Treadmills, being fitness equipment, are not purchased on the basis of their brand names alone. Moreover, each brand produces a wide variety of treadmills with different features. Hence, it lies more in the discretion of the purchaser to buy a treadmill that is more suited to him/her.

While buying a treadmill, the cost is not the most important factor. Treadmills range from $200 to $6,000, depending on their quality and the features they provide. The buyer must try to get the maximum benefits within the decided budget. There are treadmills designed to be suitable to particular types of exercises. Treadmills for walking have a lesser belt width than those designed for running. Treadmill costs also depend on their extra features. For heart patients, treadmills have heart rate counters, with wireless chest straps. There are also treadmills with fancy features such as odometers, carbohydrate counters, calorie burnout counters, etc. Of course, these features increase the costs. When buying, one must decide whether these features are worth thousands of extra dollars.

Judging by the popularity factor, Smooth treadmills stand out. Smooth provides high quality for comparatively cheap prices. This makes people buy them more. Also, Smooth provides lifetime warranties on the motors of some of their products.

Another very popular brand is the Proform, produced by Icon Health and Fitness, the same company that also produces Reebok. Proform treadmills, though very popular, use lower quality components than Smooth. The warranties provided by Proform are also not as substantial as Smooth