Best Walking Pads in 2025
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Compares walking desk / treadmill desk brands. Walking pad comparison includes WalkingPad, KingSmith, Xiaomi, CitySports, Urevo, GoPlus, Superfit, LifeSpan, Sperax, DeerRun, EgoFit, Yagud, Lichico, AirHot, Elseluck, Wellfit, SupeRun, Rythm Fun, Sunny Health & Fitness, Toputure, Acezoe, Vitalwalk, GoYouth, Bifanuo, TrailViber, Lysole, Mobvoi, Walkolution, Therun, Revomadic, and more.
Popular Comparisons
Walking Calorie Calculator
Calculate how many calories you can burn while using a walking pad. This adds to your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure).
Enter your weight to calculate calories burned.
Why Walking Desk?Video
Focus
Unlike bikes & steppers (manual devices), treadmills (electric devices) move you (just keep up). This satisfy the mind jitters. Its extremely valuable for ADHD.
Energy
Moving keeps blood and endorphins pumping. It keeps you alert and on task all day. Oxygen and endorphins help not just with energy, but focus. You'll need less caffeine.
Health
Calories and heart-rate. At my best, I've clocked 320 active zone minutes (Fitbit) in a day. That's 5.3 hrs of gym time. This eliminates the gym, saving time and money. At my worst, I clock the minimum-recommend 10k steps. Further, your posture is ideal while walking, better than sitting and standing.
Buying Guide
Buy extended (2+ years) warrantyVideo
Some treadmills offer one through their website, Amazon offers Asurion. Motors don't last forever, the motor will die. When, not if, and sooner with the budget treadmills. With the warranty, there's nothing to worry about. I've gone through three for the price of one.
Budget vs non-budgetVideo
Budget: Budget walking pads deal less effectively with heat, especially with continuous use (1+ hours). To mitigate this, follow the "Treadmill Care" section below. Generally expect 1-2 years out of these mills; compared to the non-budgets which could last 8-10 years. Personally I take the trade-off - I don't know where I'll be in 2 years, nor how the next gen will improve the tech. And with Amazon's extended warranty, I've been refunded for every treadmill death.
Non-budget: LifeSpan, Unsit. These can run continuously for much longer (6-9hrs for LifeSpan). Their motors are more durable. When you do have problems, they come with long warranties and you'll typically have a service rep come fix it. They're much larger and heavier than budget mills, so they'll be more a permanent fixture than a wheel-away. For LifeSpan/Unsit, do still follow "Treadmill Care". The only maintenance-free mills are manual (eg Walkolution) - because they're motor-free.
Using the table above
TL;DR: sort by Score, enter a Price max.
Score is a weighted sum of each rows' attributes. "Weighted" because some attributes are more important than others. Eg, App support has weight=1, where Sturdy has weight=10. You can see how each cell ranks in the bottom corner of that cell, eg 10
- star ratings, downplayed if too few ratings present
- modified by the FakeSpot grade, for both the product and company
- and taking 1-star skew into consideration
Anywhere there's a dotted underline, click it for details. I try to make these count.
Treadmill Care
De-dust frequentlyVideo
Dust & pet-hair are an enemy to motors, rollers, and bearings. Blow air into the motor carriage - through any vents and openings available - to blow out dust and hair. Do this frequently - at least once a week (I do it every day or two). Use a high RPM electric duster, like WolfBox MF50.
LubricationVideo
Every 50 hours or 3 months of use, apply lube in a zig-zag motion under the belt (between belt and pad). Then run the treadmill at 1mph for 2 minutes without walking on it. This reduces friction on the pad, which prevents overworking the motor, which extends the treadmill's life. Get one with a firm applicator; wobbly tubes are hard to control. Godora is easier, Sekoday is cheaper.
Adjusting the beltVideo
If the belt starts to drift one way or another, you take an Alan wrench and tighten the side which is too tight / close (not not the side with slack). This pulls the belt away from that too-tight side towards the slack side. Think of it as if you created a slope that the belt rolls down. Do quarter turns clock-wise while the belt is running, wait 15 seconds to see if it fixes itself, and do another quarter turn if not (repeat until it's fixed). Then you just leave it - it's something I don't understand, not "undoing" the tightening after the fix, but whatever - you just leave it. This situation happens say once every week or two, is something you do with all the treadmills; necessary evil.
Also! A sloppy belt-adjustment leads to early motor, bearings, or drive-belt failure. It puts too much strain on one side, angles the rolling pin, and causes downstream degradation. Signs of this are jerky motions, squeaking or grinding, and smells. And make sure the belt is not-too-tight, not-too-loose (I'll make a video soon, Google it for now).
Warm-start before useVideo
A "cold start" is when, first use of the day, you start your treadmill and immediately step on. You may experience jerky belt motions and squeaking / screeching. If you do, you're hurting your treadmill. So before walking each day, "warm start" your treadmill by running it 1-2min at max speed, before stepping on. My theory is this expands the ribbing in the drive belt for a better grip on the pully. You only need to do this at day's first use.
