I love this mini stepper! It's definitely worth the money it sells for. I hate going to the gym and working out in front of people, now I can alone and my own pace! I worked out on it for 10mins for the first time using it and I definitely broke a sweat and already lost 30 calories and 216 steps, gonna try to aim for an hour! You won't be sorry buying this! Making me excited now to workout!

I bought this for my husband who hates the treadmill but wants to do cardio.

You need decent balance to use this. I run regularly and was torched within 5 minutes of hopping on the stepper. I actually kind of love it.

They make almost no sound while you're stepping on them, so they're great for using while watching TV.

My husband has asthma and most forms of cardio cause his lungs to struggle before his muscles, but with these he can go until he has "jelly legs" and still breath.

After waiting several weeks for this, I finally received it. Got it set up. And the battery that came in the stepper was dead. It came with a back up battery, which I put in and that died after a couple days. I haven't used the stepper enough for the battery to have died, already.

Update to original review:
After investigating, it was determined to be just bad batteries, the actual stepper was fully functioning. Replacement batteries are inexpensive. Seller stood by their product and did everything they could to work with me to make sure that I was satisfied with their product and the resolution. The stepper is a great machine and really kicks my butt! Definitely worth the investment.

This is a good mini-stepper. I've used a few steppers in the past, but this one is the best I've used so far, and it's reasonably priced too! The machine is quiet, but time will tell as I've only had it for a week. Its deep stride and compactness are qualities I like. I can feel that my legs and glutes are definitely being worked. I cannot pull the stretch bands continuously for 20 minutes; they are really tight (for a woman). However, this is not a issue because I love it that way. The only thing I would change is to widen the foot plates; even an inch would make a difference; I would also replace the circular traction on the foot beds with linear ones, which I believe would provide better grip on bare feet. Funny thing is, I recommended it to a friend before buying it for myself. Overall, it's a good exercise machine! Highly recommend! Thank you!

I've probably owned like 4 or so steppers over the years. Every one has failed eventually. Have had pedal welds fail, cables break and cylinders lock up. I've been a bit overweight during that time, but not more than 20lbs or so. Currently I'm 5'11/165ish. Anyway, assuming this one will fail at some point, I went ahead and bought the 2 year protection plan for $7 I think.

I've had the stepper for about a month now. Typically I'll use it 4-6 x per week. I generally do 30-50 minutes in the morning, then hop on for 10-20 minute strolls throughout the day. The pedals are fairly close together, and I have to put my feets further back and out (I wear mens size 10-11 shoes). I like to hop off now and then and do body weight squats of varying widths to break up the monotony. Fitbit doesn't know the diff.

The front end caps do come off during use. My last stepper (a Crane brand from Aldi) did the same. Annoying, but def not a deal breaker for me. I'll glue them on sometime, but haven't bothered as yet. I don't generally use the resistance bands, as I do other exercises of that type. But when I tried them out, they did seem to aid in keeping balance. If you're older or have balance issues, a stepper with handles would be a better choice.

The hardware attaching pedals to cable can get squeaky. A spray of lube quieted it down, though there is still enuff noise that I have to turn the tv up a bit.

All in all a good stepper thus far. Will update if/when it breaks.