Yaheetech Adjustable 40lbs Dumbbell Set Review: Are They a Worthy Bowflex SelectTech 552 Dupe?

I used to be a “gym girl” before the pandemic, but since 2020 I’ve been slowly building up my own home gym, with everything I could possibly need to do my strength training workouts at home. My black and pink basement gym, sometimes lovingly referred to as my “dunGYM” (dungeon + gym) is truly my happy place, and the commute down the stairs is certainly better than driving across town to get my lifting in.

My second happy place is my pop-up camper, which despite being an amazing place to spend summers on the road with my family, doesn’t have many fitness amenities. Here’s where the Yaheetech Adjustable 40lbs Dumbbell Set comes in. I have always been curious about the popular Bowflex SelectTech adjustable dumbbells for traveling, but have not been interested in spending over $350-$400 for them. The Yaheetech set I tried out is similar in specs, but is currently priced at $210 on Amazon. Cheap? No, but if one set of weights could save me the hassle of packing 4-5 sets of metal dumbbells when we travel, it might be worth it!

How They Work(out)

The Yaheetech adjustable dumbbells are super easy to use. They can be set to 12 different weights between 3lbs and 40lbs. To set the weight you want, you place the dumbbell on the storage tray, turn the dial to the weight you need, and lift the dumbbell off of the tray. It’s basically releasing and/or picking up smaller plate weights to get to your desired pound selection. It literally took me 2-3 seconds per dumbbell to do this process.

When you want to change the weight for a different exercise, you have to put the dumbbell back on the tray, move the dial to the new weight selection, and then pick them up again. Overall, not as fast as having a bunch of dumbbells laid out, but it really didn’t slow me down too much at all.

Because the dumbbells are designed to hold up to 40 pounds of plates, they are fairly large in size. When I’m using regular dumbbells, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s are quite a bit smaller in my hands. This is probably not much of an issue for a larger person, but as a fairly petite female, they felt a little bulky during lighter weight moves like lateral raises, bicep curls, and upright rows.

Not gonna lie, I was slightly nervous to try any exercises where the dumbbells were moving over my face, but after shaking the dumbbell around many times to make sure it wasn’t going to release any plates, I did successfully perform pullovers without any incident! The locking mechanism felt solid and secure, which is obviously pretty important (especially when you’re setting these to the higher 30+ lbs).

Value Gainz

At $210, are the Yaheetech adjustable dumbbells a better value than buying a standard dumbbell set? These adjustable dumbbells cover 12 weights. My current rack consists of 5s, 8s, 10s, 12s, 15s, 20s, 25s, 30s, 40s, and 50s (10 sets) and it most definitely cost a lot more than $200 to collect them all; the rack to hold them probably cost close to $200 on its own. So if you’re starting from scratch, the adjustable set is a good value. I also like that the adjustable dumbbells include weight intervals in between some of my regular dumbbells. For example, for some moves it can be a big jump going from 30s to 40s, so having a 36lb option is pretty cool.

I haven’t had a chance to use the Bowflex SelectTech adjustable dumbbells to compare, but they look very similar (down to the black and red color scheme). The biggest difference is the Bowflex version goes up to 52.5lbs, and covers 15 total weights. Bowflex is also close to double the price, so there’s that.

Final Weigh-In

Overall, the Yaheetech 40lbs Adjustable Dumbbell Set is a great value if you’re looking to get started with lifting, have a small space, or need a good solution for road tripping/camping with weights. As you can see from the photo below, the adjustable dumbbells take up a lot less space than a standard weight rack, so if you don’t have a dedicated dunGYM like me, they could be a great option.