The dumbbells themselves rest in a custom-fitted tray. At the center is the manual knob as well as an LCD display that shows you the current weight. There’s also an optional tablet holder that you can screw into the back. The tray itself is relatively compact, measuring 21 x 19 x 16 inches . I couldn’t fit it into my living room, but that’s only because I already have another connected fitness gadget in there. It did, however, fit easily in my home office.
Speaking of which, one of the most annoying things about working out with traditional adjustable dumbbells is that it takes time to increase or decrease weights. That’s not an issue if you’re making your own workouts. However, if you’re taking classes, the 30 seconds between sets isn’t enough time to reset the weights in the rack, lift a mechanical pin, calculate how many extra plates you need to add, and then really make sure everything is secured.
Again, this is less of an issue if you’re not following along with any sort of program. If you are, however, Alexa can have a hard time hearing you correctly. I tested using both an Echo Spot and the fourth-generation Echo, both of which occasionally had difficulty understanding me — the Spot more so than the Echo. To be fair, Alexaable to understand me over a Peloton or iFit class with no problem several times.
I was impressed by how fast it was to manually adjust the dumbbells. A couple of years ago, I reviewed. While it also had an electronic locking mechanism, it wasn’t always fast enough to keep up with classes. Conversely, it feels like the iSelect dumbbells switch weights instantaneously. And that speed doesn’t come at the expense of safety. I’ve done overhead tricep extensions, deadlifts, Russian twists, renegade rows, chest presses, squats — you name it. Nothing ever fell off.