Sole E35 Elliptical Review

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Sole E 35 Elliptical Review

In this Sole E35 elliptical review article I share my evaluation of this well-designed cardio machine after product testing it at a local sporting goods store.

Sole E35 Elliptical Machine

Elliptical trainers or cross trainers provide a ton of health benefits, but one such plus is the fact that you can achieve a high-intensity cardio and strength training workout without putting strain on your joints.

Knees in particular can suffer from long stints on the treadmill which sends impact shocks up the leg with every step.

On an elliptical, your own body weight is the only pressure put on your ankles, knees, and hips.

Their ability to protect the joints while providing a varied and fantastic workout is just one of the reasons why people love them. 

Sole Elliptical Machines ad

If you are an elliptical lover but are sick of waiting for all the other fans to get off so you can have a turn in the gym, then buying one for your home is one option.

Ellipticals can really vary in price and quality though, so how do you know you’re getting the best features for your money.

If you’re considering getting a piece of fitness equipment that is as big as this, you’ll want to be sure that it’s all you’re ever going to need to get fit, stay fit and be your healthiest you. 

To help you make up your mind, we’ll share what it’s like to use one of the most popular ellipticals on the market and discuss its many features.

Now you’ll be able to tell for sure if the Sole E35 is the elliptical for you or not before you click “add to cart”. 

About Sole

Sole is a trusted fitness equipment brand that began decades ago. Now they are one of the go-to suppliers for hotel fitness equipment and work with hotels such as the Hilton chain.

Sole pride themselves on always seeking new ways to innovate and improve upon their existing quality items.

They also claim that they always prioritize the needs of their customers and will always choose integrity over an improved bottom line. 

In the About Us section on their website, they stress the importance of each valued customer to them, writing that “SOLE treats each customer like they know them personally, because they realize how important each customer is to overall and future success.”

Although Sole has its roots in supplying huge hotel conglomerates, they also offer single products for sale from their website for independent users or gyms.

They sell equipment from around the $700 mark to over $2000, but their quality is proven through their professional use in commercial hotel fitness suites.

Some people have suggested that Sole could double their prices and continue to sell a good number of their products.

However, the company chooses to keep their prices at an affordable price in the upper range for home workout equipment which reflects the quality of their products.

About Ellipticals

Sole E 35 Elliptical Review

Ellipticals use a gliding, continuous motion to mimic running without placing stress or strain on your joints. As we said earlier, this is just one of the well-known benefits of cross trainers, but it’s not an unimportant one.

Knees are one of the most common joints to experience injuries, particularly recurring injuries. Elliptical trainers provide a high-intensity, full-body workout while protecting the current and future health of your joints.

Here are another few benefits of using elliptical trainers:

  • Efficient calorie burning – ellipticals combine cardio exercise with toning and strength training which provides a super-efficient workout. Using compound movements that work all parts of the body, means that several large muscles are working at once. The more your muscles work, the more calories you burn overall.
  • Weight loss – This might not be your main reason for using an elliptical machine, but it is certainly one of the most popular reasons why people love them. They burn a lot of calories in a short space of time, so they are great for those who want to trim a bit of fat here and there, or everywhere, in fact. 
  • Cardio exercise– Cardio refers to exercise or activities that get your heart and blood circulation systems pumping. Regular cardio exercise can help keep your heart healthy and has been shown to be successful in preventing a heck of a lot of illnesses and diseases.
  • Strength and toning – Unlike the gym floor staples the treadmill and the exercise bike, cross trainers don’t just offer a good cardio workout. They incorporate an element of strength through resistance. Ellipticals use a combination of pedals for your feet and handles for your hands, in order to encourage the upper and lower body to work in conjunction with one another. Working the arms and the legs with an element of resistance can result in a toned physique when used regularly.
  • Cross-body workouts – Your feet operate the footholds which spin the machine like a bike, but you stand instead of sitting as on an exercise bike, so you also have gravity to contend with for the entirety of the workout. Your hands pull the handles to take on a portion of the work, which means it works your calves, hamstrings, glutes, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and back muscles all at once. It also encourages you to stabilize your core because there’s an element of balance as well as all the muscles contracting and lengthening to work the machine. Elliptical trainers offer a truly full-body workout like no other piece of equipment out there and you can see results in just a short space of time. This is largely due to the combined toning and cardio elements that build muscle while burning fat through calorie consumption. That is why you can never find a free one in the gym, we imagine. 

The Sole E35 Elliptical Trainer

It may have a premium price tag when compared to other ellipticals for home use, but that is because there is a huge range in quality for personal ellipticals.

Also bear in mind that these are designed for the commercial and hospitality market, so they are actually extremely reasonably priced, especially if you snag a Black Friday or January deal.

So about the E35 Elliptical. Here are some key features that make it so popular, despite the cost. 

