Hydrow Arc

With the Hydrow Arc rowing machine, you can travel the world virtually while enjoying a full-body workout. Building on Hydrow's original flagship rower, this model introduces upgraded internal components and a larger 24-inch display (up from 22 inches). It preserves Hydrow's signature ultra-smooth, whisper-quiet electromagnetic resistance, making it an excellent choice for both seasoned rowers and beginners alike. At $2,295 -- plus a $44 monthly membership -- the Hydrow Arc isn't inexpensive, but its premium design and solid construction stand up well against pricier competitors like the Peloton Row+, which starts at $3,495 with a $49.99 monthly fee. While the Peloton Row+ offers more integrated strength-training guidance, the Hydrow Arc delivers a refined, rowing-first experience that captures the thrill of outdoor rowing from the comfort of home -- earning it our Editors' Choice award. In addition to its $2,295 price, the Arc is designed to be used in conjunction with a $44 monthly workout subscription service. Without a subscription, the Arc only offers the ability to "Just Row" with limited features and statistics. With the monthly membership, you get access to 5,000-plus on-demand rowing classes, live on-water sessions, and even off-rower workouts for pilates, yoga, and mobility. With a Hydrow subscription, you can also set up multiple profiles for family members. Subscription fees are customary for smart home gym machines, and Hydrow's are in line with the competition. For comparison, NordicTrack's interactive iFit service costs $39 a month, while Peloton and Tonal charge $49.99 and $59.95, respectively, for memberships to pair with their hardware. The Arc sits atop Hydrow's product lineup, replacing the original model, the Hydrow Origin (previously called the Hydrow Pro), which has been freshly discounted to $1,895. It's unclear how long the Origin will remain on sale, but in the long term, it looks like your choice will be between the compact Hydrow Wave ($1,995) and the Arc. The Wave isn't quite as polished as the Arc or the Origin, and it has a smaller 16-inch, non-rotating screen. However, it includes the company's patented electromagnetic drag mechanism and earned excellent marks in our review overall as a solid space-saving alternative to the flagship model. As a key differentiator from the Origin, both the Arc and the Wave support the company's new HydrowMetrics Index (HMI) feature, which provides an AI-driven overview of your rowing performance -- more later on how this feature works. The Origin forgoes HMI without a $399 display upgrade. For this review, I have been testing the Hydrow Arc at home for about a month. Hydrow says it's designed for easy assembly without professional assistance, and I experienced that process firsthand. Thankfully, the 147-pound machine was delivered right inside my garage, where I assembled and have been using it. Whether you decide to do it yourself or not, you'll likely want to have it delivered into the room where it's going to live. Assembling the Arc involves attaching the front legs with four screws and the 24-inch screen with four more screws. It wasn't the easiest to steady and lift the Arc to get it ready to attach the legs, but I accomplished it myself. If possible, I recommend enlisting a second set of hands for a couple of minutes to assist with the assembly process. The Hydrow Arc offers a top-notch rowing experience. You can adjust the resistance level from 50 to 300, with the default 104 drag setting mimicking the experience of rowing on the water. I experimented with several different ones and ultimately reverted to the default 104. I've been thoroughly impressed by its firm, solid build and near-silent operation. The Arc can support up to 375 pounds and a 36-inch inseam. Even with intense motion, I've never felt it rock, shake, creak, or squeak. It has remained firmly planted the entire time. Whether on a rug, the company's official mat, or a concrete floor, it feels secure. The seat is comfortable enough that I've rarely given it a thought. Importantly, the seat's motion is completely smooth. Occasionally, I've questioned the handle's ergonomics and its indents near the center on each side, but never enough to be annoyed by it. It's hard not to develop feelings or thoughts about something you hold potentially for hours a week. I doubt many people will find the handle offensive. The 24-inch screen is sufficiently bright and decently responsive to touch inputs. While scrolling to browse classes, the screen isn't as speedy as my iPhone, but overall, I've had no problems with it. The screen's ability to rotate left and right is helpful for following along with Hydrow's yoga classes and other non-rowing workout videos. The tablet's built-in speakers are passable, although the overall sound is somewhat trebly. Instructors' voices are audible, which is the key part. While rowing, your head is somewhere between a few inches and a few feet away from the speakers, so they don't need to be turned up too loud. Still, I would recommend anyone looking for booming music to connect a pair of exercise-friendly Bluetooth headphones. A luxurious build is one reason to consider the Arc, and Hydrow's on-water rowing