The short version: this is a budget-versus-buy-once decision, not a good-versus-bad one. The FLYBIRD WB5is our budget default — an ASTM-certified, flat-incline-decline folding bench that gets a beginner training safely for the least money. The REP Nighthawk is a step-up from a respected strength brand, with a heavier steel frame, a wider pad, and seven back angles plus a decline seat, for roughly three times the price. Buy the WB5 if you want the low-risk first bench; buy the REP if you already know you will stick with training and want to buy your last bench now. Here is the full picture.
They do the same job — at different levels
It is worth being clear up front: both benches are flat-incline-decline (FID)designs, both pack away rather than owning a corner permanently, and both are safe for a beginner's loads. Neither of these is a compromise bench. The FLYBIRD WB5carries an ASTM certification to an 800 lb rating, which means it was tested to that load, not just labeled with it — the key safety signal we look for. The REP Nighthawk comes from REP Fitness, a name built on strength equipment, and steps everything up a level in material: 7- and 14-gauge steel, 88 lb of bench, and a pad set at competition height.
So the question is not “which one is good” — both are — it is “how much bench do you need right now.” That depends almost entirely on one thing: how sure you are that home training is going to stick. Answer that honestly and the pick becomes obvious. We walk through every bench criterion in how to choose a weight bench, but for these two the decision really is about commitment and budget.
Where the FLYBIRD WB5 wins
The WB5 wins on value and low risk. For a third of the REP's price, you get a safe, ASTM-certified bench that does flat, incline, and decline and folds flat to store — and its 800 lb certified rating is actually the higher of the two numbers here. For a first, tentative setup — where you are still finding out whether you will train at home consistently — that is exactly the right amount to spend. If the habit does not take, you have not sunk a lot into a bench; if it does, the WB5 still serves for years.
That makes it the smarter starting move for most beginners. It is our default pick in the bench roundupbecause it removes the two things that stop people buying a first bench — safety worry and cost — without cutting the corners that matter. The honest trade is that the pad is firm rather than plush and the frame, while solid, does not have the reassuring heft of a premium bench. For a beginner's pressing loads, neither is a problem.
Where the REP Nighthawk wins
The REP wins on build quality and longevity of satisfaction. The frame is heavier-gauge steel and weighs nearly three times what a budget folding bench does, the back pad is wider, the ladder gives you seven back angles instead of a handful, and it carries the backing of a real strength-equipment brand. None of that changes what exercises you can do — both benches press flat, incline, and decline — but it changes how the bench feels under you, session after session, and how precisely you can repeat a setting as your loads climb.
That is worth paying for in one specific case: you already know you are in this for the long haul and you would rather buy oncethan upgrade later. If you have trained before, or you are simply certain the habit will stick, spending up now gets you a bench you will not want to replace. The cost is real — roughly three times the WB5 — and it is overkill for a first-week, still-deciding beginner. But for the committed lifter, the Nighthawk is the buy-it-for-good option.
How to decide
Ask one honest question: how sure are you that you will keep training at home?If the answer is “I think so, but I am just starting,” buy the FLYBIRD WB5. It gets you a safe, capable bench for little money, and if you later want more, you have lost almost nothing. If the answer is “certain — I want to buy my last bench now,” buy the REP Nighthawk and enjoy the heavier frame and wider pad for years.
There is no wrong answer, only a right one for your situation. The most common path we would suggest: start with the WB5, prove the habit, and only step up to something like the REP if and when you genuinely crave a heavier, better-finished bench. Plenty of people never do. Both benches sit with live prices on our best adjustable weight benches page, so you can weigh the real gap today.
Either bench pairs with a set of adjustable dumbbells to build most of a full-body routine, and both fit the plan in our $1,000 Build— where choosing the budget bench frees up money for a bar and rack, and choosing the step-up shifts the balance the other way.