The launch of the Poké Ball Plus has given Pokémon GO players yet another option when it comes to expanding their gameplay experience and making it easier than ever to catch those monsters, boost those levels and spin those Pokéstops.
The first unit to hit the market - the much-delayed Pokémon GO Plus - has been joined by other notable options over the past couple of years, and we're going to run through all of them to see which one should get your vote.
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Pokémon GO Companion Device - The Options
Pokémon GO Plus
Launched shortly after the release of the app itself, the Pokémon GO Plus is a device which can be worn either on your wrist or clipped onto an item of clothing and allows you to interact with the game itself without having to remove your phone from its pocket. The unit comes with a single button, which can be pressed to spin Pokéstops or catch monsters. An LED embedded in the button tells you what's happening; a flashing blue LED means you're near a Pokéstop, while a green one tells you there's a monster waiting to be caught. A flashing red LED means a capture attempt has failed, while a multicoloured one denotes a successful catch.
Powered by a single CR2032 battery - which lasts for months - the Pokémon GO Plus is a neat little accessory that has played a huge role in our Pokémon GO experience since launch. While it's not marked as being water-resistant, our unit has (accidentally) been put through the wash on more than one occasion and still works perfectly.
Sadly, it would seem that Nintendo is phasing out the GO Plus now that the Poké Ball Plus is available, and it is currently out of stock at several retailers; as a result, units are now rising in value.
Go-tcha
Released in 2017 by Datel, the Go-tcha was the first of the company's attempts to improve on the core Pokémon GO Plus concept. It's based on a cheap Chinese fitness tracker and has been loaded with custom software which allows it to mimic the functions of a Pokémon GO Plus.
The key difference here - outside of the fact that the unit has a small OLED screen - is that the Go-tcha handles everything automatically; you don't need to press a button to perform actions like spinning Pokéstops or catching monsters. As soon as you're in range, the Go-tcha does this for you. This might sound cheap, but there are times when it's just not feasible to keep pressing the button on the Pokémon GO Plus (when you're driving, for example).
The Go-tcha is powered by a rechargeable battery which lasts around a day - you'll need to charge this a lot. On a side note, the two units we have at Nintendo Life have died and now refuse to charge, and both are now over a year old and no longer covered by Datel's warranty.
Go-tcha Ranger
The follow-up to the original Go-tcha, the Ranger uses the same basic technology but adds in some neat extras. The most obvious is the increased stamina; the internal battery is much larger and lasts for weeks - we've owned one since July and have only charged it up about four times. You can also use the Ranger to charge your smartphone, although it doesn't fully charge our Galaxy S9+ so it's not all that useful. Also included is a compass and LED torch, the latter of which has helped us find all kinds of things in the dark (dropped keys, mainly).
Unlike the original Go-tcha, the battery on this unit seems pretty robust and it's still going strong after five months of solid, daily use. The only downside is that it's quite large and cannot be worn on the wrist, like the original Pokémon GO Plus and Go-tcha devices. Even so, it's the main device we use in our monster hunting - and we honestly can't see the newer Poké Ball Plus changing that.
Poké Ball Plus
While it's mainly marketed as a controller for Pokémon: Let's Go, the Poké Ball Plus can also function like a normal Pokémon GO Plus device. When paired with your phone, it does exactly what the standard version does, with a press of the B button allowing you to perform spins and attempt catches. However, it does offer one advantage over the vanilla edition - if you've got a 'mon riding inside then it will automatically grab items from nearby Pokéstops without you having to do anything. Bonus!
Unlike the standard model, it has a rechargeable battery which, if you're only using it for Pokémon GO, lasts for quite some time. A USB Type-C cable used to charge it is included in the box.
The negatives here are obvious; this is a much larger unit and cannot be worn on the wrist. It's also quite expensive so you might be wary of taking it out of the house and potentially losing it.
Go-tcha Evolve
Right now, we can't fault the Go-tcha Evolve. It improves on the original model and the full-colour screen is a real bonus. It's slightly larger, but it's not what we'd call an ugly product – so there's no real shame in being seen wearing it when you're out and about. Battery life is good, and the fact that it tracks your steps as well as helps your monster hunting makes it even more appealing (especially as the process of playing Pokémon GO is sure to boost your daily step count). For the time being, this appears to be the dream device for dedicated Pokémon GO players.
