Cubii jr Desk Elliptical Review – Low Impact Workout

Lately, there’s been a ton of research delving deep into the idea that sitting for long periods of time can be very detrimental to your health, some of the research carried out concluded “the average person sits 6-8 hours a day and during these long periods of sitting we increase our risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, and cancer” says the American Heart Association

Cubii jr Desk Elliptical

The obvious answer to combat the amount of time spent sitting would be to sit less but for many of you being able to sit less is not on the cards, especially for those of you who have a desk job, which is why 1000’s of people are buying a piece of exercise equipment for the office.

A mini elliptical like the Cubii jr Desk Elliptical hasn’t been designed to burn 1000’s of calories but what will do, and what it is designed to do is increase blood circulation, improve heart and lung health and strengthen muscles, all whilst sitting at work.

Calories

Calorie loss is still a very real target for many people buying a mini elliptical, and we’re not saying you won’t burn any, up to a 150 an hour can be lost on some of the higher resistance levels, but just be aware mini ellipticals and bikes can never offer the resistance levels of larger stationary upright bikes or ellipticals.

Why Choose The Cubii Jr?

The one major flaw with many mini ellipticals is the footplate height, although many claim they can be used under a desk, in reality, most people who buy them have trouble with their knees hitting the desk when working out.

The Cubii jr desk elliptical has been designed purposefully to fit under most desks, it has one of the lowest footplate heights of 10″ which makes it appealing to office workers everywhere.

The Cubii jr needs 3″ of clearance space above your knees to work comfortably under a desk.

It can be difficult to work out exactly if this machine will fit under your desk and we need to remember your height plays a part too. But don’t worry too much, Cubii offers a free return, up to 30 days after you have bought the elliptical, so if you have any trouble fitting the Cubii under your desk you can ask for a refund.

There is however a flip side to buying a mini elliptical solely designed for desk use, and I feel it’s a shame not to see this option on an elliptical costing this much, and that is the option of being able to use the Cubii in a standing position.

There’s only a couple of mini ellipticals available which offer the sit/stand option the Stamina In motion being one of them.

Using a mini elliptical standing will burn more calories and it’s certainly a nice option to have, but don’t let not having this option be a deal killer, the Cubii elliptical is one of the best under-desk ellipticals on the market, and if you plan to only use this thing in a seated position, then there really isn’t much better out there than the Cubii jr.

Cubii jr Video

Click here to check price Cubii jr on Amazon

Built-In LCD Display

A rather small built-in LCD display is provided with the Cubii jr, this will tell you time spent on the machine, distance traveled and calories burnt. The major problem here is you can not place the timer on the desk, so it’s going to be pretty tough trying to see your stats when exercising.

The only real use an LCD display provides is time spent on the machine, it’s always nice to be able to set goals of time spent using the machine on your current resistance level, this is easy enough to do with a stopwatch.

The reason I mention time as the only useful stat to know is that calorie counters on many of these machines will invariably be wrong, the machines have no idea of our weight etc, so calculations are a guess at best.

If you really need to see your stats when exercising, you can pay an extra $80 for the pro version of this machine, which offers Bluetooth connectivity so you can use your phone for keeping an eye on things, but for my money an extra $80 for the same machine with just the Bluetooth option added isn’t worth it.

Noise

The Cubii jr desk elliptical is one of the quietest machines available, it allows you to discreetly workout at home or work without disturbing people around you.

Stability

The Cubii jr is quite a heavy machine, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, extra weight normally gives any piece of home fitness equipment some much-needed stability, couple this with the useful wide stabilizing feet and you should have no issues with stability. The low profile design will also help with toppling issues.

Mini ellipticals are known to slip around a little on hard floors, Cubii have tried to combat this with rubber capped feet on the stabilizers.

Cubii also provide you with 2 chair locks to lock the machine to the office chair, but if you are still having problems with this thing slipping then I recommend you buy a slip mat for the machine, they can be found on Amazon for a few dollars.

Alternatives

Cubii Pro Under Desk Elliptical

The Cubii pro has all the excellent features of the jr including the all-important extra low pedal height, but with one slight difference.

The pro version is Bluetooth enabled, this means you can keep track of all your fitness statistics on your mobile. Allowing you to sync with FitBit and Apple HealthKit.

Why is the Bluetooth option worth having? As with many of the under desk ellipticals, the Cubii jr’s LSD screen is fixed to the machine, this makes seeing your progress stats almost impossible if using under a desk, with Bluetooth this problem is solved.

But is Bluetooth worth an extra $80-$100? I personally wouldn’t pay the extra cash just for a Bluetooth option and also by having Bluetooth the Cubii pro has to be plugged into the mains, meaning you have an annoying cable to deal with.

The Cubii Pro is a top rated machine and just like the Cubii jr one of the best for under desk exercising, but when you have the Cubii jr with the same build quality and useful features, I think many will now see the pro as overpriced.

FitDesk Mini Elliptical

We really like the FitDesk mini elliptical, it too has been purposefully designed for desk use.

Just like the Cubii pro and jr, the FitDesk has a very low footplate height allowing it to be used under most desks.

What I really liked about this machine was the foot shifter.

The foot shifter is a great little design feature which lets you change resistance levels using your foot, no more bending down to change settings. A nice touch form FitDesk

And like all the top mini ellipticals the FitDesk provides you with 8 resistance settings more than enough to suit most people’s needs. Again there’s no standing option with this mini elliptical, it has been designed for low impact office use. 

And lastly, the LCD display on this one can be moved from the machine and put on your desk.

Overall a great under-desk elliptical priced competitively.

To Sum Up

Anyone looking for a desk exerciser will not be disappointed with the Cubii jr, excellent build quality, 8 resistance levels, and the 10″ footplate height make the Cubii Jr Desk Elliptical stand out amongst the crowd. One of the only mini ellipticals you can use under a desk comfortably.