What is the quietest walking pad?
None can be named, because walking pad figures as a category still cannot be put in order.
What this guide adds over the apartment treadmill guide is more pads, more manuals, and some figures that say what they cover. DeerRun states that its Z10 runs at 65dB "during both no-load and full-speed conditions". Egofit states that its M1T stays below 70 dB "even at top speed", alongside the same promise for the M1, and UREVO's manual for the SpaceWalk 5L declares 65 dB or less, as its CyberPad manual does.
With those, some figures can finally be read side by side. Most still cannot.
KingSmith and DeerRun both give 65 decibels at idle or no load.
KingSmith says the WalkingPad C2's "idling noise is lowered to 65 decibels", and DeerRun says 65dB for the Z10 at no load. These are the only two figures that describe the same condition, and they are the same number. Neither states a distance. The fair reading is that they claim the same thing, not that either is quieter.
At full speed the picture blurs. DeerRun gives 65dB for the Z10 at full speed, which is 3.8 mph. Egofit promises under 70 dB for the M1 at its 3.11 mph maximum, and below 70 dB for the M1T at top speed without saying which of its two top speeds it means. DeerRun's number is the lower one. Egofit's figures, though, are ceilings, which say only that the noise does not reach 70, and the top speeds differ.
Those three cannot be put in a strict order either. All three makers do expect a walking pad at full speed to sit somewhere in the 60s.
Written ceilings in a manual
UREVO's manuals for the SpaceWalk 5L and the CyberPad for Office both print "On airborne noise: ≤65dB" and, just above it, "Noise emission under load is higher than without load." No speed or distance comes with it. It is still the maker's own document, and candid about what a walker does to the number.
Can you trust a walking pad's decibel rating?
Not a bare one. Most walking pad figures name no speed, load or distance and cannot be ranked.
| Pad | Figure | Condition the maker gives |
|---|
| UREVO CyberPad for Office | 35dB | Laboratory testing "under specified testing conditions" that UREVO does not specify |
| KingSmith WalkingPad Z1 | "noise levels below 40 dB" | None |
| DeerRun Q2 Urban, Q2 Urban Plus, Z20 and Z10 | "Low Noise" at under 45 db in each spec table | None |
| THERUN W1, Goplus and RHYTHM FUN | Under 45 dB each | None |
| LifeSpan TR1200Pro and Mobvoi Home Walking Treadmill | Under 60 dB | Mobvoi cites testing in its "simulated lab environment" |
| Egofit ComfortDeck-M2T | Under 70dB | No speed attached |
A ceiling of 45 from one brand and a ceiling of 60 from another tell you nothing about which pad is quieter, because neither brand says what it measured.
The brands that give two numbers show how wide the gap can be. DeerRun's Z10 is under 45 db in one part of its page and 65dB in another, and UREVO's CyberPad is 35dB on the page and 65 dB or less in the manual. KingSmith's Z1 claims under 40 dB, while the same company's C2 states 65 decibels idling. Either the Z1 is far quieter than the C2, or the two figures describe different things, and KingSmith does not say which.
Are walking pads quiet enough for apartments?
For walking, yes, by NordicTrack's account. Footsteps, not the motor, are what reach the neighbors below.
That point comes from a treadmill maker rather than a walking pad one. NordicTrack's advice for apartment owners, which our treadmill guide also quotes, says footstrike impact rather than motor hum is what travels to downstairs neighbors, moving from the belt, through the frame and into the floor. It also says walking and light jogging are quiet enough for most apartment situations, and that running at speed generates more impact. Every pad here is a walking machine.
The decibel figures in this guide, all of them about motor and belt noise, therefore say very little about what the people below you will hear. A quiet walking pad on a wooden floor can still thump.
Your building counts too. NordicTrack says a concrete slab building lets almost no vibration through between floors, and one built on wood joists with a thin subfloor lets noticeably more through. The other machines neighbors hear through floors and walls are covered in keeping an apartment quiet.
Quieting a walking pad under a desk
Most people buy a walking pad for a standing desk, so the noise your microphone picks up may count for more than the rest. For the rest of the room, from the desk frame to the computer fans, see a quiet home office.
Start with a dense rubber mat under the pad, larger than its footprint. Egofit says its pads can go on a carpet or mat to reduce vibration and sound, and NordicTrack says thin foam mats do little.
Level the pad so all its feet make solid contact with the floor, as NordicTrack advises for treadmills, because a pad that rocks will rattle.
Walk at a steady pace during calls, since both idling figures here are already 65. Keep the belt lubricated on the maker's schedule too; without lubricant the belt drags, and dragging makes it louder.
If you also sit part of the day, pair the pad with a desk whose motor you will not hear over it. Our guide to the quietest standing desks lists what desk makers publish, and the same caution about bare ceilings applies there.
The manual has the real weight limit
Across the picks, limits run from 220 lb for the KingSmith C2 and the Egofit M1 and M1T to 300 lb for the DeerRun pads, and Goplus lists 340 lb for its pad.
UREVO's product pages list a 400 lb maximum load for both the SpaceWalk 5L and the CyberPad for Office. Both manuals give 136 kg instead, or 300 lb. Where a UREVO page and its manual disagree, this guide quotes the manual, and so should you.
A pad run above its rated load is a pad run under strain, and UREVO's manual says load raises the noise.
Sunny Health & Fitness gives no figure in the descriptions of its walking pads. KingSmith gives none for its P1, A1 Pro, R3 and Z3 pads, only words like "Ultra-Silent", and Egofit none for the ComfortDeck-M2. UREVO leaves the figure off the pages and the US-style manuals of the SpaceWalk E1L and E1L Pro, and DeerRun leaves it off the Sleek Fold 1 and Sleek Rise 1.
LifeSpan's TR5000 and TX6 under-desk treadmills have no operating noise row, though the TR1200Pro does. Sperax's US store showed only a password page when we checked. There was nothing to read.
SuperFit figures turned up only on retailer listings, not on a maker page, so those pads are left out.
