General Information
Niantic has its own range of companion devices like the catchily-named Pokémon GO Plus+, but the third-party market is huge, with each developer working to add another gimmick to make its product the very best (like no one ever was).
And so we arrive at the Pocket Auto Catch ND, the latest Pokémon GO assistant from BrookGaming — the team behind last year's petit powerhouse 'Light' model. It can catch Pokémon and spin PokéStops like every other option out there, but it also packs in a handy auto-reconnect feature and a speedy auto-tapper for Raids and Battles.
All that comes bundled for $60 — a fair step more expensive than Niantic's official offering, but by no means the priciest option out there. But there are a few catches. Auto-reconnect is still a pain in practice, auto-catch options are still limited to standard Pokéballs only and the multi-button design feels needlessly complicated compared to the simplicity of other designs on the market. Catching 'em all may be a breeze, but this isn't Pokémon GO perfection.
Let's start with that design. With its hexagonal shape, seven face buttons and two 'bumpers', the ND is one of the busier-looking auto-catchers on the market; it wouldn't be out of place in a Spy Kids movie. The ND is a little on the light side and the buttons are a little clicky for our taste, but it's small enough to slot into a back pocket so you don't need to be looking at it all the time (though a wrist strap is included in the box so you can have it on display if you choose to).
The buttons help to navigate modes, control touch inputs (more on that later), or light up in auto-catching success/failure. They also make each command feel more complicated than they actually are thanks to the number of input options presented to us — particularly when you consider that most other auto-catchers make do with one or two buttons. What's normally achieved in the press of a button requires combos of multiple button holds, flashing lights and well-timed inputs. Standard auto-catch modes are easily accessed, but it's initially needlessly time-consuming to access any of the ND's special features.
Similarly against the grain is the absence of USB-C charging. The Auto Catch ND runs on two AAA batteries and while it boasts up to 185 hours of continuous play for those who want to use it non-stop (around 30 days on 3-4 hours of use per day), the absence of a charging option feels like a step down by modern standards.
Onto the headline addition: auto-reconnect (or "SmartConnect" to give it its 'official' term in this case). Perhaps the biggest bugbear with Niantic's official offerings is how the device will automatically disconnect after one hour of use, losing the means to auto-catch while you're away.
The likes of PhotoFast's 247 Catcher and BrookGaming's own Pocket iRecatcher have served up workarounds to the dreaded disconnect in the form of peripherals that latch onto the screen and give the auto-catcher a poke when it nods off. These get the job done, but the bulky attachments and requirement for the screen to constantly be on are hardly ideal in the long run.
The ND offers a somewhat more elegant solution. Rather than manually pressing the reconnect icon via an attachable device, this auto-catcher utilises the iOS 'AssistiveTouch' (or the Android equivalent) to keep things online. But the setup process is arduous; you have to find the necessary options in your phone settings before performing a series of button combinations on the ND device and using the face buttons to navigate your on-screen cursor over the reconnect icon.
However, once it's up and running, you can comfortably put the device aside and watch as it nudges the reconnect icon awake every hour without fear of anything falling off, becoming detached or dislodged.
Like with the aforementioned auto-reconnect solutions, the ND's 'SmartConnect' mode does require the screen in use to be permanently on. Fortunately, unlike the Pocket iRecatcher, this workaround does leave your phone's charging port free, so battery consumption needn't be a huge worry if you want to put the auto-catcher aside while you work, cook or do anything other than play Pokémon GO. But if you want to take it out and about and auto-catch while you travel, a portable charger is a must (the relatively good-condition iPhone 12 we used for this review kept things running for about four hours before needing a charge).
Of course, the 'SmartConnect' function is completely optional and the ND works just fine as a standard auto-catcher if you don't set the mode up in the first place. The base auto-catch and PokéStop spins are just as hands-free as you'd hope from a device with 'Auto Catch' in its name and the 'QuickConnect' button makes it easy to switch to 'Smart Connect' should you want to kick back.
As with many third-party alternatives, the ND will only attempt catch encounters with standard Poké Balls, so encounters are far from a guaranteed success. Niantic's Pokémon GO Plus+ lets you change the default Poké Ball used at the press of a button, but none of the nine buttons here offer the same luxury.
But it's not only negative comparisons that separate the ND from Niantic's offering. As we saw with the Pocket iRecatcher, the ND has a 'HyperTap' mode which utilises the same AssistiveTouch solution as 'SmartConnect' to rapidly tap one point on the screen up to eight times a second. Naturally, this makes Battles and Raids a breeze and you can even program the directional buttons to tap other screen coordinates for seamless special attacks.
Pocket Auto Catch ND Review - The Verdict
Retailing at $60, BrookGaming's Pocket Auto Catch ND still feels a little more expensive than we'd like, but it packs in a couple of nice bonus features. The SmartConnect option, while still home to its fair share of niggling issues, is the easiest auto-reconnection tool we've tried to date and the customisable HyperTap is a welcome addition for anyone looking to compete in Raids and Battles. Things feel needlessly complicated thanks to the ND's excessive number of buttons (we won't be throwing the instructions away any time soon) and the inability to auto-catch with anything other than standard Pokéballs results in more failed encounters than we'd like, but it's still one of the most feature-rich options you'll find on the market today.