Sole Fitness is a leading manufacturer of high quality, reasonably priced treadmills for homes and light commercial settings. This brand is distinguished partly for its folding treadmills, which are much higher quality than those from competing brands. Sole’s foldable treadmills are all built for home gyms yet feel like club-quality cardio trainers. The lone non-folding Sole treadmill, the TT8, is even more robust and carries warranties for light commercial and residential use.
All six Sole treadmills have been recently enhanced with Bluetooth connectivity for integrating the new Sole Fitness mobile app. This app lets the user’s tablet computer or smartphone serve as a control center for setting up treadmill workouts, recording exercise stats and sending the numbers to other apps. The Sole Fitness app is compatible with FitBit, MyFitnessPal and others designed for storing all fitness info in one location. And while your tablet computer runs the treadmill app in the background, you can use another app to watch a movie, read news or multitask during workouts.
All Sole treadmills have track lengths of at least 60″ to accommodate long running strides. The tread belts are extra thick for durability, even on the $999 F63. Each treadmill offers extra calorie burn and challenge with a 30-setting automated incline too. Other features shared across this year’s lineup are a top speed of 12 mph, a 10-program workout menu, and speakers for MP3s.
How are this year’s Sole treadmills different from each other? As the model numbers get bigger the horsepower increases from 3.0 CHP to 4.0 CHP. Screen size increases too, from 6.5″ to 10.1″. Get more info about similarities and differences from the Sole treadmill comparison chart below.
Check out our Sole Comparison Chart!
Sole treadmills consistently earn top reviews on our website and from customers. Satisfaction is guaranteed; shoppers get 30 day free trials. If a product isn’t pleasing, Sole Fitness refunds the entire purchase price plus shipping both ways as long as their return policy is followed. The Sole repair policy is impressive too; all repairs are performed in-home to save customers’ time and money.
What We Like:
- High-quality parts: Sole treadmills include many commercial-grade parts, even when they’re sold only with residential warranties. For example, all Sole treadmills have two-ply tracks and move over at least 2.5″ rollers. Smart engineering and great quality control help Sole treadmills outperform competitors in their price classes.
- Motors: Sole treadmill motors have up to 4.0 continuous horsepower. These are cooled by heavy-duty flywheels and are likely to last longer than motors with a comparable amount of horsepower. They are also surprisingly quiet.
- Track size: Sole treadmill tracks have up to 60″ x 22″ running areas.
- Decks: Sole’s CushionFlex technology has been proven to reduce joint impact by up to 40% when compared with road running. This outperforms the shock absorption offered by other brands. Additionally some Sole treadmills this year have CushionFlex Whisper Decks for extra noise control.
- Folding: Sole home treadmills can easily be folded to save space. A unique horseshoe design helps make Sole’s foldable treadmills just as sturdy as non-folding alternatives.
- Warranties: Sole warranties are among the best in the business. This year’s treadmills are paired with lifetime warranties on the frames and motors, at least three years of coverage for parts and electronics, and in-home or in-studio labor.
- Extras: Each Sole treadmill has an improved tablet holder, an MP3 port and speakers, a wireless heart rate receiver, cup holders, a utility tray and handlebar-based controls for speed and incline.
What We Don’t Like:
- Short handrails: Handrails are included for stability but don’t run the length of the machine. Some people might feel more secure with longer rails, which are usually only found on medical treadmills.
- Limited programs: Sole treadmills can’t download new workouts. However, two users can save custom-designed workouts to the console.
Our Verdict:
Sole Fitness is among the most respected treadmill brands for home gyms and light commercial settings. It’s known for prioritizing performance and reliability over flash, and Sole treadmills are regularly updated to stay competitive too. Recently updated, the Sole treadmill collection is more appealing than ever thanks to improved screen design, secure tablet computer holders, mobile fitness app integration, extra workout room and other upgrades. The F80 in particular appears on our list of treadmill best buys.
