Quietest walking pads for apartments

In a flat, the noise of a walking pad travels two ways, and only one of them is on the listing.

Through the air goes the motor hum and the belt's rub. That is what makers measure when they claim "under 45 dB", and they nearly always measure it with nobody on the belt. It bothers the same room, not the flat below.

Through the floor slab go your footsteps: each step is a knock that the deck passes to the floor and the floor to your neighbour's ceiling. That impact noise is what causes complaints, and no maker publishes it. What reduces it:

• shock absorbers between the deck and the frame (more points spread the blow);
• mass: a 28 kg pad drums less than a 15 kg one;
• speed: walking, one foot is always down; running has a flight phase and every landing weighs two or three times your body weight.

That is why our rules do not score the maker's decibels (we show them, but they are not comparable between brands) and do score these facts.

The mat. A 6 mm mat protects the floor, damps motor vibration and stops the pad sliding. It does not soundproof footsteps: that takes 15–20 mm rubber tiles or a foam layer underneath. We explain it in the guide on running a walking pad in a flat without bothering anyone.

And the cheapest fix of all: walk at 3–4 km/h rather than 6, in soft-soled shoes, and not first thing in the morning.