PlateMate 1.25Donut Weight Plates Review
Our verdict
The PlateMate 1.25 Donut Weight Plates land at $52.90 for a two piece iron set, and a 4.4 star average across 170 reviews backs that price up. At roughly a pound per plate, they're built for micro-loading, not for filling out a full barbell, and the spec sheet reflects that narrow, useful job.
Check price on AmazonBest for
Best for lifters who already own a full plate set and want small increments, half a kilogram per plate, for dialing in progressive overload on dumbbells or accessory lifts without jumping a full 5 or 10 pounds at a time.
Skip if
Skip it if you're building a barbell set from scratch. Two small iron plates at roughly a pound each won't add meaningful load to a bar, and the $52.90 price buys far less total iron than the Body-Solid or Rage options here.
- Material Iron
- Weight 0.5 Kilograms
- Color Black
- Pieces 2
- Priced 24% below the category median ($69.99 across 114 tracked models)
Our scorecard
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Owner rating4.4/5
4.4 average across 170 owner ratings
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Popularity1.8/5
170 owner reviews, fewer than most models here
The overall score is owner satisfaction weighted by how many reviews back it, so a high rating from few reviews counts for less. The bars below show where this model stands against the other home gym and fitness equipment we track in this category on price, popularity and size. Context, not marks against it, and our read of the data, not a lab test.
Overview
Anyone who has stalled on a dumbbell press knows the frustration of a five pound jump feeling too big while the previous weight starts to feel too easy. That's the gap the PlateMate 1.25 Donut Weight Plates are built to fill. Sold as a two piece set, each plate is made of iron and weighs about half a kilogram, close to a pound, so they stack for small, controlled increases rather than the standard leaps most plate sets force on you.
At $52.90 the pricing sits just below the $54 Body-Solid #ORT plates and well under the $84.86 Rage CF-WT245 set, though those two are heavier, single piece plates rather than a matched micro-loading pair. The PlateMate's 4.4 star rating across 170 reviews is solid, though it trails the #ORT's 4.6 across 195 reviews and the Rage plates' 4.6 across 412 reviews, both of which have considerably more buyer feedback behind them.
Compared to the Body-Solid Cast Iron Olympic Weight Plate Set at $787, this is an entirely different purchase. That set is a full olympic loading solution while the PlateMate pair is a fine-tuning accessory. Bought last month figures sit at 0+ across all four products in this comparison, so recent purchase volume isn't a strong signal here. The rating pattern is what carries the most weight in judging this one.
Pros
- 4.4 star rating across 170 reviews shows consistent satisfaction for a niche accessory.
- Two piece set means both plates arrive matched, useful for symmetrical loading.
- At $52.90, it's the cheapest way in this comparison to add small, controlled weight increments.
- Iron construction matches the material used in traditional plate sets, so it mixes with an existing iron collection.
- 0.5 kilogram plates, about a pound each, allow far finer jumps than a standard 2.5 or 5 pound plate.
Cons
- 170 reviews is a fraction of the 412 backing the Rage CF-WT245, so the sample size is smaller.
- At roughly a pound per plate, two of them add barely two pounds total, not useful for loading a barbell.
- Bought last month sits at 0+, so there's no recent demand signal to lean on.
- No listed diameter or hole size, so fit with a specific bar or dumbbell handle isn't confirmed by the spec sheet.
Specifications
| Material | Iron |
|---|---|
| Weight | 0.5 Kilograms |
| Color | Black |
| Pieces | 2 |
Performance notes
The spec sheet here is short: iron construction, 0.5 kilograms per plate, black finish, sold in a pair. Iron is the standard material for plates that need to survive years of stacking and occasional drops, so durability shouldn't be a concern even though the plates are small. At about a pound each, the pair adds roughly two pounds combined, which only matters for micro-loading, nudging a dumbbell or machine stack up in small steps rather than replacing a standard plate. Compare that to the Rage CF-WT245 at 45 pounds per single plate or the #ORT at 1 pound per plate, and the PlateMate's role becomes clear: it's an accessory for fine adjustment, not a primary loading plate. Buyers weighing this against the Body-Solid Olympic set need to recognize these serve different jobs, one is a full weight room investment and the other closes the gap between increments.
What buyers say
A 4.4 star average across 170 reviews is a healthy pattern for an accessory product, especially one this specialized. It falls short of the #ORT's 4.6 across 195 reviews and the Rage plates' 4.6 across 412 reviews, both of which carry more than double the feedback volume, but 170 reviews is still enough to trust the average isn't a fluke. Bought last month reads as 0+ for every product in this set, including the far pricier Body-Solid Olympic set, so none of these show a standout recent demand spike in the data provided. Judged on rating consistency against sample size, the PlateMate holds up as a reliable niche pick even without a recent purchase surge to point to.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the PlateMate 1.25 Donut Weight Plates used for?
They're small iron plates sold as a two piece set, each weighing about half a kilogram, roughly a pound. That makes them suited to micro-loading, adding small weight increases to dumbbells or machines rather than serving as primary barbell plates.
How does the price compare to other plates in this category?
At $52.90 it's cheaper than the $54 Body-Solid #ORT and far below the $84.86 Rage CF-WT245 or the $787 Body-Solid Olympic set, though those alternatives are heavier, standard loading plates rather than a micro-loading pair, so the comparison isn't purely apples to apples.
Is the 4.4 star rating trustworthy given only 170 reviews?
170 reviews is a reasonable sample for a specialty accessory, even if it's smaller than the 195 and 412 review counts behind the #ORT and Rage plates. The rating pattern still points to consistent buyer satisfaction across that sample size.