Elliptical Trainers Reviews
Elliptical Trainer Exercise will inform and equip you to find great deals on elliptical trainer machines, compare elliptical brands, and help you understand why you should consider this equipment for your home gym.Here you’ll find helpful elliptical trainers reviews. You have heard of the benefits of elliptical training, so what’s the best model? We’ve reviewed some popular models for you, though please understand this isn’t an exhaustive list. We hope to give you a feel for the market, and introduce you to some proven brands in the industry. Do note that there are other trustworthy models and manufacturers we haven’t included simply for brevity.
If you scroll through this page, you will find pictures of some products – click them to learn more about them and even buy. If you visit our page Elliptical Machines For Sale, you will find our hand-picked elliptical trainers, some of the models we have reviewed and many we haven’t yet. You’re sure to find what you need by scrolling down to the bottom of that page, with nearly 100 elliptical trainers to choose from.
Or you can visit our friends and find OlympiaSports for their wide selection of discounted elliptical trainers.
Right off the top, we do wholeheartedly endorse a particular model on our best elliptical trainer page – the Yowza Fitness Captiva. You’ll find our review of the Captiva on that page, we encourage you to check it out.
We also stand behind another fine name in the industry, Smooth Fitness – over 20 years of factory-direct, top-notch quality. Visit Smooth Fitness and use this link to go to SmoothFitness.com
Precor EFX 5.17i Elliptical Fitness Crosstrainer
This model offers a number of features that you can use to customize your workout routine, though Precor offers this up as their introductory home model. The incline of the pedals can be adjusted, focusing more or less force on certain leg muscles. This angle is adjustable within 12-25 degrees, giving you more control over your target areas. The easy-to-read display screen makes measuring and controlling your routines a breeze. There are various monitors to assist you, including a heart rate monitor and calorimeter. Overall, this piece of equipment offers 20 levels of resistance, thereby increasing its longevity. In other words, it will be difficult to outgrow. The motion is smooth, and costs an average of $2,300.
Life Fitness X3 Elliptical Cross-Trainer with Advanced Workout Console
Life Fitness is rated by many to be amongst the best ellipticals, some owners say it may be just a bit overkill but it’s difficult to find a single complaint about anything but the price tag.* This machine weighs in at $2,699-2,999 from the manufacturer, depending on the type of console (advanced or basic) you choose. This model comes with cup holders, MP3 port, all the monitors you’ll ever need, and multiple adjustments. The stride length is 20″.
Unlike many of their competitors at this price point, Life Fitness has made online shopping easier for the consumer. Their reputation as a company excels in both the overall quality of the product but also in their customer service. These are pretty sturdy, quiet and smooth machines.
*Of course, they do have their down side: Lifestyle is known for having very hard-to-find parts for replacement. In the opinion of this reviewer, the best elliptical in this price range is Yowza’s Captiva, see their review under the “best elliptical trainer” tag in the header, because they make thebest elliptical trainer.
This isn’t their lowest-end model, but upon customer reviews, you want to aim for the X3 as an entry model. The beauty of their engineering really can be seen above the $2,500 price point. They offer a few machines above this price point in their club models made for home. This is their mid-range entry, and it rates favorably across the board in the reviews we’ve studied, from consumers and end-users. Of course, the warranty and service agreements are top of the line as well.
(If you want to know what our personal pick is for the best elliptical trainer, click the linked text. You’ll be taken to Yowza’s site.)
Smooth Fitness CE3.2 Elliptical Trainer
This machine offers ergonomic foot pedals that pivot. The adjustable pedals help lessen the strain on the ankles and knees. It also comes with a wireless heart monitor. The magnetic resistance is adjustable, providing an even more tailored workout to suit your needs. The screen is easily readable, providing you all the details you need to have a fully satisfying and challenging workout routine. This model is quiet and smooth, fitting well with the Smooth Company’s reputation of building quality machines at the mid-range price tag. This particular model averages about $1,700.
**Manufacturer-direct Savings From Smooth Fitness**
Take $100 off our most advanced elliptical trainer, the Agile DMT
Sole E35 Elliptical Trainer
The Sole E35 is sturdy and well built. The stride length is 20″ which is plenty for the average user. The E35 offers a powered, adjustable incline, giving you control over your workout intensity. The foot pedals are oversized and the machine supports up to a 375 pound user. The warranty is great: two years for labor. The downside, per various reports, is that it is time-consuming to assemble and the heart monitor isn’t the best. At about $1,300, however, it performs very well for a mid-range elliptical.
According to the professional reviewers online, this machine is said to have a good value overall. The arm handles provide a genuine total body workout, and with twenty resistance levels and 8 workout routines pre-programmed, the complaints were minor, with the worst referring to the assembly time and heart rate monitor’s touchiness. The warranty shines, however: the frame has a lifetime warranty, 5 years on electronics and parts, and 2 years for labor.
Schwinn 418 Elliptical Trainer
This model comes equipped with 8 levels of resistance and 12 workout routines. The LCD screen is easy to read and helps to monitor your progress in terms of calories burned, overall workout time, and heart rate. This is a quality, solid piece of machinery, with an 18″ stride. Expect to pay about $1,100.
