The device you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. The most important hardware of September is here. The smartphone world is about to be turned on its head. I am of course talking about the launch of Pokemon Go Plus. As Niantic and The Pokemon Company announced last week, the Pokemon Go Plus accessory is available in stores as of Friday, September 16th for $34.99. Whether or not you’ll actually be able to find one is another matter entirely.
Here’s what the creators have to say about the device: “The Pokémon GO Plus is a small device that lets you enjoy Pokémon GO while you’re on the move and not looking at your smartphone. Pokémon GO Plus connects to your smart device over Bluetooth low energy (LE), allowing you to keep your phone in your pocket and go about your day-to-day activities. With Pokémon GO Plus, you’ll be able to play and enjoy your walk, run, hike, park trips, or visits to the library without having to look at your smartphone’s screen.”
If you’re wearing the Plus when you walk by a PokeStop, it’ll light up and vibrate to let you know. All you have to do is push the button in the center of the device and you’ll collect items from the PokeStop. Similarly, the device will buzz you when there’s a wild Pokemon nearby. Tap the button and an attempt will be made to catch the Pokemon, but you’ll have to check the app to see if you were successful.
If you want a Pokemon Go Plus of your own, there are a few online retailers worth checking: Amazon.com, GameStop.com and Nintendo’s UK store (but oddly not the US store). You can also call your local GameStop to see if they have any they can reserve for you, but there’s going to be some degree of luck involved.
On the other hand, if you have an Apple Watch, you can just wait until the Pokemon Go companion app hits watchOS in the near future.
