WalkingPad Z1 Review: A Slim Under Desk Walking Pad, Priced Like a Premium One

The WalkingPad Z1 is a flat, foldable under desk treadmill: a motorised belt with no handrail, a 6km/h top speed and a 180 degree fold so it can be stood up in a corner between sessions. On Amazon UK it was £319 and in stock when we checked on 5 October 2026, which puts it at the top end of what people pay for a walking-only pad.

We give it 3.9 out of 5. The specs are sensible for desk walking, the 110kg limit is better than WalkingPad's older C2, and it arrives ready to use. What holds it back is the price for a machine that can't go faster than a brisk walk, a single year of warranty, and a noise claim on Amazon that WalkingPad's own page doesn't back up.

Who it suits

Home workers with a standing desk are the obvious buyers. If your day is mostly emails, reading and calls, a slow walk at 2 to 4km/h underneath the desk adds steps without asking you to find extra time, and the Z1 is designed for exactly that pace.

It's also reasonable for anyone who wants to walk indoors on wet evenings and needs the machine gone afterwards. At 23kg with wheels, it's easier to move than most treadmills.

Skip it if you want to jog, use incline for harder walking, or weigh more than 110kg. For any of those, look at a conventional folding treadmill instead.

Check the WalkingPad Z1 price on Amazon£319.00

Specs, and where Amazon and WalkingPad disagree

Most of the numbers line up. The Amazon UK listing and WalkingPad's spec sheet agree on the 110kg limit, the 23kg weight, the 142.5 x 56 x 10.6cm unfolded size and the 6km/h top speed. WalkingPad adds a few details Amazon leaves out: a 121 x 40cm walking area, a 2.25HP brushless motor, an 81 x 56 x 13.8cm folded size and an EVA and PET shock absorbing layer under the belt.

Noise is the exception. Amazon's listing says the motor runs under 45dB; WalkingPad's own product description says below 65dB, which is a very different figure (decibels are logarithmic, so 20dB is a big gap). We'd go with the manufacturer. In practice the motor is rarely the loudest thing on a walking pad anyway; it's your feet on the belt, and a rubber mat on a wooden floor does more for the people downstairs than any spec.

Walking at a desk: what it actually does

The case for a desk treadmill rests on breaking up long spells of sitting, and the research there is fairly solid. A 2022 meta-analysis of randomised crossover trials found that interrupting prolonged sitting with light walking lowered post-meal glucose and insulin, and did so more effectively than standing breaks. Those were single-day lab studies, so they tell you about the short-term effect rather than long-term health, but the direction is clear.

The usual worry is that walking will wreck your concentration. At desk speeds it mostly doesn't. In a randomised study of 69 adults, walking at 1.5mph on a treadmill desk made no difference to cognitive control or response inhibition compared with sitting. Typing and fine mouse work are a different story, and most people find they slow down a little on precise tasks, so many owners walk through calls and reading and sit for detailed work.

It also fits neatly with the NHS physical activity guidelines, which ask adults to reduce time spent sitting and break up long periods of not moving, alongside 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. A slow desk stroll counts towards the first part. Push the Z1 up to its 6km/h ceiling and you're into brisk walking, which counts towards the second.

Design and daily use

The Z1 is a single slab of belt with the motor housing at the front, a remote for speed and a small LED readout. There's nothing to bolt on, and at 10.6cm tall it adds very little height under a desk, so you won't need to raise your desk much higher than you would for standing.

The 180 degree fold halves its length, and WalkingPad says it occupies about 0.16 square metres stored. Folded height is 13.8cm, though, so like the C2 it's more likely to stand on its end against a wall than slide under a low sofa.

A 1 year warranty is the weak spot. WalkingPad offers an optional extension on its own site, but on a £319 motorised product a single year is short, and it's the same thin cover the C2 had.

How it compares

The KingSmith WalkingPad C2 is the closest relative: 6km/h, a 120 x 40cm belt, a remote, a 1 year warranty and a 13 to 14cm folded height. The Z1 matches it on nearly everything and nudges ahead on weight limit (110kg against 100kg) and product weight (23kg against about 25kg). The C2 had dropped out of stock on Amazon UK when we last checked, which makes the Z1 the easier of the two to buy.

The WalkingPad X21 is a different machine. It reaches 12km/h, has a 121 x 46cm belt and a handrail, and double-folds to about 101 x 71 x 23cm, but it weighs 37kg and costs roughly twice as much. If you want to jog at all, that's the WalkingPad to look at; for desk walking alone, the Z1 does the job for less.

Cheaper walking pads with the same 6km/h ceiling are easy to find, and our best walking pad UK guide covers them. What the Z1's extra money buys is a known brand, a sensible belt size and a 110kg limit, not more speed.

See today's WalkingPad Z1 price

Recommended reads

• The best walking pads in the UK
• Walking pads under a desk: how to set one up
• KingSmith WalkingPad C2 review
• WalkingPad X21 review
• Treadmill reviews and buying guides