Should you buy a Pokemon GO Plus?

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If you are a casual player, you might have seen intense players with Pokemon GO Plus around their wrists or in their pockets, some even having more than one. A 33 USD accessory for a single game might be steep for casual players but is it worth the money? Should you buy a Pokemon GO Plus?

If you don’t know already, the Pokemon GO Plus is designed so you can play Pokemon GO without using your phone. You can catch Pokemon and spin PokeStops just by tapping. It can even track your distance, help you hatch eggs and walk with you buddy at the same time. For more information on this, we have a wiki article on Pokémon GO Plus.

Before I continue on, this is NOT an article to persuade you to buy a GO Plus. I will just discuss everything you need to know on about the GO Plus, but it should be YOUR decision whether the advantages the Pokemon GO Plus offers are worth your money. We’ll also be tackling some of the limitations the GO Plus has. Let’s start with the positives.

Multitasking

With GO Plus, you can use your everyday travel to casually play the game, and it will sometimes ignore the speed limit and still be able to catch or spin regardless of how fast your ride is going. This is also great if you want to play the game at work without your co-workers finding out you are playing the game in the first place. The same goes for family gatherings, parties, and other events where you can accumulate a lot of distance. I personally use it when shopping at malls.

Grinding

Even if you’re not a casual player, GO Plus is great for grinding. Some intense players do Mass Evolutions while using GO Plus to catch Pokemon and spin PokeStops. Most do it on areas where you can reach more than 4 Lured PokeStops. Using a GO Plus will definitely step up your game.

Saving Poke Balls

Some Pokemon, like your local Region Exclusives, are hard to catch with just a single Poke Ball, but are basically worthless. Using GO Plus on these Pokemon will only make you spend one Poke Ball on catching them, and even if you don’t catch them, you’ll still get 50 XP, which is better than wasting a lot of Poke Balls, and sometimes even Great Balls.

GO Plus Limitations

The GO Plus only connects to your phone for a single hour before disconnecting. This is not a bug. This is probably to avoid draining the battery of the GO Plus. Speaking of battery, while the battery does last for a long time (mine took 3 months), the battery is not your standard battery that you can easily find in stores. GO Plus uses a CR2032 Battery. Do remember that because other more common battery like CR2016 and CR2025 look a lot like the CR2032. The only place that I found a CR2032 is at a hardware store.

You can also miss out on some great spawns while using a GO Plus, Pokemon you would otherwise catch with multiple balls. That’s the “risk” you’re taking while using a GO Plus, so be aware that GO+ catch rate is exactly the same as throwing a Poké Ball without any throw bonuses. A Pokemon targeted with GO Plus will flee if it breaks out. There’s no going around that.

While it’s not a negative for some, we have to mention that the GO Plus prioritizes spawns over PokeStops. Considering how long it takes for a GO Plus to catch a Pokemon, there might be times that you won’t be able to spin the PokeStop before you leave the area because of the spawns surrounding the PokeStop itself.

Also, with the release of Adventure Sync in Pokemon GO, there’s no need to buy a GO Plus just to track your distance, especially since Adventure Sync will actually more accurately keep track of your distance compared to the Pokemon GO app itself, and by extension the Pokemon GO Plus. The device is strictly for catching and spinning PokeStops.

Lastly, some phone’s Bluetooth connectivity are not compatible with the GO Plus. It’s better to research your phone’s compatibility with GO Plus before buying, especially if you are using a somewhat old phone model. 

Overview

The GO Plus may not be all that worth it for most people. It’s an accessory for just one game and nothing else, and considering its limitations, you might want to back out from buying one, but if you find it’s multitasking ability interesting, go ahead.

And what about buying it in 2018? Is it too late? Are you leveled past a certain point where GO+ becomes useless? Short answer is no. GO+ is still worth it for players who want that extra step up in their game play, especially if you’re committed to grinding.

Our verdict: buy if you understand it’s benefits, if you’re not sure, pass on it.

After hours

We’re just gonna leave this here, for the adventurous among our readers. It goes without saying that modding will void any warranty you have.

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Ysmael
Ysmael
Avid Pokémon Fan since 2000

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