ProForm Premier 500 Treadmill Review (2024): Discontinued Cardio Machine With iFIT Capability

Do you ever love a product so much that you “ride it until the wheels fall off?” I may be speaking of my precious skin cream and favorite pair of workout leggings, but the same thing can be true of fitness equipment. Maybe you’ve had a ProForm Premier 500 treadmill in your home gym and you’ve loved it till its end, but now it’s time for a replacement—what shall you choose? 

In this ProForm Premier 500 treadmill review, I’ll break down the specs, pros and cons, and viable alternatives to this machine so you’ll know where to look if a replacement treadmill is on your shopping list. 

We’re ProForm Pros 

Despite not testing this particular discontinued model, our team of expert product testers has reviewed every treadmill ProForm currently offers, so we know a thing or two about the brand. Our fitness knowledge comes in handy, too, allowing us to evaluate machines from a professional’s viewpoint as well as a user’s. We know what the industry standard is on everything from weight capacity to product warranties, and we’re here to share our knowledge so you don’t have to spend your precious time drowning in specs. 

Looking for an Alternative to the ProForm Premier 500?

If you’re looking for a similarly spec’d machine to the Premier 500, consider the ProForm Carbon T7. This treadmill has an identical belt size, speed and incline range, cushioning treadmill system, weight capacity, and folding capability as the Premier 500, while boasting a slightly more powerful motor and a 7-inch touchscreen on which to view iFIT. 

The Carbon T7 is priced at about $200 more than the Premier 500 when it was new, but the addition of the touchscreen deems the extra cash worthy in our eyes.

Best Alternative to ProForm Premier 500

ProForm Carbon T7 Folding Treadmill

GGR Score: 3.83

Check Price

Product Highlights

• Compact and foldable
• Cushioned running deck for longer runs
• Integrated speakers
• Cooling fans

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Compact
• Foldable
• Cushioned running deck
• Integrated speakers
• Cooling fans
• Free 30-day iFIT membership
• Financing available

Cons

• No onboard pre-programmed workouts
• Smaller running surface

Bottom Line

The ProForm Carbon T7 is an affordable folding treadmill with nice cushioning. Its folding design, added conveniences, and optionality for interactive programming are attractive to those with limited floor space.

A Quick Look at the ProForm Premier 500

The ProForm Premier 500 is a discontinued mid-range treadmill that was manufactured several years ago by the brand, and sold at one point by Costco and other retailers. It features a deck and motor best-suited for walkers and casual joggers, plus iFIT-compatibility with auto-adjust technology, allowing your iFIT coach to change your speed and incline automatically during a workout. 

This machine has a 4-out-of-5 star rating on Costco’s website, and customer reviews tout that it’s a simple, but heavy, machine that provides a good workout. Here’s what we think.

ProForm Premier 500 Treadmill Specs

Key Features of the ProForm Premier 500 Treadmill

This treadmill offers a nice incline range plus iFIT capabilities through your own connected device. In addition, the ProShox cushioning system is a nice touch for comfort. Let’s dig into the rest of the specs. 

Footprint, Portability, and Durability

The Premier 500’s footprint measures 72.5 inches long by 35.5 inches wide by 60 inches high, which is fairly compact for a treadmill. Plus, a 300-pound user weight capacity on a treadmill of this size is definitely above average.

The Premier 500 features ProForm’s space-saver design, allowing the deck to lift up toward the console, and transport wheels give you the ability to move the machine around a room. While we couldn’t find the exact weight of the Premier 500 in our research, our best guess is that it’s about 200 pounds (similar to the Carbon T7), so you’ll probably want an extra set of hands to help put it together and move it around. 

The 2.5 CHP motor is best-suited for walkers and casual joggers, and won’t sustain long periods of running. (The best treadmills for runners, on the other hand, have a motor of 3.0 CHP or above.) Despite this, I have a feeling this treadmill is durable—its lifetime frame warranty and 25-year motor warranty speak for themselves. This warranty is longer than ProForm usually provides, so that’s saying something, too. 

Ergonomics

We’ve used ProForm’s ProShox cushioning system before on machines like the ProForm Pro 5000 model, and we like the experience it provides underfoot, seeming to put less stress on your knees and hips. 

A running deck of 20 inches wide by 55 inches long on this machine should be fine for most average-sized users, but taller people or those who run fast may have a hard time comfortably striding on the belt. QuickSpeed buttons allow you to adjust the speed and incline easily and don’t detract from your workout. 

Technology Benefits and Conveniences

One of the perks of the Premier 500 treadmill is that you can connect your own device via Bluetooth and stream iFIT workouts, allowing the personal trainers to lead you through runs all over the world. 

There’s also a Google Maps feature that allows you to pick a specific place to run through virtually. Want to jog by your childhood home or a vacation spot close to your heart? No problem! You’ll use the built-in tablet holder to secure your smartphone or tablet while using any of this dynamic programming. 

You do need an iFIT membership to take advantage of these programming features, which costs $39 per month for a family or $15 per month for an individual. You can also purchase yearly memberships.

If iFIT isn’t your thing, you can utilize one of the 20 on-board workouts, and even plug your own headphones into the auxiliary port and listen to your own music through the 2-inch speakers. Some reviews did say the speakers weren’t very loud, so note that if you plan to use this feature.

In addition, there are heart rate sensors in the handlebars of the Premier 500, allowing you to take a grip pulse during your cardio workout. These grip sensors are notoriously inaccurate, but can give you a baseline nonetheless. 

Final Verdict of Our ProForm Premier 500 Treadmill Review

The ProForm Premier 500 treadmill has respectable mechanical specs and even some nice technology perks.

• The 2.5 CHP motor and 20-inch-wide-by-55-inch-long running deck make this machine suitable for walkers and casual joggers. 
• If you BYOD (bring your own device), you can utilize iFIT on this treadmill and take advantage of the auto-adjust feature, which allows the trainer to change your settings automatically. 
• If you’re in need of a currently available alternative to this machine, check out the ProForm Carbon T7. It’s slightly more expensive than the Premier 500 was when it was offered, but comes with more perks. 

ProForm Premier 500 Rating

ProForm Premier 500 Treadmill

In our ProForm Premier 500 treadmill review, we’ll let you know what to replace this discontinued treadmill with.

Product Brand: ProForm

Product Currency: $

Product In-Stock: InStock

Editor's Rating:
3.9

ProForm Premier 500 FAQs

Nicole Davis, CPT, PN1-NC

Nicole is the head of content at GGR. She's been a journalist for the last 13 years and a CPT/group fitness instructor for the last 10 years. She grew up playing tennis, became an avid runner in college, competed in a bikini competition in her mid-twenties, and even completed a triathlon. Her workout of choice nowadays is strength training, plus logging her daily steps. After her first daughter was born six years ago, she became especially passionate about prenatal and postnatal fitness, teaching stroller bootcamp classes and working with expecting moms as clients. Post-journalism school, Nicole worked in print media as a magazine editor for eight years, then went freelance for a while, writing for fitness websites and manufacturers in the industry. Now, as the the head of content at GGR, she brings her expertise in fitness to writing and editing honest reviews on everything you might need for your home gym.

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