Sole E20 Elliptical Review: low cost elliptical done right

Sole Fitness has never offered a great deal of tech with their ellipticals; they’re not like NordicTrack, who love to boast about their HD touchscreens. With Sole, you get well-made ellipticals, minimal tech, and great warranties. So don’t expect an amazing monitor with the Sole E20 Elliptical because you’ll be disappointed.

It’s certainly an elliptical worth taking a closer look at, and in today’s review, we’re looking at everything it offers, including any drawbacks. At the end of the review, I’ll compare the E20 with the Nautilus E616 elliptical, another fav of mine in this price range.

Why Do We Like The Sole E20 Elliptical?

You’d be surprised how cheap and unstable some ellipticals feel in this price range. They’re lightweight machines, with many of them weighing under 100lb. I’m sure a few of you would prefer something light because it makes moving the elliptical much easier, which is true, but that would be a big mistake.

Heavy is Always Best

You want a heavy elliptical. The weight of an elliptical, treadmill, or exercise bike is a telling sign of the quality of materials used in the build, and high-quality parts weigh more. Also, that extra weight aids stability. The heavier the elliptical, the more stable the machine is.

The Sole Fitness E20 elliptical weighs 168lb, which is heavy considering the price bracket, okay, it’s still a long way off the weight of commercial ellipticals that weigh over 300lb, but it’s a lot heavier than most of its competitors in this price range, and there’s easily enough weight there to keep everything stable.

This is a well-made machine from Sole Fitness, and it’s the build quality that sells it.

Click here to check the price of the E20 on Solefitness.com

Burn Twice as Many Calories With The 3 Level Manual Incline

Most ellipticals in this price bracket don’t come with a power incline which is a shame because it means you have to get off of the elliptical to change the incline manually. Still, a manual incline is better than nothing.

Build and Strengthen Your Glutes and Hamstrings

An incline feature is so important because it allows you to switch the focus of your workout from your anterior muscles, like your quads, to your posterior muscles, like your glutes and hamstrings.

Working the posterior muscles is a good thing because the hamstrings are three times the size of your quads, and the glutes are the largest muscle in your body, so every time these large muscles contract, they burn a ton more calories than the smaller muscle like your quads.

So yes, if you want to burn more calories and give those hard-to-train muscles like your glutes and hamstrings a really good workout, you’ll need an incline.

Basic Monitor – Easy To Use

This is a fairly basic monitor, which can be a good thing as it makes it super easy to use. You can basically access everything with a single touch of a button. Plus, you have those large quick-touch buttons for resistance and workout programs, which save time.

As I already mentioned in the intro, Sole Fitness doesn’t go to town on the tech, it’s all simple stuff, and even their high-end machines don’t include HD screens. Still, you get Bluetooth speakers, and this monitor boasts wireless capabilities for heart rate monitoring.

 Wireless Heart Rate Monitoring  – More Accurate

Wireless heart rate monitoring is much more accurate than the handlebar pulse sensors and is an essential feature for people who love to train in their chosen heart rate zone. However, Sole does not provide the HR chest/wrist strap, but the monitor is compatible with most straps on the market.

Overall, the monitor is okay, with quick touch buttons, wireless heart rate monitoring, Bluetooth speakers, 20 resistance levels, and eight workout programs.

And you have a tablet holder, so you can download a couple of free fitness apps or watch Netflix while you work out. This is a very quiet elliptical, so you won’t be disturbed by the sound of the machine.

18″ Stride Suitable For Users Up to 6’1″

The stride length of an elliptical is an important feature because it can affect how comfortable you feel on the elliptical. You don’t want a stride too short because it will restrict your movement.

An 18″ stride isn’t anything to shout home about. It’s what I’d expect to find in this price range. And it’s suitable for users up to 6’1″ with a minimum height of around 4’10”.

14.4lb Flywheel is it Enough?

I was hoping for something nearer the 20lb mark for the flywheel. However, you have a high gear ratio with the Sole Elliptical, which will help keep things smooth.

Still, 14.4lb isn’t impressive for the price. Usually, I wouldn’t recommend anything under 15lb for the flywheel weight because the weight of the flywheel can affect the smoothness of the elliptical motion.

