ProForm - Carbon E7 - Black

The best elliptical ever! I bought it to pair it with my proform C7 threadmill, after the pandemic we decided to build an in home gym, it was really easy to assembly, I did it myself and took me about 1.5hrs, just needed some help at the end to set up the board part. This equipment paired with iFit makes them one the best! The buid quality and material are outstanding, if you're looking to increase your exercising, it's really easy of getting hooked with the iFit challenges, they will keep you looking forward the next one! I highly recommend this equipment.

If I could go back in time, I would not make this purchase. It took less than a year to break which means my warranty is active but I am doubtful it will be fixed before it expires, I feel like the are purposely delaying it to run out my warranty so they don't have to fix it. I used LiveChat, emailing, and calling iFIT/ProForm and still have a broken machine. It took about a week of talking to them for them to believe my machine was broken, they initially were going to charge me to have a technician come out and look at it. Once I FaceTimed with the parts department after being transferred twice and on hold for a while, they finally saw how broken it was. Due to it being under warranty, they sent me new parts and said a technician would call me in 3-5 business days to schedule an appointment. 5 business days came and went so I called again and they said it would actually be 7-10 business days. 10 business days have passed and I still have no call from a technician or an explanation as to why it is taking so long. My emails are being ignored and marked as resolved in their system without ever contacting me. This piece of equipment costs over $1000 after taxes, so obviously people are invested in it functioning correctly, but they don't seem to understand that. Being told to keep waiting is extremely frustrating. Beginning in November I was working out every day and now I haven't been able to use my machine for over a month. I loved the iFIT workouts, but without a machine it feels worthless so I am trying to get my plan refunded. To anyone thinking of purchasing, I would shell out a little more money for a better model from a brand with better customer service. This is not worth $1000 given how easily it broke. I used it for iFit workouts 124 times which averages about to $8 per use. A gym membership would have been cheaper. I'm not sure if ProForm was hoping people would use it more as a coat rack than a piece if exercise equipment but it sure feels that way. Even if anyone ever does come to fix it, I am afraid it will break again. It is not a great feeling to be worried to push yourself while using expensive exercise. I have attached pictures of the inside of my machine (customer service/the parts department asked me to remove the external cover). You can see that thick pieces of metal have dents, the plastic has scratches and dents, and there is a lot of damage for a machine that is less than a year old.

I wasn’t expecting to much because of how much I love the elliptical at the gym. This machine exceeded my expectations! I am in shock of how challenging it it’s! You get a free year ifit subscription, after that you have to pay. I just got my elliptical last week so I haven’t had to pay yet but I can tell you, it’s well worth it!! The trainer kicks my butt! I have learned new elliptical workouts that I wouldn’t even imagine, full body works. I don’t regret this purchase. I love it!

I really want to give this at least 4 stars, but the fact is, after spending hours meticulously assembling this with my partner, the WiFi won’t stay connected and the fan doesn’t work. It’s a great machine, but it is incredibly frustrating having to make a warranty order for a new device. If the new part doesn’t resolve the problem, then I’m forced to return it. The device depends on WiFi working for it to operate properly and it renders it useless. Regardless, I have tried to use the machine for exercise purposes without tracking my results and it makes a thud sound on the left side whenever I’m inclined. I’d expect this for something half the price, but not for something in the grand range.

