Hydrow Pro Rower Review: The Ferrari of At-Home Rowers?

15 years ago, I started consistently working out.

Back then, I stupidly thought rowing machines were a waste of time.

Man was I wrong.

Almost 15 years later, I’m in the best shape of my life with loads more knowledge under my belt, and I row regularly as part of my fitness routine.

In fact, you could argue that rowing is the most efficient full-body exercise. It activates over 85% of your muscles, improves heart health, burns a stupefying number of calories, and delivers almost no impact to your body.

But there are only two rowers at my gym. And when I arrive hungry to blitz my workout and get back to my day, waiting in line is tortuous. So, I picked up Hydrow’s original Hydrow Pro Rower to see what it’s like to get a full-body burn without setting foot beyond your front door. Here’s everything you need to know.

Hydrow Pro Rower Overview

Hydrow was founded in 2017 by Bruce Smith, a championship-winning rower and former US National Team rowing coach. 

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Hydrow’s goal is to make “whole health accessible to all” by combining high-performance rowers with easy-to-follow, motivational videos and a community where anyone can hop on and start cranking.

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Hydrow offers two different rowing machines: the Hydrow Wave Rower and Hydrow Pro Rower.

While the Hydrow Wave Rower is better in smaller spaces, I chose the Hydrow Pro Rower, their original top-of-the-line rower. This is a sleek, sturdy beast of a machine with a stylish build, solid, functional materials, and a crisp 22” HD touch display.

You can use the rower by itself, which will simply track your metrics like rowers in the gym. Or, you can activate Hydrow’s monthly membership which unlocks dozens of features like tutorials, challenges, on the water workouts led by expert athletes and olympians, and even non-rowing workouts.

Things to Consider Before Buying

While the Hydrow Pro Rower was primarily designed for different types of rowing workouts, the 22” screen turns 90° so you can follow along to other workouts while lying next to your rower, including: yoga, pilates, strength training, mobility, HIIT, and circuit training.

Before buying an at-home rower, consider how much free space you have at home, how often you’ll be working out and whether you plan to row on your own and pay for a membership with access to guided workouts and content. 

My Hands-On Review

I picked up Hydrow’s original Hydrow Pro Rower with a 22” HD touch display to start toning my muscles and kicking my cardio into high gear. 

I also activated Hydrow’s monthly membership to unlock access to progress tracking metrics and 5000+ guided and live workouts shot in 100+ beautiful destinations. This is my full review.

Assembly & Setup

Disclaimer: When the Hydrow box arrives and the delivery people kindly ask where you want it, point to the exact spot where you plan to set this bad boy up.

If you say “just at the front door is fine!” like me, you’ll break a sweat just sliding the almost 200 lb box into your house by yourself.

Luckily, the unboxing and setup was a breeze. It’s cumbersome, so you may need a friend to help out. But you simply remove all the plastic, lift the rower onto a small assembly block, screw on the front fork and monitor, plug it in, and you’re off to the races.

Once you turn it on, you’ll be prompted to connect it to Wi-Fi or wired Internet, and once you do, give it a few minutes. Like a computer, it needs to warm up and run new software updates. After that, you’ll be prompted to set up your account and either subscribe to a monthly membership or use the machine in “Just Row” mode.

Aesthetics & Ease of Use

Unlike the old, beaten-to-heck rowers at your local gym, the Hydrow Pro Rower is quite the sleek and stylish machine with a curved undercarriage, soft metal and gray tones, and a sizable 22” monitor that’s hard to miss.

While it’s easy on the eyes, it’s quite a behemoth. This rower is 7ft long, 2ft wide, and just shy of 4ft tall. However, if you want to significantly reduce how much floor space this takes up, Hydrow designed an Upright Storage Kit as an add-on accessory.

The touch-screen display feels responsive and the interface is crisp and well-designed.

Setting up my profile was seamless and even though they offer thousands of workouts with a few dozen athletes, navigating the home screen and content library wasn’t overwhelming. I also like that you can pair bluetooth headphones, heart rate monitors, and other devices to your rower.

Like any other rower, you simply strap your feet in snug, grab the oar and start moving. Rowing is a timeless exercise in that way, and there’s something beautiful about that.

Rowing

Let’s get down to business. What does the Hydrow Pro Rower feel like? And what type of resistance mechanism does it use? These are the questions guys who know a thing or two about rowing will be asking first. 

The most common types of resistance for rowing machines are air, water, magnetic, bungee rope, and hybrid (a combo of air and magnetic). The type of resistance also determines how noisey the dang thing will be.

Hydrow uses a patented electromagnetic drag system designed to replicate the feeling of being on water. This also makes it remarkably silent. Even while I was cranking at full speed, you probably wouldn’t have heard anything louder than a simple fan the next room over.

