The bad: Theres a pretty useless/low quality bluetooth speaker system installed in the thing that you can NOT turn off // and whose volume is set to absurdly LOUD . there is nothing in the pamphlet about how to disconnect it and ultimately (months later) they got back to me and confirmed there is no way to do it. Their only suggestion was to make sure I kept it connected it to a bluetooth device in my apartment to keep it from randomly connecting to other apartments or passing cars // which was a massive FAIL, because even when that works itll start buzzing. So if you leave it on occasionally the thing will just start to squawk and buzz and is generally annoying and useless.
Bought this Nov 18th, 2020. To a certain extent youre getting what you paid for. My thinking when buying was that as long as this thing lasts through the pandemic then Id have gotten my moneys worth. I bought it during a black friday sale for about 250 total with free shipping, so great deal right? . at least until I started searching for Costway treadmills instead of only to find thats about the normal price at other sellers. As other buyers have also noted, the treadmill is really not a , as youll discover when it arrives (the box and the documentation all say costway, only the title says ).
Happily UPS delivered it right to my apartment up 3 flights by which I could not have done myself. But once here it was a fairly simple task to get it out of the box (you have to have tools capable of snapping the bands that enclose it, and hands strong enough to tear open the box // Im in the my 50s and have mild mobility issues) . and to wheel it the short distance to the location I wanted (there are wheels attached to one end) in my living room facing my TV (the sellers have said it is safe to plug it into a high quality powerstrip/extension cord).
Also as noted elsewhere the instruction manual is laughable. Whoever translated it from the Chinese clearly doesnt have a fluent grasp of english, so you have to struggle to understand it. and it seems more concerned with avoiding liability for them than explaining practicalities to you. Youll need to get on youtube to learn about the care and feeding of a treadmill // bringing in a professional repair guy a) breaks lockdown, and b) will cost about as much as the machine and from what Ive learned on line the upkeep is monthly (oiling and cleaning below the underside of the belt).
Regarding the remote control: you better hold on tight to it and cherish it or the treadmill wont work // as theres no secondary way to start it or adjust the speed. I asked the sellers about getting replacement remotes which they promised would be possible (at some point) only to then be simply ignored following any questions about HOW to buy it as I now needed one // and this included me going to other online stores that are selling it and asking there. Ultimately I finally found the missing remote after losing it the very first day (its tiny and I had been trying to use it while simultaneously walking on the treadmill when it // and almost me // went flying and it ended up hidden for a few days). I STRONGLY suggest doing 2 things day one, first, get one of those 3M velcro stickers and stick the thing someplace you can reach it while on the treadmill // I stuck it to the attached bars iphone stand. ALSO invest in one of those pricey GPS TAG things which you can link to your smartphone so that if it does go flying, as mine did. you can have the tag play a tune allowing you to find the remote.
Also the treadmills bar is placed in such a way that there is NO WAY to walk on the moving treadmill and use it for support // its only practical use is someplace to put your cell phone (and its tray is too narrow to do that well); the treadmills really is designed for under a desk and walking rather than running // which explains the placement of the short 4 foot cord is at the front of the device rather than the back. To that end, I ended up putting a very heavy high back chair to one side of the treadmill that I could rest a hand on to steady myself while walking. Keep in mind if you try to steady yourself by grabbing a bookcase or some such, the thing could fall down and crush you.
The day it first arrived I wrongly ASSUMED I could just use it out of the box (theres nothing in the instructions about the need for oiling it first) and it was only after about a week when I started to feel my feet slipping dangerously underneath me as I walked /// I wrongly thought I had gotten something slipper on the top of the track, but it was the track getting stuck and then releasing // so that I had to get on line and find the various Youtube videos explaining how to address a slipping treadmill track. Also, the belt for walking on was way off to one side when it arrived so I had to figure out how to center it // the instruction thing does talk about that but the english is hard to understand.
