Customer reviews from Johnson Brands
Bowflex - BXE216 Elliptical - Black
Average customer rating
4.5
(82 Reviews)
Rating breakdown 82 reviews
5 Stars
58
4 Stars
18
3 Stars
2
2 Stars
0
1 Star
4
94%of customers recommend this product.
(
76 out of
81)
Customer Reviews for Bowflex - BXE216 Elliptical - Black
Posted by: Jessica
from Palm Bay, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
I have been in contact with customer service because my machine is not working properly. I am still waiting for a response and resolution to my issue. I don't think I would ever make this large of a purchase again without local support. I am extremely dissatisfied.
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from Johnson BrandsBy bowflexpwr, bowflexpwr, November 10, 2025
We are very sorry to hear your BXE216 is not working, Jessica. We would be happy to take a look here for you. Please send us an email with your order details to reviewsupport@nautilus.com with the subject line POWER REVIEW BXE216. -- Bowflex Team
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Customer Rating
5
Awesome machine once it's ready
on December 23, 2017
Posted by: MJP78
from San Antonio, TX
Ok. This machine is undeniably heavy and very difficult to put together. It took 3 of us to get it done. The most frustrating part is after hours and sweat the machine failed to work. We were all exhausted thinking we did something wrong or wired them wrong. Any how, the reason why I am giving this a 5 star is because of the customer service. I've had bowflex threadmill before and lasted until I wanted an upgrade. The quality is simply worth it. Any how, we reached out to their customer service and within a week they sent a technician to figure out what's wrong. The fixed whatever is wrong with it. Now, I am enjoying this magnificent machine. What I love most about this elliptical is the ease of use I feel my movements are more natural and not restricted. Therefore I get more workout from it. I am in love with this machine. Just be patient in putting it together. Call your engineer friends and you'll reap the rewards later. If you pay some white glove service- I will definitely recommend it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Customer Rating
1
Doesn't track distance
on July 29, 2019
Posted by: Disappointed
from Colorado Springs
Since day one the distance readout has been incorrect. Bowflex sent new parts and the readout was still showing distance at zero after 3 1/2 minutes working out with the technician present. I was then told it only tracks distance on certain programs. then he broke a part where the fly wheel grinds and he said it was already broken. The flywheel was quiet until he touched it
Cons: Noisy
No, I would not recommend this to a friend.
Response from Johnson BrandsBy bowflexpwr, bowflexpwr, November 10, 2025
Sorry to hear about your experience thus far- please give us a call at (800) 605-3369 and we'd be happy to provide a resolution for you. Thank you -- Bowflex Team
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Posted by: EnfreakaTRON
from Tucson, AZ
Verified Purchase:Yes
It's heavy and sturdy, it's quiet. Me being 270, it definitely doesn't feel like it will break. It looks awesome, so far I've been using it 30 minutes a day but be sure you stretch out because it's a work out. I also am using the Bowflex Results app which helps me stay motivated and my wife can check up on me, making sure I'm using it, lol. Oh and if your not a body builder be sure to have help with moving and assembly, it helps unlike me doing it alone took me like 5 hours from delivery to finish.
Pros: Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Quiet, Sturdy Base
Cons: Hard To Store
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Posted by: retslag1
from Massachussetts
Verified Purchase:Yes
Its a good elliptical. It is very sturdy. It was not hard to set up, but took a couple hours to put it all together. Not a big deal if you can follow picture directions and know how to use an Allen wrench. It offers a lot of features, most of which I do not use. It can have 4 user profiles, and I am the only one that uses the machine lol. However, you can change the resistance from 1-25, and also change the incline from 1-15 I think. There are about a dozen different pre-programmed workouts, but I usually just set it to a certain resistance and go for 30 minutes. I generally don't mess with the incline when I do elliptical, but do work on the resistance. Usually when I use an elliptical at the gym, I set the resistance to around 10-12 and I can do 30 minutes of this, and achieve a good aerobic workout. The first time I used the Bowflex elliptical, I was only able to do resistance 10 for about 1 minute lol. I was quite surprised by this. I ultimately had to lower the resistance down to 2 and could only do about 15 minutes. A month later, I am doing resistance 5 for 30 minutes. Still get a great aerobic workout from this. I often use the charger feature for my tablet, or use the speaker option with my iPod mini. Both work fine. It runs quiet, there was a quiet squeak for the first few weeks, and after I put some WD40 on one of the tracks the foot pedal runs on, it stooped the squeak and is completely quiet. I have no complaints about this machine, and am very happy with it. Hopefully it will last for a long time, and I will continue to use it during the winter months when cannot do my 5 mile run outside with my dog. Also, I have it in the basement which has a 10 foot ceiling and have plenty of room between my head and the ceiling of the basement.
Pros: Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Quiet, Sturdy Base
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Customer Rating
4
Well constructed/ disappointing electronics
on October 6, 2020
Posted by: RSKMD
from NY
Verified Purchase:No
The electronics need improvement. Workout time cannot be adjusted unless in manual mode. Heart rate is fixed by age and can't be adjusted. You must quite your workout to change parameters and everything reverts to zero (calories/time/ distance.) Distance is "measured" in some obscure manor that doesn't correspond to distance alone, but also effort. USB won't charge apple devices. There is no bluetooth. These should all be simple fixes. In spite of all this, the machine is well built and a pleasure to use otherwise.
Pros: Easy To Store, Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Quiet, Sturdy Base
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Posted by: Rudy
from Phoenix
Verified Purchase:Yes
Great , it feels gym quality good value for the price
Pros: Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Sturdy Base
Cons: Heavy instruction clearity on the peddle assemb
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands
Customer Rating
5
I didn't realize how easy gym ellipticals were until this!
on December 11, 2018
Posted by: KSC
from Seattle
I wanted an elliptical in home, so I would get (in the least) a short workout in near every day. I purchased this about 1 month ago. It was eye opening - I've been an avid elliptical user for years, usually plugging an hour into a hills workout at the gym. This machine gave me a wake up call - the gym machines are easy in comparison. I realized how much of a workout I had been missing with the gym, that this machine provides. This is a smooth ride, with lots of options for resistance, speed, program and incline. Just plugging in 15 min on this machine when I really don't want to work out is such a win - I love having this in my home.
Pros: Easy To Use, Operates Smoothly, Quiet, Sturdy Base
I would recommend this to a friend!
Written by a customer while visiting Johnson Brands