Gadget Review: Nike+ vrs GPS exercise tracking on the iPhone

So like many in the second fattest state in the union I am carrying quite a few extra pounds around. My employer recently decided to offer free gym memberships so I decided it was high time to get serious about shedding a love handle or three. Of course being the geek that I am I also wanted a cool and easy way to track my efforts. When I recently picked up the 3GS iPhone I kind of laughed at the feature bullet listing the new phone as Nike+ compatible. But once I decided to start tracking my workouts I decided to give it whril... since I already default to Nike tennis shoes and the phone could read the sensor signals all I needed was a $20 dollar sensor to see what it was all about. If you are interested in getting one and not sure what you need you can read up about it here. If Nike Shoes are not for you it is possible to rig the sensor to work on other shoes but some of the methods are not for the feint of heart as it can require shoe surgery. There are other less drastic options that will likely bring a call from the fashion police... and if you don't mind the stares and pointing they seem to work just fine as well.

Nike+ is cool... but it is just a simple Pedometer. Considering that the iPhone has GPS I wanted to see if I could use that as well. As luck would have it and as Apple loves to point out "There's an App for That". In this case one called 'Run Keeper Pro". A minimum Nike+ system is much cheaper than RunKeeper... but RunKeeper is cheaper if you already have an iPhone with GPS capability. I of course decided to try both (since I already have the phone and shoes it only cost $30). Also, due to the fact the built in Nike+ app on the iPhone 3GS is allowed to run in the background I have been able to track my walks with Nike+ and RunKeeper at the same time for comparison.

So what exactly is Nike+ ? In short it is an electronic coach that tracks you through a pedometer and keeps up with your workout history on a special website run by Nike... if you like the results of your workouts can be sent out to your friends via Facebook and Twitter. You pick a workout (distance, time, calorie burn goal, open ended), you pick a playlist, hit start your workout and once it picks up the sensor in your shoe rocking along off you go. You will receive periodic updates through your headphones when you reach milestones. You get a notice every mile in distance based workouts, 5 minute callouts on time. I do not know what you get on the calorie burn workouts and it seems you get no periodic updates on the open ended workout. On any workout you can get a status summary by pushing a button that tells you the time, distance and average pace per mile/k depending on your preference. It works extremely well for the most part. When you are done you get a summary of how far you went, your average pace, best time for the mile and approximate calorie burn (highly optimistic for walks I have found... probably more accurate for runs). The next time you sync with iTunes the information will be sent to the Nike+ website where you can view even more information. The website also offers lots of other options like challenges you can join, or goal setting in addition to posting your results automatically to facebook or twitter as previously mentioned.

RunKeeper is GPS based exercise tracker that allows you to track ANY outside based activity where you cover ground... roller blading, walking, running, cycling etc... When you are done it uploads your results via the iPhone mobile web application to a website that is not quite as cool as the Nike+ one but it works well and it also allows for the automatic posting of results to facebook/twitter if you so desire. While it cannot run in the background you can play your music in the background and have some limited control over it (ie you can skip a song if you want) without interrupting the program.

So how well do they work?

The Good:

Application:

Nike+ application is simple and much better integrated with the phone. Run Keeper Pro is definitely more accurate (if it holds the GPS signal) and useful for tracking more types of outdoor activities. Both maintain a basic history on the device and track your high points.

Voice updates on Nike+ is very slickly implemented. It dims your tunes so you can easily understand the status report. The instant status tied to a home button push works very well also.

Website:

Nike+ community elements (challenges, goals etc...) can be a strong incentive for those of a competitive bent... be it with oneself or in comparison to other members of the site.

RunKeepers maps including elevation changes has some serious cool factor. The site is also far more responsive than the Nike+ one.

The So So:

Application:

Neither program seems to agree on calorie tracking... and in looking at numerous online trackers it seems Run keeper falls to the conservative side where Nike falls to the optimistic end... but neither were crazily out of whack. Since Caloric burning is fairly difficult to determine for a given individual it is probably best to view these results more as a 'score' for relative comparison than taken as literal fact. That being said the Nike+ app will adjust your burn rate based on what you say your weight is... so in the long run it probably provides a better comparison value.

Voice updates on RunKeeper are occasionally overpowered by your tunes. Normally not a problem but can suck if you miss your turn around point on an out and back activity.

Website:

Run Keeper has a ways to go to catch up to the community elements of Nike+. Being able to set and track goals is needed. Similar community type challenges to what Nike+ does might be worth pursuing. But don't get me wrong. The website is simple and highly functional... just does not have the same whizbang factor other than the maps.