Brook Auto Catch Lightning
The Brooke Auto Catch Lightning is perhaps the most simplistic of the third-party offerings in this list, as it doesn't even have an LCD display. However, it's waterproof, doesn't look too garish on your wrist and works as described... if only the $45 asking price were a little lower, we'd recommend this quite highly. Brook is also working on a more advanced Auto Catch device, which we'll report on when it's available.
The Verdict
While the fancy new Poké Ball Plus looks amazing from a design standpoint, the Go-tcha Evolve is still the best choice in our opinion. It's durable, comfortable and doesn't look bad, either, and the ability to charge via USB is great. it gets our vote as the ultimate Pokémon GO companion device.
This article is part of our Pokémon GO walkthrough and guide series. We have articles that take you through the basics, covering How To Catch Pokémon: Throwing Tips, Poké Balls, & Capture Rates, How To Redeem Pokémon GO Promo Codes, How To Check A Pokémon's IVs Using An IV Calculator, How Trading Works, How To Track Pokémon Using Maps And Trackers, What Star Pieces And Stardust Do And How To Get Them, How Player Vs. Player Trainer Battles Work, and How To Complete Field Research And Research Breakthroughs And All Rewards.
We cover regular weekly and monthly Pokémon GO events, such as Spotlight Hour Times And Bonus Hour Times, and Community Days. We also have charts, including a Type Chart With Effectiveness And Weakness For All Types, an Egg Chart Explaining 2km, 5km, 7km, & 10km Eggs, and a Buddy Chart Explaining How To Earn Candy.
Elsewhere we cover Friend Code And Sharing Them For Easy XP and Which Pokémon GO 'Auto Catch' Companion Device Is The Best, plus more advanced tactics and info such as All Fast Moves And Charge Moves, How To Get TMs, And How It All Works, Shiny Pokémon And How To Catch Them, Glacial Lures, Magnetic Lures, Mossy Lures in Pokémon GO (And Their Exclusive Evolutions), How To Get Lots Of Candy Fast, How Lucky Pokémon Work & How To Catch Them, How To Catch All 27 Regional Pokémon, the Best Attackers And Best Defenders, All Raid Bosses And Best Counters Listed By Tier, What EX Raids Are And How To Get EX Raid Passes, What A Super Incubators Does And How To Get One, and How Get Mega Energy.
Pocket Monster-wise, we have specific guides for How To Get Pangoro, Sylveon, Glaceon, Aromatisse, Slurpuff, Sirfetch’d, Galarian Cofagrigus And More, How To Get Sylveon, Leafeon, Glaceon, Umbreon, Espeon, Vaporeon, Jolteon And Flareon, How To Evolve Wurmple Into Silcoon Or Cascoon, How To Get Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan And Hitmontop, How To Use The Weather To Get Each Castform Form, How To Catch And Evolve Into Galarian Slowbro, How To Catch Smeargle, How To Find And Evolve Burmy, How To Catch Spinda, Where To Find Unown, How To Catch Ditto, and The Rarest Pokémon Including Wild, Shiny, Mythical And Regional Catches.
We also cover timed research and special events, including Mew's 'A Mythical Discovery', Jirachi's 'A Thousand-Year Slumber', Celebi's 'A Ripple In Time', and Regigigas' 'A Colossal Discovery'. Other (past) event guides include Twitch Codes List - Pokémon World Championship 2022, How To Battle A Challenger (World Championships 2022), How To Battle Fashion Challengers, 'A Spooky Message' Spiritomb Quest, Kanto Event FAQ, and the Summer Tour 2018 Chicago GO Fest And Dortmund And Yokosuka Safari Zones.
Finally, there's our WIP Pokémon GO Pokédex, which currently goes up to 400 Pokémon: #1-50 | #51-100 | #101-150 | #151-200 | #201-250 | #251-300 | #301-350 | #351-400.
Comments 22
I have a Go-tcha (original) and have used it once. I prefer to play normally, so I don't have to clear down stacks of Rattatas.
