The best treadmill reviews you can trust
We really like the Sole F63 Treadmill. It’s build quality is solid, has a great weight capacity, and will perform very well for someone who is not super tech-savvy. Read the rest of the review to see if the Sole F63 is a good fit for your home gym.
Last Updated: 1/11/2022
This Sole F63 is the latest update of the F63, and it is a great addition to Sole Fitness’ treadmill line. It is one of the better machines in its price range at the price of $999, even though it has fewer features than comparable models like the NordicTrack T 6.5 Si. However, it is a solid machine that folds up for your convenience. Equipped with a basic interface that allows users to focus in on their workouts, the F63 is the right treadmill for users who want a streamlined experience and something they’re already familiar with. Overall, we recommend the F63 for those who want a really basic machine for walking and a light amount of jogging.
Typically, you will find the Sole F63 priced around $999. As such, it generally is compared against other treadmills in the $700-$1000 category, like the Horizon T202 and the ProForm SMART Performance 800i.
The Sole F63 is best suited for those users who will be walking or jogging for the majority of the time. This is due in part because the F63 motor isn’t very large. With a 3.0 CHP motor, we feel comfortable recommending this treadmill to anyone who stays under 10 miles a week at higher speeds like 6.0 mph or more. A 3.0 CHP is perfect for sustaining lower speeds for longer amounts of time.
Walkers and joggers will find plenty of challenges facing the treadmills 15% incline, which is rather high at this price point.
The intended user will need to be self-sufficient in terms of entertainment when it comes to the F63. It has only 10 built-in workout programs for users to experiment with and no touchscreen. Instead, it comes with a 6.5” LCD display to track your workout on.
We awarded the Sole F63 treadmill a spot in our top three favorite treadmills in the $700-$1000 category. The main factors behind our ratings and placement in the top three are as follows:
MODEL OVERVIEW
Motor Size: 3.0 CHP, DC type
Running Area: 20” W x 60” L
Weight Capacity: 325 lbs
Folding: Yes
Footprint In Use: 35” (width) x 82” (length) x 57” (height)
Max Speed: 12 MPH
Incline Range: 0% to 15%
Electrical Requirements:
Roller Size - 2.5”
Cushioning - Yes, not substantial.
Warranty - frame/motor/deck - Lifetime
Parts and Electronics - 3 years
Labor - 1 year
Customer Support - Email / Phone - no online chat support offered
Return Policy - 30-day return policy, with an 8% restocking fee
Motor Size - As previously mentioned, the F63 treadmill comes with a 3.0 CHP motor. Since a 2.4 CHP motor is as about as small as you want to go if you are using your treadmill for jogging and very little running, the F63’s 3.0 motor isn’t very strong compared to other treadmills in the same price range. However, the motor does have a lifetime warranty for when it wears out.
Folding - The frame of the treadmill is an attractive matte black with silver and red accents. It has four wheels so you can fold and move the treadmill without having to tilt it at an angle to roll it. We also like the F63’s deck release system a bit more than the C990, since the F63 doesn’t require you to duck under the machine to push the release lever.
Noise Level - The treadmill is fairly quiet from 1-6 MPH, with the smaller motor accounting for low noise output. The fans don’t account for much noise but not from any noise-reduction virtue of their own. They are very weak fans, so there is virtually no noise added to the treadmill’s motor noise level. At top speed (12 MPH) is loud enough to drown out the speakers, but that is more due to the weakness of the speakers than the loudness of the treadmill.
Treadmill running at (baseline room noise of 42 db):
Running Surface - The running surface is 20” x 60”, giving plenty of room for users to stride on. If users want a few more inches on the sides, you will need to go up in price and look at treadmills like NordicTrack’s Commercial 1750 or the X11i. The deck is the Sole Fitness patented Cushion Flex Whisper Deck, which can reduce running impact to up to 40% when compared with running on concrete. The belt is 2-ply so it won’t shred easily unlike cheaper models you’ll find online. The deck has a 3 year warranty period.
Incline/Decline - The F63 can incline up to 15%, which is plenty high for a good burn but does not decline, a feature that requires users to go up in price to other models. F63 does outdo the C990 on the incline, as the C990 can only reach 12% incline. As for the arm buttons controlling speed and incline: the up/down buttons are on the left arm with the fast/slow buttons on the right. But don’t worry, the buttons are labeled, so you won’t have to press one and hope you picked the right one!
Display: 6.5” LCD Screen
On-Board Workouts: 10
Speakers: Yes
Fans: Yes
Heart Rate Monitoring: EKG pulse grips and Bluetooth Chest Strap HR monitor
USB port: Yes
HDMI port: No
Audio Jack: Yes
Water bottle cubbies: Yes
Tablet holder: Yes
Display - 6.5” LCD, white backlit display. This screen is bright blue and backlit for easy visibility. We particularly liked how they had the screen divided into three segments. From the left, prominently displayed is your elapsed time, with your distance and speed underneath the time. The thinner middle segment tracks your pace, incline, calorie burn, and pulse, while the last section shows a ¼ track to help you visualize your progress.
