If you’re too busy for the gym or the weather gets in the way, staying active can feel harder than it should be—that’s exactly why walking pads were created.
At KingSmith, we pioneered the WalkingPad category, creating award-winning designs recognized by the Red Dot and iF Design Awards and featured by Forbes—so what exactly are these awards, and why do they matter?
What Is the iF Design Award?
iF Design Award has been one of the most respected design competitions in the world since 1953. Every year, thousands of products are submitted from across industries. Only a small percentage receive recognition after a multi-stage review process. Judges look beyond surface design. They evaluate:
• How intuitive the product is to use
• Whether the design solves a real problem
• The balance between innovation and practicality
For home fitness equipment, this matters more than it might seem. A treadmill isn’t just a machine — it’s something that has to exist comfortably in your home, be easy to use daily, and not become a burden over time.
What Is the Red Dot Award?
Red Dot Design Award is another globally recognized benchmark for product design. What makes Red Dot particularly relevant is its emphasis on design quality under real use conditions. Winning products are not only visually appealing but also:
• Ergonomically sound
• Structurally reliable
• Thoughtfully engineered for long-term use
For a category like walking pads — where compactness, stability, and usability must coexist — this level of evaluation is critical.
Why Award-Winning Design Matters
Not all walking pads are created equal. Products recognized by global design awards like the Red Dot Design Award and the iF Design Award are evaluated on more than just appearance. These awards consider:
• Real-world usability
• Structural reliability
• Ergonomic design
• Innovation in solving everyday problems
In other words, these aren’t just stylish products—they’re built to work better in your daily life.
Why Recognition from Forbes Matters
Unlike design awards, editorial recognition from Forbes reflects a different kind of validation. When WalkingPad models like P1 and C2 are included in Forbes’ “Best Walking Pad Treadmills,” it indicates:
• Strong real-world usability
• Positive user experience
• Relevance to everyday lifestyles
This is not a jury decision — it’s an evaluation shaped by how products perform outside of controlled testing environments.
Best Award-Winning Walking Pads You Can Trust
1. WalkingPad X21 Double-Fold Treadmill
iF Design Award & Red Dot Award
The X21 represents a more mature stage of the WalkingPad concept — where compact design is no longer the only goal. Earlier walking pads focused primarily on saving space. The X21 goes further by addressing a more complex challenge:
• How to deliver a complete treadmill experience without disrupting the home environment.
• Its dual-fold structure allows it to reduce its footprint significantly when stored, but when in use, it feels closer to a traditional treadmill.
• The addition of a stable frame and integrated handlebar improves balance and confidence, especially if you prefer longer sessions.
What distinguishes the X21 is not just that it folds — but that it does so without compromising usability. Many compact machines sacrifice comfort or stability. The X21 is designed to avoid that trade-off. From a design perspective, this is why it was recognized by both iF and Red Dot: it successfully balances space efficiency, usability, and visual integration in a cohesive design.
2. WalkingPad A1
iF Design Award & Red Dot Award
The A1 is where the WalkingPad story truly begins. Before its release, compact treadmills existed — but they were still fundamentally traditional machines, reduced in size but not reimagined with folding technology. The A1 introduced a different concept: a treadmill designed from the ground up to be foldable, minimal, and unobtrusive.
Its ability to fold in half was not just a feature — it changed how people thought about home fitness equipment. Instead of dedicating space permanently, you could integrate movement into your living environment — even using it as an under desk walking pad while working.
Winning both iF and Red Dot Awards in 2019 marked a turning point. It signaled that this was not just a niche idea, but a viable new category. Many products that followed — across the industry — adopted similar approaches. That influence is part of what defines the A1’s significance.
3. WalkingPad T1
The T1 explores how traditional treadmill design can be adapted for home environments without losing its core functionality. Rather than focusing on extreme compactness, it refines proportions, structure, and visual presence. The result is a machine that feels more aligned with modern interiors — less industrial, more integrated. Winning the Red Dot Award suggests that even within a familiar product type, thoughtful design changes can significantly improve user experience.
4. WalkingPad K12
The K12 focuses on a different dimension of design: accessibility. Not every user is looking for advanced features or performance metrics. For some, the priority is ease of use, safety, and comfort. The K12 reflects this by simplifying interaction and reducing complexity. It is designed to be approachable — something that can be used without a learning curve. Its iF Design Award recognition highlights that good design is not always about adding more, but often about removing friction.
Are These Awards Actually Credible?
The awards associated with WalkingPad products — including iF Design Award, and Red Dot Award — are not created by brands. They are independent, internationally recognized systems with strict evaluation processes.
Each product is reviewed by panels of experts across industrial design, engineering, and user experience. Submissions are compared globally, not within a single category or brand.
What this means in practice is simple:
• These awards are competitive
• They are externally judged
• And they evaluate real-world usability, not just appearance
Why You Can Trust These Products
Awards don’t guarantee a perfect product—but they do make the decision easier. They show that a product has been evaluated by independent experts, not just presented by the brand itself.
In practice, this means:
• Less uncertainty before making a choice
You’re not relying only on product descriptions—the design and performance have already been tested against global standards
• More confidence in daily use
From usability to stability, these products are designed with real-life use in mind
• A better fit for everyday living
They’re built to integrate into your space and routine—without becoming a burden
Final Thoughts
WalkingPad was never about making smaller treadmills. It was about rethinking how movement fits into modern life — especially in spaces where every square inch matters. The awards these products have received are not the starting point. They are the result of that thinking and empowering movement around the globe as a result.
You can trust that the product you’re choosing has already been tested, refined, and recognized — not just by us, but by the industry as a whole.
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