is usually a matter of trial and error. The one place you’re almost always likely to encounter problems is in your pocket. Some pedometers suggest you can slip them into your pants pocket and they’ll work just fine. In reality, this is usually a recipe for the reset button to be accidentally engaged, or the step count to be way off.
Q: How do pedometers count steps?
A: In most cases, the pedometer uses a small pendulum-like device that is activated by the motion of your walking. Ideally, each time you take a step, you cause this arm to move once, and a step is registered. We say ‘ideally’ because, in some cases, that arm will swing or vibrate more than once per step. And in other cases, it may not move at all, which causes no step to be counted. If the device is improperly calibrated, this arm may be too sensitive and register many more steps than you actually take. Or not sensitive enough and miss some steps. The engineering that goes into making such a device, and making it register accurately, is simple in theory but complex in execution. Even so, it has shown marked improvement in recent years.
Q: How much weight will I lose if I walk 10,000 steps per day?
A: There’s no way to know for sure exactly how much weight a person will lose by walking X number of steps. That’s largely because no one seems to know for sure just how many calories walking burns. Current estimates vary from about 3 1/2 calories per minute to 7 calories per minute (11). Notice that’s per minute. Not per step. So how much weight you lose taking 10,000 steps per day is nearly impossible to determine with any degree of exactitude. All scientists can do is guess. But it’s the big picture that should concern you. Walking 5 miles a day will burn some calories, sure. But more importantly, it will pay handsome dividends when it comes to cardiovascular health and helping you avoid type II diabetes.
Q: How often do I have to replace the batteries on a pedometer?
A: There are many things that weigh on battery life. Those include the type of battery and the amount of power required to operate a given device, or the different features on that device. For instance, when it comes to fitness trackers many manufacturers boast the battery will provide a week of service on a single charge. Until, that is, you engage something like a heart rate monitor. Once you do that, you reduce battery life to five or six hours. So how often you have to replace batteries will depend on what type of pedometer you’re using, what other functions you engage, and what type of batteries are involved.
Q: How do I know the step count is accurate?
A: The only way to absolutely verify the step count is accurate is to start at zero and then count your steps mentally, one at a time while you walk with the pedometer also engaged. When you reach a certain number of steps – say 1,000 – stop and check your count against the pedometer. Does the pedometer agree you went 1,000 steps? If it’s only off by a few, that should be close enough. That’s because this is not a matter of 10,000 steps producing boffo benefits and 9,890 producing none. If you walk approximately 10,000 steps or approximately 5 miles a day, you’ll be doing yourself a world of good. If you’re concerned about obtaining the highest degree of accuracy, you’ll likely need to spend a few extra bucks. Because pedometers are like everything else, in most cases, you get what you pay for.
Q: Are all pedometers waterproof?
A: No. And there is no reason for them to be. Water resistance can be useful in case you get caught in the rain. But waterproofing is usually reserved for devices intended to be submerged in water at some point (12). There is no good reason why that should ever happen to a simple step counter. The one exception to the waterproof rule are those pedometers that are integrated into fitness trackers. In that case, the fitness tracker may be waterproof because it’s designed to track laps or strokes in the pool. But there is no reason for the dedicated, stand-alone pedometer to be fully waterproof.
Q: How accurate are calorie counters on pedometers?
A: As we mentioned above calorie counting is an inexact science. The calorie counter on a simple pedometer doesn’t actually count anything. What it does is estimate how many calories the average person would burn by taking the number of steps you’ve taken. It then presents you with that number. If your pedometer is integrated into a fitness tracker, it likely uses a more involved algorithm. One that might allow you to factor in things like your weight, height, age, sex, and perhaps even what you ate before you went for your walk. You might even be able to enter whether you’re walking on a flat surface or a hill. Even then, however, the app will not keep track of the amount of calories you actually burn. All it will do, all it can possibly do, is estimate how many calories you might have burned (13).
Q: What does Kcal stand for on the pedometer display?
A: While many pedometers only record steps, others pedometers provide different types of information beyond how many times you lift your feet in a day. One of those other types of information is the ‘Kcal’ reading (14). ‘Kcal’ stands for ‘kilocalorie’. Without getting too technical, it’s a way to measure energy in caloric terms. So, 1 Kcal is the amount of energy available in 1,000 calories. The pedometer uses a complex algorithm to determine how many Kcals you burn, based on how much you weigh and how far you walk. If that Kcal readout says ‘3,500’, congratulations. You’ve walked off a pound of weight.
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Recap
A pedometer is a device that can help you take better control of your overall health by providing a real-world picture of your physical activity. That, in turn, helps you make informed decisions about your diet and to formulate an effective exercise routine.
There are two basic types of pedometers: stand-alone devices and those that come integrated into a fitness tracker. The stand-alone devices are typically less expensive, easier to set up, and don’t require any type of wireless connection. Fitness trackers typically need to be synced to a smartphone where they interact with any number of proprietary or third party health and wellness apps.
The pedometers on our list have proven their mettle on countless sidewalks, race tracks and treadmills. One of them is sure to dovetail nicely with your needs.
For cpoe.org’s #1 recommended pedometer, click here.