Workout Apps - The F63 has broken their workout programs into three types: 6 standard workouts (manual, cardio, fat burn, hill, strength, interval), 2 heart rate programs, and 2 custom programs. For the heart rate programs, you will enter your age and then select either a program for cardiovascular fitness or weight loss. Be sure to wear the included chest strap (never the hand pulse bar, per manufacturer's instructions) to make sure you are within your target heart rate zone.
As for the 2 custom programs, they are more like two different user profiles. You select a profile, your age, and weight, and once all that is saved, you can alter the original programs to suit your custom program.
To set up your user profile:
Once you finish inputting this information, the console will save your information and have it ready every time you want to use it.
As for the next time you use it, the console will show you a prompt asking if you want to run.
Select yes if you want to run your user program. If you select no, it will ask if you want to delete the program.
However, if you download the Sole Fitness app, you can sync your treadmill data to the app. The app is also compatible with several fitness sites: iHealth, MapMyRun, Record, MyFitnessPal, and FitBit.
Speakers - The speakers are located just above the cup holders and have a decent sound quality, but without much bass and seem louder coming from the left speaker. This becomes more apparent at the highest volume setting as the sound quality becomes more tinny, but not so bad that it is uncomfortable, just obvious. Compared to the clear surround sound of the C990, the F63 is definitely lacking in speaker quality.
You will need to plug in your own audio, as it does not come with any entertainment options, unlike much the T 6.5 Si NordicTrack line in the F63 price range. There is also no way to control sound output from the console, so you will need to adjust the sound on your device. There is also a headphone jack, so you can input the audio and then skip the speakers altogether.
Workout Fans - There are two built-in fans in the upper part of the F63 treadmill console. The direction can be adjusted either up or down, but the breeze generated is not very strong as it has only one setting. Best use this treadmill in a well-ventilated area, because you won’t be getting cooled off by these fans.
Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor - Bluetooth syncing is part of the model update for the F63 2017 version. This has allowed them to include a heart rate chest strap as part of the treadmill package. One caution; if your chest strap is having trouble picking up a signal, you may need to wear it with the logo facing down. While we haven’t run into this issue, some users have, and this is the manufacturer’s solution.
Cushioning - The F63 treadmill uses Sole Fitness’ patented Cushion Flex Whisper Deck, and claims it has the ability to reduce up to 40% impact on users. We aren’t sure this claim is quite up to real users expectations.
One of our testers had fractured both feet after training for her first marathon, which has left them sensitive to hard impacting surfaces. While walking on the F63, she found the cushioning comfortable enough, but it didn’t take more than a mile of jogging for her feet to start aching. Versus the C990 which she could jog for over 3 miles before experiencing discomfort. So for those looking for a treadmill that will be easy to use during recovery, the F63 is good for walking but not much more.
If users are looking for higher cushioning and flexibility, the NordicTrack’s X11i has a highly flexible deck and our recovering tester hasn’t had a problem running for miles on the machine.
Other Tech Features
Name: Sole Fitness
Brief Description: Sole created an app that pairs with their treadmills. It shows you exactly what you can see on the treadmill display. You may control the treadmill from your mobile device but we’ve found this to be slow and glitchy. The app does have an outdoor feature that tracks your activity if you were to go run outside.
Cost: Free
Community: none
Subscription Limitations: There is really not a lot of use for this service. We’re happy to see that it's free!
Sole has put out an app called SOLE Fitness, which connects to their various Bluetooth-enabled devices. Since the F63 treadmill is Bluetooth-enabled, it will connect to the Sole Fitness app. However, there are some problems with the app.
It doesn’t transfer user data from the treadmill to the app, so you will need to set up a profile on the app as well as the treadmill. For best results, sync your device with the treadmill before you start your workout. The app can then track your workout accurately the whole time.
The app was interesting once synced to the F63. Instead of fiddling with the console buttons, it allowed for easy control from the app, letting you select one of the programs or making a custom program, all from your smart device. Once you have selected your workout, it would prompt you to start and will track your progress on your device’s screen.
We did run into a few problems:
Overall, the app isn’t as bad as some of the reviews make it sound, it just runs very specifically with limited utility.
The Sole Fitness F63 is a good, solid treadmill if you want one with limited frills and decent functionality. It’s 3.0 CHP motor which will hold up under walker/jogger regular usage. The chest strap is a welcome addition and allows for a good amount of functionality from a fairly basic machine. And while we weren’t big fans of the thin plastic sides of the deck, the F63 was still cushioned enough that users without joint problems or injuries were comfortable even after 30 minutes.
The best place to purchase the F63 is directly through the manufacturer. The major benefit is that you can get their sale prices, which are run throughout the year, and you can use their customer support, rather than trying to work through a 3rd party retailer.
