SMRTFT NUOBELL Adjustable Dumbbells 5–80 lb Set | Original NUOBELL | 16 Weights in 1 for Home Gym Strength Training | Steel-Knurled Handle | Space-Saving Dumbbell Set of 2 | 2-Year Warranty

Why it's worth it

The NUOBELL keeps a traditional hex silhouette and a steel-knurled handle across its entire 5-to-80-pound range, adjusting in 5-pound steps. It's the priciest set here, and it's the only one that doesn't feel like a compromise in your hands.

Grip is what separates this from everything else. The handle is steel with real knurling, not the smooth rubber you get on most adjustable sets. On heavy rows and Romanian deadlifts, that texture is the difference between the bar staying in your hand and it slowly rotating out of it. If you've lifted in a commercial gym, this is the feel you're used to.

The shape holds up across the whole range. At 80 pounds the NUOBELL is still a hex dumbbell — nothing sticks out to catch your forearm, nothing presses against your thigh on a goblet squat. Adjusting means twisting the collar and lifting, which takes a few sessions to do smoothly but becomes automatic. Sixteen weights in one, at a footprint smaller than most.

From our review of 8 adjustable dumbbells, by Eleanor Vance, Health & Beauty Editor

What we like

• +Grip is what separates this from everything else
• +The shape holds up across the whole range
• +This is a set for someone who already knows they train heavy and cares about feel

What to know

• –Durability reports are genuinely mixed, and that's the thing to weigh before spending this much
• –There's a counterfeit problem in this category, and buyers have received units that were short of the stated weight or arrived…
• –At the top of the range these are longer and heavier-feeling than a fixed 80-pound dumbbell, which makes them awkward to get…