I’ve been running now for a couple of times with Nike Plus so it’s a time for a proper review. For those who are not familiar with the product, Nike+ or Nike Plus or NikePlus is a training gadget which you insert to your shoe and your ipod. It records your run, the speed, distance, calories and finally sends all the data to the web.
Thinking about all the other training devices I’ve used or seen, this one is definitely the easiest and most comfortable to use. If you’re familiar with other Apple designed products this should be no surprise. The user interface is just nice and very intuitive and the Nike Plus web site makes you addicted with everything it offers.
Nike Plus works only with iPod Nano (any generation model) and as far as I know, there is no hack for that. You can use several sensors in one iPod – a thing which neither Nike nor Apple mentions on their website. We are currently having two sensors and one iPod at home and it works without problems.
Nike Plus sensor is supposed to be put into your Nike Plus shoe. There’s a hole for the sensor inside the shoe in which the sensor fits perfectly. I had no interest buying a pair of new shoes for nerdy running and after some googling it appeared to me I wouldn’t need to: you can put the sensor under the shoelaces of any shoe and it works like charm. However – make sure to make a small bag for the sensor, otherwise you’ll kick it out.
You can build your own running playlists to your iPod and have a “Powersong” which it will play when you’re about to reach your goal. Never tried that yet, but I’m confident that “Eye of the Tiger” is the most used Powersong among the users ;)
Anyway, this thing works. I wouldn’t have imagined how easily technology can motivate your training and how much fun comparing your stats online can be. Near perfect, but it still lacks GPS. Nike Plus has a GoogleMaps integrated map solution, but the runs do not appear there automatically. A perfect running device would show where you’ve been running OR would guide you through the path which you would have drawn to the service earlier. Also exporting the data from the Nike Plus website has had some hiccups already for some time – I hope they are working on it. See some exported running data below.
Try Nokia Sports Tracker and let us know how it compares with the Nike+ experience…
I’ve already tried. The usability of NST is much worse, but the GPS support is a big plus. My girlfriend made the first test run with both devices – funnily NikePlus and NST had a 700 meter difference on a 3,4km track. I would say NST is more accurate because it’s based on GPS and not acceleration as NikePlus.
We need to make another test – otherwise I’d say there’s something wrong with the calibration. Funny though – when I’ve tracked my runs afterwards with NikePlus, there hasn’t been such problems. I hope this was a one time problem.
Nice review. I’ve been running with Nike+ since November 07 and I love it. The Nike+ website is prettier than it is functional, and I’ve been using http://www.runnerplus.com in tandem with the Nike+ site.
I’ve found that calibrating the Nike+ has made a big difference in accuracy. If you’re looking for a GPS unit to run with, check out the Garmin 405. I’m planning on picking one up when they go on sale in June.