The RW900 Rower ($1,999) is NordicTrack’s smart, top-of-the-line rowing machine, offering a combination of on-the-water and studio rowing classes in addition to a wide variety of other types of workouts. And, to help you achieve a more comprehensive exercise regimen, its hearty iFit software focuses on letting you work through a series of classes instead of individual rowing workouts.
While some companies, like Hydrow and Ergatta, focus exclusively on home rowing machines, others like Echelon and Peloton offer rowers as part of their suite of home workout equipment. NordicTrack falls into the latter category, offering this rower alongside its well-known treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, strength training equipment and its less-expensive rowing model, the RW700 ($799). And, as a company, NordicTrack also has an outsized presence in the innovative connected home fitness space.
But when it comes down to it, the question is, how does this rowing machine measure up to the competition? Here’s what we thought after spending a few weeks working out with the NordicTrack RW900.
The NordicTrack RW900 Rower is the company's redesigned smart rower with updated iFit software, which gives you access to a wide variety of classes for all types of workouts.
What we liked about it
The sleek, modern look
NordicTrack recently redesigned their rowers to make them sleeker and more modern. Previously, the rowing machines were all black, with an industrial look that seemed more at home in a gym than a living room. To keep up with the home gym boom, the new rower adds silver to its design. However, in terms of size, we found the RW900 to be larger than expected.
At 54 inches tall, it’s 7 inches taller than the Hydrow Rower and Echelon Row-S and a whopping 14 inches taller than the Ergatta. This extra height is distributed throughout the machine; the seat is higher off the ground than others, which might make it more comfortable for taller people or those with less mobility or flexibility in their hips. The 22-inch touchscreen, the tallest part, swivels to the sides to make it easier to see the screen while taking classes off the rower. And, with a combination of magnetic and digital resistance and a soft, comfortable handle, the rowing itself feels relatively smooth.
The RW900 also comes with SmartAdjust, a helpful feature in which your virtual instructor automatically adjusts the resistance on your machine for you during classes. This is especially convenient in studio classes, allowing you to focus more on the rowing and less on messing around with settings mid-workout. During on-the-water classes, SmartAdjust adjusts the resistance on the rower to mimic the conditions the instructor is experiencing in the video, letting me focus more on my immersive workout and less on my rising heart rate.
More than rowing with your iFit membership
Like with almost all connected home fitness equipment, you have to purchase a subscription to use the software. In this case, it’s NordicTrack’s iFIT Membership (which will run you $39/month, though that number drops considerably if you purchase a one-year membership for $33/month, two-year membership for $29/month or three-year membership for $25/month).
If you decide to pay more for the monthly subscription, you’ll still get a bang for your buck. Not only can you take the 350 rowing classes and over 500 floor classes, which include formats like strength, core, yoga and meditation, but you also have access to classes designed for the treadmill, bike and elliptical. NordicTrack sells connected versions of all these machines, but even if you only have the rower, I seriously appreciated that I could use the app with any old treadmill, elliptical or spin bike (you just have to choose “continue without pairing” before you start the workout). No, you won’t get the benefit of specific features like SmartAdjust, which exists across the whole NordicTrack line, but you will get the trainer-led workouts.
All the classes are part of a series
When you arrive at the home screen on the rower, you are presented with a choice of a series of classes, rather than individual classes or workouts. The iFit platform advertises itself as interactive personal training at home, and this is where it feels most accurate. Think of the iFit series like a fitness plan you would receive from a personal trainer, with predetermined workouts to complete each session. Once you select one, like Total Body Transformation or Fast and Fit: French Polynesia Rowing, based on your fitness goals or preferences, you can then work through the classes in order.
The idea of this philosophy is to better motivate beginners or those who may not know a ton about rowing, and to minimize decision-making within the vast library of classes. And, because all the classes in a series are typically the same format, such as Power Up Bootcamp (which alternates between rowing and powerful, plyometric floor moves) or HIIT Cardio and Cross-Training (which features high-intensity intervals alongside endurance-based blocks), it’s easy to see and feel the progress you’ve made throughout the series. And you won’t have to worry that any of these classes will be outside your comfort zone or skill level.
Of course, there may be days when you just want to choose a random class or you’re in the mood for a particular format. To do this, simply head to the Browse page and filter through to “workouts” instead of “series.” This will list all the classes individually. Or if you want to mix things up more regularly, like alternating rowing classes with yoga, you can work through both series at the same time — the platform will point you to the next workout when you’re ready to move on.
