Andy Devaney
If you’re hunting for a home workout upgrade that doesn’t sound like you’re powering a tugboat in the living room, the Echelon Row is going to catch your eye straight away. After four solid weeks putting the Echelon Row through its paces, it’s clear this machine isn’t here to make excuses. It’s here to graft.
Assembly is mercifully simple. Two people, twenty minutes, and not a single drop of sweat or colourful adjective required. For a full-size rower, it slots into home life without a fuss.
The build is solid — unmistakably built to last — yet it glides around the house thanks to heavy-duty wheels and a grab handle that actually does its job. Park it in the corner and it behaves itself until you’re ready for round two.
What really stands out, though, is the silence. With 32 levels of magnetic resistance, this thing barely whispers. You could row in the bedroom while your partner is still unconscious — and yes, that was tested. It’s that quiet.
The seat deserves its own medal. “Junk in the trunk” or not, it manages to strike that rare balance between width and comfort that other brands never quite get right. Add to that the smartest resistance controls I’ve seen on a rower: buttons on the handlebars. No stopping. No stretching. No swearing. Just seamless shifting. Genius, indeed.
You don’t need a dedicated screen — any tablet or phone locks into the swing-arm holder, and off you go. The interface is so straightforward that even the tech-averse in your family won’t struggle. “Classes are easy to select and your progress is simply stored; even my mum could navigate the Echelon classes.”
The novice sessions are legitimately helpful, not patronising fluff. They teach form, positioning, and how not to wreck your back — something most people only learn after it’s too late. Once you’re confident, you’ll find more than enough variety to keep you honest. “The Echelon classes are high quality and we can’t fault them. The instructors really do keep you motivated.”
One day you’re hammering a lower-body session, the next you’re grinding through a power workout. Or, if you’re in that escapist mood, you can drift along a river in Thailand.
Don’t fancy rowing in portrait mode? Stick the machine in front of the TV and stream classes in full cinematic glory. Meanwhile, a tablet and headphones were more than enough for early-morning sessions while the other half was still “snoring his head off.”
After a month of living with it, the verdict is straightforward: this rower is the real deal. A sturdy, full-size machine with the manoeuvrability of something half its weight, a noise level so low it’s practically polite, and access to a deep well of genuinely useful classes via the Echelon app.
It’s the kind of kit built for people who want to put the work in — without waking the entire house to do it.
