NordicTrack RW900 Review: A 24in Screen Bolted to a Decent Rower

The NordicTrack RW900 is what happens when a company decides the screen is the product. A 24in pivoting HD touchscreen dominates the machine, iFIT trainers row alongside you through Croatian coastlines and studio sessions, and the resistance changes underneath you automatically to match what the coach is doing. As a way of turning rowing from a chore into something you'll actually do four times a week, it works, and at around £1,599 it should.

The hardware underneath is competent rather than special. Twenty-six levels of silent magnetic resistance, a rigid frame rated to 136kg, comfortable oversized pedals and a soft-grip handle. Nothing here is bad. Very little of it is worth £1,599 on its own, which is the tension running through this whole review.

Who it is for

People who don't like rowing yet. That sounds like a criticism and isn't. The single biggest predictor of whether a home cardio machine earns its money is whether you keep using it after February, and guided classes with a trainer, a landscape and automatic resistance changes do a genuinely good job of that. If you've bought a rower before and abandoned it, this is the type of machine that breaks the pattern.

It's the wrong machine for anyone training seriously for rowing. Club rowers, CrossFit athletes and anyone who wants split times they can compare to the rest of the world should buy a Concept2 and spend the difference on coaching.

The screen and iFIT

The 24in panel is the reason to buy this rower and it's genuinely good. It pivots, which matters more than it sounds: swing it round and you can follow strength, yoga or mobility sessions on the floor beside the machine, so the RW900 becomes a home studio rather than a single-purpose rower. Two forward-facing speakers are loud enough to hear over your own breathing, and it pairs with Bluetooth headphones if the household objects.

iFIT's auto-adjust is the software feature that earns its keep. When the trainer calls for a harder interval, the machine changes resistance itself, which removes the fiddling that ruins the rhythm of a session on a manual rower. The library runs to thousands of sessions including scenic rows filmed on real water.

The catch, and it's a big one, is the subscription. Let it lapse and you're left with a manual mode and 26 resistance levels on a £1,599 machine. Price the membership in over five years before you decide this is good value, because that's the honest cost of ownership.

The rowing itself

Silent Magnetic Resistance is quiet, consistent and easy to control digitally, which is exactly what a class-based machine needs. It's also the reason experienced rowers don't love these machines. On an air rower the load builds with how hard you pull, so a hard stroke meets more resistance, which is how a boat behaves in the water. Magnetic resistance stays fixed at whatever level you selected, so the feel at the catch is flatter and less responsive.

For general fitness this doesn't matter much. Rowing is a full-body cardio exercise regardless of the resistance mechanism, and the research on indoor rowing is encouraging: ten weeks of three 30-minute sessions per week at 60% to 80% of peak heart rate produced measurable rises in peak oxygen uptake, stroke volume and cardiac output (Cardiorespiratory adaptations to rowing indoor training, 2023). Electromyography work in elite rowers confirms just how much of the body a rowing stroke recruits, with the quadriceps, latissimus dorsi, biceps and trapezius all heavily involved (Cardio-respiratory and electromyographic responses to ergometer and on-water rowing, 2013).

The pedals are oversized with adjustable straps and the handle is well padded, so nothing about a 45-minute session is uncomfortable. The seat rolls smoothly on the rail. It's a good machine to row on. It just isn't a rower's rower.

Living with it

At 203cm long it needs a dedicated corner, and 61.5kg with a screen on top makes tipping it upright a two-handed job you'll do carefully. Front transport wheels help once it's vertical. Compare that to a Concept2, which splits into two pieces and stands in a cupboard, and you can see why space-constrained buyers hesitate.

Assembly is straightforward and most of the machine arrives built. Registering within 28 days matters, because the warranty terms depend on it, and 2 years on parts and labour is short for a machine at this price. Sole gives you 5 years of parts cover on a treadmill costing similar money.

RW900 vs RW300 vs Concept2

The NordicTrack RW300 is the same idea with a 5in screen at around £640, and it's the better buy if you're going to run iFIT on a tablet anyway. Same resistance system, same subscription dependency, a lot less money.

The Concept2 RowErg at roughly £990 is the machine to own if rowing is the goal rather than the vehicle. Air resistance, the PM5 monitor everyone else uses, a 10 year frame warranty, and a resale value that barely moves. It has no screen, no classes and no auto-adjust, and rowing clubs across the country don't care.

Should you buy it?

Buy it if you know yourself well enough to admit you need the classes, you've got the space, and you're comfortable with the ongoing subscription. It'll get used, which is more than most home rowers manage.

Skip it if you'll row without being told to, if £1,599 plus a membership makes you wince, or if you want numbers you can compare against other rowers. Our best rowing machine UK guide covers the alternatives, and full specifications are on NordicTrack's official RW900 page.

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