Horizon Fitness 7.0 AE Elliptical Trainer

I've been working out on this machine almost every day for the last week and I'm very satisfied so far.Installation - steps are clear and accurate. It took about 3 hrs to assemble. I recommend having a driver with a 5mm hex bit. They provide a wrench, but there's a lot of fasteners so it will go faster. If you only have a 3/16", it will work but be gentle or you'll strip the heads. I ran into one minor issue on step 6. The shaft 11 seemed to be 1-2mm short on each side so washer V didn't fit over it correctly. So I used some bearing grease to hold them in place concentrically before installing the rest of the cap assemblies. One other curiosity was that there was a short 3'' diameter steel tube left over. I assume it had something to do with the packing??Operation: Very smooth and quiet. A pleasure to operate! Quieter and actually feels more solid than many of the commercial units I've used in gyms. Hopefully the tightness will last years to come.Console: Fairly easy to use. No problem connecting blue tooth to use speakers or the AFG App. The App connects automatically without pairing. The speakers require pairing. The incline and resistance settings work well. I haven't used the programs yet. My only complaint is the location of the Console and cup holder. They're a little too close so if you work up a sweat they can get pretty messy.Overall - Good quality and a pleasure to use.

11/12/21 Update at the bottomThis is a VERY long review. Since it is apt to be a "TL;DR," here is a quick summary of my thoughts:Ergonomics and Stride Length: 5/5Smoothness and Quietness: 5/5Construction Quality: 4/5Assembly Ease: 5/5Workout Program Variety and Quality: 1/5Electronics and Controls: 3/5Customer Support: 5/5History and Buying Decision:I bought a Livestrong LS10.0E elliptical in 2011 and had used it consistently up until July 2021; at least 1500 hours of use. The reason I mention this 2011 era Livestrong elliptical in a review of the Horizon 7.0AE in 2021 is that the mechanicals are virtually identical. Length, width, weight, flywheel, stride length, step-on height, etc. are the same. Taiwan-based Johnson Health Tech, who made the now discontinued Livestrong brand, also markets Horizon and several other fitness brands. It seems that this basic mechanical design is still the basis for its non-folding ellipticals even today.My hope is that I'll get the same use out of the 7.0AE. I did look at several other ellipticals before choosing the 7.0AE and I know there are better ones out there, but I also know (or think I know) what to expect from this design; it will be smooth and easy on my aging body and it will require some work to maintain. The 7.0AE was also about 1/2 to 2/3 the price of the Sole E95 and others under consideration. The 7.0AE was even about $300 less than I paid for the Livestrong 10 years ago!Mechanicals:You likely know that two of the key things that make an elliptical smooth and comfortable to use are flywheel weight and stride length. The "Certified 6 Star Frame" design (Johnson's name for it) includes a 20 inch stride length that is considered ideal for most adults. As for the flywheel, many experts say that if you have a 20lb or heavier flywheel, you should have smooth operation. The 23lb flywheel in the 7.0AE makes for a very smooth action. In no way would I say that any elliptical in this price range is “gym quality,” but I can say that in terms of the smoothness and ergonomics, the 7.0AE does match the ones I've used at the gym. The frame is also rigid and feels well put together.The two adjustments that you can make or that the included workout programs make while exercising are for elevation and resistance. The 7.0AE uses magnetic resistance. Essentially, there is a powered magnet inside the flywheel assembly. The resistance motor controls how close that magnet is to the flywheel. The closer the magnet gets to the flywheel, the more resistance. It makes for smooth resistance. However, in my particular unit, there is too much resistance even at the lowest levels and the increase in resistance as you increase the value is too steep. While there are 20 levels of resistance, I cannot imagine using anything higher than 10 and I rarely use anything higher than 4. On my old elliptical, that literally uses the exact same flywheel and resistance magnet, the amount of resistance was much smoother and the step up in resistance seemed much more linear. The elevation action, on the other hand, works just fine.Programs and Controls:The biggest disappointment in the 7.0AE is with the available programmed workouts. There are 8 total workouts with 2 of those being "manual" and "custom." So, there are only 6 preconfigured workouts. This is less than half of what my old Livestrong had. Also, some of the workouts are not what I'd consider great applications for an elliptical and the "custom" one is puzzling to use in practice. Given that the resistance control, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, is not ideal, the lack of useful programmed workouts makes the elliptical much more of a challenge to use enjoyably. As this elliptical uses literally the same mechanicals as my 10 year old Livestrong, it makes no sense why the number of workouts is so limited