Rankings

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.

Ergatta's pace-line games are a smart answer to the boredom that kills most rowing habits, and the oak Lite delivers the same games as the $500 dearer Luxe. It is quiet, looks good and stores upright. The catch is a roughly $39 monthly membership, and a water rower is less precise than a Concept2. Buy the Lite if games motivate you.

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.

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.

A quiet, comfortable rower with a big screen and resistance that follows the instructor. The catch is that it is tied to iFIT, which testers say it will not work without, and its 250 lb limit and 82 in length are weak points. It suits iFIT fans, not rowing purists, who should buy the Concept2 RowErg.

A good first rower for a shared home: quiet, stable on its dual rails and easy to tip into a corner. Resistance tops out near 70 lb and the display is basic, so strong or tall rowers will outgrow it. If you want real training data and a feel you can trust for years, the $990 Concept2 RowErg is the better buy.

Row+ is the only consumer rower that watches your stroke and tells you what to fix, and the electronic resistance is quiet and smooth. It also costs $3,495 before a monthly membership, with a 12-month warranty on the screen and parts. Buy it if you already live in the Peloton app and are new to rowing. Otherwise a Concept2 does the job for a fraction.