By Paul Kendrick, Cardio & Endurance Editor · Updated 17 September 2026
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Spend £150 on a rowing machine and you're usually choosing between a hydraulic piston model that barely feels like rowing and a magnetic one with a flimsy single rail. The Dripex magnetic rower at around £149.99 lands in the second camp, but with a dual steel slide rail and a 159kg user limit, both of which you'd normally pay more for.
Don't confuse it with the Dripex water rowing machine, which is a different product with a water tank and a very different feel. This is the quieter, simpler, cheaper one. It's aimed at people who want steady cardio in a flat without annoying the neighbours, and on that brief it mostly delivers; where it falls short is anything to do with measuring and structuring your training.
How we review
We haven't rowed this machine. This review draws on Dripex's Amazon UK listing, the manufacturer's own claims (labelled as claims where we repeat them), and how magnetic rowers at this price generally compare. We haven't leaned on individual owner anecdotes, and with 851 ratings the star average can move, so we don't quote one. Where Dripex hasn't published something, such as the app name, we say so instead of guessing.
Buy it if you're new to rowing, want 20 to 30 minutes of low-impact cardio a few times a week, live somewhere noise matters, and £150 is your budget. The 16 resistance levels give a beginner room to progress for months, and the fact it rolls away and stands upright helps in a small room.
Skip it if you're tall (6ft 2in and over is where we'd start to worry), if you want to train to splits and pace targets, or if you'd rather have the surge of a water or air flywheel. For a wider view of what else sits at this money, see our best budget rowing machines.
| Resistance | Magnetic, 16 levels |
|---|---|
| Noise | Under 30dB, manufacturer claim |
| Slide rail | Dual steel, 124cm (48.8in) |
| User height | 4ft 5in to 6ft 5in, manufacturer claim |
| Max user weight | 159kg (350lb) |
| Monitor | LCD: time, count, distance, calories |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, app not named on listing |
| Extras | Phone and tablet holder |
| Dimensions | 161 x 43 x 61cm |
| Storage | Front wheels, stands upright |
| Assembly | 6 main parts, around 20 minutes |
| Colour | Tangerine |
Most rowers at this price put the seat on a single aluminium beam. It works, but a cheap beam has less margin for heavier users, and any flex shows up as a seat that doesn't run quite true. Dripex has gone for a dual steel rail instead, and paired with the 159kg limit, that suggests a frame built with some margin rather than one sized to just survive the average user.
It won't make the machine feel like a £700 rower. What it should do is keep the seat tracking straight, which matters more than people expect, because a seat that rocks side to side pulls your attention off your legs and onto balancing.
The length is the catch. At 124cm, the rail is fine for most adults, but Dripex's claim that it suits users up to 6ft 5in deserves some scepticism. Taller rowers have longer legs, and at the finish of the stroke, legs flat and leaning back slightly, they need more rail behind them. Run out of travel and you shorten the stroke or hit the end stop, neither of which is pleasant. If you're over 6ft 2in, it's worth measuring your inseam and asking the seller before you order.
Sixteen levels controlled by magnets means nothing physically rubs the flywheel, so there are no brake pads to wear and very little noise from the drive itself. That's the whole appeal of magnetic rowers, and for early morning sessions above someone's ceiling it's a strong one.
The under-30dB figure is marketing, though. That's roughly whisper level, and whatever the flywheel does, a seat running along a steel rail and a strap retracting at 24 strokes a minute will make more noise than that. Quiet enough to talk or watch TV over is the realistic expectation.
The trade-off is feel. On water and air rowers, pulling harder makes the stroke heavier, so the machine responds to what you put in. A magnetic system holds whichever level you've chosen, so a lazy stroke and a hard one load the same. For general fitness that's fine. For learning to row well it means the machine won't punish bad habits, which is why reading up on rowing machine technique before your first proper session is a better idea here than on an air rower.
If the water-style surge matters to you, the Dripex water rower is the more honest alternative from the same brand.
The LCD shows four things: time, count (strokes), distance and calories. That's enough to know you did 25 minutes and roughly 5km. It isn't enough to train with any structure.
What's missing is a 500m split, the pace figure that almost every rowing plan uses. "Four by 500m at 2:20" means nothing if the machine can't tell you your pace, and working it out from distance and time mid-session doesn't happen in practice. The DMASUN rower shows a split for around £60 more, and for anyone who likes numbers that's the more useful purchase.
