Famistar Adjustable Dumbbells: What To Know Before You Buy

The Famistar Adjustable Dumbbell is a mid-weight adjustable dumbbell best suited to beginners and intermediate lifters. It’s a fairly cheap dumbbell, with a few drawbacks, like a ton of plastic in the design and long handles. Still, these drawbacks affect most sets of adjustable bells, even a few high-end sets, and while they are not deal stoppers, they are something worth thinking about.

Smooth Fast Weight Changes

Despite a few minor issues, there’s a lot to like about the Famistar Dumbbells. I love that there’s no plate movement when lifting, as plate rattle and movement is a problem with most affordable sets. It was a nice surprise to find a solid dumbbell in this price range, and most importantly, the weight changes are smooth and fast thanks to its twist-lock adjustment system.

Includes Comparison With Bowflex 552 Dumbbells

In today’s review, I’m going to take a close look at everything this dumbbell from Famistar has to offer including those minor drawbacks. Also at the end of the review, I thought it would be interesting to compare the Famistars with the best sellers the Bowflex 552 adjustable dumbbells to see how they match up.

First a quick look at the FamiStar Adjustbale Dumbbell product specs!

Why Do We Like The Famistar Adjustable Dumbbells?

If you want to perform advanced bodybuilding techniques such as drops sets etc., that require fast weight changes, you’ll need an adjustable dumbbell with a speedy adjustment system. Some of the more expensive sets like the PowerBlocks and the Ironmaster dumbbells have slow adjustment times. The Powerblock uses 2.5lb cylinders in the handle that can take a while to change, and the Ironmaster dumbbells are plate loaded, taking more time than any adjustable dumbbell on the market.

The Famistars use a twist-lock adjustment system; first seen on the Core Fitness Fitness dumbbells, the twist-lock system is the fastest adjustment system out there.

It’s so quick that it takes only a second to adjust. You can perform any advanced or basic bodybuilding technique with this super-fast system. The twist-lock system of the Famistar dumbbells only requires a single hand to change weight. Just twist your wrist to the desired weight you want to lift. It’s that easy.

Make Sure To Sit The Dumbbell Fully In Its Storage Tray

Still, for smooth weight changes, you need to remember to make sure the Famistar dumbbell is sitting in the storage tray fully. Changing the weight is troublesome if it’s not pushed down fully into the tray. 

Replaces 5 Sets of Fixed Weight Dumbbells

Something else I like about this set of bells from Famistar is that they save you a ton of space. Replacing five sets of fixed weight dumbells; handy if you’re tight on space in your home gym.

Click here to check price of Famistar Adjustable Dumbbells on Amazon

Is There Too Much Plastic?

Plastic is something that sadly can’t be avoided with nearly all the fast-to-adjust dumbbells. Some have more plastic in their design than others, but unless you want to pay over $500 for a fast selectable like the Snode AD-50s? Plastic is something you have to live with.

The Famistar adjustable dumbbells have plastic in their handles, the adjustment system, and plastic casings for the weight plates. That’s a lot of plastic. Usually, the plastic casings on the weight plates crack first if you drop dumbbells like this, and once cracked, it makes the dumbbell almost impossible to use.

The scary thing is drops aren’t covered in the warranty of any adjustable dumbbells, including the Famistars, so you’ll need to be extra careful not to drop one.

This means no training to failure and dropping your dumbbells on that last killer rep. I recommend you avoid any drops from height. They’ll handle 6″ drops but nothing higher.

Nearly 18″ Fixed Length Handle

My least favorite thing about the Famistar’s is the handle length. At nearly 18″, this is a long handle. The Famistar dumbbells use a fixed-length handle. A fixed-length handle is a handle that stays the same size no matter how much weight you’re lifting. Whether it’s 6lb or 44lb, the length of the handle stays the same.

I’ve never liked long fixed-length handles. They’re awkward to train with, especially when setting up for exercises. Even performing presses can be a headache. There’s not much you can do about the long handles except get used to them. You will adapt to the handle length over time; it takes a few weeks. Not a deal killer, but it is worth mentioning.

If you want a compact, more natural feeling adjustable dumbbell, you need to look for an adjustable dumbbell whose handle only increases in length when more weight is added. 

Large Weight Increases

Ideally, for dumbbells, we really shouldn’t go any higher than 5lb for the weight increments. Anything higher than this can slow your progress, cause you to cheat on your form, and at worse, cause an injury.

For Bodybuilding, small weight increases are one of the keys to progress no matter what exercise or what equipment you’re using. The 9lb increments of this dumbbell might be too big a jump even for seasoned lifters, let alone beginners. The increase in load to continue adapting is too large, especially for isolation exercises.

Large weight increases have always been an issue with the cheaper adjustable dumbbells. It’s something you can’t avoid with the heavier 44lb sets and 50lb sets. Depending on your training schedule, the 9lb increments of the Famistar dumbbells could well be a deal killer.

Alternative

Bowflex 552 Adjustable Dumbbells

The Bowflex 552 Dumbbells have been around for over a decade and have outsold almost every other adjustable dumbbell on the market. So what makes the Bowflex 552s so popular? Bowflex are a well-respected brand, and their reputation for producing high-quality products has contributed to the high sales of the 552s.

But perhaps whats best about the 552s and what makes them so appealing is that they adjust in increments of 2.5lb up to 25lb and then 5lb increments up to 52.5lb. The smaller weight increases are perfect for fast progression in bodybuilding, and they are also great for beginners just getting into lifting.

Another impressive feature of the Bowflex dumbbells is the weight selection dial system. It’s fast and easy to use. They were the first company to produce a fast-to-adjust selectable dumbbell, and this system also helped make them so popular when they first came out all those years ago. Since then, there have been many clones of the Bowflex set.

So we know the Bowflex 552s boast small weight increments, they’re fast to adjust, and of course, the quality is there. Still, just like most selectable dumbbells on the market, the Bowflex 552s also have their drawbacks because, similar to the Famistar dumbbells the Bowflex also have a ton of plastic in their design. Plastic in the handle, adjustment system, and plastic casings for the weight plates means they’re another dumbbell set you have to be careful not to drop.

Also, we have the long fixed length handles with the Bowflex making them awkward to train with at first. The only major difference between the Bowflex 552s and the Famistar dumbbells is that the Bowflex can boast smaller weight increases.

Are the small weight increases worth the extra $? Yes, I think so, especially if you want to progress properly when lifting at home. Think about it this way the Bowflex replaces 15 sets of fixed weight dumbbells, the Familstar only 5.

And the Bowflex cost $399 for a pair which is about $100 more than a pair of Famistars. Not a huge difference and the quality is also higher with the Bowflex.

To Sum Up

I don’t want to be too negative about the Famistar Adjustable Dumbbells; as for the price, I think they are a nice solid set of adjustables. I particularly like the Twist lock adjustment system super fast, taking just one second to adjust. Also, they don’t feel cheap, many users have mentioned they feel solid and high quality for the price.

And you can live the plastic as I mentioned it’s almost unavoidable with sets like this just be careful. The long handles you can get used to. The only thing that really holds the Famistar dumbbells back for me is the 9lb weight increments. I feel they are too big a jump for most lifters, even seasoned lifters would shy away from weight increases this large. Still, if the increments of 9lb are something you can live with? Then under $300 is a great buy for a 44lb well-made twist-lock dumbbell pair.

NB. sold in singles