Review on Doufit Elliptical Machine: 8 Level Magnetic Exercise Training For Home Fitness Workouts With LCD Monitor & Pulse Sensors by Jeremy Mondragon

I personally never had an elliptical machine before nor have used one. That said, I really wanted something that would allow me to exercise within the house since the pandemic has strengthened the city lockdown procedures and we wanted to stay in as much as possible to avoid any potential exposure. I also wanted to get this for my parents since they have been pretty much sedentary all this time during the pandemic and their idea of getting exercise was simply to walk around the backyard, which I don't necessarily consider exercise.Setting up the machine itself was not very difficult, although it certainly is easier if you had a helper helping you assemble or hold the parts while you are screwing them tight. I also like how compact the machine is such that I can simply stick it in the corner of the living room without having the need to fold it up after using it.There were a few things I did note about this device: 1) The foot peddles have an elevated striped pattern on them. For me, I find it uncomfortable to step on without shoes or flip flops, but my parents actually like it and consider it foot massage; 2) If the tension string isn't hooked correctly, the tension control would not do anything. When I first installed this, it was not hooked right and the tension ended up to be quite resistive (stepping on this even for 2 minutes made my whole body sweat), even when the setting was set to a 1. This was way better after the tension string was hooked correctly as instructed by the manual.Although I usually find myself doing a tension of 5 or 6, my parents insist on doing 1 on the controls (usually for 5 mins at a time). I am in my 30s and weighs about 170lbs, and I couldn't do anything less than a 5 because I pretty much fly off the peddles when applying pressure to it, although it's what works for my parents given their joints.The LCD controls take 2xAAA and can measure a variety of different attributes such as heart rate (using the metal contacts on the lower handlebar). This worked well and I could use it to hold my phone as well when I am on a conference call so this is quite convenient.Right now I jump on this whenever I get a break from work so I can get my daily dose of exercise without going anywhere. For me, the workout is much more intense than riding a bicycle, yet it is much more compact than other types of exercise equipment that I would want to put in the living room.Would recommend.