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Every product tested at homeNo paid rankings
IronnookSource: avironactive.com
Aviron is the rower for people who get bored rowing. The air and magnetic hybrid gives a smooth stroke, up to 100 lb of resistance, and a 507 lb user limit, while the games and scenic rows are better than any class library we have tried on a rower. It also costs $1,999 on sale, needs a $29 monthly membership for its best content, and a Concept2 does the plain job for about half. Buy it if motivation is your problem, not budget.
Best for: Rowers who quit when workouts feel like workouts
Aviron's Strong rower mixes air and magnetic resistance with arcade-style games on a 22 inch screen. It is more fun than most rowers, and it needs a $29 monthly membership to stay that way.
Rowing is brilliant exercise and, for a lot of people, dull. That is the problem Aviron set out to fix, and it is the reason the Strong Series exists. We came to it expecting a gimmick. We left thinking the gimmick works, as long as you accept what it costs.
Aviron's platform is built around games: you steer a boat through obstacles, race other rowers, or collect points on scenic routes. The company's site claims 92 percent of its members are still rowing a year later, which is a maker's figure and not a lab result, but the design logic is sound. A rower that gives you something to chase for 30 minutes beats a rower you stare at.
Independent testers back the point. Garage Gym Reviews scored the machine 4.3 out of 5 and called the workouts "incredibly fun", with 500 or more sessions across eight categories: games, coached classes, scenic rows and live competition. Compared with Hydrow's studio-class approach, Aviron wants you to play, not follow.
The flywheel gives you air resistance, which feels like a boat on water: the harder you pull, the more it pushes back. Aviron adds a magnet on top so the machine can raise the load on command. Resistance spans 1 to 100 lb, with levels 10 to 100 for cardio and 110 to 160 for strength work.
The strength levels are the weakest part of the pitch. Pulling hard at the top of the range works the legs and back more than a normal row, and one reviewer called it "much harder on the muscular system" than any other rower. But a rowing stroke is still a rowing stroke. A deadlift it is not, so treat the strength mode as a bonus and not as a reason to skip lifting.
The RowErg is the rowing machine we would buy with our own money. It is durable, repairable, accurate and free of subscriptions, and its PM5 monitor gives numbers that mean the same thing on every erg in the world. The costs are noise, a 96 inch footprint and no built-in screen or coaching. If you need silence or guided classes, look elsewhere. Everyone else should start here.
The Origin is the nicest rowing machine to live with: quiet enough for a flat with thin walls, smooth on the rail and backed by genuinely good classes filmed on real rivers. It is also more than twice the price of a Concept2 RowErg, needs a $50 monthly membership for anything beyond Just Row, and weighs 145 lb. Buy it only if noise and motivation are your problems. If they are not, the Concept2 does the exercise for less.
The WaterRower Original Oak is the rower to buy if the machine lives in a room people sit in. The water tank is quiet and smooth, the oak frame is good furniture, and it stands upright to store. The monitor is basic and the warranty is thin, so for pure performance per dollar the Concept2 still wins. Pick this one for looks, calm and a stroke that feels like a boat.
Noise is the happy surprise. Pure air rowers roar, because the fan is the resistance. Aviron's hybrid uses a quiet belt drive and lets the magnet do part of the work, so a late-evening session will not wake the house. Aviron also says the screen runs Netflix, Disney+, YouTube and Spotify, which helps on days when you want a show instead of a game.
At 84 inches long, 27 wide and 48 high, the Strong is a full-sized rower. It weighs 114 lb, which feels solid on the slide and light enough for one person to tip upright and wheel away. Stored on end it takes up 35 by 27 inches of floor and stands 83 inches tall, so you need a room with a ceiling above about 7 feet.
The user limit of 507 lb is the highest we have seen on a home rower, and the 6 ft 8 in height limit covers almost every tall rider. If you are heavy or very tall and have struggled to find a rower that fits, this is a real selling point. Garage Gym Reviews says one person can assemble it in under an hour.
Aviron's page lists the rower at $1,999, down from $2,549, and a Pro Screen upgrade adds $229. Financing starts at $69 a month through Affirm. The Family Membership, which gives unlimited profiles and access to the whole Aviron World library, costs $29 a month on annual billing, or $2,499 once for a perpetual plan.
Add three years of the plan and the machine costs about $3,000. A Concept2 RowErg, covered in our Concept2 RowErg review, does the plain job for roughly half and has no subscription at all. Aviron also offers a 20 year parts warranty, but only with an active membership bought directly from its site.
One more thing before the verdict: the rower is only as good as your habit. A game library does not row for you. If you already row three times a week without prompting, you are paying for entertainment you do not need, and the money is better spent on a longer warranty or a bench.
Buy the Aviron if you have bounced off rowing before, or if a family of different sizes will share one machine. The games are the best we have seen on any rower, and the hybrid resistance is comfortable at both gentle and brutal efforts.
Skip it if you are happy staring at a wall with a podcast on, or if you just want the best rowing stroke per dollar. In that case, buy a Concept2 and spend what is left on shoes and a good mat.