Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Set Review — 2023

In-depth Review of the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Set

Construction Quality / Durability

The Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Set has a classic dumbbell design. Weight plates are on either side and you adjust the weight by twisting the handle when the dumbbells are in the cradles. Each dumbbell goes up to 50 lbs in 5 lb increments from 5 lbs. These adjustable dumbbells replace up to 10 pairs of dumbbells so they’re convenient for most homes.

They function like standard dumbbells.

Cradle

Each cradle supports each dumbbell. The cradles are made out of aluminum.

When purchasing the set with the stand, they fasten to the tops of the stand. Without the stand, they can be set on the floor.

Each of the 5 lb weight plates, as well as the 5 lb handle of each dumbbell, fit into the cradle. The weights and handle must be placed properly into the cradle in order to adjust the dumbbells. So, you can’t adjust the weight or twist the handles without the dumbbell being placed completely in the cradle.

In each of the cradles, there is a metal piece that slides to add or remove weight from the 5 lb handle when twisting the handle. There is also an inner piece that extends out from the handle to add to each of the plates. Once the handle is twisted and the weight is adjusted (in a matter of seconds), you’ll hear a click when the weight is loaded and ready to use. This design is really seamless and easy.

Another plus about the cradles is that they hold the weights and dumbbells in place. So, when you’re using the dumbbells, the rest of the weights stay in one place. And the cradles work as a storage tray to keep everything all together.

Weight

The Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbells each allow you to lift up to 50 lbs. This weight range is good for most people, especially beginners and maybe intermediate lifters. Stronger, more advanced lifters will probably want more weight to lift.

Each handle weighs 5 lbs which is the lowest weight you can lift on each dumbbell.

The inner plate of each is the only one that isn’t fully round like the others.

It is more of a horseshoe shape than a donut shape that the other weights are. The inner plates weigh 5 lbs. The rest of the outer plates that are rounded weigh 10 lbs each. When adjusting you’ll notice how the inner plate attaches in 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 lb increments. Only the large plates attach when adjusting the dumbbells to 15, 25, 35, and 45 lb increments. This makes the weight feel even and allows for a pretty compact design, overall.

The weight plates are slim and solid to make the dumbbells feel even no matter which weight they’re adjusted to.

Handle

I will admit I have mixed feelings about the handle.

I typically prefer metal knurled handles. This is what typical dumbbells come with and I think the metal makes adjustable dumbbells feel high-end, durable, and solid. It’s not to say that the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbells’ handles aren’t, because they are. But, the rubber and hard plastic that make up the handles aren’t my favorite to use. I can get a good grip, but sometimes they can feel a little slippery and other times a little sticky.

I do really like that the handles twist to adjust the weight.

This is how the Nuobell Adjustable Dumbbells work and it makes adjusting the weight super fast and super simple. I think this is what dumbbells should be – simple and easy to use. Not complicated. As much as I like how fast the NordicTrack iSelect Dumbbells adjust with the dial, the technology is another component that could fail and potentially make the dumbbells in-usable. Dumbbells are “dumb” after all, so I think they should stay that way.

I also like that the handles are open and uncaged, unlike the PowerBlock Pro Dumbbells. These have a cage that surrounds your hand when holding the handle which can constrict your arm and wrist movements while performing certain exercises. I didn’t feel constricted at all using the Core Home Fitness Dumbbells.

Each handle has numbers on either end that displays which weight you’re at so you know exactly how much weight is loaded. There is a plus and minus sign to indicate which way to turn the handles too. Clockwise increases the weight loaded, and counterclockwise decreases the weight.

Stand

When you purchase the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbell Set it includes a stand to attach the cradles to and hold the dumbbells and weights on.

The stand is a little shorter than I expected. I’m about 5’1” (so pretty short) and it is about as high as my hips. For taller folks, like Matt who is 6’5”, you have to bend down a little bit to adjust the dumbbells and grab them from the cradles. However, as Matt says, “It beats having to bend down to the floor!”

He’s totally right. Although it’s not terrible to have to kneel down with the cradles on the floor to adjust and pick up the dumbbells, having the stand definitely helps.

Functionality & Performance

Overall, we really like how simple, straightforward, and easy to use the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbells are. It is convenient that they come in a set to include a stand, too. Something to keep in mind about the stand is that its floor stabilizers are longer than the dumbbells and take up a little more space than expected, or at least than we expected, before receiving them. Since the stand is holding 100 lbs, it makes sense that the stabilizers are a little longer though. You don’t want the dumbbells to fall on the floor.

The stand feels pretty stable, but I would use some care so as not to be rough with the weights or dumbbells to tip the stand over.

Speaking of dumbbells crashing to the floor. Core Home Fitness includes a caution sticker on one of the cradles that says to please avoid dropping. Of course, accidents can happen but we don’t recommend dropping these adjustable dumbbells, or any for that matter. There are a lot of components that go into adjustable dumbbells and they’re not meant to withstand dropping like other free weights, like bumper plates.

We aren’t thrilled that the Core Home Fitness has hard plastic components built-in, especially in the handles, but the plastic doesn’t feel flimsy or brittle by any means. It feels stable and these adjustable dumbbells have held up really well during our testing. I just think if you prefer metal knurled handles, you might not enjoy using these so much.

As far as noise, they’re pretty quiet to use. The handles click when the weight is loaded to let you know it’s ready to use. We did notice that the plates sometimes clanked together while using but it isn’t excessive or distracting. It also doesn’t make the weights feel unstable or that they’re going to fall off each dumbbell.

They’re also compact. I pulled out some standard dumbbells and the Core Home Fitness were around the same size with the same weight loaded. Compared to the Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dumbbells, these actually get longer the more weight you add on, rather than being one standard length no matter the weight that’s loaded. The 5 lb handles especially are compact to feel like using regular small dumbbells of the same weight. So, 5 lbs is the smallest and as the plates are loaded, the dumbbells not only get heavier (duh) but they get larger and longer.

They also have a standard dumbbell design so we didn’t have any problems with doing exercises like presses, curls, squats, lunges, or deadlifts.

They’re functional for most exercises. *The bench isn’t included.

Some adjustable dumbbells are bulky and frankly awkward to perform some exercises, especially for smaller folks like me. I never felt like the Core Home Fitness Adjustable Dumbbells were too large or bulky for me to perform an exercise. So, overall our team is really pleased.

Warranty

Core Home Fitness includes a 2-year warranty for parts with the Adjustable Dumbbell Set. They’re pretty straightforward to set up and assemble. The stand requires being put together, too. We found the directions to be pretty self-explanatory.