Calories on budget rowers are rough estimates, since the machine doesn't know your weight, heart rate or real power output. Use the figure to compare one session with the next on the same machine, not to plan meals.
Bluetooth compatibility may help. Dripex says the rower works with an app but doesn't name it on the listing, and we're not going to guess. Budget machines often pair with one brand-specific app or a generic Bluetooth fitness app instead of Kinomap or Zwift. If app sessions are a reason you're buying, confirm which one before you order. The phone and tablet holder is handy for streaming a workout video regardless.
Six main parts and about 20 minutes is a believable claim for this type of machine, since the flywheel housing and rail joint usually arrive built. Building it in the room where it'll live saves carrying an assembled 161cm frame through a doorway.
Footprint is 161 x 43 x 61cm, a little shorter than many rowers. Tip it up onto the front wheels, roll it to a wall and stand it upright, and it takes up about the floor space of a dining chair. Check the ceiling height first if you plan to store it in a low-ceilinged box room.
At £149.99 the value is good, but the listing showed only six units in stock when we checked on 17 September 2026. Low stock on Amazon often means the price moves, sometimes up, and sometimes the listing goes unavailable for weeks. If it's shot up well past £150, the argument for it gets much weaker, because the DMASUN and the Sunny Health and Fitness magnetic rower start to look better.
Dripex is a smaller Amazon-focused brand. Around 851 ratings sit behind this listing, which is a reasonable base, but it can't tell you how the seat rollers and strap hold up in year three, or whether UK spares will still be available by then. At £150 that's a risk you can live with. At £250 it wouldn't be.
Yes, if you use it. Indoor rowing works the legs, back and arms together, and the research on rowing training is encouraging even for people starting from a low base. In one trial, post-menopausal women doing three 30-minute rowing sessions a week for ten weeks improved their peak oxygen uptake and heart rate recovery (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023). Five 30-minute sessions a week at a moderate effort would meet the NHS guideline of 150 minutes of moderate activity on their own.
Look after your back while you're at it. Low back pain is the most commonly reported injury in rowing, and a 2023 scoping review flagged long ergometer sessions and form breaking down with fatigue as risk factors (International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy, 2023). On a machine that doesn't punish a sloppy stroke, keep early sessions short and push with your legs first. Our guide on whether rowing machines are good for you covers the benefits and downsides in more detail.
Check the Dripex price on Amazonaround £150No. They're separate machines from the same brand. This one uses magnets to create a fixed resistance you pick from 16 levels, while the Dripex water rower uses paddles spinning in a tank, so the load rises as you pull harder. The water model feels more like rowing and makes more noise; this one is quieter, cheaper and simpler.
The listing doesn't mention one. Dripex says the LCD shows time, count, distance and calories, and that's all it promises. If you want to follow structured rowing plans, which are nearly always written in 500m splits, that's a real gap, although a paired app may fill it.
Dripex says it fits users from 4ft 5in to 6ft 5in on a 124cm slide rail. Most people up to about 6ft should be fine. Above that, a 124cm rail starts to limit how far back you can travel at the finish, so if you're 6ft 2in or taller we'd look at a machine with a longer rail.
Dripex claims under 30dB, which is close to a whisper and almost certainly measured in ideal conditions. Magnetic rowers are genuinely among the quietest you can buy because nothing touches the flywheel, but the seat rolling on the rail and the strap winding back still make noise. Expect quiet, not silent.
The Amazon listing says Bluetooth app compatible without naming the app. Check the manual or ask the seller before buying if app sessions matter to you, because budget rowers often pair only with a brand-specific or generic Bluetooth fitness app rather than Kinomap or Zwift.
An honest Dripex 14L wooden water rower review: the 12-blade impeller, rubberwood frame, 150kg limit, 125cm rail and vertical folding, plus the maintenance and the catches.
An honest YPOO rowing machine review: how the V2 PRO folds upright or flat, what 16 magnetic levels really give you, the 6ft 2in height ceiling and where the listing oversells.
An honest DMASUN rowing machine review: 32 electromagnetic resistance levels, a self-powered flywheel, a real 500m split on the monitor, and where this young brand still carries risk.
An honest Sunny Health & Fitness SF-RW5515 review: a 130cm extended rail rated to 198cm, 8-level magnetic resistance, a basic LCD and what £219 does and does not buy you in 2026.
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