Horizon Evolve SG - When looking for a treadmill, not everybody needs a great powerful beast humming in the corner of the lounge. Some people want a simple compact machine that will arrive and be assembled without fuss and then can be popped under the bed or stood in the cupboard out the way when they are done.

The Horizon Evolve SG is just such a machine. After delivery the most complicated step is getting rid of the packaging as it comes out the box ready to plug and play. It weighs only 99lbs and folds down to an incredibly compact 10” so it can literally be slid under most beds. It would be even more convenient and portable if Horizon had been a little more generous with the tiny transport wheels.

This is also a machine for those looking to buy a basic treadmill, one which does not come laden with bells and whistles. It has only two programs, one manual and one automatic and it has a top speed of only 6 mph. Neither the motor at 1.5 CHP or the narrow 17” belt are going to provide much challenge to a runner, but they will do just fine for regular walking.

There is no cooling fan and the speakers leave much to be desired. The heart rate monitor is actually a button on the console on which you press you thumb so it can read your pulse. It is not particularly effective and certainly not accurate and if heart rate target training were of importance, you might want to either consider another machine entirely or simply buy an inexpensive heart rate chest strap.

Horizon has an annoying habit of giving the cushioning system used on each of its machines a different name but not defining the differences in any way. The Evolve SG deck uses COMFORTzone, and then there is FLEXzone, CushionMAX and PerfectFLEX. If there is any particular advantage to one cushioning system over any another in the Horizon stable they are doing a very fine job of keeping it a secret which leads me to believe that there is more thought put into dreaming up fancy marketing names than in actual joint protection or low impact cushioning.

One thing about the Evolve that you will not find on the Horizon website is that it does not work well on a carpet. Even buying a treadmill mat will not necessarily help so if you only have carpeted floors in your house, you really are better to go for a different machine.

So o the face of it, the Horizon Evolve SG is a fairly average basic machine. Nothing is terribly bad about it and if you had the xxx to spend then it might be as good as any other. Horizon Evolve Treadmill