Did you miss this morning’s deal on the Fitbit Flex? That’s a shame as Fitbit sets the standard for pedometer devices, but there’s a great alternative now on the Windows Phone Store: Nokia Motion Monitor (beta). Teased at Abu Dhabi, Nokia Motion Monitor is exactly what it sounds like. Similar to the recent Samsung Galaxy phones, this app uses the internal sensors to detect your walking patterns. It then tallies up your steps in the app, optionally on your lockscreen (seen above) and it then adds some visually appealing graphs to show the amount. There are also ‘events’ that signify the commencing of intense activity, all logged for you. You can also go back to other days to see your steps taken. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more The app is super simple to use with no setup required. There is a brief tutorial to explain how it all works and what the information means, but for the most part it’s a set-it-and-forget-it app.

I took it out for a spin and while counting my steps and comparing it after to the app, I have to say it’s quite accurate (if anything, it may over-estimate slightly). Is it as good as owning a Fitbit or Jawbone? No, as like anything else, having a gadget dedicated to a single purpose is better than a smartphone. For instance, I’m not sure I want my Lumia 1520 in my shorts when I go for my daily run due to its size. Having said that, this is free, requires no setup and for the average user, it’s a step into that big beautiful world of wearable exercise technology. Currently, the app is only available to Lumia 1520 owners. That’s due to it having the Lumia Black firmware already onboard but also because it has a Snapdragon 800 Quad-core processor. Nokia explains that the app “uses (a) dedicated core on Nokia Lumia 1520 to off-load sensor data processing from main processor, enabling algorithms to run using low power”. See what they did there? The Lumia 1520, which boasts that Quad-Core processor, allows this app to run on a low-energy mode in the background while not disturbing normal core OS performance. That’s a shame as it means that older Lumias may not see this app come at all.