FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill Review – Almost Great

No one likes cardio. But we need to do it. So finding the right piece that will keep you doing it consistently every single week, rain or shine, is important. Unfortunately, I don’t have room for huge cardio pieces like treadmills… Or do I… The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill is a full featured treadmill with incline, built in programs, some fancy accessories, and it folds up and rolls away when I’m done with it.

I’ve been using it for the past 3 months for daily cardio and testing all the gadgets and gizmos, alongside my wife and daughter. And today we are going to see if a treadmill can be feature packed, mobile, and still hold up to the demands of this 250lb powerlifter.

Transparency Note

I got about six different companies who wanted to send me a treadmill this year. After checking on a number of them, we landed on the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill. It was the most robust spec wise, and looked like it would handle what we had for it the best.

The team was quick to send over one for review for free, and include an affiliate link for us. Using this link gives me a small kick-back and costs you nothing. The funds help manage this website, my YouTube, and the various things I do in the home gym community. I appreciate your support.

FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill Overview

We don’t have the room for a dedicated, commercial treadmill. My dude Ashton at Freedom Fitness will tell you, this is the ideal route. Snag a used commercial treadmill and it’ll last you FOREVER. The problem is typically the power requirements and the space. We have a small section of our back patio dedicated to cardio equipment, and we can sneak something tiny into the front room. So we need something that is going to work for me, my wife, my daughter, and anyone using our gym, without taking up a ton of space.

This is a tall ask, as we range from 8 years old to 40 years old, and 45lbs to 245lbs. But the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill seems to, at least out the gate, match our needs on paper. It folds up and moves around. It sets up and has incline options. It can be used for walking or running. And it is simple enough that a kiddo or a guest can figure it out the monitor without an in depth walk through.

FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill Specs

• Brand: FEIER
• Made In USA: No
• Power Required: Yes, typical outlets work
• Dimensions In Storage Mode: 79cm wide x 170cm tall
• Dimensions In Use: 170cm long x 79cm wide x 128cm tall
• Tread Belt Dimensions: 20″ x 57″
• Front Deck Height: 20.5cm from floor
• Recommended Weight Capacity: 265lbs
• Weight: 160lbs
• Maximum Speed: 11.2 MP/H
• Maximum Horsepower: 2.0 HP
• Maximum Incline: 12%
• Number of Programs: 36
• Warranty: 12 Months
• Return Window: 30 days
• Assembly: None

Shipping & Assembly

The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill comes fully assembled. Which is awesome. But we had one big problem. It didn’t work. I tried a bunch of different things and got nothing. I had to email my contact, who told me that it is common for the power chord to disconnect in transit. I had to take the front panel off, take the power chord out of the machine, reconnect it all, and fish it back through.

This took me around an hour to figure out and get working, and resulted in me bleeding a bit in the process. My wife’s remarks the whole time were “if you had paid for this, you would have returned it.” I agree. Luckily I have tools, some creativity, and can manhandle stuff. Because I needed to flip the treadmill on it’s side multiple times, pry off part of the upright with a screwdriver, which all resulted in some cracked plastic and dinged up accessories.

If I was finishing the review after Day One, I wouldn’t be too happy. My daughter who didn’t have to go through any of that said “this treadmill is great!”. So that probably shows you the difference in feelings based on my experiences.

Another thing out the gate I wish was different, there is no good storage solution for the included “stuff”. The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill comes with several tools for tightening and adjusting as needed, oil for keeping things lubed up, an instruction manual, and the power and safety chord. When you fold the treadmill up, those pieces have no where to go. They need some kind of pocket or storage solution.

FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill Performance

The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill clocks in at 160lbs. It is 67 inches long in total, with 57” of tread… and 31 inches wide in total, with 20” of tread. That is a pretty standard width, but is noticeably shorter than a lot of commercial and full-sized treadmills. This probably makes sense as trying to stand up a much larger platform would be difficult.

In use, we didn’t find that we ever needed MORE tread length for our needs. That was for me at 6ft tall, down to my daughter at roughly 4ft tall.

Incline

One piece that was a requirement for me in a treadmill, was incline. Some studies claim that even a 5% incline can increase your calorie expenditure by 52%, and 10% jumps up to 113%. The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has a 12% incline, which if my math is correct is a 2000% increase in calories burned. A lot of the other options I’ve looked at in this compact treadmill space come in at 10% or less.

You can control this with either the up and down arrows 1 degree at a time, or use the 6 and 9 preset buttons. I find it weird that 12 is the highest, and you don’t have a 12 preset button. It should be 6 and 12, not 6 and 9. That said, it just takes an extra couple button presses and we are there.

