Rowing is one of those exercises that can ensure shedding fat from all over your body with just one machine. Here, Hydrow and Concept2 take the lead in being exceptionally well equipped.
If you are looking for an at-home rower that can give you a boost up your motivation every day and keep you fit, Hydrow and Concept2 rowing machines are two of the best options.
They both are armed with team racing, leaderboards, interactive display along with other real-life water videos to help you indulge in your favorite workout in the most natural way possible.
Here’s a complete comparison – Hydrow vs Concept2 – with the buyer’s guide to making sure you do all the homework from your end.
So, let the battle begin!
Hydrow vs Concept2 Review: The Brand
Brand names add a sense of credibility and satisfaction to the overall products. Regardless of whatever the brands rave about, one of the things that help you determine the efficiency of the brand is through the image that their customers have set it up for them.
Therefore, here’s an honest breakdown of these two esteemed brands to help you see the clear picture.
About Hydrow
The Hydrow is undoubtedly an elite rowing machine company that has excelled in serving fitness enthusiasts with nothing but the most impactful equipment of all time.
The unique training offered by this incredible brand lets you avail yourself of hundreds of on-demand expert-led classes as well live videos to give a more personal feel to the overall process.
One of the things that make it stand out from the rest is its Live Outdoor Reality experience which can turn any boring session into a memorable one.
To prove its capability to you, considering how it is used by world-class athletes nowadays, you can certainly rest assured it will offer you exactly what you need to have a perfect gym-like experience at home.
Although the brand isn’t cheap, its uber-sleek designs, advanced software, and commercial quality stricture can surely make up for that high-end cost.
About Concept2
In case you didn’t know this already, the Concept2 Model D is the best indoor selling rower in the world. Yes, you read that right!
Its unmatched combination of quality, durability, and reasonable price has given this a competitive edge over all of the rowers available in the market today. The air resistance is driven by your effort to aid the challenge every time you get used to a certain resistance.
Besides that, although it doesn’t have any flashy screen, it’s still connected to the rower with a proper leaderboard, rower to rower racing, and much more.
For only $1,000, this rower is faster and harder than you may think. As if this wasn’t already enough, the air resistance present in Concept2 offers powerful and uninterrupted strokes with its flywheel that generates more wind to provide a harder drag for the workout.
Hydrow vs Concept2 Review Comparison
Hydrow Review
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Hydrow is for anyone who wants to stand above the rest and get their hands on a rowing machine that will not only target their entire body but thanks to its 22-inch HD display, you get to see your everyday progress, personal data along with other statistics that can make the rower your personal trainer.
Pros
1. Interactive training
The daily live rowing schedule and team rowing can be your knight in shining armor in times of this current pandemic. Its impressive on-demand video features highly friendly trainers that appreciate you with every achieved milestone and motivate you every time you are struggling with something.
This will help you give a motivation boost and allow you to get a sense of belonging to this fitness community.
2. Resistance
The 300 levels of electromagnetic resistance give the right amount of challenge and the right feel to suit your body. This is highly needed for people of all fitness levels.
3. Noise-free
Considering how it features electromagnetic resistance along with a belt drive, you can rest assured that this rowing machine can give you an overall smooth experience, all without disturbing other members present in your house.
4. Exceptional durability
The Hydrow features commercial-grade components that allow it to withstand your workouts’ daily heavy wear and tear. With a one-time investment, you get to have lifelong satisfaction through this rowing machine.
Cons
1. Useless without a subscription
Let’s not ignore the fact that Hydrow costs a whopping $2,199 for just the initial setup. However, without the $38/month subscription, you can say that this rowing machine has hidden costs that can quickly add up to break your bank.
Concept2 Review
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Concept2 rower is ideal for a low-impact workout that can work up all your muscle groups like legs, core, and arms while doing it in a high calorie-burning motion. You can use it to track real-time data and compare your progress throughout different time slots.
Pros
1. Easy storage
Concept2 is easy to move and can easily fit inside your closet. Its sleek and minimal design is known for making sure that you have a seamless experience.
2. Easy to set up
In general, setting up any gym equipment requires you to go through the daunting process of reading the manual, getting all the necessary tools, and figuring out among countless nuts and bolts to assemble the perfect equipment. Luckily, Concept2 eliminates this hectic assembling process with minimum detachable pieces to aid convenience.
3. Lightweight design
Concept2 is one of the smallest and lightest gym equipment you can find out there. The sleek and stylish design isn’t only aesthetically pleasing, but its excellent practicality can make it to your list of favorites!
4. Air resistance
The thing with Concept2 is, the harder you row, the more resistance you generate. This makes this equipment appropriate for all fitness levels and speeds up your overall fitness journey.
