Outdoors & Fitness
The Best Elliptical Trainers: 4 Compared (and One to Skip)
We compared four current home ellipticals on stride feel, resistance, incline, build quality, tech, and long-term value.
The verdict in 30 seconds
What mattered most
- Stride length & feel
- Resistance & flywheel
- Incline
- Console & tech
- Build & max user weight
- Subscription needed?
A good elliptical gives you low-impact cardio that spares your knees, but the gap between models is wider than the showroom photos suggest — it comes down to stride length, flywheel weight, incline, and whether the good features hide behind a subscription. We pulled together independent testing and owner reports on four machines buyable in 2026. Two are easy recommendations, one is genuinely excellent but only if you'll use its ecosystem, and one is best left on the shelf unless price is the only thing that matters.
A heavy, quiet, subscription-free elliptical that just works — our top pick for most homes.
Best for: Anyone who wants a durable, no-nonsense machine they'll keep for years without paying a monthly fee.
- Heavy flywheel and roomy 20-inch stride give a smooth, natural glide reviewers consistently praise
- Whisper-quiet magnetic resistance and a high 350-lb user capacity suit almost anyone
- Standout lifetime frame warranty and free companion app with no mandatory subscription
- Large, heavy footprint that's a chore to move once assembled
- Touchscreen and software feel less polished than the interactive-fitness brands
The value sweet spot: power incline, plenty of resistance, and an optional app that isn't forced on you.
Best for: Budget-conscious buyers who still want incline and program variety without a premium price.
- Motorized incline plus a wide range of resistance levels give real workout variety for the money
- 20-inch stride and multiple built-in programs cover most fitness levels
- Works fully offline; the JRNY app is optional, not required
- Basic backlit display rather than a true touchscreen
- Owners occasionally report missing assembly hardware and fiddly setup
A brilliant adjustable-stride trainer — if you'll actually pay for and use the iFIT ecosystem it's built around.
Best for: Enthusiasts who want variable stride and guided classes and are happy to commit to the subscription.
- Free-floating stride adapts from a short step-like motion out to a long 32-inch glide, a genuinely unique feel
- Large HD touchscreen with trainer-led classes and both incline and decline
- Combines elliptical, stepper and strider motion in one frame
- The best content lives behind an ongoing iFIT subscription; value drops sharply without it
- Reviewers note the incline motor is loud, and it's a big, heavy machine
- Priciest option here by a wide margin
A stable, honest budget machine you're likely to outgrow — fine as a first elliptical, limiting as a keeper.
Best for: Tight budgets and light, occasional use — or a compact first machine you don't mind replacing later.
- Genuinely stable for the price, with a reassuring lifetime frame warranty
- Simple, reliable operation and quiet magnetic resistance
- Bluetooth speakers are a nice extra at this tier
- Short 18-inch stride can feel cramped for taller users
- Light flywheel and only a handful of resistance levels and programs limit long-term challenge
- No incline and a bare-bones LCD display
| Criteria | Sole E35 Elliptical Top pick | Schwinn 490 Elliptical | NordicTrack FreeStride Trainer FS14i | Horizon Fitness EX-59 Elliptical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Buy it | Buy it | It depends | Skip it |
| Best for | Anyone who wants a durable, no-nonsense machine they'll keep for years without paying a monthly fee. | Budget-conscious buyers who still want incline and program variety without a premium price. | Enthusiasts who want variable stride and guided classes and are happy to commit to the subscription. | Tight budgets and light, occasional use — or a compact first machine you don't mind replacing later. |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$ · mid-range | $$$$ · flagship | $ · budget |
| Stride length & feel | 20 in — smooth, natural glide | 20 in — comfortable, steady | Adjustable 0–32 in — versatile | 18 in — can feel cramped |
| Resistance & flywheel | Heavy flywheel, wide range | Ample range for most | Wide range, adaptive | Light flywheel, limited levels |
| Incline | Power ramp incline | Power incline | Incline and decline | None |
| Console & tech | 10-inch touchscreen + app | Backlit LCD + optional app | Large HD touchscreen | Basic LCD + Bluetooth speakers |
| Build & max user weight | Very sturdy, 350 lb | Sturdy, high capacity | Very heavy, commercial-feel | Stable but light-duty |
| Subscription needed? | No — free app | No — app optional | Best features need iFIT | No — minimal tech |
| Warranty | Lifetime frame, strong parts | Solid frame & parts | Long frame, shorter parts/labor | Lifetime frame |
| Price tier | $$$ · premium | $$ · mid-range | $$$$ · flagship | $ · budget |
Which one is right for you?
- Anyone who wants a durable, no-nonsense machine they'll keep for years without paying a monthly fee. Buy it Sole E35 Elliptical
- Budget-conscious buyers who still want incline and program variety without a premium price. Buy it Schwinn 490 Elliptical
- Enthusiasts who want variable stride and guided classes and are happy to commit to the subscription. It depends NordicTrack FreeStride Trainer FS14i
- Tight budgets and light, occasional use — or a compact first machine you don't mind replacing later. Skip it Horizon Fitness EX-59 Elliptical
How we judged the field
We don’t run our own lab. Instead we synthesize independent testing, expert hands-on reviews, and aggregated owner reports to find where the consensus lands — and where it splits. For ellipticals, a handful of things separate a machine you’ll keep from one you’ll resent: stride length and how natural the motion feels, flywheel weight and the smoothness it buys, whether there’s motorized incline for variety, the honesty of the console and any app, build quality and stability under load, warranty, and — increasingly — whether the good features are locked behind a subscription. We weighed all four machines on those criteria and, just as importantly, on value at their actual price tier. A budget machine isn’t judged against a flagship; it’s judged on whether it’s the right buy for the person shopping at that price.