There is also the
Schwinn 420 Elliptical, pictured below. It sells currently for about $599, and you can also click the pic to order or learn more:
Schwinn also makes the
Schwinn 460 Variable Stride Elliptical, weighing in at $999:
Or, you can try the mid-ranged priced
Schwinn 431 Elliptical
NordicTrack AudioStrider 990
This machine comes with a powered incline ramp, folds up to save space, has 24 workout programs and even an MP3 port. It also offers iFit workouts (downloadable upgrades to the workout regimen), which is a huge plus that only adds to the value and life of the machine. The complaints ranged from poor durability, to various opinions on customer service from the manufacturer, a warranty that didn’t turn any heads, and many claimed that noise was an issue (hence the MP3 player). Users also complained that it was difficult to get replacement parts, which can be an issue given the warranty isn’t the best. However, at about $900, it was pretty easy on the bank. For the price point, given the reviews from consumers, this was a good elliptical trainer in this price range.
Schwinn 430 Elliptical Trainer
We’re calling this the “budget” machine, because it has a comparably low price at $600, but offers the following features: articulating foot pedals, a smooth motion critical to the elliptical experience, a solid feel, and an apartment-friendly compact build.
On the complaint side of things, users said it wasn’t good for heavy use (gym rats beware!), the warranty is exceptionally brief, and the realibility was in question. It falls in our “best” category for those on a tighter budget because it does get the job done for its price point, per the hundreds of reviews written by satisfied customers at Amazon. For most home gyms, the programs and features of this machine is “just right.” It’s the critics that claim that the reliability is in question, mostly due to the 90 day warranty.
Nonetheless, if your budget is busted and your waistline needs some attention, this machine should suit your needs according to hundreds of happy users that purchased the machine online. Take the experts’ advice, though: only use it for light use. If you’re heavily into elliptical training, you may need to wait it out and save a few hundred more to get a slightly more expensive machine, at least with a year warranty.
Eclipse 1100 HR/A Elliptical Trainer
This machine is great for thsoe watching the budget as well as the waistline. This device offers 8 levels of resistance and a number of workout programs. Because of the lightweight design, moving it about the apartment or house is a breeze. It offers a genuine total body workout. Even at this price, its motion is smooth. Usually you’ll pay around $500.
If you want to shop for ellipticals in various price points, you can see our suggestions on the “Elliptical Machines For Sale” page in the sidebar, or shop Elliptical Machines available at OlympiaSports.
Gold’s Gym Stride Trainer 300
Alright, so the budget is a little tighter than you hoped, but you’re determined to get an elliptical for heart health and all the other benefits. Is there a machine for you? Yes, and it’s the Gold’s Gym Stride Trainer 300. What’s the benefit? Well: it’s cheap, weighing in at $300. It’s an elliptical. Cons? Warranty is short, the stride length is shorter than optimal, it’s noisy, it’s assembly is a challenge, and the overall durability and bottom-line quality is just that: as low as you should be willing to go (although it isn’t the worst by any stretch, this is truly the lowest you should be willing to go for ellipticals).
It is very good for the money, though they aren’t the best in the market. Of the reviews we could find online, consumers said they bought this machine to see if they had the gumption and discipline to actually use the machine if it was in their house. Many bought the machine for their significant other as a means to see if their devotion to exercise was just a passing phase or the genuine article. Other experts have said that this machine provides quality for just a little bit of money, but overall the sense is that if you want an elliptical for the long-haul, there are better machines out there for a few hundred dollars more, such as the Scwhinn 430 above. If you want to get your feet wet, this may be the machine for you.
Two Heavy Hitters: NordicTrack and Ironman
A couple of other brands to take note of are NordicTrack and Ironman.
NordicTrack is a well-known name in the exercise industry. Its parent company is ICON. ICON is a leading manufacturer of treadmills. They make ProForm, Reebok and Schwinn elliptical trainers, all of which are iFit compatible machines. Basically, iFit is an online company that provides downloadable workout routines for your elliptical trainers, all for only $15/mo. NordicTrack elliptical trainers start at $649 and go up from there. They’re known for excellent customer reviews and great warranties.
Ironman elliptical trainers are some of the best available. You can find them in use in many gyms. They provide 19″ stride and support 300 pound users. Their programs include a variety of functions such as hill, interval, mountain and manual program mode. Typically, their price range is $800 and up, and they also provide a durable product with great warranties.
We hope these elliptical trainers reviews provided you with a better understanding of what’s available on the market. The best advice is to arm yourself with this knowledge and actually get on some of these machines for about half and hour before making your final decision. Go and try out those low-end, budget machines. Then go compare the experience to the mid-range and high-end models we’ve described here. Hopefully, the elliptical trainers reviews you’ve read here will help direct your search and help you reach your personal fitness goals.
With the shopping guidelines we’ve given on our other page elliptical machines for sale, you should be equipped to discover the best elliptical trainer for your home gym and fitness goals. Happy shopping!
