BowFlex 552 vs Results Series 552 2026

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The BowFlex dial is the fastest weight change in home training. One twist and you go from light warm-up curls to a heavy press, with no rack of iron eating your floor. That convenience is why the SelectTech 552 sold by the million, and it is exactly why the question of which 552 to buy now actually matters. My pick is the BowFlex Results Series 552. It keeps the dial system people loved and rebuilds the one part that failed. The original SelectTech 552 is under a 2025 safety recall, so it is off the table for anyone buying new.

If you already own an original 552, jump to the recall section below first. There is a refund or replacement waiting for you, and you should stop using those dumbbells today.

## Quick Picks

## What the Original 552 Got Right, and What Went Wrong

For more than a decade the SelectTech 552 was the default answer to "which adjustable dumbbell should I buy." The appeal was real. A pair replaced 15 sets of fixed dumbbells, the dial moved you through 15 settings from 5 to 52.5 lb per hand, and the early increments were small enough (2.5 lb steps up to 25 lb) to make a genuine difference on curls, lateral raises, and other isolation work where a 5 lb jump is too much. Nothing else changed weight as fast or fit as neatly beside a desk.

Then the mechanism caught up with it. In June 2025 the CPSC, alongside Johnson Health Tech (which now owns the BowFlex brand following Nautilus), recalled roughly 3.8 million SelectTech 552 and 1090 dumbbells. The reason was serious: weight plates could detach from the handle mid-lift. There were around 350 reports of plates dislodging and at least 111 injuries on record, including concussions, broken toes, and contusions. The recalled units were sold from 2004 right through to May 2025, so this is not a narrow batch problem. It covers virtually the entire production run of the dial-style 552.

That is why the original 552 gets no buy button on this page. A dumbbell that can drop a plate on your foot from chest height is not a recommendation at any price. If you own one, stop using it and file a claim through the official CPSC recall listing. Depending on where and when you bought, the remedy is a refund voucher or a replacement set, and BowFlex-sold units also include a year of the JRNY app.

## The Results Series 552: What Actually Changed

The Results Series 552 is BowFlex's answer to its own recall, and it is the version you can safely buy now.

Start with what stayed the same, because that is the point. You still get the dial on each end, the same 5 to 52.5 lb range, the same 15 settings, and the same quick twist that takes a couple of seconds between exercises. It is still sold as a pair, and it still comes with a JRNY app trial (two months free) if you want guided sessions and motion-tracked form feedback. The dumbbells work fully without the app, so JRNY is a bonus, not a tax.

What changed is the part that mattered. BowFlex rebuilt the 552 with reinforced metal components and a redesigned locking system to hold the plates in place, replacing the design that failed under the recall. This is the whole reason the Results Series exists: it is the dial people wanted, with the failure mode engineered out.

Now the honest case against it. The Results Series 552 is still a 52.5 lb-per-hand dumbbell with no expansion path, so the day you want to press or row heavier, you have hit the ceiling and need a different tool. The parts warranty runs two years, which is short for a product you hope to use for a decade. And there is the obvious psychological hurdle: you are buying back into the exact product line that was just recalled. My read is that the redesign earns the trust the original lost, but that confidence comes from the new locking system, not from the badge on the side. Buy it for what it now is, not for brand loyalty.

Get the Results Series 552 on Amazon

## What Owners Report Since the Redesign

I have not personally lived with a set, so take this as a synthesis of what early owners are saying rather than a hands-on verdict. The pattern so far is encouraging. The most common feedback is relief that the dial feels exactly like the version people already knew, because for a lot of buyers the whole reason to stick with BowFlex was muscle memory: they did not want to relearn a new adjustment system. Owners coming straight from a recalled original consistently say the swap is seamless.

The recurring praise is the same as it always was for the 552. Weight changes are genuinely fast, the small early increments make a real difference on accessory work, and the footprint disappears into a corner. The recurring caution is also unchanged, and it is worth listening to: people who treat the dumbbells roughly, set them down off-square, or rotate the dial while the weight is partly lifted out of the cradle report the plates not seating cleanly. That is user technique, not a defect, but it tells you the dial system rewards a bit of care. The owners who follow the basic rule, dial only when the dumbbell is fully in the tray, report no issues.

One genuine gripe shows up often enough to flag: the two-year parts warranty feels light next to competitors offering five years or more. For a product still rebuilding trust after a recall, a longer warranty would do more for buyer confidence than any spec sheet.

## Head-to-Head: Original 552 vs Results Series 552

The table tells the real story. On paper these are the same dumbbell. Every dimension that decides the purchase comes down to one thing: the original is recalled and the Results Series is the fixed version. There is no scenario where a new buyer should choose the old one.

## So Which One Should You Actually Buy?

Buy the Results Series 552 if you want the BowFlex dial specifically and a 52.5 lb-per-hand ceiling covers your training. For most home lifters doing presses, curls, rows, and accessory work, it does. The fine early increments make it especially good if a lot of your work is isolation movements.

If you already own an original 552, your first move is the recall claim, not a purchase. Once you have the voucher or replacement sorted, decide whether you want to stay with the dial or step up to something with more headroom.

