FEIERDUN DS2 vs Bowflex SelectTech: A Real-World Comparison for a Home Setup

Ask ten people which adjustable dumbbells belong in a home gym and half will name the FEIERDUN DS2 while the other half names the Bowflex SelectTech 552. I have trained on the FEIERDUN for six months in my Mesa garage, and I borrowed my neighbor's SelectTech for three weeks so I could answer the question with both pairs in front of me. The short answer is that the FEIERDUN DS2 is the right buy for most people coming back to strength training after a break, and the Bowflex earns its higher price only if dial-in speed and a heavier ceiling are genuinely worth the premium.

That is not a fence-sitting answer, and it is not the polite version of a conclusion. These are different tools that happen to look alike in a listing photo. One is a plate-loaded pair with a connector bar that cost a fraction of what the dial machine costs. The other is a precision selector system that changes weight in seconds. Which one you should buy comes down to an honest question about yourself: how much do you hate stopping between sets, and how heavy do you actually need to go?

How I Tested Both Pairs

I am not a gadget reviewer and I do not own a lab. I am a 58-year-old in Mesa, Arizona, who four years ago could barely get off the floor after a back episode, and who decided to rebuild strength at home. For six months I trained three mornings a week with the FEIERDUN DS2, and for three of those weeks my neighbor parked his SelectTech next to it so I could run the same workouts on both in the same garage, same bench, same order of exercises.

That is the closest thing to a fair test I can offer. Same exercises, same rest periods, same coffee. What I tracked was not barbell math but habit-level realities: whether the pair made me want to start, whether changing the weight stopped me from doing the next set, and whether I trusted the thing at the top of a press. Equipment that does not get used is a decoration, and the whole comparison is really about which one gets used.

How the Two Do the Same Job Differently

The DS2 is a pair of handles, a stack of round plates, and a connector bar that joins the two handles into a short barbell. To change the weight you loosen the twist collars, swap plates, and tighten them again, about a minute for both sides. The SelectTech keeps its plates resting in a cradle, and you set the weight by turning a dial on the end of each handle. When you lift, only the plates you selected come with you, and the rest stay in the stand.

That mechanism difference is the entire character of each product. The FEIERDUN is deliberately simple, a handful of steel parts with nothing to ratchet, wear, or service. The Bowflex is precision machinery, and precision machinery costs money. That is why one of these sells for a fraction of the other's price, and it is also why they feel so different in the hand.

	FEIERDUN DS2	Bowflex SelectTech 552
Price	Today's price is a small fraction of the SelectTech's, often about a fifth, and it includes the connector bar.	Costs several times as much for the pair alone, with no barbell option in the box.
Weight per hand	Adjusts from 10 lb up to 45 lb, with wide jumps through the middle.	Covers 5 to 52.5 lb in fine 2.5 lb steps, a smoother climb with a heavier ceiling.
Changing the weight	Loosen the twist collars, swap plates, tighten; about a minute for both handles.	Turn a dial and lift; it takes seconds and you never handle a plate.
Barbell option	The connector bar joins both handles into a short barbell for rows and shrugs.	No barbell option; it is a dumbbell only.
Storage	Pair and plates sit on a tray in a garage corner; no cradle required.	Needs its cradle, which claims its own floor space.
Long-term simplicity	Few moving parts, steel threads and collars; the budget finish chips on concrete.	Precision dial mechanism inside; when parts wear, repairs cost real money.
Best for	A budget comeback set that can replace a wall of fixed dumbbells.	A premium set for weekly trainers who want dial-in speed.

Where the FEIERDUN DS2 Wins

The price is the headline, and it is not a trick. At today's price the FEIERDUN DS2 usually lands at about a fifth of what the SelectTech pair costs, and that includes the connector bar. For someone who is not certain home training will stick, that changes everything. My own garage is full of equipment I bought when I believed the habit, and this was the first set I could buy without betting my whole budget on a hobby I might abandon in March.

It also does more with less space. The pair and its plates live on a tray beside my bench, no cradle, no footprint to argue about. And the connector bar gives the DS2 a move the Bowflex simply does not have: join the two handles and you get a short barbell for rows, upright rows, and shrugs. The bar bows a little before the plates run out of resistance, so it is a tool for upper back and arms rather than a loaded bar, but it earns its keep every single week.

