When it comes to low-impact cardio workouts, it’s tough to beat the smooth glide of the best ellipticals. “Ellipticals are a wonderful option for individuals who want to increase their cardio exercise volume but need a low-impact way to do it,” says BarBend expert reviewer Amanda Capritto, a certified personal trainer. Considering its limited impact on both your joints and your budget, we think the Schwinn 430 might be the right fit for those who instinctively roll their eyes at flashy new tech and just want to get to work.
While we haven’t had the pleasure of personally testing the Schwinn 430 Elliptical, BarBend editorial member Kate Meier has spent plenty of quality time with the similar Schwinn 470. The highlight for both is something seldom seen on ellipticals — incline capability. Although you’ll need to hop off and manually adjust it yourself, this rare inclusion can help raise your workout intensity. Keep scrolling for our full Schwinn 430 Elliptical review, and for detailed information about how we test all of our equipment, check out the BarBend equipment testing methodology.
Schwinn 430 Elliptical
This affordable elliptical features 26 resistance levels and six levels of incline. A whopping 22 preset workout programs can add some structure to your training. The 20-inch stride length is on par with more expensive machines.
Main Takeaways
- Unlike most ellipticals, the Schwinn 430 features six levels of manually-adjustable incline.
- It lacks much of the technology that has become common on the best cardio machines, including Bluetooth.
- At just $999.99, its price tag lands about $200 below the average range we see for many ellipticals.
Schwinn 430 Elliptical Specs
| Price | $999 |
| Product Dimensions | 70.1″ L x 28.2″ W x 63.2″ H |
| User Weight Capacity | 300lbs |
| Resistance Levels | 20 |
| Product Weight | 168.7lbs |
| Incline Levels | 6 |
| Stride Length | 20” |
| Display | LCD Screen |
As the middle child in Schwinn’s three-elliptical lineup, the 430 displays a few characteristics of both its pricier and less-expensive siblings. The heavy overall weight offers the durability and stability of high-end machines and it has all the underrated niceties that are often overlooked, like a three-speed fan, water bottle holder, and media shelf.
The perfect example is its standout feature — incline. There aren’t many ellipticals out there that offer incline training, so that sounds pretty good, huh? The only caveat is that instead of tapping a button mid-workout, you’ll need to hop off and adjust the six levels yourself. High-end feature, budget implementation.
Its LCD display aims to provide some structure to your elliptical workouts and help you keep tabs on your metrics, including time, distance, and calories burned. Aside from the heart rate monitoring, that’s about it tech-wise. But at this price point, we’re happy that it hits the essential benchmarks we look for in quality ellipticals: 20-inch stride length, 20-pound flywheel, 300-pound weight capacity, and cushioned foot pedals.
For anyone trying to work around knee discomfort, these are important features that can save your joints a bit of stress. “In addition to being low-impact, ellipticals (at least the ones with moving arms) provide a whole-body workout,” says BarBend expert reviewer Amanda Capritto. “They’re an excellent option for people who need to maximize their exercise time.”
Most ellipticals land between $1,200 and $1,500, so for $999.99, so we shouldn’t and wouldn’t expect an Apple Store experience. But come on, an AUX port? In the rare case that you haven’t lost the headphone adapter that came with your phone, the absence of Bluetooth capability may have you ignoring the speakers altogether. Overall, though, this budget-friendly elliptical seems to have all the tools you need for solid cardio workouts.
Pros