Look past BowFlex entirely if any of these is you: you want to go heavier than 52.5 lb per hand, you train somewhere you will inevitably drop the weights, or you simply do not want to re-buy the brand that just had a 3.8-million-unit recall. In every one of those cases there is a better-suited tool, and for most people that tool is a PowerBlock.

## Living With a 52.5 lb Ceiling

The number that decides whether the Results Series 552 is a long-term tool or a stepping stone is 52.5 lb per hand. It sounds like a lot until you map it onto how strength actually progresses.

For the first year or two of consistent training, 52.5 lb covers almost everything most people do with dumbbells. Shoulder presses, curls, lateral raises, rows, flyes, lunges, and Bulgarian split squats all live comfortably under that ceiling for a long time. This is why the 552 has always been a brilliant starter and a brilliant accessory tool: it handles the movements where you will never need monster weight.

Where you hit the wall is the heavy compound work. Dedicated lifters chasing a heavy dumbbell bench press or heavy goblet and split-squat work will eventually want more than 52.5 lb in each hand, and the 552 has no expansion path to give it to them. The honest question to ask yourself is which lifter you are. If dumbbells are your accessory and finishing tool around a barbell or a rack, 52.5 lb is plenty forever. If dumbbells are your primary strength implement and you are already pressing near the top of the range, buy something that grows, which is exactly the PowerBlock argument below.

## Where a PowerBlock Makes More Sense

If the recall has shaken your confidence in selectorized dumbbells, the most direct replacement is the PowerBlock Elite EXP.

It uses a steel selector-pin design rather than a dial, which a lot of people trust more after the BowFlex saga, and it starts at a similar everyday range but expands to 90 lb per hand through add-on kits. That expansion path is the real argument: it grows with you instead of capping out. It also carries a longer warranty and a long track record in home gyms. The trade-off is the shape, which is blockier than a traditional dumbbell and takes a few sessions to get used to.

There is a wider point worth making about mechanism. A recall like the 552's makes people nervous about every selectorized dumbbell, but it is worth being precise about what failed and why. The dial system relies on a series of pins engaging plates in sequence, and the original tolerances let plates work loose under repeated load and the small knocks of normal use. The PowerBlock pin works differently: a single solid pin drops through stacked plates and locks the whole block as one unit, with fewer moving contact points to wear out of spec. Neither approach is magic, and a dropped dumbbell will eventually damage either one. But if the recall has left you wanting the mechanically simplest, most drop-tolerant option, the pin design is the more reassuring engineering, and that is a legitimate reason to switch rather than re-buy.

I go deeper on that match-up in the BowFlex 552 vs PowerBlock comparison, and if you want the full field of options, the best adjustable dumbbells for the US guide lays out everything from budget picks to the NUObell.

## What to Avoid

A used original SelectTech 552 from a marketplace listing. These turn up cheap on Facebook Marketplace and eBay precisely because they are recalled. Buying one secondhand means buying the exact failure mode the CPSC pulled millions of units over, with no warranty and no remedy. Walk away from any 552 that is not the Results Series.

Ignoring the recall claim because the dumbbells "seem fine." Plate detachment is intermittent, not constant. A set that has worked for a year can still drop a plate. The claim costs you nothing and the remedy is real money or a safe replacement, so file it.

No-name dial dumbbells that copy the BowFlex look. A wave of unbranded selectorized dumbbells mimics the 552 design at a lower price. They copy the appearance, not the engineering, and the locking tolerances are exactly where cheap manufacturing shows up. If you want the dial, buy the redesigned version from the brand that just spent a fortune fixing it.

Treating any adjustable dumbbell as drop-proof. The Results Series is sturdier, but no selectorized or pin-loaded dumbbell is built to be dropped from height. Set them down in the cradle. If your training involves deliberate drops, you want fixed rubber hex dumbbells, not adjustables.

## FAQ

Is the Results Series 552 safe after the recall? It is the redesign created in response to the recall. BowFlex rebuilt the locking system with reinforced metal components specifically to fix the plate-detachment problem. It is sold as a current product, not a recalled one. As with any adjustable dumbbell, set it down in the cradle rather than dropping it.

Does it feel different from the original 552? In use, very little. The dial action, the 5 to 52.5 lb range, and the 15 settings are carried over. The difference you are paying for is internal: the locking mechanism, not the handling.

Can I just get the recalled 552 fixed instead of buying new? No. The recall remedy is a refund voucher or a replacement, not a repair kit. There is no field fix for the original locking design, which is why BowFlex engineered a new one.

Is the Results Series 552 worth it over a PowerBlock? If you specifically want the dial feel and 52.5 lb is enough, yes. If you want to lift heavier over time or prefer an all-steel pin design, the PowerBlock Elite EXP is the better long-term buy.

## What I'd Buy Today

The BowFlex Results Series 552 is the one to get. It is the dial that made the 552 famous, with the flaw that recalled it designed out. For anyone who wants fast weight changes, small increments, and a footprint the size of a nightstand, it is back to being an easy recommendation.

If you think you will outgrow 52.5 lb per hand, or you would rather not buy back into the brand just yet, the PowerBlock Elite EXP expands to 90 lb and uses a steel pin design that buys back a lot of confidence.

Either way, the original 552 stays in the garage of history. Get the safe version, load the dial, and go lift.

Get the BowFlex Results Series 552 on Amazon

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