Buy the 552 unless you already press or row more than 50 lb in each hand. It has finer increments at the low end, a shorter handle, and it covers what most people in a small apartment will ever lift. Buy the 1090 if you are a heavy presser who has genuinely outgrown 52.5 lb, and go in knowing it is sold as a single dumbbell and is long at every weight. If you want the 1090's ceiling without its length, the PowerBlock Elite EXP is the third answer.
This is an intra-brand decision, which makes it cleaner than most comparisons on this site: the dial mechanism is the same design, the cradle idea is the same, and the warranty culture is the same. What differs is range, resolution and size, and in a small room size is not a footnote. We have compared the 552 against PowerBlock and against Nuobell before; this page is the one for people who have already decided on Bowflex and need to pick which.
The numbers that decide it
| SelectTech 552 | SelectTech 1090 |
|---|
| Weight range | 5–52.5 lb per hand | 10–90 lb per hand |
| Increments | 2.5 lb to 25, then 5 lb | 5 lb throughout |
| Settings | 15 | ~17 (replaces ~17 fixed dumbbells) |
| Footprint (each) | 16.9 × 8.3 in (published) | Longer — not published on the listing |
| Sold as | Pair (per listing) | Single dumbbell |
| Adjust | Dial, both ends | Dial, both ends |
Two things in that table matter more than the rest. The first is the 1090's “sold singly” line: when you compare prices on the cards, the 552 card is a pair and the 1090 card is one dumbbell, so a pair of 1090s costs twice what its card shows. The second is that the 552 starts at 5 lb with 2.5 lb steps and the 1090 starts at 10 lb with 5 lb steps — for lateral raises, rear delts and anything rehab-shaped, the 552 is the more useful tool even though it is the “smaller” one.
Length: the small-space problem with both
Every dial-adjustable dumbbell has the same flaw: the handle is the full length of the heaviest setting even when you dial it down to the lightest. A 552 set to 10 lb is still a 16.9 in dumbbell. The 1090 is longer again, because it has to carry 90 lb of plates in its cradle, and Bowflex does not publish a length for it on the listing we link, so we will not guess one.
In a wide garage that is an inconvenience. On a narrow folding bench in a bedroom it decides whether the two dumbbells collide at the top of a press. If your bench is a compact folding one — the kind in our folding bench roundup— the 552's shorter body is a real advantage, and the PowerBlock's block shape, at roughly 12 × 6 in, is shorter than either.
Who actually needs 90 lb
Be honest with this one, because the 1090 costs more per dumbbell and takes more shelf, and it is easy to buy headroom you will not use. Per-hand loads past 50 lb come up in a small number of lifts: heavy dumbbell bench press, heavy rows, goblet squats and loaded carries for strong people. If none of those is in your program at that weight today, the 552 covers you for a long time, and the day you outgrow it you can sell it and move up.
If those lifts are in your program now, the 1090 is the right Bowflex. But it is also worth reading our heaviest-adjustable roundup first, because at that weight the Nuobell 580 and the PowerBlock with expansion kits are both in the conversation, and each is shorter than a 1090.
The dial, the drops and the plastic
Both models share the same essential mechanism — a dial at each end that selects which plates lock to the handle — and the same essential warning: do not drop them. The plates are held by a mechanism, not a collar, and a drop onto a hard floor is the failure mode owners describe most. We wrote can you drop adjustable dumbbells because the answer is the same for both: no, and a mat only limits the damage.
The one practical difference is mass. A 90 lb dumbbell set down carelessly does more harm to itself and the floor than a 52.5 lb one, and the neighbor below hears more of it. If you lift heavy in an apartment, the controlled set-down is part of the technique, not an afterthought.
Which one for which lifter
- Beginner to intermediate, general strength, small room. The 552. Fine low-end steps, the shorter body, and a range you will not top out for a long time.
- Heavy presser or rower who has hit 52.5 lb. The 1090 — one or two, depending on whether your heavy lifts are one-handed. Budget for the pair if they are not.
- Wants the 1090's ceiling on a narrow bench. The PowerBlock Elite EXP. It starts at 50 lb per hand and the expansion kits take it to 70 or 90 without a second dumbbell purchase, in a body shorter than the 552.
- Wants the ceiling and the shortest handle, budget permitting. The Nuobell 580, which is the premium way to 80 lb a hand.
Storage: the part the spec sheet skips
Both models sit in a cradle and the cradle wants a shelf or a stand. A pair of 552s in their trays needs a surface a little wider than two 16.9 in dumbbells side by side; a pair of 1090s needs more. That surface is the real footprint of the purchase, and in a small room it is worth planning where it lives before the box arrives. Our dumbbell storage guide has the shelf, stand and under-bed options.
One or two 1090s?
Because the 1090 is sold as a single, a lot of people buy one and pair it with their 552s: the 1090 for the heavy single-arm rows and goblet work, the 552 pair for everything else. That is a genuinely sensible small-space setup, and it costs less shelf than two 1090s. The only thing it cannot do is a heavy two-handed press with matched weights, which is the lift to ask yourself about before deciding.
