AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench Review
Last updated on December 14th, 2024 at 08:26 pm
There are a TREMENDOUS assortment of benches on the market. You can spend $50 or upwards of $1000. I have my own personal preferences for what I use in my gym, but sometimes the concept of experimenting piques my interest. When I was offered an AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench for review sake, I initially was going to say no. I don’t need a $100 bench in my gym and I wouldn’t recommend one either.
Then I thought… Why? Have I used a $100 bench before? Do I know how this bench can compare to the other benches on the market? How about for my daughter, or my wife? Is this bench “enough” for smaller athletes?
Today we dig in and find out.
Key Notes
The AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench is surprisingly solid for what is currently listed as an $80 bench, with a 5% coupon, with Free Prime Shipping. I wouldn’t take a big dude and hit a 1RM bench on it, but anything else is likely going to be ok.
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Quick Note
I received the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench and then had ANOTHER company reach out with a bench for review. I took them both, thinking I’d do a side by side review and comparison. That other bench doesn’t deserve a full review (I’ll show you why at the end) but I’ll make reference to this bench throughout as a comparison to the AboveGenius. Keep in mind, the AboveGenius is currently listed at $80, and the Keppi Fitness Bench1000 Pro is listed at $399, on sale for $280! Seriously, keep that in the back of your mind as we go.
AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench Specs
The AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench is a budget bench that aims to attract an entry level enthusiast lifter. What I mean is that they cut some of the bigger bench details to save on price. But they were aiming to create a bench that still looked robust, still performed solidly, and could hang with the big boys in MOST areas.
Your typical budget bench on Amazon REALLY looks like a budget bench. Aesthetically speaking, they tend to look different than benches from the likes of REP Fitness and Rogue. But the AboveGenius manages to still look like a bench. It definitely has thinner steel, thinner pads, and the overall build is SMALL. But it isn’t likely to stand out in a gym full of more robust gym equipment as an immediate low quality item.
General Specs
- rated to 650lbs
- weights 39.7lbs
- 17.5″ tall
- 12in wide pads at the WIDEST
- Total length is about 46″
- has built in vertical storage
- 8 adjustment angles in 15 degree increments from -15 up to 85 degrees
- Quick adjustments via ladder
- Ability to be “zero gap”
General Specs of Keppi
- rated to 1200lbs
- weights 50lbs
- 19″ tall
- 11in wide pads
- Total length is about 60″
- leg attachment can be removed
- 12 adjustment angles in 10 degree increments from -20 up to 90 degrees
- Has wheels
- Pads have coverings with end caps
AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench Assembly
Putting this thing together was the easiest assembly I’ve ever done in the gym. It comes with this tool bag and some needed tools for assembly. You tighten three nuts and bolts, and you are good to go. I actually kept the bag to hold onto some common tool items in my gym to stow them away.
I’ve heard rumors of benches taking an hour to assemble. The Keppi took me and my daughter about 30 minutes to assemble. It required a LOT more bolts. We busted out the impact for some extra fun and put it together. Now, I’m going to say that assembly time probably shouldn’t be a HUGE deciding factor in your decision. This is a one time investment for something you hopefully will use for decades. IF you are something like a regular traveler, say in the military or something, this might factor in. Otherwise, this piece is simply an FYI.
But I’d still rather have my 30 minutes back.
Additional Features
The bench stores upright. Pair that with the front foot that folds in and you have a pretty small footprint when the bench is not in use. Not quite flat, but minimal. Compare this again to the other Amazon bench I received which is a HUGE pain to store. It does NOT store upright except when shoved against a wall in the perfect situation.
Both have a front foot hold feature for decline work, but I’ve never been a fan of decline ab work so this wasn’t a big testing item for us. The AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench can have that front foot holder removed entirely, making it easier to use, move, and store. The Keppi can do the same.
The incline ladder is labeled with a laser cut steel insert. I like this a lot as it gives the bench some contrast, and easily identifies what setting you are working with. While I don’t think many of us struggle to find the right setting week to week, it is a nice add you don’t see in every budget offering.
The bench does NOT have wheels. This was a common comment from some of the other home gym dudes that snagged one. In my opinion, the bench is so damn light I just never even noticed. But when moving the bench around for pictures I did realize that it was annoying. You go to pick it up and you have to bear hug it to move it. otherwise you are moving it while holding the adjustable pad which moves on you.
Considering the bench currently costs $80, I could see a bump to $85 and adding wheels being an easy addition.