Sole E35 Elliptical — buy
The E35 is the one we’d steer most people toward. Its heavy flywheel and 20-inch stride produce the kind of smooth, planted glide reviewers keep coming back to, and the magnetic resistance is quiet enough to use without waking the house. A 350-pound user capacity and a lifetime frame warranty signal a machine built to last, and crucially the companion app is free — there’s no monthly fee gating the basics. It’s large and heavy, and the touchscreen software isn’t as slick as the interactive-fitness brands, but as a durable, subscription-free workhorse it’s hard to beat.
Schwinn 490 Elliptical — buy
The 490 is the value play. It brings motorized incline and a wide spread of resistance levels — the ingredients for genuine workout variety — at a mid-range price that undercuts the premium field. The 20-inch stride suits most body types, and the built-in programs mean you’re not dependent on an app, though the optional JRNY software is there if you want it. You give up a true touchscreen for a simpler backlit display, and some owners report missing assembly hardware, so check the parts bag first. For the money, it delivers most of what the pricier machines do.
NordicTrack FreeStride Trainer FS14i — it depends
On paper the FS14i is the most capable machine here. Its free-floating design lets the stride adapt from a short, stepper-like motion out to a long 32-inch glide, it adds both incline and decline, and the large HD touchscreen streams trainer-led classes. The catch is that the experience is built around iFIT: skip the subscription and you’re paying flagship money for a fraction of what makes it special. Reviewers also flag a loud incline motor and a big, heavy footprint. If you’ll commit to the ecosystem and use the classes, it’s superb — if you won’t, buy something cheaper.
Horizon Fitness EX-59 Elliptical — skip
The EX-59 isn’t a bad machine; it’s a budget one, and it’s honest about it. Stability is a real strength at this price, the magnetic resistance is quiet, the Bluetooth speakers are a pleasant extra, and the lifetime frame warranty is reassuring. But the shorter 18-inch stride can feel cramped for taller users, the lighter flywheel and limited resistance levels cap how far you can push, and there’s no incline. Owner reports and independent testing both frame it as a solid first elliptical rather than a long-term keeper. Buy it only if price is the hard constraint — otherwise the Schwinn 490 is worth the step up.
Sole E35 vs Schwinn 490: which should you buy?
This is the decision most shoppers actually face. The Sole E35 is the more substantial machine: a heavier flywheel, a higher user-weight capacity, a bigger touchscreen, and a lifetime frame warranty give it a premium, built-for-the-long-haul feel. The Schwinn 490 answers with motorized incline, plenty of resistance and program variety, and a meaningfully lower price. If you want the sturdiest, quietest machine you can keep for a decade and the premium price doesn’t scare you, get the Sole. If you want roughly 85 percent of that experience — including incline the Sole matches but many rivals don’t — for noticeably less, the Schwinn is the smarter spend. Neither locks its core features behind a subscription, which is why they take our top two spots.
What to look for
- Stride length: aim for around 20 inches unless you’re short; 18 inches can feel cramped, and adjustable stride is a bonus for shared households.
- Flywheel weight: heavier generally means smoother; a light flywheel feels choppy and caps intensity.
- Incline: motorized incline adds real variety and targets different muscles — worth prioritizing over flashy screens.
- Subscription honesty: check whether the machine is fully usable offline, or whether its best features need an ongoing fee.
- Build and capacity: a high user-weight rating and a strong frame warranty are good proxies for durability.
- Footprint: measure your space; these are large and heavy, and the good ones don’t move easily once built.
Our final take
Buy the Sole E35 if you want one elliptical to keep for years — it’s the heavy, quiet, well-warrantied, subscription-free pick that satisfies the widest range of people. Choose the Schwinn 490 if you want most of that value, including incline, for a mid-range price. Consider the NordicTrack FS14i only if you’re genuinely going to use iFIT, because that’s what you’re really paying for. And skip the Horizon EX-59 unless budget is the deciding factor and you’re comfortable outgrowing it. Match the machine to how you’ll actually use it, and any of the top three will serve you well.
Questions, answered
Does a longer stride length actually matter?
Yes, especially for taller users. A short stride around 18 inches can force a choppy, cramped motion, while 20 inches feels closer to a natural walk or run. The NordicTrack's adjustable stride goes further, letting you shorten it for a stepper-like motion or lengthen it out to a long glide, which is useful if multiple people of different heights share the machine.
Do I need to pay a monthly subscription to use these?
Only if you want to. The Sole E35, Schwinn 490 and Horizon EX-59 all work fully on their own — Sole and Schwinn offer companion apps you can use or ignore. The NordicTrack FS14i technically runs without a subscription, but most of its value is the iFIT trainer-led content, so owners who skip iFIT are paying flagship money for a fraction of the experience.
Why is the Horizon EX-59 a 'skip' if it's well built?
It's a fine machine for the price and stability is a real strength, but it's built to a budget: a shorter stride, a lighter flywheel, fewer resistance levels, no incline, and a basic display. Independent testing and owner reports frame it as a solid entry point rather than a machine you'll be happy with for years. If your budget allows, stepping up to the Schwinn 490 buys noticeably more room to grow.
Are ellipticals really easier on the joints than a treadmill?
For most people, yes. Because your feet never leave the pedals, an elliptical removes the repeated impact of running, which owners with sensitive knees, hips or ankles frequently cite as the reason they switched. The trade-off is that the fixed motion can feel less 'natural' than running, and it works slightly different muscles.
How much space and effort does assembly take?
All four have a sizable footprint — roughly the length of a small sofa — and the premium models are heavy, so plan the final location before you build. Front-drive designs like the Sole tend to be more compact front-to-back. Owners report assembly generally takes a couple of hours; several Schwinn buyers mention double-checking the hardware bag first, since missing screws are an occasional complaint.