It’s a borderline weight for the flywheel, but this is Sole Fitness, and you can trust them to get most things right, as it’s not just the weight that affects the elliptical motion.

Gear ratio, drive system, and resistance system all affect how smooth the elliptical motion will feel, and when we combine all of them, the Sole E20 is impressive, as it includes nearly all the essentials for a smooth elliptical motion, we’re just missing a few pounds of weight for the flywheel.

Quiet Enough To Use In An Apartment

Most ellipticals, including the Sole E20, use a magnetic resistance system. Magnetic resistance has always been the best choice for ellipticals because it helps keep the elliptical motion smooth, and it’s whisper quiet thanks to the magnets of the resistance system never having to make contact with the flywheel.

The perfect choice for apartments as you won’t disturb anyone else with the sound of your workouts, also this elliptical uses a belt drive system, which is something that is almost silent in operation and is much quieter than the chain drive systems you’ll find on some rowing machines and exercises bikes.

The Sole elliptical boasts 20 levels of resistance, but we have to remember this is Sole’s low-cost machine, so even in the upper levels, the resistance strength won’t be strong enough for serious athletes. This is an elliptical for beginners and intermediates.

And lastly, magnetic resistance is maintenance-free because the magnets make no contact with the flywheel; there’s no wear or tear.

Moving and Static Handlebars

The Sole elliptical has a moving pair of handles bars and a fixed pair. The fixed pair are excellent for beginners who have never used an elliptical. You can hold on to these while you get used to the elliptical motion, and once you feel confident, you can move on to the moving pair of handlebars for a full-body workout.

And there’s another use for the fixed pair. They allow you to focus fully on your lower body. I love to use the fixed pair and give my lower body an intense workout on a high-resistance setting.

The only downside is that the fixed pair of handles have built-in pulse sensors, which means you can’t monitor your pulse rate when using the moving pair unless you buy the HR chest strap and go wireless, which I recommend. HR chest/wrist straps are around $30 for a decent one.

1-Hour Assembly

Ellipticals are always a little tricky to assemble, more so than other fitness gear. It’s best to have someone help you to hold the parts in place. The good news is that most of the complicated stuff, like the drive and resistance system, already comes pre-assembled.

All you’ll have to do is attach the front and rear stabilizers, the mast, the console, and then the arms/handles, which takes around 1 hour for most people.

All tools for the job are included, so too is a fully illustrated manual.

Maintenance: There isn’t much maintenance with magnetic ellipticals; just remember to check for loose bolts every month and lubricate anything that squeaks

Alternative

Nautilus E616 Elliptical

Another elliptical im really impressed with in this price range is the E616 from Nautilus. Nautilus also own Schwinn, which is why their elliptical are very similar, but for some reason, Nautilus ellipticals get the most updates which is always a good thing.

What is best about his elliptical is its weight; it weighs 173lb, so just like the E20 from Sole, the Nautilus Elliptical is a sturdy machine and extra heavy for the price point. But perhaps what’s even more impressive is this elliptical boasts a 20″ stride which is excellent considering the price point.

A 20″ stride is the same length you’ll find on most commercial machines in your local gyms and is suitable for users up to 6’3″. Also, you have a 17lb flywheel which helps keep the elliptical motion smooth.

The monitor is more impressive than the Sole E20 as you get 29 workout programs and 25 resistance levels plus a power-adjustable incline.

However, you don’t get such a good warranty with this machine, and Nautilus are known for slow customer service.

But what you do get is a well-made elliptical with more features than the Sole E20 plus, the E616 comes with the HR chest strap, so you’ll save yourself a few bucks there too.

Currently, on offer for under $800, the E616 is well worth its price tag.

To Sum Up

Sole Fitness makes some of the best ellipticals on the market, and they always include an impressive warranty, a sign these guys stand behind their products and the E20, although their cheapest elliptical still carries the build quality of their high-priced machines, which is great to see.

There’s nothing major I can fault about the E20, overall, it’s a well-built elliptical for beginners and intermediates, and I’m happy to recommend it. The only slight drawback is the lack of power incline, and the flywheel is on the light side; not deal killers, but there are a few ellipticals out there, like the E616 from Nautilus, that offer a bit more.