"Review: Go-tcha - PoGo+ alternative from Codejunkies"

#PokemonGO: Hi guys. I wanted to post a little review of this new device from Codejunkies that replicates the PoGo+ with a couple of nice added features. I am completely unafiliated with Codejunkies/Datel and I paid for my unit.I paid £33 shipped for my Go-tcha direct from CodeJunkies. This is a little cheaper than the £34.95 shipped for a PoGo+ from nintendo.Also worth noting, I do not own an original PoGo+ - so I am coming at this without much knowledge of the core feature set of that device.Useful linksYou can see my unboxing here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA6TQznj208and my mini video review here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebDlGFXxEpYThe user manual is now up here - http://ift.tt/2pZE0r4 have had this device for a little under 24 hours now and can now give a full review of the product.The Go-tchaI did a little research and as far as I can tell the Go-tcha is based on a fitness tracker called the Fitgo Prime (or sometimes the Primefit). You can find it on amazon here - http://ift.tt/2oqDINb Go-tcha itself is a small lozenge shaped device with a pair of charging terminals to the bottom. There are no screws or obvious way into the device and if it is indeed based on the Fitgo Prime, then it is IP67 certified water resistant (1m of water for 30 mins).The OLED screen is bright and clear. To the bottom of the screen is the devices touch button highlighted with a red ring.The wristband is not as nice as the band on the Fitbit Flex. It is both stiffer and harder than the material that Fitbit uses. I would have preferred a softer band but it feels ok to wear.The band looks identical to the bands sold for the Mi Band (version 1 not version 2), so if the white patterned band that comes with the Go-tcha doesn't appeal to you, you should be able to pick up one of these as a replacement.SetupSetup was very straight forward. Enable the Pokemon Go Plus features in the game then tap the pairing icon below the compass. Hold the touch button on the Go-tcha for a few seconds and it wakes up and pairs.Repeatedly tapping the touch button scrolls through the configuration pages. A long hold on each setting toggles it on and off and you can see the current state by either a tick or a cross in the settings page.The settings you have are:Auto spin pokestopsAuto catch pokemon you have already caught onceAuto catch pokemon you have not already caught onceVibration alertsUnpairUsing the Go-tchaWhen auto catch is off, it operates identically to real PoGo+. When a pokestop or pokemon is in range the screen shows a graphical alert (stop or mon) and will also vibrate is that setting is on. Tapping the touch button proceeds to spin or catch the pokemon. You then get a graphical report to tell you how many items you got or if you caught the pokemon or not. The device also differentiates between known and unknown pokemon.With the auto-catch features enabled the device automatically responds to pokestops and pokemon that are in range. Auto-catching seems to take quite a while and the device prioritises pokemon over pokestops. The upshot of this is that if you were cycling past a pokestop that also spawned 5 pokemon around it, you could easily ride past without atempting to catch all of them and then spin the stop. As I mentioned at the top, I don't have an original PoGo+, so I don't know if this is true of that (with the auto-catch mod) but I assume it is.Also worth noting that the OLED screen does not perform very well in direct sunlight - and by not very well, I mean you can't see it at all. Even cupping my hand around it didn't help during my testing in full sun. This is not such a big problem with the auto-catching enabled.Battery life is claimed to be 8 hours constant use and 24 hours standby. I've had the device for about 24 hours now and it is still going strong. I have used it a fair amount both with the vibration on and off. The manual states I will get a battery charge warning when I reach the end of the charge and a full charge will take 1 hour.During use I did notice that it would occasionally disconnect. My experience seems to mirror that of official PoGo+ users. Disconnections seem to occur around the hour mark and seem linked to inactivity (sitting in Starbucks doing some work and idle catching etc).TL:DRA great implementation of the original PoGo+ with the killer features of toggle-able auto-catch/spin and a rechargeable battery. Also looks far more discrete than the official device, especially if you replace the band with a plain coloured Mi Band strap. via /r/TheSilphRoad http://ift.tt/2oGW6wZ