I’ll tell you what isn’t an ideal companion for Pokemon Go: the Apple Watch app.
It vibrates to tell you there is a poke stop. You then have to press a button to go to a screen to spin the Pokestop. On older devices this is beyond slow and very annoying. The independent egg-hatching feature is redundant since they added background km tracking.
Avoid.
I’m still a bit bitter on how both my friend and I Go-tcha died after a few months, so I’m wary of Datel and Go-tcha Ranger.
I still use my Pokémon GO Plus but I’ll probably give it to my mom when I sync the Poké Ball Plus.
I may try the Poké Ball Plus a couple of times when I go out, but I can see my standard Go Plus still being the defacto accessory for Pokémon Go.
I don't think they should phase them out, the big hefty and pricy Poké Ball just isn't a practical or convenient thing for active Go sessions on the prowl.
If i need one, I will probobly just get the poke-ball plus when I get it bundeled with lets go eevee
Does anyone know if, by using one of these, I could avoid racking up data fees on my phone while I’m traveling? I’ve got a three-week trip to Africa coming up and have pre-ordered the edition of Let’s Go: Eevee bundled with the Pokéball Plus, so I’d be thrilled to be able to use the controller to catch some Tropius that I might have otherwise had to miss out on.
I love the Gotcha. But my problem with the Gotcha is that its "too fast" and too low a catch rate. On a typical jog I'll ue 150 redballs but only catch 50 pokemon. And since PokeStops aren't prioritized then most stops in my route don't even get spun.
I really wish there could be more customization in these auto-catch devices so you could whitelist/blacklist pokemon you dont really care about. (Yes, random catching is part of the game but Nantic keeps bringing back common pokemon to appease new/returning users so at this point spawns are so specifically targeted that nothing is "random" anymore).
@readalie data fees only applies for when you use location services (gps) on your phone. the more/longer you use it the more data that could be used. these devices won't help reduce it.
@KittyKatta i find it dumb that we still can't use non poke balls for auto catching. i got 200+ ultra balls....
Pokeball plus because I bought it
@readalie Pokemon Go used 5 to 10 MB an hour.
You'd probably have a worse time with your battery life on the poke ball plus and your phone
The best Pokemon GO accessory is a large external battery because Pokemon GO drains your smartphone battery like crazy.
I eventually want to get the Pokemon Ball Plus I like the design and the charge base you can get for it looks awesome also .
Poke Ball Plus looks the most fun, and unique. It's also the only one that can be used outside of Pokemon Go, a game I would not touch with a fifty foot pole.
Go-Tcha! Ranger for me!
@DarkKirby Completely agree.
I will probably try out the Poke-ball with the game, since I got it with Let's Go anyway. But I don't see myself using it much.
@RadioHedgeFund That's unfortunate, because, although I personally don't have an Apple device or smartwatch, a Pokémon GO app for smartwatches seems like a genius idea. A shame they had to screw it up.
I was interested in the GO Plus on release, but I never found anywhere it was available, online or offline, and I didn't really get into Pokémon GO until two years after release. I'm picking up the Let's Go bundle today so I'll try using the Poke Ball Plus, but I'm interested in the Ranger...
@johnW_ret the PG+ is brill. My son and I play co-op where he wears the + and I play on my phone. I wish the Watch app just mimicked the PG+, pressing the screen to catch and spin.
It’s a shame because it did have some useful features. You can ‘hold’ an egg from the main game whilst out for a run to hatch without the game even needing to be on. They should go one better and have full PokeWalker functionality.
@DarkKirby True
I have/had all of these except the lightning, though I've had a Brooke product before (the festival tag, I loved it, but it broke quickly) and can confidently say none of these are king.
By far the best Autocatcher is the Megacom Duo. It's the one I've had the longest, the one that stays connected the longest, the most durable, the hardest to lose, and the one with the best battery life (using rechargeable AAAs I get nearly 3 weeks off 2.) And I've heard the new 2022 version is even better from friends that went ahead and got it.
Granted, it's also the most expensive, but you get what you pay for I suppose. It's definitely worth it, to me.
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