NEXO Fitness 175 lb Steel Olympic Plate Set

In this nexo fitness 175 lb steel olympic plate set review, the verdict is clear. The NEXO Fitness 175 lb steel olympic plate set is the best budget plate set in our 2026 guide and ranks eighth of nine. It sells for $330 and holds 4.7 stars from 181 Amazon ratings. The ten plates arrive as pairs of 2.5, 5, 10, 25 and 45 lb, made from alloy steel with a gunmetal hammertone finish. This set is for a beginner or home lifter who already owns an Olympic barbell and wants real steel plates without a premium price. For example, a first garage gym gets 175 lb of commercial grade steel for the lowest price of the nine sets in our guide.

Every plate in the NEXO Fitness set has a 2 inch Olympic center hole, which means any Olympic barbell from any manufacturer will fit, so you are not locked to one brand. In practice, the hammertone gunmetal coating and raised painted letters do two jobs. The raised letters make a 45 lb plate obvious at a glance in a dim garage, and the textured finish hides the scratches that bare steel picks up when plates slide on and off a bar. At 175 lb total, the load math matters. Two 45s, two 25s, two 10s, two 5s and two 2.5s give you small jumps for warm-ups on presses, rows and squats. However, the set ships in four separate boxes, so expect a staggered delivery instead of one heavy drop.

At $330 for 175 lb, this set lands near $1.89 per pound, which is the main reason it wins the budget label against the heavier sets in our guide. That said, 175 lb is a starting point rather than a finish line. A lifter who squats or deadlifts more than 225 lb will need to add plates later. By contrast, the larger sets in the guide cover that ceiling out of the box, but they cost more on day one. Even so, the NEXO Fitness set is alloy steel with a commercial grade build, so garage use sits well inside its comfort zone. On top of that, no barbell is included, so budget for one. If you are starting out and want quality steel plates at the lowest price in the lineup, this is the one to get.