Cons
Didn’t found any.
Hydrow vs Concept2 Buyer’s Guide: Things to Consider Before Investing your Hard-earned Money
A buyer’s guide is essential to keep in hand before you go on to purchase your first rower. Therefore, here are some of the things you must consider before investing in a good rower. I’d highly urge you to create a checklist and cross the factors as you find them.
1. Price
Price is inevitably the most important factor to consider before making any purchase. When we specially talk about rowers, high-end ones are likely to be packed with advanced features which aren’t offered by other affordable ones.
Here, by investing in a good rower, you get to enjoy its everlasting durability and satisfaction for as long as you want. In contrast, cheaper ones run the risk of breakdown after moderate wear and tear. This may require you to opt for a new one every few years to add to your expense.
However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you break your bank for it. A quality rower can be spotted from the sea of other rowers that you can find on the market now.
2. Available add-ons
As technology advances, so makes their demand for fitness equipment. Nowadays, it is important to keep up with the fast pace of technology.
Therefore, look for a rower with bigger screens, high-tech features, monitors, and additional app integration to ensure you have maximum flexibility and convenience with your rowing machine.
3. Warranty
Warranty is surely a feature that has one of the major influences on your buying decision. This is because it naturally gives you peace of mind that even if the rower breaks down, you will be armed with a warranty that can fix all of your problems instantly.
Here, looking for brands that are famous for their customer service can be quite helpful.
4. Ease to maintain
Rowers with detachable parts are more likely to be easier to maintain as you can find their spare parts anywhere you go. This does require you to go through the complicated process to get it fixed professionally nor have an excuse to ditch a few days of workout.
Another thing to bear in mind is that you will have to regularly change the water in a water rower, whereas this isn’t a problem with fan-based rowing machines.
Benefits of Hydrow vs Concept2
It can be used for people of all fitness levels.
As a general rule of thumb, rowing machines can be used as an alternative for most of your exercise equipment. This is especially because of their low impact feature, which can help to improve your resistance, strength, avoid injuries and improve cardiovascular health.
Sure, it may take time for you to get used to the new equipment, but as you use it, you will get to realize how incredibly easy it is to operate its functions and make the most out of the machine.
It can also amp you the intensity level every time you reach a certain goal which is a fool-proof way to speed up your entire fitness progress.
Resistance training
Although I’ve mentioned this before, it needed more emphasis to show its unprecedented benefits. Where resistance bands and other resistance training can be useful, nothing can beat the results that rowers provide for your health.
For years, you can see athletes improving their performance and strength by making sure to incorporate rower exercise into their exercise.
Relaxing
Where it is true that rowing outdoors can have a mind and body connection, you get to have the same results with indoor rowing. Thanks to the Live Outdoor Reality Experience, you will picture yourself in those situations and freshen up your mind.
On top of that, the smooth and gliding motion of air resistance allows your mind to get lost in the movement and forget about the swarming thoughts in your mind.
Improves cardiovascular health
Rowing has been my personal favorite cardio workout. Although it doesn’t burn as many calories as a treadmill, its low-impact feature can help pump blood efficiently and support other organ health and regulate your sleeping cycle.
Hydrow vs Concept2: How Are They Different?
Being clear with the differences can help you distinguish between the two and find the right one for you. Starting with the most obvious difference, Hydrow costs $2,199 while Concept2 can offer you competitive features for just $1,290. Other than that, the interactive touchscreen display with advanced functionality can also give Hydrow an upper hand over Concept2.
Hydrow rowing machines have 86 x 25 x 47 inches, allowing them to fold up vertically and store it wherever you want.
As for Concept2, it measures 96 x 24 x 54, which is relatively bigger than Hydrow but can still be used in tight spaces. This means, if space is your concern, you can never go wrong with the excellent compact design of Hydrow, whereas Concept2 is more than enough for the price it offers.
Hydrow vs Concept2 – Are They The Same?
Coming to the similarities, both Concept2 and Hydrow are excellent with their resistance capabilities, which is why you opted for a rower in the first place. Their high durability can easily entire up to 500 pounds without putting much strain on the machine.
Conclusion
As you can already see from the comparison above, Hydrow is surely a premium option for an indoor rowing machine that can offer anything you can expect an ideal rower to offer. From storage options to offering immersive training, it has got it all!
Concept2, on the other hand, is a rather affordable option that is great for beginners who don’t require professional training or advanced add-ons in their gym equipment. The good news is, both of them are excellent to get this job done and give you the ever-needed satisfaction and longevity that you require in a piece of gym equipment.