We don’t always take the time out to talk about treadmills. But when you come across the chance to put one together and use it, you might as well take the time out to talk about it. So this is one of those opportunities and in this round, we have the AVTIFIT Treadmill with 350 lb Capacity and Incline.
This Treadmill isn’t “smart”, so it has no Wi-Fi connectivity, apps, or analytics that can be synced to your phone or watch. However, it still has several good features going for it. First, before anything, the build process is amazing. It does take two people as any decent assembly would. However, beyond removing it from the box, there isn’t much involved.
About 85% of the unit comes assembled already. There are just a few screws and bolts that need to be applied and the whole thing is ready to plug into an outlet and use. Compared to some of the units we have gotten in at the office, this was nice. There were a few options that have come through the break area over the years that required the main console having to be built and placed on top of the arms.
This is not the case with this model as the console also comes attached with a hinge point on both ends. You simply wing the arms up, bolt a few places, swing the console, and bolt a few places. You do have to attach the screen but that is easy (like mountain a stand to a monitor).
You won’t have any trouble understanding the instructions and it also comes with oil for lubricating the belt (which is also clearly covered in the instructions as well).
There are plenty of controls from the panel that allow you to control the things you’d expect. Like speed, incline, programs (presets), and even track control (if you are using a thumb drive filled with music).
Speaking of music, you can use a thumb drive, analog (aux jack), or even Bluetooth. So you have options. The speakers are also not too bad either. They aren’t going to blow your mind and there is no bass to them, but that isn’t any surprise. We may try to remove the speakers and replace them with something else depending on how things are wired, but we tend to do that with many things we come across (just because we can). I’m sure that would void the warranty though, so you may want to consider that.
You can also control speed and incline from the hand rests/grips, which is a feature we wish every treadmill had. This way you don’t have to remove your hands from the sensors to control these common options. You’d think this would be a common feature for most models, but it really isn’t.
The preset programs it has available include your typical options like “burn fat”, “cardio”, “hill run”, and more. There are eight of them in total to choose from and all of them do their job well. The only one we couldn’t quite rap our mind around was “P4”, which is “Power Walk”. As it starts off with a walk, that grows into a fast walk, then a jog, and eventually running like hell. Thankfully, you don’t buy one of these to take things easy on yourself.
It does have an auto-off function, so you can step off and walk away when you are done without having to worry about turning anything off. Except for Bluetooth though as the Bluetooth is always on, even when the screen times out. So you will have to unpair your device from the device every time you are done using it. Or in our case, just turn the machine off in between uses anyway. So that your neighbors don’t try to connect to it for whatever reason. I say that because this was installed at one of our homes and not here at the office, and yes, one of the neighbors staying at an AirBNB next door did connect to it and tried playing content to it . Not bad for range, at least as that was pretty impressive.
The only thing that really caught our mind to point out was the stability of the unit while running. We find that it works best on hard floors like tile. If you use it on carpet or padding of any sort (we originally threw down a workout mat underneath to reduce weight imprints to the carpet). However, the top console wobbles a little as you run with all that cushion underneath. So we moved it to a tile section of the floor and it was MUCH better. It could use some more stability there though so it isn’t wobbling for those with carpet. It isn’t bad but it could be distracting if you have an iPad sitting there while you are watching something.
Our Conclusion
It’s a good treadmill for someone who doesn’t want to spend a lot on one of the bigger brands like NordicTrack. It isn’t the most stable treadmill when inclined, but keeping it on a hard-surface will help greatly. The options are plentiful and the controls on the arms are a big plus.
Also, at the time of writing this, it is on sale for $999, which makes it a bit more worth it. The price keeps coming down a little since we first came across it, which is great when it comes to keeping competitive with the big names.
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