First, let me say that I paid the extra fee to have it delivered and put together by Best Buy installers, and they were fantastic. Fast, friendly, and knowledgeable, so nothing but praise for them. It's not that I'm technically challenged--I love getting new tech and learning about it. I'm the kinda person who jailbreaks my phone and takes apart my own laptops to clean and upgrade them. I just figured if I was going to invest in something like this, I'd have it done right and quick, and I would not hesitate to use their services again. Now, onto the ProForm. I'll be 50 this year and I'm trying to get back into some kind of shape after two years of working from home, a back injury, and some other medical unpleasantness I've had in the last year. I haven't held a gym membership in a long time, mostly because I know after a few months, I'll make about any excuse not to go. Unless I practically trip on it on the way into my house, 60% of a two-year membership will go unused. When I have gone to one, though, I love the elliptical more than any other piece of equipment for it's low-impact and relatively idiot-free use, so we decided to invest in one to help build core strength, get some cardio, and all the other things humans should exercise. Admittedly, I didn't physically go to the store and look at them before I bought it. Big mistake. I did read just about any review and article I could find--everyone seemed to rave about it. Any mechanical issues seemed like one-off problems, not consistent defects. Everything seemed like it would be the perfect machine. I wasn't excited about iFit, but I assumed it would just be an optional feature you could turn off or just easily ignore once the trial period ran out--like some machines allow you to link your phone up by Bluetooth to track your progress, or like Nike Fit on Apple devices. There if you want it, invisible, or at least tolerable, when you don't. BOY, was I WRONG! The iFit app--which is really all it is, a glorified app--is so pervasive and obtrusive in this machine, you absolutely cannot ignore it. Yes, there's a manual mode, but when they say manual, they mean it. There's no pre-defined fitness routines I can do like when I jump on at the gym that automatically adjusts the incline and speed while you do your workout that I can start and forget at the touch of one or two buttons. Manual mode is entirely controlled by you. If there are any other basic routines programmed in, I haven't been able to find them, and documentation on this is horrible, so I haven't been able to find any instructions online that tell me otherwise. My vision isn't the best, so that's why I thought the color LCD would be nice. With manual mode, you get a lame looking race track on your 7 inch color display, and that's it. But honestly, I would be more than fine with that if I could bypass all the iFit nonsense and access some basic routines. Frustrated with the manual mode, I activated the 1 yr iFit membership that came with, even giving them my credit card number because you don't have a choice, just to play along and see what the fuss was about. iFit is NOT intuitive. When I get on the machine, it takes many minutes to set up any kind of program. I thought part of the point of exercise is to get your face OUT of a screen! When you do manage to figure out how to program in some kind of map (I had to go online and look up directions), it then STREAMS a FEED.FM radio station when you start moving of whatever music they think you should hear. It's effectively pumping Muzak to me on my own equipment! Again, you can dismiss this, but every button that interrupts me that I have to push or swipe away--while I'm trying to exercise--is another point lost to poor user experience and defeats the purpose of exercising in the first place! According to the complaints online, this happens even if you are already listening to a fitness program on the machine through iFit, or your music player is plugged into the machine through the 3.5mm jack...it actually plays BOTH sound sources. After some research, it seems like the easiest way to get rid of iFit's Muzak is to block FEED.FM on your router just so you don't have to deal with it popping up. (This was automatically pushed to everyone's machine about a year ago, BTW. Not orignally part of the device.) And by the way, gods bless you if you don't have great WiFi for this machine. Just give up and live with being fat. I wanted to be able to start my program slow--do a few 10 minute bursts here and there throughout my day to work up stamina and keep circulation flowing. That's practically impossible since it takes you 10 minutes to figure out what kind of program to use. I have other things to do besides consume hours of my life combing through a library of programs and figuring out how to use iFit! I just want to listen to MY music and maybe enjoy some scenery. Or not! Sometimes I'm fine with silence and the sound my own pathetic wheezing as motivation. I don't want a live class, or some perky instructor yelling at me to shake my tush or whatever. In don't find that motivating in the least. iFit's UI is horrible, and the built in manual mode UI isn't great either. Some of the buttons are so small that they're easy to miss when trying to push them, such as the "skip warm up" button. Logging in is a painful task if you decide to activate iFit. And god forbid if you forget your password. You have to go to the website on your computer to reset it. All of this culminates in a terrible user experience. I should be able to turn on features I want and off ones I don't, or at the very least ignore them. I don't care that I can't download Netflix or Hulu on the Android display screen--I have an iPad for my Android, tyvm. I just want to climb on and go, and this machine does everything it can to prevent that. Even after this scathing review, I'm giving it a Fair rating because the machine itself is fine. If you like iFit, and more power to you, this may be the machine for you. It feels smooth when in motion, it's relatively quiet, it's sturdy and there's minimal wobble, even on medium pile carpet. The heartbeat monitors are iffy. I get better and more consistent results on my Apple Watch. The fan is ridiculously loud, but works if you need it. It also grounds kinda loudly when it changes incline, but it's livable. The speakers are lame--about the same quality you got 20 years ago with some cheap computer speakers turned all the way up to eleven--but I didn't expect Bose quality sound in a exercise machine, anyway. They would be acceptable if iFit didn't pump their own music through them. I'm disappointed. I'm annoyed. I'm vexed. I'm actually thinking about eating the cost of the assembly and delivery and paying a restocking fee to send it back. I have another week to decide before it's too late. Rarely, has a piece of software completely prevented me from enjoying at least the minimum benefits of any hardware I buy, so the fact that I'm considering this is kind of a major deal for me. Overall, I would NOT, NOT, NOT recommend this machine, nor any other ProForm/iFit hybrid unless you want your life to be totally run by iFit. No thanks.