What we didn’t like about it
Not so comfortable
As someone who has rowed on a lot of different rowing machines, plus spent four years rowing in boats, there were a few aspects of the RW900 I found awkward. Since the rower is so tall, the seat, which is on the small side, floats a few inches above the track. As a result, it tended to feel loose and unstable. (Case in point: If I pushed the seat to the middle of the track so I could sit down, it would slide back to the front by itself).
And though the machine itself felt stable, the height of the seat also means that at the front of the stroke, when your butt is closest to your feet, the foot plates are too far away from your seat. At 7.5 inches apart, the foot plates are also much wider than they are on other rowers (on the Echelon Row-S, for example, they are 5.5 inches apart).
For me, this combination of physical factors hindered my ability to row comfortably and with proper form. My heels were coming up much earlier in the stroke than they normally do, which made it harder to row at higher stroke rates. In other words, if you consider the rowing motion to be a squat done horizontally, the RW900 does not allow you to get as deep into your squat as other rowers, therefore making it difficult to generate as much power with every stroke.
For a beginner rower or someone with less hip flexibility, these characteristics may not be as noticeable. And for a taller person, the RW900 may even be preferable. But if you consider that a rowing machine is meant to mimic rowing in a boat on the water, in which your feet are only a few inches apart and the seat is almost exactly even with your heels, there is a discrepancy.
Classes are inconsistent
I had some good workouts while testing the RW900. Outdoor rowing classes were fun, challenging, and gave me the opportunity to see different locations, from the Thames in London to Glacier National Park in Montana. Likewise, the strength classes feature creative combinations of exercises that got me sweating quickly. But there were some inconsistencies among the classes that were frustrating.
The camera angles on the outdoor rows vary; one class I took had one camera on the front of the boat, another had a camera on a chase boat, and in a third the instructor was just wearing a camera on her forehead or chest, so you could hear her but not see her. I took one strength class that had very little introduction, jumping right into the workout, and another in which she spent nearly 5 minutes at the beginning explaining the entire class, an explanation I thought could have happened during the first round of exercises.
One of my favorite things about working out at home is that I have total control of my experience, from the type of exercise to the instructor to the class length. These inconsistencies from class to class tended to throw me off because I felt a loss of control and didn’t always get the experience I wanted. And as someone (like many folks) with limited time to dedicate to exercise, I want to go in knowing exactly what I’m going to get.
There aren’t any live classes
With hundreds of on-demand classes from 130 trainers and new series and workouts added regularly, you’re not going to run out of classes to take. But if participating in live classes and competing against other rowers on a leaderboard is a big part of what motivates you, that’s not something you’ll find with the NordicTrack RW900.
How it compares
In addition to the RW900 ($1,999), NordicTrack also makes the RW700 Rower ($1,499 $799). You get access to all the same classes, but the screen is considerably smaller, just 10 inches compared to 22 inches on the RW900. While this means that the RW700 is 7 inches shorter in height than the RW900 and 17 pounds lighter, it is actually a few inches longer, which you’ll need to take into account when determining where you plan to place it in your home.
The RW900 differs slightly from other rowers on the market. Pricewise, at $1,999 and $39 (or less) per month, it’s right in the middle of the pack. Like the Hydrow Rower ($2,495), it offers rowing classes taught on the water in addition to other class formats. And like the Echelon Row-S ($1,600) and Peloton Row ($3,195), you can also take rowing classes from an instructor teaching on a rowing machine in a studio. But unlike all of these other rowers, there aren’t any live class options that give you the chance to compete against other rowers in real time. Plus, unlike all of these rowers, the RW900 can’t be stored upright.
Bottom line
The NordicTrack RW900 wasn’t my favorite rower in terms of the machine itself. As an avid rower, the proportions of the machine just felt off. There were also inconsistencies in terms of the structure of classes, and some of the technical aspects left me feeling unsatisfied at the end of a few sessions.
That said, it is an attractive machine with some thoughtful features. And the breadth of solid exercise content you get with the NordicTrack RW900, from rowing and floor classes to workouts for other popular cardio machines, is impressive. If you’re looking to add a rowing machine to a home gym that already includes a bike or a treadmill, the RW900 may be worth it for this reason alone.