Sunny Health & Fitness 2 In 1 Sit/Stand Mini Elliptical

TLDR: great to use under your desk, terrible as a standing elliptical.
Pros:
1. Pretty quiet (not silent but definitely not disruptive)
2. Fairly lightweight and portable – small for an elliptical but still not something you’d want to lug around everywhere
3. Super easy to change the resistance
4. Arrived already assembled
5. I’ve been using it for months with nothing breaking
6. It has pads on the bottom so you won’t scratch up the floor moving it

Cons:
1. Stride is incredibly short and kind of shallow so even a short person can’t safely use this while standing.
2. I wish there was an option to increase the resistance even more but honestly that’s not a huge deal

I gave this 4 stars because it works super well for what I needed but doesn’t do everything it promised to do because it’s completely unusable as a standing elliptical. I planned to use it for keeping my legs moving while I’m sitting at work all day. It works great if you’re seated and has helped me remember to sit with better posture. It also seems to help the circulation in my legs (sometimes my feet start to fall asleep if I’m sitting for too long) because I can mindlessly use my elliptical while I work. It’s very quiet and I’ve been able to use it during zoom meetings without issues. It is loud enough that someone sitting in your office with you would be able to hear a whirring sound, but it’s honestly really unobtrusive and I haven’t had anyone complain once they ask what the sound is and I explain.
I love that you can easily change the resistance and that I can pick it up to move it to different rooms of the office or even take it home if I’m working from home. I’ve also seen that some people put this on a table and use it for their arms. I have no desire to do that but I’m sure it would work fine for that purpose.

However, if you’re looking for an elliptical with a small footprint to use while standing, please save yourself the money and hassle because this will not work. I’m fairly short (5’3) and the stride on this thing is so short that it hurts my shins after less than a minute if I’m standing. I suggest looking into a different brand with a longer stride and probably handlebars if you want to use it while standing. I have good balance and I’m pretty small but the unnatural stride makes me feel unsteady.

Updated 2/25/2021

Ended up returning the elliptical not because there’s anything wrong with it but because there’s something wrong with me! I have bad ankles and this elliptical made them hurt. My guess is that it’s because of the small stride because a full size elliptical never bothered my ankles. Re-boxing and returning the item was easy. My refund was issued as soon as I dropped it off at the drop off location.

Original Review

Have had this product for one week now and this is my review of it at this point. Will update if anything changes.

I purchased this particular elliptical because I live in a tiny basement apartment, about 300 sq ft, and have no room for a full size elliptical. This one fits nicely in the space next to my dresser.

The video in the ad shows the woman effortlessly putting this elliptical on a shelf. This unit weighs 25 lbs. I can lug it around but not carry it around easily. I suggest lifting something that weighs 25 lbs to get a realistic idea of how heavy it will be.

As expected, this unit has a very small stride. Thats fine for me because I’m only 5 ft tall with short legs. A tall person might not like it.

It took a few tries to get my rhythm right so it was smooth pedalling. But after some practice (and reading the instructions! LOL) I can now keep it going. You have to put your feet at the front of the pedals if you’re using it standing up, and make sure the unit is turned so that the handle is to the back. You should be able to read the display while you’re standing on it. If the display is upside down, it’s turned the wrong way. I included a picture of the instructions for that.

I am not coordinated enough to use this elliptical without holding on to something. Maybe someday. It works perfect to put my kitchen chair in front of it. I like to set it up in front of the door so I can bird watch while I’m pedalling. I thought about returning this elliptical and purchasing another one made by the same company that has handles but takes up the same floor space. It also has a larger stride. It costs $30 more. I’m still thinking that through.

Overall, this product is well made and serves it’s purpose well as long as you don’t expect it to perform like the big ones at the gym. Would recommend.

Def. rec. Here’s why:

I bought this because it looked from the video/ pictures that the stride was bigger than most and I’d read in a review that this product does consider stride to be a differentiating factor and that it had great reviews/ free returns.

The stride was what I hoped for. When you’re going fast as the woman is in the video, you feel a distinct and awesome burn. It’s addictively satisfying and I found myself always wanting to pop on, even for a few minutes. It’s just a cool movement. That said, the machine has sort of a hitch if you’re going slow. As a result, I found it difficult to ride it while standing at my desk, which was the reason I bought it.

The InMotion Stamina elliptical was on sale (with free returns as well), so I decided comparison shop. The InMotion one is super-smooth, but not nearly as satisfying as the Sunny Health. The Sunny Health elliptical feels more professional and def. a better workout as a sitting/ standing machine. The InMotion was a great standing machine but doesn’t nearly perform like the Sunny Health.

When I had my partner and daughter try it, both overwhelmingly preffered Sunny Health for the same reasons.

This machine is very well constructed and almost gym-grade. I rec this product if you’re a man, a bigger person, like a good gym-like workout. If you’re just trying to find a smooth ride that doesn’t require a whole lot of “working out”, the cheaper ones suffice.

For the record, I’m keeping both! Sunny Health as my primary physical workout and InMotion as my standing option.

I’ve used it for under desk exercises only ( never stood on ), however after two weeks of use and during the exercise at level 3 a washer fall of and the paddling arm become lose and started to make lots of noise. Considering the high label price for this item it should have been premium quality and heavy duty. I’m totally unsatisfied.