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Sole strides into the digital fitness world with their latest powerful running treadmill. Stick with me through this Sole F89 Treadmill review as we look at its free trainer-led content.
Updated: May 14, 2024
Just when I thought I was coming around to the subscription fitness content structure, Sole threw a wrench in the whole thing by putting out a high-end treadmill with free training content. Sole’s made lofty remarks, declaring this the new king of treadmills. This review of the Sole F89 gives you my take as a treadmill expert, runner, and avid Sole treadmill user.
The Sole F89 feels very similar to the Sole F80 and F85 but with a makeover. The construction is better quality than Sole’s other F series treadmills, but it feels right at home in the series. The F89 is an improvement not a departure from Sole’s tried and true treadmill builds.
The Sole F89 has the z-shaped frame that has become the blueprint for tech-savvy home treadmills. The frame is made of an anodized aluminum which makes it stronger and more corrosion resistant than regular aluminum. Because the frame is aluminum, it also keeps the treadmill lighter than if it were steel. Overall, the frame looks super similar to the F85, but Sole has adopted an all black/charcoal colorway. This new aesthetic looks even sleeker.
The F89 has a 4.0 HP drive motor and an incline motor. The incline motor is located in the back of the deck, which is beneficial for smoothly declining the treadmill. As Sole’s new top-of-the-line treadmill, the F89’s motor supports daily training by more than one runner. It’s still a residential machine, not commercial, but a household of users can accomplish all of their desired walking and running on the F89.
The Sole F89 continues the trend of Sole treadmills being slow to adjust speed and inclines. This is a great safety feature and helps users feel stable as the treadmill makes its transition. However, the F89 does not perform well for short interval workouts because it takes too long to get up to speed or incline grade.
The Sole F89’s dimensions align with the 22” x 60” deck size that Sole offers in its premium treadmills. This size provides plenty of room for running, even for runners with longer strides. Many treadmills have adopted a slimmer, 20-inch width, but the F89 remains comfortable for larger users. The F89’s 375-lb weight capacity is due, in part, to the reinforced deck.
The F89’s running deck is firm, not soft. Sole’s treadmills are designed to take runners from their indoor activities smoothly to their outdoor races and training. A firmer running deck helps you keep your paces consistent and keeps the feel between outdoor and indoor running similar. The F89 is a great option for road runners, but it may not provide the support that users who need a soft landing and high shock absorption.
Like Sole’s previous treadmill releases, the Sole F89 preserves one of my favorite features: more transport wheels. Rather than tilting the treadmill onto two transport wheels, you can just push the F89. This makes moving it a short distance around your space much easier.
The Sole F89 is a folding treadmill. Its footprint shrinks 47% (that’s almost half!) to 44” x 38” x 71”. A yellow hand release level under the deck releases the treadmill from its folded position. I prefer this design to the kick release that the F63 and other treadmill brands use on their folding designs. The hand release lever is less prone to breaking, and it does not require users to balance on one foot to unfold their treadmill. Some users may find this process more accessible.
The deck will softly lower to the floor with the help of a gas shock arm. However, the deck is heavy and more difficult to lift. The F89 does not have a handle to help you fold the deck, making it even more difficult.
There are 15 levels of incline and 6 of decline. Each level does not equal a 1% increase in incline grade. Our F89 was slightly inclined even when at a flat grade.
Sole was already killing it when it came to high-tech features before the Sole F89. Now, the larger screen is the perfect way for Sole to keep up with the competition’s display and showcase their unique features.
The Sole F89 failed to update one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to Sole treadmills: the buttons. Despite its much larger display, the F89 still only shows a limited selection of speed and incline levels. In particular, it does not show the minimum, neutral, or maximum incline levels. The speed buttons fare a little better, but the buttons for 6 mph and 8 mph are noticeably missing. With such a large screen, the lack of buttons was even more noticeable.
There are switches down by the stability bar at the front of the console. These control the incline and speed on the left and right respectively. I am not the biggest fan of these switches, because they aren’t as intuitive or fast to adjust as the Peloton or Horizon dials. If Sole could find an easier way for the speed and incline to adjust without interrupting my arm swing as much, they would be golden!
While I’m at it, I might as well mention the missing physical buttons to control the volume. It’s fine doing this on the screen while you are walking, but it was tricky for me while running.
The star of the show when it comes to the F89 is the screen size. Sole has gifted us the superior viewing option: a 21.5-inch touchscreen. 20+ inches has been the preferred size of smart home fitness equipment for a minute now, so it’s great to see Sole add a folding treadmill with such a large screen to compete with the likes of the NordicTrack 2450, ProForm Pro 9000, and Peloton Tread.
Sole’s smart equipment has been at the top of my favorite list because they offer apps from Netflix, YouTube, Max, Prime, and more. The larger screen makes the most of their content offerings.