This is perfect for guys who work from home and don’t want to disrupt their partner during a midday sweat session, or for dads who want to sneak a workout in without waking up the little one. 

The motion felt much smoother than I was expecting—almost too smooth. Maybe I’m just used to the beat-up rowers at the gym that have too much friction, but it felt like I was gliding on the Hydrow Pro Rower. I also noticed a subtle springing sensation when I let up tension.

You get the sense that a boatload of complex and careful engineering went into creating a rowing motion that feels anything but. It’s smooth, seamless and easy to get used to.

I appreciated how cushy, yet firm the seat felt, but the oar had a thick, plastic-like feel that didn’t match the rest of the machine in terms of high-quality materials. However, this could be intentional from the Hydrow team as an effort to keep it lightweight and mimic the feeling of a wood oar that you’d use out on the water.  

Membership

If you’re considering buying a Hydrow rower, I’d recommend buying the monthly membership with it. If you don’t, it would sort of be like buying a Ferrari that you can only drive in second gear around the block.

The membership unlocks access to over 5,000 workouts led by world-class athletes in scenic locations. The library includes more rowing workouts than you’d ever need, plus circuit training, Pilates, yoga, strength, and conditioning workouts.

If you want to complete one of these non-rowing-based workouts, you simply hop off the rower, turn the screen to the side, and work out on a mat next to your rower. This is great for something like a wind-down yoga session after a long row.

The monthly membership also gives you access to live workouts and weekly racing challenges, which is a great way to schedule a workout and actually stick to it. As you row, you get to track your progress and receive milestone rewards and badges. It sounds kind of cheesy, but gamifying exercise is a powerful way to make working out more enjoyable and rewarding.

Without the membership, you can only use the rower in “Just Row” mode. This essentially downgrades the rower to the capabilities of a rower you’d find at your local gym. You can adjust the drag and resistance and view your metrics during a workout, but that’s about it. You can still watch a few introductory videos and connect a heart rate monitor in this mode, too. 

In my opinion, the paid monthly membership is one of the core incentives to getting a Hydrow rower, altogether. 

My First Guided Row

To kick things off, I did a five-minute tutorial on how to row properly and find your stroke. I’ve been rowing for several years, but it was nice to freshen up on the mechanics of rowing and be reminded how to engage your legs, core, and arms in unison. 

After that, I did a 5-minute assessment row to set a baseline and see how far I could row in five minutes. My instructor was rowing on a beautiful sunlit waterway which was a relaxing backdrop to gaze into as I followed her lead. I started pumping harder and harder and before I knew it, the five minutes was over.

I also noticed a small leaderboard on the right hand side of the screen showing 554 other guys who had done this assessment. As I rowed harder, I could see my little icon moving up the leaderboard until I finally finished 25th. 

This friendly competition and gamification element definitely helps make working out more fun and take your mind off of the actual grueling workout you’re performing. And when you enjoy working out, you’re much more likely to workout again and again.

After my assessment row, my results were automatically emailed to me along with an explanation of my 1:54 split, which is the amount of time it takes you to row 500 meters. It also calculated splits for five different effort zones, so I could understand where my pace should be when an instructor tells me to row at “sprint” pace.

Customer Service

If you’re keen to hop on a rower, but not totally convinced about making a purchase yet, Hydrow offers a 30-day risk-free trial. This allows you to row for free for a month and if you don’t like it, you can simply schedule to have the rower picked back up at no cost.

If for some reason you purchased a rower and needed to return it, Hydrow offers a full refund on the rower itself, but because of its size and weight, they don’t offer a refund on any shipping, delivery, or installation charges you might have paid for in your initial delivery. 

You’ll also be charged a $250 return shipping fee which will be deducted from the total amount of your refund, which is something to keep in mind.

What Do Other Reviewers Say?

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Most guys who have purchased a Hydrow rower love it for the sleek, lasting build, smooth rowing experience, and high-quality, instructor-led workouts. One guy considered it a great investment in his health and another noted that the conversation, music, and scenery make the sessions fly by.

I agree, I really enjoyed following along as a motivating coach guided me through a workout from a scenic waterway. It really immersed me in my row and made it significantly more enjoyable than droning into the puny screen filled with black numbers on the rowers at my gym.

A few guys were frustrated with how expensive the monthly membership costs were on top of the price of the actual rower. They also found it a bit annoying that if you don’t opt into the membership, you don’t get much functionality other than manual rowing from your Hydrow.

My Thoughts Overall

Hydrow Pro Rower

Hydrow's Pro Rower turned out to be a lot more than its sleek design suggests. The electromagnetic drag system is significantly quieter than fan other rowers with fan or water-based resistance systems. While the subscription plan might be steep for some, it includes more than just rowing courses. Add on a swiveling display and the Pro Rower can be a one-stop-shop for home fitness.

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