Echelon Row Review: A Good Rower Behind a Subscription

The Echelon Row is the entry point into Echelon's connected rowing range, sitting well below the £1,999 Row-7s with its built-in touchscreen. It is aimed at people who want the class-led, instructor-shouting-at-you experience of a boutique studio at home, without paying flagship money for a screen they could replace with the iPad already in the house. On its own terms it does that well. The frame is solid, the magnetic resistance is genuinely silent, and the handlebar resistance controls are a proper piece of design rather than a gimmick. The complications are commercial rather than mechanical, and they are worth understanding before you buy.

Who it is for

The Echelon Row makes sense for a specific person: someone who wants to row three or four times a week, is motivated by structured classes and a leaderboard rather than by chasing split times, lives somewhere noise matters, and needs the machine to fold away between sessions. If that is you, this is a well-judged bit of kit.

It makes much less sense if you are a data-driven trainer. Rowers who care about accurate, comparable watts and 500m splits should be looking at an air machine, and our Concept2 Model D review covers the benchmark. It also makes little sense if you dislike subscriptions, because the machine's whole reason for existing is the software.

Build and feel

The frame is aluminium and steel with a 1.7 degree rail angle, and it holds up to a hard session without the whip you get from cheaper folding rowers. The seat runs smoothly, the footplates adjust properly and take a range of shoe sizes, and the handle is comfortable through long pieces. Echelon quotes a 300lb (136kg) capacity and a user height range of roughly 4ft 10in to 6ft 5in, which covers most households (Echelon Row official specifications).

The standout feature is the Bluetooth handlebar controller. Toggles on the handle let you move through the 32 magnetic resistance levels without letting go, which sounds minor until you do an interval session and realise every other rower in this class makes you reach for a dial mid-stroke. For class-led training where the instructor changes resistance every 30 seconds, it is the difference between following along and giving up.

On stroke feel, be realistic. Magnetic resistance is smooth and consistent, but it does not load progressively with your effort the way air does, so a hard pull does not feel meaningfully harder than a lazy one at the same level. Electromyography work comparing rowing ergometer designs has found muscle activation patterns are broadly similar across machine types (ergometer design and muscle activity), so you are still working the same muscles. It just feels less like a boat.

The app and the subscription question

This is where the Echelon Row stops being a rowing machine and starts being a business model, and it deserves a straight answer.

You can use the machine without paying anything. The free tier of the Echelon Fit app pairs over Bluetooth and shows your basic metrics, so if you want a quiet, folding magnetic rower and nothing else, it works. But the reason to choose an Echelon over a similarly specced generic magnetic rower at half the price is the class library, the instructors, the leaderboards and the scenic rows, and all of that sits behind a paid membership. Buy this machine planning never to subscribe and you have overpaid for hardware.

The classes themselves are good. Production quality is high, the instructor roster is broad enough that most people find someone they can tolerate, and the structured programmes give beginners a reason to get on the machine on a wet Tuesday. Adherence is the real problem with home cardio equipment, and the app genuinely solves it for a lot of people. That is worth paying for, as long as you make the decision knowingly. It is also worth noting the base warranty is one year unless you hold a Premier membership, which extends it, another nudge towards the subscription.

Price, and a warning

Watch the price on this one carefully. Echelon sells the Row directly at £599 at the time of writing, discounted from a £999 list price. The Amazon listing sits considerably higher. That gap is large enough to change the recommendation entirely, so check both before you buy, and treat any "was £999" framing with scepticism given how long the direct discount has been running.

At £599 with a membership you will actually use, this is a fair deal for a quiet, folding, well-built rower with a good app. At £899 it is a harder sell, because that money buys you a Concept2 class of machine with better data and a much longer service life, or a very good magnetic rower plus several years of a cheaper app. For alternatives across the range, our best rowing machine UK guide covers the field, and the foldable rowing machine guide is the place to start if space is your main constraint.

Check price on Amazon

How it compares

Against the Concept2 RowErg, the Echelon loses on stroke feel, data accuracy and durability, and wins on noise and storage. Serious rowers should buy the Concept2. People who want to enjoy rowing should consider the Echelon.

Against budget magnetic rowers in the £300 to £500 bracket, the Echelon wins on frame quality, the handlebar controls and the app, and loses on value if you never subscribe. Our MERACH rowing machine review covers what that cheaper end looks like.

Against water rowers, it is quieter and folds smaller but lacks the swoosh and the natural resistance curve that make water machines pleasant to use. See our best water rowing machine guide if that appeal matters to you.

Rowing itself remains one of the best low-impact ways to hit the recommended 150 minutes of moderate activity a week while also loading the upper body (NHS physical activity guidelines), and the machine that gets used is always better than the machine that is theoretically superior.

Recommended reads

• Best Rowing Machine UK
• Best Foldable Rowing Machines
• Concept2 Model D Review
• Rowing Machine vs Cross Trainer
• Rowing Machine Reviews and Buying Guides