videos are another big plus. From the beginning, the company has shot the scenes from a rower's perspective to give riders the experience of having a real-life rowing trainer. Among other benefits, it makes it easy to match strokes and pacing. The library has over 5,000 workout videos, although not all of them are specifically related to rowing. The on-demand options include yoga, pilates, and other kinds of strength training. Live rowing videos are available from time to time, but they seem to be scarce. When I looked for one, the next was over three weeks away. Regarding the menu layout and overall navigation, I found it to be somewhat overcomplicated. There aren't too many areas to poke around and get lost, but as someone who makes a living testing all kinds of gadgets, I wish Hydrow's interface were even more simplified. As it stands, personal recommendations are spread too much across the home and progress tabs. Rarely did I feel like I knew what type of row I would be doing when I sat down on the Arc. I often spent several minutes browsing for inspiration to strike. I would prefer a highly focused home screen with just two or three options, a wider curated section in the progress tab, and then a more manageable selection in the library. Hydrow's workout videos include a wide range of music genres. If jamming out to songs motivates you more than instruction, or if you find the music distracting, Hydrow offers several audio balance settings (Music Only, More Music, Original Mix, More Athlete, or Athlete Only) so you can quickly customize the sound output. I found that I preferred a little more music and a little less talking, which I could adjust with a single button in the settings during a workout. As a new, casual rower, I liked watching the instructor to see how my form and timing should look. It was helpful to get started again after a period of not rowing. But after a few weeks, I found myself gravitating toward the bow's point of view, just to watch the horizon of countries around the world. Exploring the world from my garage was intriguing while I listened to a podcast on my phone. For comparison, Peloton's guided rowing classes are filmed in a studio, so they lack the scenery and unpredictability of Hydrow's workouts. Within the library tab, you can filter videos by location, which makes it easy to jump from one region to another. There are leaderboards and a workout process meter, which may help motivate you. I found myself glancing at it from time to time, but at least initially, I haven't been drawn into that aspect. Likely, those aspects will be more compelling over time, but they haven't gotten in my way or been distracting. The Hydrow mobile app is another resource for browsing content and handling your account. It's also a bridge for using your Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor, so your real-time pulse is displayed on the screen as you row, and for syncing your workout data to Apple's Fitness app. I used my Apple Watch each time I rowed, and it worked well. There were a few times when my workout stats from Hydrow didn't immediately sync to Apple Fitness, but they always appeared during the day. The Hydrow subscription cost is focused on Hydrow's own original content, which is quite good. But there's no Netflix, HBO, Hulu, or any other video service, which is disappointing. If that's a feature you're after, Aviron and Peloton offer access to Netflix and other streaming media services on their rowing machines. The Arc offers access to one of Hydrow's newest and most helpful features, the HydrowMetrics Index, which aims to guide you toward your ideal performance. This is a number displayed at the end of workouts lasting five minutes or longer, which is composed of three aspects: precision, power, and endurance. The machine individually grades you on technique, stroke power, and effort over time, and provides an overall HMI score over a rolling 30-day period. The Arc's increased RAM and faster processor over the Origin model power this AI performance analysis. The Peloton Row's Form Assist feature goes a step further, using sensors in the handle and seat to track your movements and warn you in real-time if, for instance, you bend your knees too early, lean back too far, or slump forward. Peloton's Row+ also features a built-in movement-tracking camera to assist you with strength training workouts off the machine. The latest version of the NordicTrack RW900 rower ($2,799) doesn't offer any form assessment or guidance. Overall, I enjoy seeing my HMI at the end of Arc workouts. That said, it hasn't particularly motivated me to get on the rower when I wouldn't have otherwise. Instead, I usually considered the HMI toward the middle or end of a workout, or during times I thought I might be getting lazy with my strokes. Even more than the single HMI number, I've found the individual numbers to be more interesting. For example, once I noticed my precision number increasing, I began to consider my power metric more closely. If that number continues to increase without compromising my precision, then I'll focus my energy on the endurance portion. As part of the launch of HMI, several videos are dedicated to improving and focusing on each metric area.