Best for Home Use
Best for Serious Runners
Best for Walkers
Best for Seniors
NordicTrack Commercial X14i Review
Justin’s experience gives him a keen eye for quality product construction, engineering, and market positioning. Justin fuses his technical know-how with a personal love of fitness to bring this community a thoughtful curation of objective treadmill reviews.
Read full bio >New for 2021, the NordicTrack Commercial X14i is an update to the brand’s line of incline trainers, replacing the now-discontinued X11i. It brings with it a reasonable assortment of upgrades in performance and build spec, without compromising any of the things that make the line of treadmills a hit in the first place. The key selling feature is obviously its incline. As with other models, the X14i offers a peak incline of 40% and a 6% decline, which is miles more aggressive than the typical 10-12% incline seen in other industry-leading treadmills on the market.
As noted, there’s a fair bit happening in terms of upgrades on the X14i. First, the new unit gets a larger high definition touchscreen display, fitted with improved graphics drivers to deliver crisp and clear picture quality that’s better than its predecessors. Its screen is also larger in size, moving up to 14 inches, with the ability to tilt to accommodate a range of viewing angles to suit each user’s height. At a hardware level, its incline drivers have been upgraded for 2021, delivering faster, quieter, and more accurate adjustments on the fly. Like the previous version, its incline and speed is adjusted automatically as you participate in the countless iFit training sessions available on the machine. Unlike last year, the new models include a 1-year family membership to iFit (rather than individual), meaning that multiple user profiles can be saved if there are multiple household members using the machine.
What We Like:
- Price: This treadmill, while more expensive than some of the top of the line home models out there, is a very reasonable price for a commercial grade treadmill with this kind of features. At $2,299 with payment plan options, it’s a realistic investment for users looking to step up to commercial quality. It’s also barely more expensive than the unit it replaces, which is impressive considering its upgrades.
- Incline: This benefit is huge. While most treadmills offer a 12-15% grade incline, the X14i can take you all the way up to 40%, mimicking climbing the highest of hills. This allows you to torch calories quickly, strengthen your lower body, and add more variety to your workout program.
- Large Interactive HD Touchscreen: You’ll get 14 inches of screen space on this model, providing an immersive experience as you watch your streamed workout programs or run your way through different parts of the world through iFit.
- Total Body Training: When you buy the Commercial X14i by NordicTrack, you aren’t just getting a walking or running workout. You also get total body training options.
- Track Workouts: Monitoring your progress is a breeze with the X14i’s intuitive and informative console.
- Fast and Quiet Adjustment: Incline drivers are quicker and quieter than ever, keeping you from disrupting the household while working out.
- Sled Push: Ever seen a treadmill that doubles as a sled? Well, now you have. With a simple shift in body positioning, this treadmill will transform into a sled pushing experience. Just hold onto the handle bars, set the treadmill to manual mode, and away you go. This is fantastic for building strength and power in the lower body.
- Reflex Cushioning: This treadmill offers Reflex Cushioning, which was created by NordicTrack to give users the best overall impact absorption while still making it feel like they are running on a real road.
- Motor: With a 3.75 CHP (continuous-duty horsepower motor), users won’t have to worry about this machine stuttering or failing to satisfy their workout needs.
- Self-cooling: Run harder for longer without every worrying about the X14i overheating.
NordicTrack Commercial X14i Treadmill - Key Specs:
| Star Rating: | 4.8-stars |
|---|---|
| Motor: | 3.75 HP |
| Incline: | -6 - 40% |
| Running Area: | 22” x 60” |
| Folding: | No |
| Top Speed: | n/a |
| Weight Capacity: | LBS |
| Dimensions: | 70" L x 39" W x 72.5" H |
| Built-In Programs: | n/a |
- Average Track Size: The treadmill belt is a standard size at 22-inch x 60-inch. While this will be fine for most users, most commercial treadmills in this price range offering a roomier belt size of 22-inch x 62-inch.
- Built-in Programming: Somehow, with all of this focus on iFit, we’ve yet to get any kind of answer from NordicTrack about how many built-in training programs are available for their new machines if you choose to not keep using iFit down the road.
- Niche Market: The steep incline of this treadmill is a unique feature, but not necessarily something that everyone necessarily wants or needs.
- Short Warranty: With recent changes at NordicTrack, warranties across the board have been shortened to 10 years on frames, 2 years on parts and electronics, and 1-year on labor. Unfortunately this just doesn’t keep up with their competitors, and is a bit of a disappointment.
Our Verdict:
All in all, the X14i is a fantastic option for those who really want to push their at-home workouts to the limit. The incline feature alone is attractive enough to justify the hefty price tag. Walking at just 2mph for 20 minutes, the average 200-pound user can burn a whopping 381 calories at 40% incline. Compare this to just 157 calories if you were using a 10% incline, which is standard on many treadmills. Being able to over double your calorie burn if you put in the effort means that your results will come that much faster. This treadmill does have a few drawbacks, but those are relatively minor. If you can afford the buy in, you will not regret investing in the X14i.