Anyone know how Bluetooth actually works on NordicTrack treadmills?

[Thomas Martinez]

Been reading up on this because others has brought it up in different forums. The answer, as with most things related to treadmills and fitness technology in general, seem to depend entirely on the model. If your treadmill have what is labeled as a "Bluetooth Smart" button on the console, it will not pair via bluetooth in the typical way that you may be used to see on most devices in your home or even with bluetooth devices like headphones. Instead, you would have to download the iFit application on your mobile device, hit the Bluetooth Smart button on the treadmill, and then pair the treadmill to your phone through the iFit application.
The other issue is that, on some treadmills at least, the bluetooth is limited to iFit alone; meaning that you are not be able to use the bluetooth to stream content from Spotify or YouTube to your treadmill's speakers. While this may be an issue for those of us who value having the freedom to use bluetooth for more than one company's subscription service, it seem to be how the treadmills are set up and modeled for those with iFit subscriptions. The other question is, have any of you played with these treadmills and attempted to determine which models utilize the bluetooth only for iFit versus those which do allow for bluetooth to be paired with audio players like Spotify?

 

[Bewilder]

yeah it's BLE not classic bluetooth which is why it doesnt show up in your phone's normal pairing list. BLE devices advertise services and the app has to subscribe to them, you cant just pair like a speaker.

 

[Mic]

It's 100% baked into the firmware. The console is running a stripped down board that only knows how to talk to iFit's GATT profile. There is no audio profile (A2DP) on these things at all on the cheaper models. People keep expecting it to behave like a bluetooth speaker and it just isnt one. The button is misleading as hell tbh.

 

[Nervous Newt]

yeah it's BLE not classic bluetooth which is why it doesnt show up in your phone's normal pairing list. BLE devices advertise services and the app has to subscribe to them, you cant just pair like a speaker.

wait so if its BLE only does that mean theres no way to ever get spotify through it? like even with some kind of hack?

 

[Bewilder]

wait so if its BLE only does that mean theres no way to ever get spotify through it? like even with some kind of hack?

correct. No A2DP profile means no audio streaming, full stop. The hardware might technically support it but the firmware doesnt expose it. Youd need to flash custom firmware which nobody has cracked for these consoles afaik.

 

[Save Yourself]

my 1750 from like 2019 has the bluetooth smart button and it definately only works with ifit. Tried everything.

 

[Star]

ecosystem play is right. They want you paying that subscription, not jamming out to your own playlists for free.

 

[Claustrophobic Animal]

lol welcome to moddern fitness equipment

 

[Nervous Newt]

is BLE the same thing as bluetooth 4.0? sorry im trying to learn this stuff

 

[Bewilder]

is BLE the same thing as bluetooth 4.0? sorry im trying to learn this stuff

BLE was introduced with bluetooth 4.0 yeah. Classic bluetooth and BLE are basically two different protocols that share a name and a radio. BLE is for low power data exchange (heart rate monitors, sensors), classic is for streaming audio and files.

 

[A Boy and His Jackham]

I had a commercial 2950 and the bluetooth on that one was iFit-locked too but the audio jack on the console worked fine for spotify. Just plug your phone in. Not bluetooth but does the job.

 

[Envious Emu]

the whole thing is a scam to push ifit subs. Nordictrack got bought by icon and icon doesnt give a single damn about the user experience. They want recurring revenue.

 

[Mic]

the whole thing is a scam to push ifit subs. Nordictrack got bought by icon and icon doesnt give a single damn about the user experience. They want recurring revenue.

It's not a scam, it's just a business model. Calling everything a scam dilutes the word. The hardware works as advertised, you just have to read the fine print on what 'bluetooth smart' actualy means.

 

[Envious Emu]

It's not a scam, it's just a business model. Calling everything a scam dilutes the word. The hardware works as advertised, you just have to read the fine print on what 'bluetooth smart' actualy means.

selling hardware capable of A2DP and locking it down via firmware to force a $39/month sub is pretty scammy in my book but ok

 

[Enviou]

x32i here, same deal. Ifit only. The console doesnt even have a speaker worth using anyway lol

 

[Nervous Newt]

so question, older ones only talk to ifit branded sensors. Check the manual for ANT+ or BLE HR support specifically.

 

[The Hunt For t]

this is why I bought a sole. Dumb treadmill, smart phone on the shelf, problem solved

 

[Save Yourself]

this is why I bought a sole. Dumb treadmill, smart phone on the shelf, problem solved

^^ this is the way

 

[Star]

the irony is the older nordictracks without bluetooth at all are more useful because they have a real aux jack and a tablet holder and you just do whatever you want

 

[Amused Albatross]

Has anyone tried sniffing the BLE traffic with something like nRF Connect to see if the console is advertising A2DP support for bluetooth audio streaming? Would be a fun weekend project.