Nike+ site is sluggish... very heavy on the flash and Nike shopping options are in prime locations which relegates your activity summary controls to less optimum areas of the screen. In other words its designed more for buying Nike stuff than for using as an activity tracker. While the tracking elements are solid... the interface is annoying by being slow and not optimized for that use.

The Bad:

Requiring Nike+ shoes or awkward hack alternatives is annoying. Nike shoes fit me better than most brands so I often gravitate to them anyway. Since I was due a pair it was not a problem to find a Nike+ pair with the hole in the shoe for the sensor... but for many out there this would represent a new cost. It seems to me that Nike could forgo the sensor for the iPhone application and utilize the GPS. Linking people to the website would still bring them closer to buying Nike stuff. And seeing as you have to have an iPhone in the first place... I doubt it would really hurt sales of Nike+ shoes for folks using regular iPods without a GPS capability. This would also allow them to do the cool mapping of what you did rather than just showing your rate changes (really boils down to how often your footstep set off the sensor).

I have been tracking walks with the sensor I bought for about 4 weeks now and it seems the sensor is already dying as I keep getting periods of 0 pace and sometimes strangely fast paces that I did not get when it was new. If this is the case then that would mean having to buy a new sensor ever month or so since the battery is not replaceable. If that is the case the $20 bucks a month just to have a pedometer in my shoes will make this one a one time deal for me. I would be fine with it lasting 3-6 months at a shot.... but not ~1. It is possible this is being caused by operating the RunKeeper app at the same time. I am going to try doing some Nike+ only runs to see if the sensor stops acting up and will update this section later.

GPS exercise tracking is not cheap. There is lots of purpose built gear by the likes of Garmin etc... that do similar stuff to RunKeeper that are cheaper and more accurate. If you already have an iPhone then RunKeeper Pro is cheap at 10 bucks. But if have to buy the iPhone you are spending WAY to much for something that is not quite as accurate as the other purpose built gear. If you count the iPhone cost it is cheaper to buy an iPod (nano), iPod Nike+ unit and Nike+ shoe sensor combined than it is just to get the iPhone. If you already have the iPhone then RunKeeper is much cheaper than the other options at a one time cost of $10... and unlike the Nike+ sensors the GPS receiver doesn't wear out after a couple of months and need replacing.... it also does not require special shoes or oddball sensor mounting solutions.

In short don't buy an iPhone FOR run keeper... consider it if you already have one and don't want to purchase additional expensive dedicated GPS exercise tracking gear. If you are starting from scratch with none of the equipment you probably want to seriously consider the purpose built GPS watches. if GPS is overkill the Nike+ system is relatively cheap if you don't count the cost of the shoes ie you need them anyway so it is not an additional cost.

The RunKeeper application suffers from a common iPhone app malady. It cannot run in the background. This makes iPod music playback operations during your activity tricky and subject to inadvertently pausing your exercise... along with damn near any other interruption that comes from your phone like Texting, taking a phone call etc... The default action of the program when these other things happens is to pause/loose the GPS signal etc... It can be very frustrating. Since I am mostly just walking it is quite possible for me to mess around with reading Texts/e-mails take phone calls etc... and the Nike+ app allows me to do that without missing a beat. RunKeeper requires you to keep that application up for the duration of the exercise. Thankfully they fixed an early bug that meant you even had to have the screen on (drained the battery and made it subject to accidental input in your pocket).

Both applications need to allow for more voice notification options. Currently the iPhone automatic updates are limited to Time/Distance based on which type of workout you choose and they only provide updates at the 5 minute and mile markers only. They need to allow you to chose your desired interval and what information you want to know. IE the only way to get your pace from the Nike app is to hit the home button or read it off the screen. The RunKeeper app only does updates every 5 minutes or every mile but it does provide current pace information... but not average pace. This seems such a simple and obvious addition. They have already done the hard work it making the apps give you any kind of notification... it should be relatively easy to add some additional options for how often and what set of information you would like to hear.

Conclusion:

Well... neither of these applications/sensors etc... is going to get you into shape. However if tracking your progress is a motivator for you then I recommend both provided you like Nike shoes and already have either an iPhone with GPS (for run keeper) or one of the numerous compatible iPod models for Nike+. Right now I personally want to drop the Nike+ tracking and just use RunKeeper as it is more accurate and has no requirement for a shoe sensor I may have to replace often. However, I find the goal tracking and challenges on the Nike+ website far more compelling than the bare bones tracking alone found on the RunKeeper website. For now I am going to continue to try both simultaneously until I reach my first Challenge Goal on Nike+ of 100miles.