Smooth Fitness CE-3.6 Elliptical Trainer

The CE 3.6 gained its popularity mainly because of its price range and high Build Quality. It actually has one of the best design and built among the $1000 – $1500 price range.

Comfortable, large, Pivoting Foot PedalThe ergonomic pivoting foot pedal of this trainer give a comfortable elliptical motion. Even after hours of workout, your ankles, knees and back will have minimum impact.

mySmooth Virtual Fitness TrainerThis trainer supports “mySmooth Virtual Fitness Trainer”. This provides a virtual outdoor workout experience to the user. The only difference between this and a outdoor video is, this one is interactive. But we do find this feature just a gimmick; not very useful in actual workout.

Adjustable Fan, iPod dock & SpeakerThe fan and speaker are quite good. Speakers are spread on 2 sides, so it gives quite good sound quality. If you put iPod or any tablet on the dock, it will completely block your display. Again, not so useful.

Build Quality

The best feature of this trainer is its Build Quality. Foot print of this trainer is : 76″ L x 26″ W x 67″ H. As soon as you step on it, you will feel the premium quality. The trainer as itself is quite heavy (175 lbs), gives a stable and smooth workout every time. Among all other elliptical in this price range, we are certain that this trainer will last longer than other (based on its built.)

Assembly

Assembly is quite straight forward., but many people got into trouble with the last part of the process. The instruction manual could be written in a better way. Assembly requires 2 person. You can do it all by yourself, but that may take slightly longer. Most of the user can assemble it within 2 hours.

Just remember that when it comes to screwing the Electronic Console onto the plate of the main frame, you will be using only 2 bolts, and these bolts were already screwed onto the back of the console, just unscrew them, then re-align the console to the plate with the holes and then re-screw. The instruction calls for 4 bolts with parts number “105.” There aren’t 4 bolts, only 2 and “105” are not bolts on the parts list, “105” is the electronic console itself.  You might look for 4 dang bolts but remember 2 that are already screwed onto the back of the console.

Heart Rate Monitor

This trainer comes with a wireless chest strep. We have tested with with Polar HRM, and found the reading very accurate. The trainer automatically adjusts resistance based on your heart rate.

Display & Console

This trainer has an oversized LCD (backlit) display. It is very easy to read and operate. Below is a detail image of this display – console.

On the right side of the console there are 3 ports: (1) USB, (2) MP3 jack and (3) My Smooth Virtual fitness trainer (that record your statistics)

Programs

This trainer comes with 10 pre-set programs.

Manual Program: You can create your own programs with varying intensity and timing.

Target programs: set a target time, calorie or distance and reach that goal.

Random: one of the more interesting ones. It has more than 50 different programs to challage you.

Fat burning: If you are new with ellipticals, we suggest you start with this. This programs is low intensity, so that you can work out for longer period and burn more fat.

Endurance Program: This program is designed to build stamina. It will gradually increase intensity and help you stay on the elliptical for longer period over time.

Watt Control: you need to preset the watt, resistance changes automatically during this training

Heart rate control: this is where the CE 3.6 uses its wireless heart rate monitor. It provides tge best cardio training that you can get from an elliptical. Once you start, the program takes you through a mild warm-up routine, a powerful workout and a cool-down phase for a complete cardio program.

Warranty

This trainer is backed by good warranty.

• Lifetime Frame Warranty
• Lifetime Braking Warranty
• 5 years parts warranty
• 2 Years Labour warranty

For an elliptical in this price range, lifetime warranty on frame is common. But the life time warranty on braking system is impressive. But the main problem comes with customer support. Many users has complaint that Smooth’s customer support is bit slow and non-responsive. Even though we didn’t had any issue with ours trainer, we called on their support line and talked with a support stuff just to see how active they are. You can also give it a try (email: [email protected], Customer Service Hot Line: (888)-800-1167, Option 3). But the main problem is their support is closed on weekends (when most of the buyer assembles their unit!).

They do come with a 60 days money back guarantee, so you can be sure with your purchase. After inspecting the CE 3.6, I can assure you that this trainer is solid to last a life time (you may have to maintain it from time to time).

Conclusion

You cannot go wrong with this trainer. The main reason its not the best trainer on our list is because it don’t has incline (auto or manual). If you don’t care for incline, want basic elliptical training and what a machine to last a life time; this is the trainer you need!

Download user manual