Pros

  • Front-drive flywheel – Ellipticals have either front or rear flywheels which provide the continuous circular motion that makes it a low-impact cardio option for joints. 
  • 25lb flywheel – This means it’s a quality product that is going to be able to deliver a serious amount of resistance for endurance and strength training purposes. 
  • Quiet, smooth, running motion – this is a big consideration for a lot of people who have owned ellipticals in the past. You can expect that if you spend a couple of hundred dollars on a magnetic elliptical for working out at home, it’s going to start squeaking at some point. Especially if you haven’t used it in a while. The annoying squeaking sound will serve as a constant reminder of your inconsistency at exercising and no one needs that kind of negativity in their lives. You can bet that the Hilton Hotels wouldn’t put up with squeaking fitness equipment, though, so we expect this would be quiet to operate. 
  • Suitable up to 375 lbs – That’s 75 more lbs of user weight than the average home elliptical can boast, so it should be a pretty sturdy frame. 
  • Highest grade steel frame – Yep, we guessed it. The frame is also guaranteed for a lifetime, so if it ever breaks, you can get a replacement without a fuss. 
  • Eliminates all strain on the knee, ankle, and hip joints – That’s better than low impact. That’s zero impact on the joints and we are liking that.
  • Incline levels – This means you can vary the workout even more because you can change the level of incline. If you only use the elliptical on the flat, then your glutes don’t get nearly the same workout as when you’re climbing uphill. Now the elliptical has also replaced the need for a StairMaster or stepping machine as well as the treadmill and static bike. 
  • Bluetooth audio speakers – connect your smartphone or device to play your ultimate workout mix as you exercise. It also has a USB port to charge your device while you work.
  • Includes pre-set workouts – this means that whether you’re an enthusiastic beginner or a seasoned elliptical veteran there will be some workouts that are just right for you in terms of intensity and endurance. 
  • The integrated tablet holder means you can workout online – we don’t mean that you can exercise virtually, but you can stream online exercise classes on your device and follow the instructions that way. 
  • 7.5-inch display console – a backlit LCD console helps you to keep track of your performance. From the console you can track your heart rate, calories burned, the distance traveled, paces taken, and time spent on the machine.
  • Inbuilt cooling fan and bottle holder – it just makes sense.
  • Pulse sensors – the stationary handlebars have built-in heart rate sensors so you know how hard your heart is working.
  • Pedals can be adjusted between three positions to suit people of different sizes and gaits. It is recommended for users who are 5’3” up to 6’, although you’ll need to consider your own ceiling height if you’re tall. From personal experience we can also confirm that being over 5’2” is not a legitimate requirement for an elliptical.
  • For a machine this expensive you would want a good warranty to fall back on to protect your investment. Sole offers a lifetime warranty on the frame, 5-years on parts and electronic components, and 2-years for labor.
  • Sole also offer 0% finance options to help users pay for their products.

Cons

  • Assembly seems to have baffled a lot of users. Prepare for it to consume a lot of your time to set up or pay for expert assembly. 
  • The machine has only 10 pre-set workouts which are less than half the number of workout programs some ellipticals have that are half the price of this one. We imagine that being a hotel-based chain, at least to start with, people wouldn’t be needing too many options since guests wouldn’t be staying long enough to get bored with ten workouts.
  • The Sole company offers a 30-day money-back pledge which is notably less than the industry standard of 90 days. 
  • Some reviewers mention that the quality of the speakers is sub-par for a product of this caliber. 

What The Consumers Say

We have found many positive reviews and some negative ones too. In our experience, people are far more likely to complain when something goes wrong, especially with a top-range item, than compliment when something goes right, so this should be taken into account. 

The main problems that some reviewers noticed are: 

  • Squeaks or noisy running of the elliptical. That should not be a problem with a product of this price point, but then again nothing is ever perfect. It should be noted that many consumers reported that the elliptical was extremely quiet.
  • The poor sound quality of the speakers. Again, it’s not something that an occasional user in the hotel gym would have to worry about, but for an everyday workout companion, poor sound quality is likely to grate on the nerves after a while.
  • Poor customer service is more of a concern. Some already unhappy customers explained that they had been on hold for an extended period of time when they called to report issues with their products. Some reviewers found that the company was not willing to resolve their complainant’s issues at all. 

Final Thoughts

While there were dozens of happy E35 user reviews that we found, some of the pitfalls of the model and more specifically the Sole company were exposed.

While the E35 has many of the features you would expect from premium, commercial elliptical trainers such as the features of the LCD performance console, adjustable tension levels, and incline levels, we also found these features in other more affordable products. 

Some ellipticals around the 1 to 2 thousand dollar marks such as the 7.0 AE elliptical from Horizon Fitness or the Nordic track Commercial 9.9 have very similar features to brag about.

Other providers offer better prices, more inbuilt workouts, as well as longer warranties for the buyer.

While we acknowledge that the Sole E35 is widely considered to be a quality product that functions well as an elliptical trainer, we are not yet convinced that it is the best value for money option on the market.

About The Author

heydayDo author Greg Simon

Hi, I’m Gregory Simon. Fitness training & nutrition researching since 1982. ISSN (International Society of Sports Nutrition) Pro Member. MBA, B.Sc.

Author. Surfer. Organic food grower. Congenital heart disease survivor (so far).

heydayDo.com is my wellness blog that’s about encouraging a healthy lifestyle as we age. 

I share my fitness training experience as well as the sports science research I’ve done on the many benefits strength building, exercise, & good eating habits offer us. 

I also write review articles after product testing and evaluating home gym equipment & fitness supplements.

My hope is that you’ll find useful or encouraging information here on my website that will benefit your unique fitness journey.

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