The Sole F89 has two cup holders and two small item compartments.
Sole has not impressed us with their treadmill fans. We recommend using a floor or ceiling fan for cooling while you train.
There is a device rack to hold your phone or tablet at the top of the console. It is a comfortable viewing height. Your phone or tablet may not fit as nicely if you have a large case or attachments like a PopSocket.
Pro tip: make sure that the adjustable clip at the top of the device rack is pushed all the way down when you aren’t using it, or it will make a bit of noise.
The Sole F89 has Bluetooth speakers. They sound okay. The quality of the Sole+ audio is not as good as iFIT audio on NordicTrack or ProForm machines or Peloton training content on their machines. The F89’s speakers are loud enough to hear over the motor and your foot noise, but I prefer to listen to the audio through my headphones for better quality. It seems like Sole has mostly fixed the audio of the Sole+ classes. Some of them used to be too quiet. So far, I have not had any issues hearing the Sole+ coaches.
As I mentioned, the Sole F89 has Bluetooth speakers. You can also connect to the F89 via Bluetooth in a few other ways. You can pair your Garmin watch with the F89, but the connection requires you to pair the treadmill to your watch as if it were a phone. This requires you to disconnect your phone from your watch first. I don’t like this complicated setup. It doesn’t add features to the connection between the watch and the treadmill.
Most Bluetooth heart rate monitors should pair with the F89. Lastly, you can connect the Sole+ app to keep all your Sole workouts in one place.
Sole offers screen mirroring on the F89. This feature is very smooth for iPhone users. Hiccups arose for me, an Android user. This was unexpected because the screen is an Android device. iPhone users can use their native screen mirroring feature. Android users have to download the Anplus Screen Mirroring app from Sunrise Technology, available in the Google Play app store.
The F89 has a wireless charging pad. If your phone supports this type of charging, it is a very convenient way to keep your device powered through the longest of your walks and runs.
When I’m not testing treadmills, I often run outdoors. I have a love-hate relationship with very cushioned treadmills because they allow me to hit paces and distances that I struggle with outdoors. For that reason, I like the firm cushioning of the Sole treadmills. I like that I can hop on the Sole F89 and dial into the correct paces immediately. Firm cushioning exposes your body to the right training load to make running outdoors easier should you decide to join a run group, sign up for a local race, or discover your neighborhood trails.
Sole gives you access to entertainment, customizable training content, and trainer-led content. Such a large range keeps me from getting bored with my workouts. Sometimes watching my favorite shows and movies helps me get through a hard workout because it takes my mind off of how my body feels. It incentivizes my training by combining my binge-watching time with my training time.
The console is slightly more stable due to its heavier weight. The treadmill performed well when I ran with a forefoot/midfoot strike, but the console wobbled a lot more when I switched to a heel strike. I also had a hard time not hitting the motor hood when I interacted with the console while running. I wish the console was positioned over the belt more to give you more room. This might not be an issue for taller users because of their longer reach.
Unlike other brands, Sole has thrown the door wide open to any type of training you could want. If what’s built into the screen isn’t enough, you can screen mirror content from your phone. Sure, the setup to take advantage of these cool content options might take a little longer, but it is worth it.
Sole is not playing around when it comes to content options. While other brands restrict what they offer or lock apps behind their paywalls, Sole does not. They’ve made sure to highlight that their training content and apps are free for Sole customers to access. With Netflix priced as high as it is, do you really want to pay twice to stream a show while you are using your treadmill? If your answer is “no,” then Sole gets you. You just need to connect the Sole F89 to WiFi and log in to your Netflix account. Then, you are good to go.
In addition to Netflix, the Sole F89 has YouTube, Prime Video, Disney Plus, Max, Peacock, Hulu, Spotify, ESPN, CNN, Audible, and Kinomap.
The Sole F89 has trainer-led video content onboard. There are hundreds more classes available in the Sole+ app.
The Sole+ app allows you to have one account across all your Sole equipment. You can train with the hundreds of free classes, view your workout history, and more. You can screen mirror this content from your phone or tablet to the F89. The classes don’t adjust your speed or incline, they can start and stop the treadmill, so you are perfectly synced with the trainer.
There are also traditional onboard workouts from Sole. There are 8 preset programs, 7 fitness tests, 2 heart rate customizable workouts, and 12 slots open for user-determined workouts. Finally, when you throw in the screen mirroring which allows you to view any video content on your phone, your training options are limitless.
We are longtime fans of Sole treadmills. The F89 has a lot of features to get excited about. Sole does not require a subscription to access any of its extensive content options. This is particularly exciting considering the F89’s 21.5-inch touchscreen. You get all of the features we love–screen mirroring, wireless charging, Bluetooth speakers–all while preserving the compact folding frame on a new and improved treadmill model. The Sole F89 was built with runners in mind thanks to its powerful motor and spacious running deck.
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