I just tested this budget folding treadmill — and it gets the job done

Many of the best treadmills are expensive machines that often cost over $2,000, so I’m always on the lookout for budget treadmills that offer a realistic alternative for runners. The DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill is a good budget treadmill and if you are aware of its limitations and happy to work with them, it could save you a lot of money.

However, those limitations might well put you off. The small running belt is too short for running at faster speeds if you’re tall, the incline setting is manual, and to fold the treadmill up you have to use an Allen key. The partner PitPat app is also poor and I have concerns about the machine’s durability if you plan to run on it several times a week.

That’s a lot of negatives, but the treadmill did stand up to my heavy use fairly well during testing, and with the price being so low I still think the DeerRun A1 Pro is worth considering for newer runners using it a couple of times a week, or walkers. In my DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill review I’ll explain who it might suit and how it differs from more expensive machines.

DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill review: price and availability

The DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill is available in three colors and has a list price of $459 in the U.S. and £499 in the U.K., but you will rarely have to pay that price either on the DeerRun website or third-party retailers like Amazon, because the treadmill is almost always reduced.

It’s the cheapest treadmill I’ve tested and the first I’ve tried that costs less than $500, so the DeerRun A1 Pro certainly offers value, especially in comparison to top machines like the Peloton Tread or Technogym MyRun which cost several times as much.

DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill review: design

The DeerRun A1 Pro is a small treadmill with a console that folds flat against the belt to make it easier to store. To secure the console and handlebars in place you have to use an Allen key, which is also required to fold the bar back down, which is an inconvenience compared with other folding treadmills I’ve used that don’t require tools to fold.

It is easy to store once folded though, and while heavy and awkward to move around by yourself, I was able to store it upright behind my TV, or lean it out of the way against a wall in my garage. If you have a small apartment or simply don’t want a treadmill dominating a room in your house, then the DeerRun A1 Pro’s space-saving design will be welcome.

There are two bottle holders on the console plus a stand you can mount a tablet or phone on and secure it in place, and a small display that shows stats like your speed and distance during workouts.

There are buttons to control the speed of the machine, including shortcuts to 6km/h (3.7mph) or 9km/h (5.6mph) — the top speed is 10mph or 16km/h — and the safety clip which has to be in place on the console for the treadmill to work.

The buttons are not the most responsive, and I found they didn’t always register when I was trying to change my speed during runs, but you can hold them down and the speed will then increase or decrease in 0.5km/h increments.

While you can adjust the speed of the treadmill using buttons, you have to manually change the incline on the DeerRun A1 Pro using the bar on the bottom of the machine, which you can pin into different positions.

This is less useful than treadmills with incline you can change during a run using the console, and the incline range is also small on the DeerRun A1 Pro, topping out at 6%.

DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill review: performance

I tested the DeerRun A1 Pro out over a couple of months during a marathon training block, running on it several times a week early on in that period. I mostly did easy runs on the treadmill because of the relatively low top speed and short running belt, but did do one run with a long spell at the machine’s top speed of 10mph.

Despite its small size, the treadmill runs smoothly and felt pretty sturdy to me when using it without any incline — it was a little shaky when I increased the incline and ran at higher speeds.

The belt is cramped though, and I found I had to shorten my stride in an awkward fashion when running at faster speeds on the treadmill. The top speed of 10mph is fast enough for most runners, but it’s slower than what you get on more expensive machines and limits the DeerRun’s usefulness for interval sessions.

On one run when I maxed out the speed the machine started beeping, and wouldn’t stop until I reset it using the power button at its base. I think you’d also need to lubricate the belt regularly to keep it running smoothly, and have concerns over how durable the machine would be if you ran on it several times a week, especially if using the incline.

It performed well for walking and easy runs though, and the tablet holder on the console held my iPad in place securely. The low height of the console did mean I had to look down to see the tablet during runs, but this would be less of a problem if you’re shorter than me.

DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill review: PitPat app

The DeerRun A1 Pro offers Bluetooth connectivity, but only to its partner app, which is called PitPat and is free to use. It contains a variety of options to provide in-run entertainment, including guided workouts and races where you watch your avatar run around virtual worlds.

The app is, however, a bit of a mess. For one, it seems optimized for phones, so on my iPad I had black areas around it. It’s also quite jerky and the connection to the treadmill wasn’t always reliable. The worlds and colors in them are also just not that nice to look at, and the information about your run isn’t presented very well.

All in all the app made me appreciate an app like Zwift and its slick appearance even more. I ended up linking the Coros Pace Pro watch I was testing to Zwift and using that on my iPad during indoor runs, as it delivers a much better experience than PitPat and is also free for runners.

Should you buy the DeerRun A1 Pro Folding Treadmill?

I wouldn’t buy the DeerRun A1 Pro treadmill for myself. I run almost every day, I’m fairly tall, and I run faster than the 10mph top speed regularly. It doesn’t suit me, and intermediate runners should also look elsewhere I think — a machine like the Bowflex Treadmill 22 would be a lot more suitable.

However, the DeerRun A1 Pro will do a good job for newer runners and walkers, and for the price, it outperformed my expectations of it. If you need a machine for short runs once or twice and week and/or walking it will work for you, and it has a bit more range for faster runs than most budget treadmills thanks to its 10mph top speed.