If 2020 taught us one thing is that home workouts have become the new norm for those still in the grip of a pandemic. Consumers bought up fitness equipment by the truckload as gyms closed and stay-at-home orders remained in place. While not all fitness equipment is created equal and you truly do get what you pay for, the folks at Echelon delivered one of our new favorite fitness tools for the home, the Echelon Row.

This brilliant magnetic foldable rower is the perfect addition to a home gym and offers consumers some serious value for money coming in at just under the $1000 price range. Made from a robust combination of steel and aluminum in the signature black and red colorway, the rower is quite impressive to look at but also performs incredibly well offering a spectrum of 32 different levels of smooth, quiet electronically controlled magnetic resistance and can be paired with Echelon’s Fit subscription service which offers on-demand workouts and live classes at a small additional cost.

It is worth noting that, unlike traditional rowers which feature a chain, the Echelon rower features a belt. It works well and allows for a smooth and quiet row, closely mirroring an on-water experience, but we are not sure of the longevity or maintenance required in such a build. We do however love the adjustable footbeds, uber comfortable seat, and next-level handlebar which features controls built in to dynamically change the resistance during the row, it is much better than the traditional levers mounted on the flywheel. Also, we love that we had no issue pairing our Bluetooth heart rate monitor to the Echelon Row, it allows users like us to see better metrics on the overall workout.

Unlike some of Echelon’s other workout machines, you do need your own device (a tablet holder is provided) and a subscription to take full advantage of everything the rower has to offer and at nearly $40 per month, you truly must lean into their services and buy into what they are selling which in their defense is great and offers a lot of versatility.  The best feature though of this machine is the ability to simply fold it up and tuck it out of sight when you are done. Our team remarked on its versatility and how nothing was sacrificed build-wise to make this work so well, we also believe that this opens the door to it being used in smaller spaces like apartments and basements.

To sum up, if you are a fan of rowers and the cardio/strength training they provide, you will be hard-pressed to find a better rower at this price. Sure, there are some additional expenses involved but like the brand Peloton, there are many hardcore Echelon fans that swear by the service, me being one included.

BUY yours here – THE ROW-S IS NOW AVAILABLE!