Adjustable vs Hex Dumbbells: Which Should You Actually Buy?

Buy adjustable dumbbells if you train alone and space or budget is tight. Buy fixed hex if more than one person trains at once, or if you run drop sets and supersets where stopping to change plates ruins the set.

That is the whole decision. We sell both, so we have no reason to push you either way. Here is the reasoning.

Key Takeaways

• Our adjustable pair covers 15 to 90 lb in 5 lb increments and replaces 25 individual dumbbells. One pair, one footprint.
• Covering that range in fixed hex means about 20 pairs, a rack, and $3,298 CAD against $649 CAD for the adjustable pair.
• Hex wins on speed. Weight changes are instant, which matters enormously for drop sets, supersets and circuits.
• Two people cannot share one adjustable pair. If your partner or kids train with you, fixed hex stops being a luxury.

The Difference Nobody Writes About: Time Between Sets

Every comparison talks about space and money. Neither is what you actually notice. What you notice is the twenty seconds. With hex, you put one pair down and pick the next up. With adjustable, you stop, reset, and start again. On a heavy session with three minutes between sets, that is nothing.

On a drop set, it is fatal. The point of a drop set is going again before your muscles recover. Spend twenty seconds resetting and you have not done a drop set; you have done two normal sets with a short rest. Same for supersets and circuits, anything where density is the stimulus.

Adjustable dumbbells cost you nothing on a heavy strength day. They quietly delete drop sets and circuits from your programme.

So the first question is not your space. It is how you train. Lift heavy, rest properly, move on, and adjustable is the obvious answer. If your sessions live on density, buy hex.

Side by Side

What It Actually Costs to Cover the Same Range

Our adjustable pair is $649 CAD for 15 to 90 lb per hand. An 80 lb version is $599 if you do not need the top end. Reaching the same top end in fixed hex takes our 5 to 50 lb set at $899 plus the 55 to 100 lb set at $2,399, so $3,298 CAD in dumbbells, before a three tier rack at $899 to hold them.

The adjustable pair costs less than our entry hex set on its own. None of which makes hex bad value. Forty dumbbells is forty dumbbells. It means adjustable is genuinely the cheaper way to own a full range, not a compromise.

Where Each One Wins

Adjustable: training alone, a spare room or a basement corner, strength work with real rest between sets, or you want the widest range for the least money. Ours move in 5 lb steps across the whole range.

Hex: more than one lifter, drop sets and circuits, or a commercial floor. Rubber heads protect your floor and cut noise, which matters in a shared house.

There is a third answer people miss. Buy the adjustable pair for range, then add two or three hex pairs at the weights you use most. Instant changes where it counts, full range for everything else, for less than a full hex set.

Setting up a home gym from scratch? Pair either option with a bench, and if you are working with a low ceiling or a basement, read our Home Gym Ceiling Height guide first.

Three Things to Check Before You Buy Any Adjustable Dumbbell

Most people who dislike adjustable dumbbells have owned a bad set. The complaint is rarely about the concept. It is about the mechanism.

Three questions. Cheap sets fail all three.

Can a plate come out that you did not select? On sets with too much friction between plates, you lift the handle out and an extra plate comes along for the ride. Now you have sixty pounds in one hand and seventy in the other, and you find out once the dumbbell is already moving. Or the passenger plate lets go halfway up and lands on your foot.

What is holding the plates in? Plenty of budget sets use plastic clips. You discover they are plastic the first time you set the dumbbells down a bit hard after a set of rows, which everybody does. One broken clip and that plate no longer locks in, and a plate that no longer locks in is a plate you think about every time you press overhead.

How hard can you put them down? Hex you drop. Adjustable you place. That is a fair trade if you know you're making it, and a nasty surprise if you do not.

A dumbbell you have to think about is a dumbbell you train worse with.

None of that argues against adjustable dumbbells. It argues against cheap ones. Ours use a quick switch system rather than threaded collars, and a buyer who had owned two other major brands' sets said the weight stays secure with no plates shifting.

If your only experience is a bargain set with a wobbly clip, you haven't really used adjustable dumbbells. To be honest (and fair), the older style adjustable dumbbells tend to be sloppier. Even the high ticket ones. Ours are the new Swedish engineering inspired style. So if you've used the older style, you've only ever used an outdated mechanism.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are adjustable dumbbells as good as fixed dumbbells?
For strength training alone, yes. The load is the same and ours adjust in 5 lb steps from 15 to 90 lb. Fixed hex is better when you need instant weight changes for drop sets and circuits, or when two people train at the same time.

How much money do adjustable dumbbells actually save?
Our adjustable pair covers 15 to 90 lb for $649 CAD. Matching that range in fixed hex takes two sets totalling $3,298 CAD, plus a rack. The adjustable pair costs less than our smallest hex set on its own.

Can you do drop sets with adjustable dumbbells?
Not properly. A drop set depends on going again before your muscles recover, and resetting the weight takes long enough to break that. If drop sets, supersets or circuits are central to how you train, buy fixed hex dumbbells instead.

Do adjustable dumbbells break or fall apart?
Cheap ones can. The usual failure points are plastic retention clips and plates that come loose when they were not selected. Check what holds the plates in and how much friction there is between them before you buy. The mechanism decides this, not the format.

Still Deciding?

Tell us how you train. Call 705-710-3502 or email sales@befitnow.ca with your programme and your space. We will tell you which fits, including when the answer is two hex pairs instead of a full set. BeFitNow is a Canadian company, and our support team is here.

Shopping from the USA? Prices and stock differ by market, visit befitnow.com.