and why they are so poorly implemented. If you are wondering just how “identical” the mechanicals are, the electrical cable that connects the electronic controls with the mechanical portion is the same part number. I could have literally plugged in my old control panel from 2011 and used my old workouts with this new elliptical.As for the controls, the buttons are responsive and the dial for setting elements of the workout is excellent. I wish the buttons were not solid black, but that's a minor quibble. I won’t go into details here, but will just say the information displays do give you what you need. The lower display gives you critical info. Even if you put your tablet on the upper “screen” you will still know your workout info.AFG Pro Fitness App and Workout Data:Moving on to the companion app, “AFG Pro Fitness,” don’t base your purchase decision on the fact that Horizon provides you with an app. Google Play ratings of the app sit at 1.4 out of 5 and that may be charitable. I used it for exactly 3 workouts. Though it sat on top of the elliptical display, my tablet lost Bluetooth connection at least twice during each workout (and yes, it is a Bluetooth 4.0 tablet). The app also failed to upload my data to Fitbit even though the app and Fitbit both show the link is there. On the good news side, you can use a Bluetooth chest strap with the 7.0AE. I have a Polar H9 and it connected and worked without issue. You cannot use the heart rate strap if you are connecting your tablet, but since the app is not usable, you really will have no reason to connect your tablet anyway.Let’s talk about heart rate and calories burned. I noticed that the calories the 7.0AE said I burned were way too low. Why does this matter? Well, one of the more useful workout programs included on the 7.0AE is one where you can set the workout duration to hit a calories burned target. I initially thought that the calories calculated were wrong because my heart rate was not being recorded during the workout and the elliptical applied some baseline estimate. The stationary heart rate handles on the 7.0AE do work, but they can take a long time to pick up your heart rate and you can’t hold on to them for your entire workout. So, I bought the Polar H9 chest strap to use with the 7.0AE. The heart rate displayed on the elliptical while using the H9 was spot on and matched my Fitbit (within a beat or two) every time I looked at my watch. Great, right? Well, no. Calories are still off by 50%. And, before you say my Fitbit is the one that’s wrong, I verified my calories burned by calculating them (Calories/min = (-95.7735 + (0.271 * Age) + (0.394 * Weight) + (0.404 * VO2max) + (0.634 * Heart Rate))/4.184). The Fitbit recorded calories were off by less than 1%. My conclusion is that the calories calculation on the 7.0AE is a simple “work” calculation that is completely wrong. Bottom line, use a fitness watch if you want to know your workout effectiveness.Assembly and Other items:Assembly instructions are excellent. Horizon provides you with the tools you need and the hardware is on a blister card segregated by assembly step. The preassembled flywheel section is quite heavy, but otherwise the rest of the parts are easily handled. Hardware used for assembly is black anodized steel and looks good, but I found with my old elliptical using this same hardware that they will eventually show surface rust. Two pre-tapped and threaded parts had some paint in the threads and were a little stiff to tighten, but everything fit together well. If you are mechanically inclined, assembly could be as little as 20-30 minutes. You might want a second pair of hands for holding parts while you attach them (particularly the control console), but I did it solo without issue.There are a few other items worth mentioning. First, it’s nice that the elliptical includes an integrated fan. However, the fan is very small and does not move much air. Second, the water bottle holder is angled so that the bottle rests in the holder pointing toward you at about a 30 degree angle. At this angle, my 25 ounce bottle hits me solidly in the stomach when exercising. It was easy to remedy by putting a piece of paracord across the handles to hold the bottle up, but it’s not a good design. You can play audio through the elliptical. I have not tried this as I prefer ear buds, but if you do and want to record your workout with the app, then instructions say that connection can take a while if also playing audio.Warranty and Customer Service:My overall view of Horizon/Johnson Fitness is very positive. I also have a 17 year old Horizon treadmill that I use regularly and is still going strong. However, the Horizon base warranty on their ellipticals is disappointing. It's not the 1 year parts/labor warranty that is an issue for me as that's pretty standard. It's the lifetime frame and brake warranty that they tout. The frame is solid steel and it would never break. As for the "brake," there is no brake on this elliptical. The resistance system, which is the closest thing to a brake, is part of the flywheel and it's only covered by the 1 year warranty. Bottom line is that if you are looking at the warranty, just consider the 1 year parts/labor and ignore the rest.Some here have noted issues with