Sole F80 vs F85: pay for weight and mileage, not the screen

Buy the Sole F80 unless someone in your house weighs over 250 lb or runs more than 20 miles a week on the machine. In that case, buy the Sole F85. The two share a 22 x 60 in belt, a 0 to 15% incline, a 12 mph top speed, a fold and Sole’s lifetime frame and motor warranty. The F85 adds a 4.0 HP motor instead of 3.5, a 375 lb rating instead of 350, a 15.6 in screen instead of 10.1 in, and two more years on deck and electronics. At time of writing the F80 typically sells for $1,599 to $1,899 and the F85 for $2,199 to $2,499, so the gap is about $600.

We haven’t bench-tested either machine yet, so this comparison runs on the published specs.

Motor and weight rating

The F80 has a 3.5 HP DC motor and a 350 lb rating. The F85 has a 4.0 HP DC motor and a 375 lb rating. A running foot strike loads a deck far harder than a walking one, so we like 50 lb of rating above the heaviest person who’ll run on it. That puts the practical running limit around 300 lb on the F80 and 325 lb on the F85.

Mileage is the other reason to buy up. A motor with more headroom works less hard at a given speed under a given runner, which is the case for the bigger motor on a machine that sees daily running instead of three sessions a week. We can’t tell you yet how much cooler or quieter the F85 runs under load. That’s why we set the line at weight and mileage instead of some vague idea of serious runners.

Deck, belt and fold are the same

The retailer page won’t make this obvious. Both machines have a 22 x 60 in belt, wide enough for a runner over 6 ft and long enough for a long stride. Both run from 0.5 to 12 mph. Both incline to 15% with no decline; if you want decline from Sole, you’re looking at the non-folding Sole TT8, which goes to 6% decline.

The footprints are almost identical. The F80 is 82 x 37 x 66 in open and 44 x 37 x 72 in folded. The F85 is 83 x 38 x 67 in open and 46 x 38 x 72 in folded. The F85 weighs 300 lb against the F80’s 278, which you’ll notice the day the box arrives and never again. Sole recommends a dedicated 15 A circuit for the F80, and we’d plan the same outlet for the F85.

Expect them to sound much alike. A similar deck makes a similar foot-strike noise, and the floor under it matters more than the motor. We’ll put both on the same meter in the same room when retail units arrive.

The bigger screen is just a bigger screen

The F80 has a 10.1 in touchscreen; the F85 has a 15.6 in one. Neither needs a subscription for anything, which is what keeps Sole ahead of the screen-first brands on our lists. Both run the same basic Sole software, both are slower than the tablet you already own, and both will spend most of their lives showing speed, incline and time.

If you watch video while you run, the F85’s extra 5 inches are real. If you were going to prop up your phone anyway, they aren’t. We wouldn’t pay $600 for the screen alone. We’d pay it for the motor and the rating and count the screen as a bonus.

Warranty is where the F85 earns its price

Both carry a lifetime warranty on the frame and motor. The difference is in the parts that wear. The F80 covers deck, electronics and parts for 3 years and labor for 1. The F85 covers deck and electronics for 5 years and labor for 2.

That matters more than it sounds. In years three to five, the belt and deck are the likeliest things to need attention, and console electronics aren’t cheap to replace out of warranty. Two more years on electronics and a second year of labor are a big part of what the $600 buys, and on a machine that runs every day we’d weigh it almost as heavily as the motor.

What else that money buys

Sole’s prices move, so check the retailer. At F85 money you’re also in range of the Horizon 7.8 AT, with a 4.0 CHP motor and a 375 lb rating under an LED console, and the NordicTrack Commercial 1750, which brings decline and a subscription screen. Our Sole vs NordicTrack page covers that second choice. If you need a 400 lb rating, the TT8 is the Sole to look at, and our heavy-duty treadmills page lists the other frames in that class.

Which one we’d buy

The F80. For a family with one runner and one walker, a 22-inch belt, a 3.5 HP motor and a lifetime frame and motor warranty for under $1,900 is the best value we know of in a folding treadmill, and the F85 adds nothing to the deck you stand on. We’d switch to the F85 as soon as the heaviest runner in the house passed 250 lb or the weekly mileage passed 20, and we’d be glad of the 5-year electronics cover when we did. If you’re choosing between the F80 and the cheaper F63 instead, read our Sole F63 vs F80 comparison.