Even though I am right at the weight limit for the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill, it never seemed to struggle to run at full incline, or even adjust different heights while in use. It very gradually adjusts as well, so you aren’t going to drop from 12 to 1 in a matter of seconds and come crashing down. I found 12% to be very effective. My 10 minute walks gave me a nice pump in the glutes and hammies, had me sweating like crazy, and got the job done. Big win here for the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill.

Motor & MPH

The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has a 2.0 hp motor, with a maximum speed of 11.2 mph. A typical commercial treadmill has a 3.0 hp motor, but they also run on AC motors, which gives it more torque. More torque means the ability to handle larger athletes easier. The DC motor here is going to be enough until you start approaching and exceeding the 265lb weight limit.

The heavier you are, the more likely you are going to test the treadmill motor, and the more likely it’ll burn out faster. Keep in mind, this is an issue with basically ALL at home treadmills. Not just the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill. So keep that in mind depending on your size.

In my typical walking use, I was hovering around 3.5 mph on the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill. When I jumped up to the 5.6 mph setting, I was going pretty good and it required a moderate jog/run pace. Not an all out sprint or maximum effort, but enough that I was definitely noticing the difference. The fact that this thing goes all the way up to 11.2 mph, means I’ve personally got way more head room than I’ll ever need.

I’m not a runner outside of chasing the kiddos around on the soccer field, and at 6ft 250lbs I’m not exactly light on my feet when I run. So my cardio is likely to stay at that low to moderate level. If you plan to run sprints on this, you might go higher. Audrey took it for a couple of rides and did well. But I might have hurt myself. The moral of the story here, is that the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has more than enough power for me.

Monitor

The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has 36 built in programs. They can be randomly assigned to keep things fresh, or followed day to day to improve as you go. You can also store 3 custom programs. The problem I have with this feature, is that the only reference to what these programs are, is in the manual. Meaning, unless if you memorize what all the programs are, or decide you REALLY like a certain number and memorize it, there is no on-screen insight into what each program is.

They also have 4 modes, focusing on the key metrics of Distance, Time, Calories, and then a “mixed” mode of all three. The mode button seems a little weirdly named. It simply changes the on-screen metrics from Distance, to Time, to Calories, and then a rotating screen of all three. There isn’t really anything changing in terms of what you are doing. Not sure I would call that a Mode, maybe Display?

I will note that we used a step tracker, and compared steps on this treadmill to steps outside and it seemed off. Consistently off. By quite a bit.

Calories on cardio machines are always a joke as well. If I run for 5 minutes and so does my wife, at the same intensity and all things equal, we will burn different amounts of calories because of our age, weight, gender, muscle, and more. But this treadmill doesn’t know any of that, so it just estimates calories.

The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has a heart rate monitor on the frame. It works, but if you are going to regularly monitor your heart rate for cardio purposes, you probably need to invest in something a little more consistent. I’m not a huge believer in the “Cardio Zones” concept. I get it, but it doesn’t really translate to fat loss as there is no “Fat Burning Zone” as they claim. So it isn’t something I’ve ever gone out of my way to monitor.

If you want more accurate calorie counting, step tracking, or heart rate monitoring, I think you need to simply grab a good smart watch. It’ll do more, better, without limiting your monitoring to your time on the treadmill. I think these features aren’t terrible to include, just not really helpful for the average person.

I’ll add in that the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill has Bluetooth and can sync with apps like Anyrun, Kinomap, Zwift. This powerlifter doesn’t even know what those apps are, but if you are a serious cardio fanatic, they got you covered.

All in on the monitor, even with a few quirks, I still think this is a pretty perfect monitor option for me. I don’t need advanced metrics or a huge amount of display layout options… I just want to track my basic items and know I hit my goal for the workout. I think if they include programs, it needs to work similar to the Concept2 monitor, where you can accurately tell what the program is and scroll through the entire listing right there. So the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill monitor gets a passing grade.

Phone Support

Just below the monitor on the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill is a Wireless Charger for your phone. Pretty cool idea considering how a lot of people will probably want to watch something to make cardio a little less meh. I’ve been making my way through Twisted Metal lately.

There are two problems though.

First, is that most people don’t watch things with their phone on a flat surface. They have a ridge for holding it in a more appropriate position, but it can’t charge there. So you are only going to get the wireless charging if you are using it for audio purposes.

Well, kind of…

I actually struggled to use it for wireless charging at all. When I sit my phone on the wireless charger, and start walking, and keep in mind, this is at a 3.5 mph setting, my phone bounces around too much and eventually completely stops charging.

So… the wireless charging on the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill is kind of a bust overall. This isn’t horrible, because I’m not likely to pick a treadmill because it has wireless charging for my phone. But I can’t imagine anyone truly tried this and approved it for production.

