Sole E35 Elliptical Reviews & Ratings

Overview: The Sole E35 elliptical is a step-up from the popular base E25 model, with a generous stride, low impact, power incline capability and wireless heart rate monitoring, among other great features and capabilities. It is a solid choice for those looking for a versatile, well-built cardio machine for their home gym.

Let’s take a look at some of the best features you’ll find…

Impressive Incline Capability

Something unique to all of the Sole ellipticals is their ability to incline up to 20%, something that you just don’t find often, especially at this price level. This allows you to really ramp up your training, giving you more of a cardio workout and also putting more emphasis on leg muscles that you don’t hit while training in the typical elliptical plane.

Grip and Wireless Heart Rate

The Sole E35 elliptical gives you the ability to monitor your heart rate in two ways: either via the hand grips or wirelessly for more accuracy. Oftentimes machines in this price range do not offer wireless monitoring, but it’s great to have, especially while using one of the built in heart rate control workouts.

High Max Weight Capacity

The E35 can accommodate up to 375 lbs, a testament to the durability of the machine, and again an impressive feature for this price. The machine is built solid and there’s a strong warranty to support it, one of the hallmarks of the Sole brand.

Eddy Current Brakes

The ECB resistance system on the E35 is smooth and quiet, with transitions from one resistance level to the next seamless and easy. Many machines in the category can be loud and clunky…not so with this one.

So those are just some of the great features you will find…there are plenty of others. But let’s get into the real meat and potatoes here…where we at the Guru put it to the test!

The Sole E35 Elliptical Test Drive

The Sole E35 elliptical has received numerous Best Buy awards and critics like these machines for their quality, high weight capacity and adjustable stride up to 20″. Experts also like the solid warranty that Sole offers which includes the typical lifetime frame along with 5 years for electronics and parts and 2 years of labor.

The new Bluetooth wireless technology recently added with the redesign allows more interactivity, something critics have been asking for for quite some time.

Users also have only positive things to say about the Sole E35 elliptical machine. Although it is a little above the $1000 mark on sale, it’s a nice step up from the base E25 model, and they say it is worth the extra few hundred bucks to get a solid machine with a lot of great features. They echo the experts in that they like the sturdiness of the machine as well as the adjustable stride that users really appreciate.

OK…so how do WE feel about it? As with many of the other Sole ellipticals, we like this one a lot, especially for the beginner to intermediate crowd. It’s their mid range model and it definitely offers the best value in our opinion.

It has a very heavy 25 lb flywheel (smoother motion) and as we mentioned great incline adjustability up to 20 degrees to really hit the different muscle groups. The fan is a nice touch and the foot pedals are very comfortable and tilt/adjust for maximum comfort.

Most importantly, we enjoyed the workout on the E35 as it mimicked the feel of some of the more expensive machines. At the end of the day what matters most is whether or not you work up a sweat and really feel like you got a good work out in. The Sole E35 hits all the right notes in that department.

We liked the new Bluetooth wireless capability allowing us to track and sync our workouts, something you could not do previously. You can use the Sole app or one of four different popular fitness apps to sync your data. This addition will definitely help them compete against other brands that offer more machine interactivity.

This technology is now on all models, including the E55 which was one of the latest models to include it.

Of course we need to point out some drawbacks of the Sole E35 elliptical to make this a truly unbiased review. These are by no means deal breakers, but rather some things that we’d like to see that are not currently there.

For starters, the display, although it gives you everything you need, is rather basic. It would be nice to see something a little more advanced, perhaps even a touch screen like we’re starting to see elsewhere.

Also, although it is a nice array of workouts, there are only 10 built into all of the Sole ellipticals. Would be nice to have a few more, and you can often find 20 or more on similarly priced machines. Plus with competitors like NordicTrack you have even more workouts through their iFit interface.

But again, these are not really negatives…rather just some additional features that we would love to see on future Sole E35 models.

Conclusion

This popular elliptical from Sole Fitness, is a solid machine if you’re looking in the mid range area. It offers features that you often find on machines that are much more expensive, so it’s a good choice if you’re looking to spend under $1500 on a home exercise machine.

If you want something a little more durable for heavier use, consider one of the higher end models, including the space-friendly E55 and the E95.