ASSEMBLY Assembly was straightforward. Several times it was difficult to push a rotating part onto the associated bushing but several whacks with a rubber mallet completed the process. (That's not encouraging frankly -- hard whacking with a hammer shouldn't be a necessary assembly step!) The BILT app was very useful, though it is large and you may want to delete it once done. A friend is definitely needed for a couple of steps. I noticed the resistance was quite high -- maybe a "10" level -- until I plugged in the machine the first time and it went through a self-calibration process. Perhaps it deliberately ships with high resistance. After calibration the resistance is light enough for an easy workout. CEILING HEIGHT I measured pedal low and high distances off floor. At 0 incline I measured 12" and 20". At 20 (maximum) incline I measured 15" and 28". I am 73" tall and even at 20 incline I was able to cycle with my head just beneath my 89" ceiling. Everyone's gait is different but this suggests that the ceiling height required is based on your height plus the low pedal position plus a small buffer -- any rotation above this pedal position and your knee starts bending. GENERAL OPERATION The Carbon E7 is a very solid machine with minimal flex under my 170lb frame. The combination with iFIT workouts makes for an enjoyable exercise session. These sessions feature high quality videos shot while following a trainer through scores of beautiful settings all across the globe. It's like watching the best of the National Geographic channel while working up a sweat. The screen, while small, is high resolution so the videos look very good. As the workout progresses up and down hills the E7 automatically changes incline and resistance to simulate how the actual walk would exercise your legs. While resistance adjustments are noiseless, incline changes are a louder operation on the E7 and are very noticeable. MINOR ANNOYANCES The fan is pretty loud, much louder than say the fans in your desktop PC. Even on lowest setting the fan is much louder than sounds made by the machine during regular operation. It starts to compete with the trainer's voice if you're following a workout and don't have the speaker at high volume. It would be nice to have the power switch up on the console instead of (essentially) on the floor. The heart rate sensor was measuring inconsistently for me, but mostly on the low side. For accurate heart rate I'd recommend a wrist device (or chest strap) instead. Once you enter an iFIT account (see Connectivity level #3 below) the screen gets more cluttered during a workout: e.g. it shows a live leader board that consumes 20% of the screen real estate. I can probably find a way to hide this, but in the meantime I'm missing some of the beautiful video scenery that I'm trying to enjoy. iFIT ANNOYANCES Here we lose a star. There are at least 5 "levels" of connectivity with this machine: 1. Without WIFI you can use the machine manually (adjusting incline and resistance) and might have access to one onboard program. 2. Add WIFI access and the machine will quickly ask to upgrade; for me it downloaded 0.5GB of updates (requiring several minutes). I assume the bulk of this is the videos for the workouts. At this point the E7 holds scores of onboard workouts listed from the home screen, but only one of them is unlocked! (When you try a locked onboard workout, the screen says "Workout not available on this machine".) So absent any further sign-ups on your part, there's only one video workout available. 3. Log into iFIT.com and create an account. (Do not do anything to start your free trial however.) I tested this to see whether I could access workouts without activating the 1y free membership included in the machine (purchased at Best Buy Nov 2021). I logged into the E7 using the new iFIT account and at first the situation didn't seem much different. I had access to just one unlocked onboard workout, though it was different from the workout I had access to before accessing iFIT. 4. Then half an hour later I noticed that the whole collection of onboard workouts was unlocked. Yay! But then I noticed that I had received a curious email from iFIT.com, thanking me for my "purchase": $39 for one month of iFIT, less a $39 "promo", for net cost of $0. I hadn't provided a credit card so they still can't charge me, but I'm wondering what happens when this 1 month times out -- will my E7 go back to providing just one one accessible workout? Hence my concern that, absent shifting up to level "5", my E7 will soon revert to pretty boring. 5. Launch the 1y free membership that came with the machine. (I have yet to do this) Once this expires I expect I may need to start paying to access more than one workout. SO, IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR ProForm: 1. Can I access all the onboard videos without logging in with an iFIT.com account? 2. If I log in with my iFIT account, but I never pay anything, will my E7 eventually limit my access to just one onboard workout? With access to just one onboard workout there's almost no need for the video screen -- you might as well save some $$ and buy a lower-priced elliptical without the video capability. So these questions get at the crux of How long can I take advantage of the video capability without paying a monthly charge?

I recently got a proform elliptical and I have been beyond happy with it. It arrived quickly and came with labeled parts and easy to follow instructions. It has so many great features that make working out enjoyable. Some of my favorites are the fan, the adjustable incline, and the heart rate sensor. With mental and physical health concerns it's been really nice to have such a quality piece of equipment right in the privacy of my own home! It also comes equipped with ifit which makes the workouts so much more enjoyable and the trainers help ensure I am doing it properly. Its definitely a motivator! I also really appreciate the front wheels to easy move it out to the center of the room while in use and tuck it away when not. I received a product at a reduced price in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I was able to put this together by myself in about 3 hours. It could have been faster with two people and no kids working as distractions. I've used this elliptical for a few years and haven't had any issues. I have had 3 knee surgeries so i needed something with very low impact and this doesn't disappoint. It has a very smooth stride that doesn't catch or jerk at lower speeds like some magnetic wheels do. I wish there were more free programs, but i pay for the ifit subscription so that's a non-issue.