Vertical Storage & Mobility

As I mentioned earlier, this was a big piece for us. The ability to store away when not in use. The ability to put it out on the back patio, maybe bring it inside when it is 110 degrees outside. Take it into the garage for our Sunday Soccer Team workouts. I wanted something that MIGHT be portable enough to move around the house, and still hold up.

While the FEIER Star 100 Treadmill does fold up and store away, and has wheels for mobility, it is far from well executed.

Step 1 is to lower the treadmill from vertical storage, to the floor. Remember, this treadmill weighs 160lbs. And it is 5.5ft tall when stored vertically. The felt weight is roughly 60lbs, largely because the majority of the weight is going to come from the motor. So you need to be able to transition from vertical storage, to the floor, with a 60lb and 5.5ft tall machine without destroying everything in its path, including yourself.

Step 2 is to unlock the frame with the safety release handle. This handle is pretty cool in concept, it hides away nicely, easy to access, and it is even knurled. But I find it unfortunate that stepping on the handle doesn’t release the frame from the lock. You have to simultaneously step on it and lift the frame from the locking position, which can be a bit of a juggling act.

Step 3 is to bring up the final portion of the frame. You lift underneath it, and bring it back until you hear an audible CLICK for the lock. We’ve had a number of problems here, because one side has never worked correctly and doesn’t lock at all. And the other side is actually cracked though it still works. If this function was to break completely, you’d still be able to use the treadmill, but not rest on it in use without hurting yourself.

Step 4 is to bring the monitor up… Which is simple.

And last, Step 5 is to plug it in. The power chord is just over 6 feet in length, but it is a right angle plug off to the left. Depending on where your outlet is, you might only have about 5 feet worth of reach. This means possibly needing an extension chord.

Step 6 is to work your way back through the process to put it back into storage mode. The breakdown is simpler than the set-up until we get to the final step. The treadmill has some stability feet to make sure it doesn’t tip over when stored vertically. The problem is that if you roll the treadmill up to a wall, like most people probably would, the anti-tip feet are now facing the wall. Which doesn’t keep it from tilting over.

So the only way to accomplish what they show in their own product images, is to wheel the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill up to the wall, then turn it around 180 degrees, and then back it up against the wall slowly. Keep in mind, the wheels don’t have any swivel to them, and don’t engage with the floor once the treadmill is turned around.

There is ZERO chance that anyone at this company tested this feature. It is something we realized one day one, as soon as I brought it inside, and has completely confounded me every single time I’ve stored it vertically since then.

I’ll add that while you can roll this thing around with the wheels, because it weighs so much and is so long, it wouldn’t be an activity I would do very often. So the concept of putting the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill inside for regular use, bringing it outside for nice weather or for team activities, fell flat.

Should You Buy The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill?

So we have some pros and some cons so far for the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill. But my biggest issue is the overall structural integrity.

The handle that controls the lock for storage gets stuck A LOT. To the point where a few times I thought it was completely broken. The frame is damaged in multiple areas, and a couple of those areas are vitally important to the treadmill working safely. The hinges and tabs for the main frame to lock in place are plastic and already showing issues, and they get used EVERY single time you set up the treadmill.

While the motor seemed to be fine, the frame itself seemed to struggle quite a bit. Even at lower speeds, this thing had a LOT to say about it. And once we got going faster, it was pretty much all over the place. Considering the frame is plastic, I have concerns that this much movement over time is going to lead to structural issues.

Some of these issues are cosmetic, some of them are full on requirements to use the treadmill at all.

And the kicker here. Is that right now the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill is $1500 on their website.

If I’m spending around $1500 of my own money, I’m probably going with a more well-known name in treadmills and grabbing something from SOLE… Or my friends at MERACH have one for under $500… Or for just a little more you can get a freaking Stair Climber… you get the idea.

What sucks is that the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill technically works. We’ve actually really enjoyed having it in our house, we’ve found that having something that can supplement our outside walks has done a lot of good for our cardio, and it is going to play a big role in our diets planned for the beginning of 2026.

But the bad process with the wires on day one, the overall poor implementation of the vertical storage and set-up process, the issues with the various features, and the various broken pieces leads me to one place…

I can’t confidently recommend the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill to anyone. Smaller athletes are going to struggle to set it up, and larger athletes are probably going to break it even faster. For the price, it doesn’t seem to really hit the target for anyone.

Take your money and shop elsewhere.

Wrap Up

On paper, this was the one. The FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill would exceed a walking pad, would store better than the more traditional folding options, would come in at a reasonable price, and had all the features we needed. But several of those features fell flat, others were poorly implemented with large faults, and the overall long term outlook for the FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill isn’t promising.

It works, we’ll keep it using it… for now. But I wouldn’t personally spend my money on it. The search is back on for the perfect cardio solution for our home gym.

💲Want to buy a FEIER Star 100 Folding Treadmill? Use this link.