Product · WaterRower
WaterRower Original Performance: Peloton and EXR links
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The Original Performance is WaterRower's answer for people who want the classic wooden water rower but train through app classes. In place of a traditional monitor, it uses what WaterRower calls patent-pending PowerPulley technology to capture stroke data and send it by Bluetooth to a phone or tablet held on a folding arm. Through the WaterRower Connect app, that data can feed third-party platforms such as CITYROW, EXR and Peloton.
- Screen
- Your phone or tablet on folding arm
- Apps
- WaterRower Connect, CITYROW, EXR, Peloton
- Subscription
- Not stated
- Resistance
- Water
- Footprint
- 210 x 57 cm
In its favour
- Pairs the WaterRower Connect app with CITYROW, EXR and Peloton.
- PowerPulley technology transmits data by Bluetooth to iOS or Android.
- Stores upright in about the space of a dining chair.
Good to know
- No built-in screen, so a tablet is needed for classes.
- The listing does not say whether the partner apps need their own subscriptions.
Our take
PowerPulley and connected training
WaterRower describes PowerPulley as giving deeper, more precise insight into each stroke, with metrics measured at the pulley and sent wirelessly to iOS or Android. That moves the display to your own screen, which suits anyone already following a class platform.
The folding phone and tablet arm holds the device at a sensible viewing angle. Whether CITYROW, EXR or Peloton need their own subscriptions is not stated, so check each service separately.
The WaterFlywheel
Resistance comes from the patented WaterFlywheel, designed to recreate the sound, feel and self-regulating resistance of rowing on water. Pull harder and the water pushes back harder, so there is nothing to set between intervals. Many rowers find this more natural than stepped magnetic levels, especially for longer steady pieces.
Size, storage and build
The machine measures 210 by 57 by 84 cm on the spec table, with a solid wood frame in cherry. In use it needs a long clear space, but it stores upright in about the floor area of a standard dining chair, according to WaterRower.
WaterRower rates it for home or commercial use with a 318 kg user limit, the highest among its models we cover. Warranty is five years on the frame and three on parts, stated the same way in bullets and spec table. Four AA batteries are needed.
Performance or Oxbridge?
The WaterRower Oxbridge in cherry keeps the S4 monitor on the machine and links to the WaterRower Connect app, so you can row without a tablet. The Hydrow Wave builds a 16 inch screen into the rower but runs on its own membership and electromagnetic resistance. The Performance suits people who already have a tablet and a favourite class app and want real water under it.
Verdict
Choose the Original Performance if you train through apps such as Peloton or EXR and want a wooden water rower to pair with them. If you would rather have a dedicated monitor on the machine, the Oxbridge with S4 is simpler, and anyone wanting a screen and classes built in should consider the Hydrow Wave.
Compared with alternatives in: Best smart rowing machines with a screen or app, Best water rowing machines, WaterRower models compared: Oxbridge, Original, Performance and Hybrid
Amazon listing title: WaterRower Original Performance