Horizon Fitness Review

Monday, January 13th

2025 Treadmill Reviews

Horizon Fitness

• Prices from $649 to $1,999
• 5 models
• Lifetime warranty on frame
• 1- to 2-year warranty on labor
• 30-day return policy

Horizon Fitness is a brand name that's well-known in the fitness world. Providing various at-home workout machines, Horizon Fitness appears to have a competitive variety.

Decline in popularity

Despite its initial popularity, our recent research indicates a decline in the brand's performance over time. With updates to their policies taking away free shipping and more, Horizon Fitness has fallen significantly and is no longer a highly-rated treadmill brand. If you're wondering more about the specific reasons behind our concerns for Horizon Fitness, read on.

Equipment Overview:

• Type of treadmills: Traditional LCD
• Price range: $649 to $1,999
• Different models: 5
• Can stream live/pre-recorded workouts: No
• Financing: Yes
• Level of incline: Up to 15% (depends on model)
• Return policy: 30 days, 20% restocking fee, and return shipping costs paid by the customer
• Warranty: Frame: lifetime, Mechanical parts: 1-5 years, Electronics: not listed, and Labor: 1-2 years
• Shipping: Depends on machine

Basic model: T101 Treadmill

This basic model is part of Horizon Fitness' GO Series, which are their cheaper and less advanced treadmills. Starting at $649, the T101 Treadmill is about as basic as it gets. This treadmill model offers a speed range of 0 to 10 mph and an incline range of 0% to 10%. The T101 offers "EasyDial” speed and incline controls to allow you to adjust your incline during the workout. However, the workout variety is pretty slim. The T101 offers only six pre-set workout programs. Despite the low-end tech, there are a few bonuses like Bluetooth speakers and a tablet holder. The treadmill comes with a lifetime warranty for the frame and motor, which is impressive, but there is only a one-year warranty for parts and labor, which is well below the standard set by competing brands.

Top-tier model: 7.8AT Treadmill

The top-tier model is part of Horizon Fitness' STUDIO Series. There are three treadmills in this series, all meant to be much more "high-end” than those found in the GO Series. This is certainly reflected in the price. The 7.8AT cost $1,999 at the time of our most recent site visit, though this appeared to be a sale. The site doesn't say if the sale is limited to a certain time frame. Regularly priced, the 7.8AT costs $2,699, which may change customers' minds about the value when it's not on sale. This treadmill offers a few improvements over the base model. For example:

• The 7.8AT has a speed capability of 0 to 12 mph (an additional 2 mph compared to the base model) and an incline range of 0% to 15%
• "QuickDial” controls and the "RapidSync” drive system helps the machine transition more smoothly between settings
• The 7.8AT has 4 more pre-set workout programs (for a total of 10) with access to free on-demand classes and scenic routes
• The model's advanced Bluetooth package encompasses a heart rate monitor, media controls, speakers, and data connectivity to apps, providing you with comprehensive technological support

However, without a touchscreen included, it's farther behind in tech than many competitors, especially at this price point. On the bright side, the 7.8AT has a lifetime warranty for the frame and motor, 5 years for parts, and 2 years for labor, which isn't a bad warranty policy overall.

Shipping and tax make it too expensive

While the lifetime warranty is a positive, you may want to be careful when you make your purchase as Horizon Fitness does not have free shipping. Considering the already high costs of their items and the common practice of many treadmill brands offering free shipping, Horizon Fitness takes a hit on its score for the costly shipping. If you don't manage to score a sale, you could be looking at a very high price. For example, in our area, the shipping cost for the 7.8AT was estimated at $129.00 on top of the price of the item. There was also the addition of $138.32 in sales tax. So, at the time of purchase, you could be looking at around $2,966 total if the 7.8AT isn't on sale. Ouch!

Returns aren't customer-friendly

Another point to keep in mind is that even though Horizon Fitness promotes a lifetime warranty on its treadmills, the fine print tells a different story. You do get a 30-day trial period to figure out if the treadmill suits your workout and space, but you'll be on the hook for the shipping costs in both directions. In the unfortunate event of a return, you'll be hit with return shipping fees of around $155 and a restocking fee that could go up to 20% of your treadmill's cost. At that point, if you really hate it, you might be better off reselling the treadmill to a neighbor rather than dealing with the fees from Horizon Fitness.

Horizon doesn't put customers first

During our review, we discovered that Horizon Fitness's parent company, Johnson Health Tech North America, has a somewhat disappointing "B-'' rating from the Better Business Bureau. On top of this, the BBB has received various complaints, with customers specifically noting that they had challenges in getting help from Horizon's customer service. Some customers noticed that problems with customer service persisted for weeks rather than actually getting resolved. On the other hand, Horizon Fitness has a 3.8-star average rating on review sites like Trustpilot, but even those reviews show ongoing concerns like extremely long shipping times and instances of products arriving damaged.

Not competitive enough in any category

At the end of the day, Horizon Fitness treadmills come with high costs, along with a variety of problems. Despite being offered some impressive warranties, customers struggle to get a hold of customer service to resolve issues even on in-warranty machines. If you add in the high costs of shipping and the less-than-friendly return policy, Horizon Fitness falls toward the bottom of the pack.