Pokemon Go Plus+ first hands-on impressions

Earlier today, I picked up the latest Pokémon Go slash Pokémon Sleep accessory, the Pokemon Go Plus+. Like the Pokémon Go Plus, the Pokeball Go Plus or the litany of other “Gotcha” devices out there for Pokémon Go, aside from making you look like a dork extremely cool in public, it’s to automatically play Pokémon Go without any of that interacting with the game nonsense. 

This one is the first official device to support auto-catching and auto-spinning of Pokéstops. Previously only official devices would sync up to the game, and the device would buzz, and you’d have to click to catch a Pokémon or spin a stop. Eventually, third-party makers did away with that, so you could just hoover up Pokémon as you go along. 

So for the $79.95AUD RRP, what can the Pokémon Go Plus+ do you for you that anything before it couldn’t? A little bit more, but some essential changes for hardware Pokémon Go players. 

The settings page in Pokémon Go has been completely overhauled, and you can now tune precisely how you want the Pokémon Go Plus+ to work. You can now use Pokéball, Great Balls and Ultra Balls to catch Pokémon manually and automatically and to spin stops manually and automatically (or a combination of each). 

What’s all new is sleep tracking. This works with Pokémon Go to get bonuses in-game and will work with the forthcoming Pokémon Sleep game (whenever that drops). To put the device to sleep, you can hold the middle button, and Pikachu will give you a goodnight lullaby (which is adorable). When you awake, do the same again and then at a time you will have chosen while setting up, you’ll get some bonuses in Pokémon Go. Pikachu talks through the device’s built-in speaker, so if you want to be more incognito, you can turn the whole thing to silent – this won’t silence the vibrating motor, which is quite loud. Left on a table, the device spins, and shuffles along. It’s so powerful. An option for that to be turned off would also be welcomed. 

Included in the box is a lanyard and a USB-C cable. Yes, the entire thing can charge quickly over USB-C—no more button batteries to get in the way. The lanyard is quite nice too with a little magnetic clip to help attach the device to you, but it’s now powerful enough to wear it like a nurse does on their uniform for example. The packaging is also almost entirely plastic-free, which is nice to see. 

The Pokémon Go Plus+ isn’t cheap, but it’s a heck of lot more well made than the previous Pokémon Plus devices (and a lot of third party ones are almost as expensive). You’d want to be playing Pokemon Go pretty heavily to get the most out of it; otherwise, it will just spend time under on your bed at night tracking your sleep. 

The Pokémon Go Plus+ is now available from Amazon, The Gamesmen, Big W and the My Nintendo Store. EB Games and JB Hi-Fi did have them, but their listings are removed.