Then there is the simplicity. The DS2 has few moving parts, steel threads and collars, and after six months of daily plate changes nothing has loosened or failed. The budget finish shows, the paint chips if you drop a plate on concrete, and the round plates roll if you leave them loose on the floor. But nothing about the set has ever left me wondering whether it would fail mid-rep, and at this price that is the honest win.

The quiet win is the fine control it gives a body that has been through an injury. Because the plates add in steps, I can nudge a single exercise up a touch while leaving the rest alone, and my back never re-flared during the rebuild. That control matters more at 58 than any dial speed, because the only training that works is the training you do again tomorrow.

Where the Bowflex SelectTech Wins

The Bowflex changes weight in seconds, and that speed is real. You turn a dial at each end of the handle, lift, and go, with no plates to handle, no collars to grip, and no wobble if you rush. For a circuit that jumps between light and heavy, that is the difference between actually running the circuit and skipping the sets that require fiddling. The fine 2.5 pound steps are also a genuine advantage for slow, careful progression, which is exactly the kind of progression a 58-year-old rebuilding after an injury needs.

There is also the way the SelectTech holds weight. The selected plates ride close to your hand, so a twenty pound press on the Bowflex feels measured and stable, while the same weight on the DS2 has the plates spread along a longer handle. It is a different feel, and some people genuinely prefer the dial set the instant they pick it up. That first impression deserves to be taken seriously, because feel is what keeps you coming back.

It also goes heavier per hand, 52.5 pounds against the DS2's 45, which matters for anyone who has already outgrown a plate stack. The longer handle and the cradle are quirks you adapt to, and the dials have a ratchet that takes getting used to. But the real cost of owning one is inside: precision parts that can develop play over years, and service bills that dwarf the entire FEIERDUN set.

Who Should Buy Which

Buy the FEIERDUN DS2 if you are returning to strength training after a break, if your budget has a limit, if your space only holds a corner of a garage, or if you are not sure the habit will stick and you want a cheap way to find out. The minute at the collars is a deliberate rest between sets, not a burden, and the connector bar makes it more than a dumbbell.

The deciding question is the one nobody in the listing answers: how often do you change weights in a session, and how much does a minute of collars bother you? If the answer is rarely and not much, the DS2 covers you and leaves money in your pocket. If the answer is constantly and a lot, then the Bowflex's premium is buying you a smoother workout, which is a legitimate purchase.

Buy the Bowflex SelectTech if you already train several times a week, if you genuinely hate changing weights, or if you rely on small increments and a heavier ceiling to progress. You will use the dial every single workout, and over several years the premium spreads thin. What you should not do is buy it on the strength of a product photo because you assume more expensive means more right.

The Bowflex is the better machine. The FEIERDUN is the better buy for most of us coming back from a break.

What I Kept, and Why

I kept the FEIERDUN DS2. I wrote up the full six-month review if you want the long version, but the honest reason is short: my sessions stay short, and the time I spend at the collars is a rest I would be taking anyway. My back cares far more about consistency than about how fast I can change the load, and the DS2 has given me six months of consistent mornings.

I still borrow the SelectTech when my neighbor is not using it, because it is a genuinely pleasant machine and I will tell the truth about that. But I have not needed more than the DS2's ceiling for the upper-body work that matters to me, and I have never wished the plate changes were fast enough to justify the price difference. That is the whole comparison in two sentences.

Three Things That Surprised Me About This Matchup

The first surprise was how little I needed the heavier settings. I walked in assuming I would climb toward the DS2's ceiling within months, the way I trained in my forties. Instead my back voted for patience, and the middle of the range is where I still live. That means the real difference between these two sets, the DS2's 45 pounds versus the SelectTech's 52.5 per hand, only matters if you actually need the top end.

The second surprise was how much the dial changed my attitude and not my outcome. Three weeks with the SelectTech did not make my sessions better, but it made them smoother, and there is a difference between the two. The dial removed the small friction of the collars, and friction is exactly what kills a workout on a cold morning when every excuse feels louder.

The third surprise was the price doing the opposite of what I expected. I assumed the cheaper pair would feel cheap and the expensive pair would feel worth it. Instead the FEIERDUN earned its place by being honest about what it is, a simple plate-loaded pair with real, measurable limits, while the Bowflex felt like a machine I would have to protect from my own garage.