NordicTrack RW300 vs RW900

These two NordicTracks look like a small step apart and are not. Both are silent magnetic rowers with pivoting pedals and 26 resistance levels. But the RW900 is built around a 24-inch pivoting touchscreen and a membership its own listing says is required, and the RW300 is built around a plain 5-inch LCD and a device shelf for your own tablet — which means one of them costs you $39 a month to use as advertised and the other does not.

The screen, and what it commits you to

The RW900’s 24-inch pivoting screen is the largest we cover, and it turns to face the floor for off-rower classes. It is a genuinely impressive panel. The catch is on NordicTrack’s own listing: an iFIT Pro membership at $39 a month is required to access the connected features, which is most of what the screen is for. Buy the RW900 and you are buying into a subscription, and the machine says so on its own box.

The RW300 takes the opposite approach. Its 5-inch LCD and 26 manual resistance levels are entirely self-contained — it rows, tracks and adjusts with no membership at all — and a device shelf lets you prop your own tablet for whatever you already subscribe to. iFIT is optional on this model, needed only for SmartAdjust and the class library.

Resistance and build

Both use silent magnetic resistance across 26 digital levels with pivoting pedals, so the stroke feel is essentially the same machine underneath. The RW900 is the heavier, taller installation — 145 lb and 52.7 inches tall with the screen up — while the RW300 is 108 lb. Neither NordicTrack publishes a user weight limit on its listing, which is a shared gap worth noting on machines at these prices.

Five-year cost: the honest gap

This is where the two models genuinely separate. The RW300’s five-year cost is essentially its purchase price. The RW900’s is its purchase price plus sixty months of iFIT — roughly $2,340 in membership alone at $39 a month — which on its own is more than most rowers on this site cost outright. The five-year cost page shows how much that changes the ranking. If you will genuinely use the class library, that money buys something; if you will not, it is pure waste attached to a screen.

Which to buy

For most people, the RW300 — it rows just as well, costs far less to own, and lets you bring your own screen and subscription instead of committing to one. Choose the RW900 only if you specifically want the big integrated touchscreen and you will use iFIT enough to justify $39 a month for five years. The full NordicTrack review covers both machines.