Walk 30-45 min, break 1-5 minVideo
Budget mills deal less effectively with heat. To deal with this, reduce the amount of continuous (in one session) walking. I recommend 30-45 minutes of walking, and a 5 minute break (turn off via remote). The occasional hour or two won't kill these machines; but running the belt for 8hrs a day will. I'm a fan of the Pomodoro Technique for focus management. You work for 25 minutes (don't check emails / texts / Slack, nothing - pure hardcore work) and then take a break for 5 minutes to catch up on everything, or just de-steam. This fits perfectly with the treadmill. Work for 25-30, turn it off and go check your texts in the bathroom or whatever for 5 min, repeat.
Wow, that's a lot
Treadmills are needy. Budget mills more than premium. But don't let the internet fool you - LifeSpans die too without proper maintenance, I've seen it plenty. If you want a low-maintenance walking pad, Walkolution 2 is your guy. C'est la vie, the maintenance becomes a muscle-memory ritual, and it accounts for most the 5-star and 1-star discrepancy.
Repair
Drive beltVideo
Eventually, despite your best upkeep, the first part to go is the drive belt. This is when you hear screeching & squeaking, smell burning rubber, or experience inconsistent belt motion under load. The rubber drive belt has been worn down - the ribbing is frayed, or the belt is stretched - and it's slipping over the pully. Take heart! These are cheap ($10) and replaceable! And if you replace early when you notice these signs, your device can just keep on keepin-on. This may void the warranty! Only do this if you're outside warranty.
- Open the motor carriage and check the front rolling-pin's alignment. You might be early enough not to need a new drive belt.
- If it seems aligned, your belt is likely shot. Use a flash-light, and (1) note the drive belt model number (printed on the outside), and the number of ribs (ridges) on the inside. Eg, Urevo 3S is Vega 338EPJ, 6Ribs. CyberPad is Vega EPJ292, ??Ribs (I need to check).
- Buy it. Rare on Amazon, so you'll likely use AliExpress or Ebay. $10-$15, around 2-3 weeks shipping. In fact, you might wanna just buy one now, to have for later.
- Replace it. This is the hard part, I'll post a video soon. Search YouTube in the meantime.
- Re-align the front roller. Perfect, perfect alignment is critical. Even some millimeters off can cause uneven strain and wear on your drive belt, pully, motor shaft, motor, and bearings. There's often some notch indicating where the pin should align to. But if not, use the "Correct belt drift" section above for how-to.
Other parts
- Motor. If a motor dies, it'll be obvious. A console error code, or the device simply stops working. If it dies on a budget mill, just use your warranty for a replacement. Motors are about as expensive as the treadmill, when purchased individually (manufacturers buy them in bulk at a discount). But if you're curious: Urevo 3S, CyberPad. But a LifeSpan / Unsit motor dies, it's probably worth replacing (and they'll likely cover it).
- Deck. If you crack the frame or deck, I don't think you can replace this. Use your warranty.
- Walking belt. If you've worn your belt out, you've got a good problem! You probably reached the 10 year mark, congratulations. But yes, these are replaceable. Look it up on YouTube.
More Essentials
Treadmill Mat
Urevo Mat adds more absorption; Sunny Mat is cheaper. Adds a layer of shock absorption for your knees. Absorbs sound. Prevents shock damage to hard floor. Over time the rubber stoppers will at worst damage the floor, at best smear rubber that's hard to remove. Adds a protection layer against high-pile carpet, so you're not pulling debris into the hardware.
Standing Desk
FlexiSpot EN1. My budget pick. I've abused this cheapie for 3 years without a hitch, so I don't see the point in the $1,000 Herman Millers championed on /r/StandingDesks. But if you want to splurge, browse that sub. I've seen FlexiSpot gaining traction there recently; in particular the E7 series. You'll definitely want an electric desk which can sit or stand, because after walking or standing all day, you'll need a break.
Shoes: Hoka or Brooks
Men, Women. There are shoes more tailored towards prolonged walking or standing rather than running. I research what nurses champion, since it's the closest lifestyle to a walking desk. They're quite bullish on two: Brooks Ghost Max 2, and Hoka Clifton / Bondi.
Ergonomic keyboard & mouse
Article. People often develop RSI (Repetitive Stress Injury, a cousin of Carpal Tunnel) when seated with a standard mouse, due to the arm motion. That type of wrist motion is bad for you. When you walk, you move your arms more than usual, which amplifies RSI risk significantly. It could take 6 months, it could take a 5 years, but many I've talked to with walking desks have experienced an RSI uptick. Ergo peripherals solve this - specifically a "wedge-style" trackball mouse and a split + tented keyboard. Read that article for recommendations (different budgets & styles), but hot-take budget-picks are (Mouse: Ploopy Adept, Keyboard: Royal Kludge RKS70)