A Poké Ball in your pocket: Pokémon GO Plus + review
Pokémon GO Plus + aims to give the smartphone game Pokémon GO fresh impetus. We grabbed a ball and tried it out. The gadget is fun, but it can also be quite confusing.
As big Pokémon fans, Fabian Stieger from our social media team and I have spent countless hours playing Pokémon GO. We’ve even met up for dinner to compare notes on our best Pokémon. So, when it came to Nintendo’s latest gadget, we obviously had to test it together.
With Pokémon GO, you usually have to go for a walk in the real world in order to catch the little monsters in the game. If you connect Pokémon GO Plus + to your smartphone, you can catch the Pokémon using the gadget and keep your phone in your pocket. As an added bonus, you can use the ball to track your sleep in the Pokémon Sleep game.
Source: Samuel Buchmann
Pokémon GO Plus + couldn’t be simpler… or could it?
The Poké Ball only has two buttons: a white one on the front and one on the top edge to switch it on. That’s where it displays if you’re charging the device via USB-C. If I connect it to my smartphone via Bluetooth, Pikachu’s sweet little voice lets me know I’ve been successful. This also applies when the ball is disconnected or switched off.
Source: Michelle Brändle
The white button is used to catch Pokémon and spin Pokéstops. Different coloured lights indicate when something is nearby and when you’ve successfully caught a Pokémon.
The lights are clearly defined: blue for Pokéstops, green for Pokémon and red if you miss one of the monsters. If I check too late and the gadget shows all three colours, I’m not sure what’s just happened. Did I catch something? Or was it just a stop? And if I press the button, it just flashes white briefly. That’s it. So, I’m unsure whether the ball is still connected.
Also, the app only shows me that the battery is low just before it runs out completely. Not exactly helpful.
Limited options
Once you’ve connected Pokémon GO Plus + to your smartphone via the Pokémon GO app, you can get started. Then you no longer need your phone, but the app has to run in the background for it to work. If you come close to a stop or a Pokémon, the big button and a vibration will let you know. All you have to do is press the button and hope that the Pokémon doesn’t run away. This happens much more often when setting up normal balls than with the strong Ultra Balls. Hopefully there are enough of these in your Item Bag.
If you want to catch the pocket-sized monsters automatically, you can only select the normal Poké Ball. The stronger Great and Ultra Balls only work if you catch them yourself. Fabian would like more flexibility and setting options here. The combination of balls and berries you’ve collected, for example. Berries increase the success rate when catching or increase the amount of candy you receive to evolve the Pokémon.
Automatic catching is still practical. Fabian and I agree on that. Because involved Field Research tasks like «Catch 1,000 Pokémon» or «Spin 300 Pokéstops» can take a long time with a smartphone. Fabian is happy to be able to play Pokémon GO while riding his bike without being distracted.
Source: Michelle Brändle
As soon as you catch the cute monsters or spin the Pokéstops, the little ball vibrates strongly. Neither Fabian nor I particularly enjoy this feature. It gets annoying pretty quickly. And, unfortunately, the vibration can’t be turned off. I could mute Pikachu’s sweet little voice, but I don’t want to miss it.
Source: Michelle Brändle
I find it exciting that I can check at home which Pokémon the ball has collected. On rare occasions, that even includes a shiny Pokémon – particularly rare types.
Every now and then the ball loses its connection to the smartphone. Sometimes it misses the odd Pokémon and stop. It’s not particularly reliable. And when Poké Balls run out or I reach my limit of monsters, it’s over – with no warning.
Good night: sleep tracking and Pokémon Sleep
Pokémon GO Plus + can track your sleep. This feature unlocks a new research task the first time you connect to the Pokémon GO app. That’s where you have to record your sleep for a few nights. You get points for this and, at the end of the task, a Snorlax with a pointed hat will be waiting for you.
Source: Michelle Brändle
In addition to Pokémon GO, there’s another app that you can use with the gadget. In Pokémon Sleep, you strengthen a Snorlax by sleeping for as long as possible. To do this, put the Pokémon GO Plus + next to you in bed at night and press the white button until Pikachu begins his lullaby. Luckily, the Poké Ball doesn’t decide to vibrate at this point.
While you’re dreaming of wild adventures as a Pokémon trainer, other Pokémon will be lured to the app and sleep around Snorlax. When you wake up in the morning, you press the end button and your sleep data from the gadget synchronises with the app. The animals’ sleeping positions are continuously logged in your designated sleep index and score you points. The dex collects all the information about the monsters you have encountered – which you might know from the Pokédex.
Source: Michelle Brändle
Despite smaller tasks and options, Pokémon Sleep isn’t particularly exciting. The accuracy of the tracking is also questionable. I compared the data with that of my Polar sports watch. Although that should also be treated with caution, the values are significantly different. Pokémon GO Plus + is definitely still just a toy, even at night.
Source: Michelle Brändle
You can also use Pokémon GO Plus + as an alarm clock. Then you don’t need your smartphone in the room and you’ll be gently woken up by Pikachu’s voice. More alarm tones are in the works. Fabian generally finds the tracking of his sleep very worrying. He doesn’t want to just share that data with an app. He doesn’t need this part of Plus.
Conclusion: a fun – but overpriced – gadget
After our long-term test, Fabian and I agree: the gadget is fun, saves you painstaking tasks and brings something new to the game with an additional research task. However, additional settings for balls and berries would be practical. And it would be really great if the vibration could be deactivated. It can be quite annoying. The sleep tracking also garners mixed feelings.
The price for that is a bit high. In any case, I’d rather play through the hard work and spend the money on dinner in a restaurant. And Fabian? Initially sceptical and confused, he finds the division of labour with Pokémon GO Plus + quite practical and efficient. This allows some Pokémon to develop more, he says with a smile.
Header image: Samuel Buchmann19 people like this article
In my world, Super Mario chases Stormtroopers with a unicorn and Harley Quinn mixes cocktails for Eddie and Peter at the beach bar. Wherever I can live out my creativity, my fingers tingle. Or maybe it's because nothing flows through my veins but chocolate, glitter and coffee.
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