Johnson/Horizon service, but I've had no problems with them in my decade+ of experience. In fact, when I asked some questions on the Horizon site prior to purchase to verify my belief that the mechanicals of the 7.0AE were the same as my old elliptical, I got an answer in about 10 minutes and they even offered me a discount code. When I was looking for information about whether the Polar H9 would work, I received a prompt reply from their folks as well.I have had two problems requiring repair with my 7.0AE since receiving it. First, the resistance step motor stopped working and I had to call for service. Horizon sent the parts Fed-Ex and the technician was able to come repair the unit within two days of my receiving the parts. Fantastic. The second issue is that the control console went out. I called on Friday and had the replacement by Sunday. In both cases, the customer service team was friendly and helpful. Reading other reviews (and their comments on getting service), my thinking is that your satisfaction has to do with who in your area Horizon contracts with for repairs. In my case, the local company does a great job.Conclusion:So, this is what to expect. You will get the elliptical, put it together in a couple of hours, be happy with it initially (assuming you ignore the AFT Pro Fitness companion app), and then something will need fixing under warranty. You will get it fixed and be happy for quite a while longer and then something will wear out and need replacing or you will give up on maintaining it and buy something else. And, IMHO, this is not bad. This is a home workout apparatus with a lot of moving parts. No matter what anyone says, this is not a commercial elliptical and you can likely expect the same from just about any of its competitors in this ~$1000 price range. There are videos out there for servicing and maintaining and if you can work on a bicycle, you can work on one of these. There was, for example, a video for replacing the flywheel and belt on my old model and I did the work in about 90 minutes.When new/maintained, these ellipticals are smooth and nearly silent; even when needing some lubrication and bolts tightened, they remain smooth, just a little noisier. The ergonomics for me are excellent and the elliptical is very sturdy and stable. In fact, one of the main reasons I replaced my old elliptical with this same design is that I know how good the ergonomics are. The leading consumer magazine/website does have a review of the 7.0AE and though it does not make its recommended list, it's not poorly rated and it says there are no "Lows." Their biggest complaint was about the resistance levels being unevenly spaced and the range of resistance was only "fair."If you do choose to buy a 7.0AE I would suggest adding what Horizon calls a "warranty boost" to 3 or 5 years. I am going with the 5 year plan (about $150). Even if you buy on Amazon, you can still add the warranty through Horizon. Normally I do not buy extended warranties, but if you've read this far you know why I am in this case.One last thing…If you buy through Amazon (i.e. sold by Amazon) and especially if you live in the Carolinas, beware! Amazon's carrier (CEVA) has been an absolute nightmare. I ordered mid-July and it arrived at the delivering terminal about 10 calendar days later. They missed 4 straight delivery appointments entirely and with no notification. In fact, the freight showed out for delivery when it was, in fact, lost at their freight terminal. When they did show up finally, it was without an appointment and they just put the huge box (on it's side) in the garage. Amazon was great to help and eventually "made it right" but if you see CEVA as your carrier, prepare to wait.Update 11/12/21: Had a second console fail last week. Without going into detail, the failure was identical in every way to the first failure. I suspected that the root cause of the problem was likely not the console, but was a grounding issue. Horizon was great in that they offered to send a replacement console Fed Ex again and agreed to have a technician come out to check over the elliptical. Turns out that the grounding wire on the chassis was not tightened at the factory. From my call to Horizon to having the console replaced and ground issue fixed was about 4 days.

It was a great elliptical when it was working. But only after 9 months of very light use it has died.

Our 1st Elliptical is steady, extremely smooth and very quiet. Instructions were good for assembly but you made need help as some parts are heavy or bulky. We started to wi-fi down load the APP but were not able to complete. We gave up for now as we only really wanted the on board programs and the exercise anyway! We will try again in the future. Seems like the instructions were fine but maybe not compatible with my phone. We are Seniors and this elliptical is very stable and the LOW step-on is a plus. So far we really like this model!

Purchased this a year and half ago. Broke about 9 months in and was repaired. Now the wheel skips and it squeaks and grinds, and the electronics don't work correctly. Good luck finding someone to repair, Horizon recommends GoConfigure. They are useless, will not return calls and schedule a visit. Not sure that this product is worth the money.