That all said. Ive not only managed to improve my physical fitness during lockdown, but am also getting my 10k+ steps per day in without leaving my one bedroom.
good for pandemic // sound is biggest problem
The bad: Theres a pretty useless/low quality bluetooth speaker system installed in the thing that you can NOT turn off // and whose volume is set to absurdly LOUD . there is nothing in the pamphlet about how to disconnect it and ultimately (months later) they got back to me and confirmed there is no way to do it. Their only suggestion was to make sure I kept it connected it to a bluetooth device in my apartment to keep it from randomly connecting to other apartments or passing cars // which was a massive FAIL, because even when that works itll start buzzing. So if you leave it on occasionally the thing will just start to squawk and buzz and is generally annoying and useless. Bought this Nov 18th, 2020. To a certain extent youre getting what you paid for. My thinking when buying was that as long as this thing lasts through the pandemic then Id have gotten my moneys worth. I bought it during a black friday sale for about 250 total with free shipping, so great deal right? . at least until I started searching for Costway treadmills instead of only to find thats about the normal price at other sellers. As other buyers have also noted, the treadmill is really not a , as youll discover when it arrives (the box and the documentation all say costway, only the title says ). Happily UPS delivered it right to my apartment up 3 flights by which I could not have done myself. But once here it was a fairly simple task to get it out of the box (you have to have tools capable of snapping the bands that enclose it, and hands strong enough to tear open the box // Im in the my 50s and have mild mobility issues) . and to wheel it the short distance to the location I wanted (there are wheels attached to one end) in my living room facing my TV (the sellers have said it is safe to plug it into a high quality powerstrip/extension cord). Also as noted elsewhere the instruction manual is laughable. Whoever translated it from the Chinese clearly doesnt have a fluent grasp of english, so you have to struggle to understand it. and it seems more concerned with avoiding liability for them than explaining practicalities to you. Youll need to get on youtube to learn about the care and feeding of a treadmill // bringing in a professional repair guy a) breaks lockdown, and b) will cost about as much as the machine and from what Ive learned on line the upkeep is monthly (oiling and cleaning below the underside of the belt). Regarding the remote control: you better hold on tight to it and cherish it or the treadmill wont work // as theres no secondary way to start it or adjust the speed. I asked the sellers about getting replacement remotes which they promised would be possible (at some point) only to then be simply ignored following any questions about HOW to buy it as I now needed one // and this included me going to other online stores that are selling it and asking there. Ultimately I finally found the missing remote after losing it the very first day (its tiny and I had been trying to use it while simultaneously walking on the treadmill when it // and almost me // went flying and it ended up hidden for a few days). I STRONGLY suggest doing 2 things day one, first, get one of those 3M velcro stickers and stick the thing someplace you can reach it while on the treadmill // I stuck it to the attached bars iphone stand. ALSO invest in one of those pricey GPS TAG things which you can link to your smartphone so that if it does go flying, as mine did. you can have the tag play a tune allowing you to find the remote. Also the treadmills bar is placed in such a way that there is NO WAY to walk on the moving treadmill and use it for support // its only practical use is someplace to put your cell phone (and its tray is too narrow to do that well); the treadmills really is designed for under a desk and walking rather than running // which explains the placement of the short 4 foot cord is at the front of the device rather than the back. To that end, I ended up putting a very heavy high back chair to one side of the treadmill that I could rest a hand on to steady myself while walking. Keep in mind if you try to steady yourself by grabbing a bookcase or some such, the thing could fall down and crush you. The day it first arrived I wrongly ASSUMED I could just use it out of the box (theres nothing in the instructions about the need for oiling it first) and it was only after about a week when I started to feel my feet slipping dangerously underneath me as I walked /// I wrongly thought I had gotten something slipper on the top of the track, but it was the track getting stuck and then releasing // so that I had to get on line and find the various Youtube videos explaining how to address a slipping treadmill track. Also, the belt for walking on was way off to one side when it arrived so I had to figure out how to center it // the instruction thing does talk about that but the english is hard to understand. That all said. Ive not only managed to improve my physical fitness during lockdown, but am also getting my 10k+ steps per day in without leaving my one bedroom.