NordicTrack RW300 Review: A Good Rower Wrapped Around a Subscription

The NordicTrack RW300 is the entry point into NordicTrack's rowing range in the UK, sitting around £799 on Amazon and aimed squarely at people who want structured, guided cardio at home rather than a bare ergometer. It is a magnetic rower with a motor that changes the resistance for you, 26 digital levels, a 5 inch screen and deep hooks into iFIT, NordicTrack's class platform. Judge it as a piece of hardware and it is decent but unexceptional. Judge it as a coaching system with a rower attached, which is how it was designed, and it makes a lot more sense.

The core question with any NordicTrack machine is whether you will pay the subscription. Buy the RW300, skip iFIT, and you have spent £799 on a quiet magnetic rower whose closest rivals cost £400. Buy it and actually use the classes, and the automatic resistance changes turn every session into something you follow rather than something you have to design.

Who it is for

Someone building a home cardio habit from a standing start, who wants a coach in the machine and does not want to think about programming their own intervals. The RW300 handles that job well. It suits smaller households too, because silent magnetic resistance means you can row at 6am without waking anyone, which is not true of an air rower.

It is the wrong machine for a competitive rower or anyone who trains to split times, since the 5 inch console and NordicTrack's metrics do not replace a Concept2 PM5 monitor. If that is you, our best rowing machine UK guide covers the ergometers that do.

The rowing feel

Magnetic resistance behaves differently from air. On a Concept2 or any fan rower, pulling harder makes the stroke harder, because the fan meets more air. On the RW300 the drag is set by a magnet and stays where you put it, so a level 12 stroke feels the same whether you are cruising or emptying yourself. Which one you prefer is largely a matter of what you have used before.

For structured training, the magnetic system has a real advantage: the resistance is repeatable. Level 14 today is level 14 next Tuesday, so you can compare sessions without worrying about damper settings or air temperature. It also makes the automatic changes possible, and watching the resistance climb by itself as a trainer calls for a push is the single most engaging thing about the machine.

The stroke itself is smooth, and the moulded seat is better than the flat plastic pads on cheaper rowers. Owners consistently praise the handle, which has enough grip texture to stay put with sweaty hands without shredding your palms. Six weeks of regular rowing produces meaningful cardiorespiratory adaptations even in previously untrained people (International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2023), and the RW300 makes those six weeks easy to actually complete.

The console and iFIT

The 5 inch LCD is the RW300's weakest component and the reason NordicTrack built a device shelf into it. It shows time, distance, stroke rate, calories and resistance clearly enough, and there are shortcut buttons to jump resistance levels without scrolling. What it cannot do is show you a class, so the intended setup is your own tablet propped in front of you running iFIT while the small screen handles the numbers.

That works better than it sounds, and the USB-C port keeps the tablet alive. It also means the real screen quality depends on hardware you already own, which is arguably a sensible way to spend £799.

iFIT itself is the draw. Trainer-led rows filmed in real locations, structured interval sessions, and SmartAdjust changing the resistance so you follow rather than fiddle. NordicTrack quotes over 10,000 workouts across the platform, and it covers far more than rowing, so a household can share one subscription across running, strength and yoga. One month comes with the machine. After that you pay, and the honest calculation is whether an annual subscription plus £799 still looks like good value against a Concept2 with no subscription at all.

Build, space and the warranty problem

At 206.5cm long and 58.1kg, this is a substantial object. Front transport wheels let you tip it and roll it, but you need a room where two metres of floor can be given over to a rower most of the time. Assembly is straightforward and takes an hour or so; the awkward part is manoeuvring the boxed machine into the room in the first place.

The frame feels solid through hard strokes with no flex or rattle, and the wide pivoting pedals with adjustable straps fit a range of foot sizes. Where NordicTrack falls short is cover. Two years of parts and labour, conditional on registering within 28 days, is thin for this money. It is the single specification I would want improved before recommending the RW300 without qualification, because a rower is a ten-year purchase and the electronics are the part most likely to fail.

Value

At £799, the RW300 costs roughly twice what a competent magnetic rower from Merach or JLL costs, and roughly the same as a used Concept2 Model D. You are paying for the motorised resistance, the iFIT integration and the brand. Against a Concept2 Model D, the RW300 loses on durability, resale value and data quality, and wins on quietness, guided coaching and the fact that a beginner is far more likely to keep using it.

That last point matters more than spec sheets suggest. The NHS recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults (physical activity guidelines), and the machine you actually get on is worth more than the technically superior one gathering dust. If iFIT is what gets you rowing four times a week, the price is defensible. Full specifications are published on the official NordicTrack UK product page.

For alternatives across price points, see our best rowing machine UK guide and our budget rowing machine picks, or browse everything in the rowing machines section.