Pin vs Ladder
This is a fun one. Some benches work off a ladder adjustment, others work off a pop-pin. In the old days the sign of a quality high end bench was some solid pop-pins. Over the last several years people have began preferring the ladder set up. After using both, I prefer the ladder. It just works so quickly, you don’t have the trouble of ending up in the wrong hole (that’s what she said), and you never have a pop-pin that comes loose, gets too tight, or otherwise stops working.
The AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench uses a ladder system, the Keppi uses pop-pins. Another win for AG!
Initial Impressions
Very clearly the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench doesn’t have the same robustness that a bench from the bigger boys does. Sitting side by side my Inspire SCS Bench which is a decent offering, it misses some of the nicer details.
Look at the leg holders, the pads are open foam instead of wrapped in material so they will be prone to tearing and falling apart. They also just freely sit on the posts with no end caps or anything.
The bench pad can be compressed with one hand fairly easily. The bench comes in one color, with one pad option, opposed to the likes of REP Fitness who offers a number of colors and pad options.
The Keppi is arguably a slightly more “robust” looking bench. The pads are firmer, the tubing and powder coat is a bit more polished, the leg rollers have coverings. The branding pops. You name it.
So it’s pretty clear out the box that the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench isn’t a top tier offering. That weight limit alone would scare off some of the bigger lifters out there. And you wouldn’t find this bench in any self respecting “enthusiasts” gym.
But the original question is… for $80, is this bench worth it? Is it… good enough?
AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench Performance
Ok, the part that really matters. I used the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench. My 6 year old daughter used it. My wife used it.
We used it for dumbbell work, barbell work, and other accessories. As we can see in this test, the flat set up holds pretty well. This is roughly 600lbs.
Considering that MOST people will not get anywhere close to a combined 600lbs on the bench, this is pretty solid in terms of TOTAL load.
You can see the bench flexes side to side. So we aren’t talking about the BEST experience possible.
My daughter’s experience
Audrey was on a bench kick for awhile, so I set up her squat stands and the Above Genius Bench to do some work. Normally she would use my Fat Pad, but this was easier to set up. And if I was already benching, this allowed us to move much quicker between my sets and hers.
She weighs about 40lbs and benches 25lb as her max, so is commonly working with about 15lbs or so. The bench had absolutely no issues for her. Much more manageable than the fat pad for a bunch of probably obvious reasons as well.
And since Audrey has no objective feedback about aesthetics, pad firmness, or other things that we might nitpick about, the bench did its job.
My Wife’s Experience
Jamie hates the fat pad. It’s just too wide for her, as she can’t get her arms all the way down. She ends up doing all of her bench work off the adjustable bench, which is currently the Inspire SCS Bench. The AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench was SOLID for her. At her lighter weight and lighter dumbbells/barbell load, the pad doesn’t compress too much. It doesn’t wobble unless she forces it to.
For reference, she is benching with ~30lb dumbbells and less than 100lbs on the barbell.
Dumbbells, barbells…..Bench, rows, curls… Doesn’t matter. This bench holds up surprisingly well for someone her size. She can most certainly FEEL a difference between the Inspire and the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench. The pads are firmer, the adjustments are cleaner, the bench is sturdier (much heavier too), and all around is just a BETTER bench.
But the Inspire is a $550 bench! The AboveGenius gets a solid thumbs up from the wife.
I want to stress here too, that even without wheels, my wife can move this bench. Some of the bigger benches out there are SO FREAKING HEAVY that they can’t reasonably be moved around. So this is a nice win here for the smaller athlete.
My Experience
I went in very cautious. I weigh 250, I bench 350, I handle 80lb dumbbells for reps with ease. My concern was that this bench was going to fall flat on me. It didn’t.
Flat work is typically where these benches do ok. They have enough support to hold up well. But incline is where they struggle. You put the majority of the stress on that one point, and things can get dangerous.
The incline I tested with my 80lb dumbbells. So that’s 160 + my 250, for a combined total load of 410lbs. You DEFINITELY noticed some side to side play in the bench pad. Again, this thing is thin and the support beam behind it isn’t huge. It’s not enough that the bench is going to fall over. And it’s not enough that it happens with every Rep, but it’s noticeable if you lean at all. This is something I’m definitely not accustomed to with my other benches.
The base of the bench holds steady. Whether flat or incline. Which is a good sign since my garage isn’t 100% level.
I’ve done prone curls, DB rows, incline curls, and more. The bench manages to do the basics surprisingly well in every position.
Keppi Bench
The Keppi bench on the other hand… well, check out this video. Audrey and I had put together the bench on Sunday, and on Monday I went to test it out. I was going for a set of prone DB Rear Delts and the bench collapsed on me. So I figured I’d give it a little test on camera and BOOM… I gave it a few more test runs, and it never got any better.
The ONLY way to make this bench useful at all, was to completely lock the pop-pin in place. This means that every time you go to use it, you have to unscrew it, adjust it, and screw it back in. No go for me as forgetting to do that even once could be very dangerous.
best comment was “brings new meaning to the term drop set”
The metal cut out for the incline numbers actually broke off as well. This bench has now been taken apart for scrap parts as I didn’t feel comfortable putting it on the Used Market. We’ll find a use for the pads and other non-moving pieces at some point.
I reached out to the company and their answer was that you had to lock the pop pins into position each time you use it, as I mentioned above. So this isn’t a bug, but a feature. Got it! The reviews on Amazon are a 4.7 out of 5 with 463 reviews. Unfortunately, the vast majority were likely given this bench for free in exchange for a quick positive review.
Overall Thoughts
Ok, so the above is my general experiences alongside my daughter and wife’s notes.
My overall consensus is this. If I was the only athlete in my garage, there is no way I’d own this bench. The light frame, the thin pad, and the less than ideal aesthetic aspects overall just don’t jive with my gym. Every adjustable bench I’ve owned has been a $500+ bench. And this just doesn’t compare. I can 100% FEEL the difference.
Over time the side to side movements would be annoying. And since I’m bigger, moving a larger bench isn’t an issue. I’ve benched on a Fat Pad for so long, that wide benches are just my go-to now. I have a much higher expectation from my equipment due to my size, strength, and personal wants.
I’d own something like my older HOIST adjustable bench, my current Inspire SCS Bench, or snag something from my wish list. Like the Bells of Steel Buzzsaw or Prime Fitness Shorty Adjustable Bench.
I’ve also said before, that personally, in my gym, adjustable benches need to take attachments. We bench with the flat bench, we do accessories with the adjustable bench. Neither the Keppi or AboveGenius take a leg curl/ext attachment, which doesn’t bode well for their longevity in my gym.
Wife & Kids Approved
If my wife was the only athlete in our gym, this bench would 100% get the job done. It does what it needs to do, and her objective thoughts on the aesthetics of a bench aren’t as high as mine are. The bench is light enough that she can move it around herself. It’s strong enough to support her heaviest of lifts. It accommodates her accessories (minus the leg curl/ext). Now, does she prefer the Inspire SCS bench? Sure. We all like the Ferrari better than the Camry, But the Above Genius clocks in at under $100 while the Inspire bench comes in at over $500.
For that extra $400, especially in the budget arena, you could get a bar, some plates, and be most of the way to a fully functioning home gym.
As I mentioned, this bench works pretty well for a kids bench too. It is light enough and easy enough to move, the pad is just right, and overall it works. If you have a fully functioning set up but include your kiddos, this could be an easy addition to welcome them into the gym with their own equipment at a reasonable price. Add in a GGC Junior Bar and we are in business!
Moral of The Story
Price definitely impacts the build, aesthetics and features of a bench. But it isn’t always a solid indication of a better performing bench. The Keppi bench by most standards is a better bench ON PAPER in terms of the finer details and aesthetics. But it sucks. You could grab a Crandall Fitness Heavy Duty Adjustable Bench 2.0 with code GGC2023 and it’ll come in at a lower price.
This is why, hopefully, you know some good product reviewers that you trust so you can get some real hands on ideas and feedback.
And We Are Done!
In my eyes, the AboveGenius Adjustable Weight Bench is a solid recommendation for a smaller athlete on a budget. It isn’t going to win against the bigger and better benches on anything other than mobility due to its smaller size. But it is more than adequate to be your bench if you don’t have one and don’t have a ton of money to spend on a higher quality option.
Check out my other Bench reviews here.
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Joe Gray
My name is Joe Gray - aka Gray Matter Lifting - and I've been lifting at home since 2013. In that time I've built a badass gym, deadlifted over 600lbs, helped grow r/Homegym to over 1 Million subscribers, created the Garage Gym Competition and written a ton of posts here on this site. I love the Garage Gym Community... If you do too, I hope you stick around.
