Row & Recover

Published screen size

Best Rowing Machines With a Screen

Six machines ranked on the one screen figure every maker publishes - the diagonal - and on the thing most buyers find out later: whether the screen is yours or rented at $34 to $50 a month.

By Stephen V.An enthusiast who reads the manuals and does the math. Not a coach, not a lab.Last verified July 24, 2026.

We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no cost to you. It has no effect on what we recommend or the order we recommend it in — we say “skip this one” on machines that pay us the same as the ones we like. How we’re funded.

The pick is the Echelon Row-S. Echelon publishes a 22-inch rotating HD touchscreen on it, and the machine price sits roughly a third below the comparable Hydrow — the most published screen per dollar of any connected rower we track. It suits someone who has decided they want a big screen and a class library and wants to pay for it monthly rather than up front. The budget pick is the YOSUDA PRO Magnetic Rower, whose LCD has nine readouts, pivots through 180 degrees and carries a holder for tablets up to 9.25 inches — a screen you own, plus a mount for the one in your pocket, at a fraction of anything else here. Prices as of November 12, 2026.

Before the rankings, the distinction this whole page turns on. A rowing machine screen is one of two completely different products. Either it is a display that shows you your own numbers and belongs to you, or it is a window into a class library that stops being useful the month you stop paying. Four of the six machines below are the second kind, and the fee is published: $39.99 a month for Echelon Premier, $39 a month for iFIT Pro on the NordicTrack RW900 (NordicTrack states on its own listing that it is required), $34 a month for Aviron (or $29 billed annually at $348 a year), and $50 a month for Hydrow.

The second thing worth knowing is what makers do not publish about these screens. Not one of them publishes a resolution, a brightness figure or a refresh rate. Every listing gives you the diagonal in inches and the word HD, and that is all, so the diagonal is the only figure this page can rank on. Where a spec is missing below it says so. Best connected rowing machines ranks the same machines on the membership rather than the panel.

The short answer

Quick picks

Ranked on published specification, buyer fit and what each machine costs to keep over five years. Select a row to jump to the full write-up. We have not rowed on these machines — here is exactly what we do instead.

#MachineBest forPrice
1
Echelon Row-S

Echelon Row-S

A 22-inch rotating screen and handlebar resistance controls at a machine price well under Hydrow's — with $39.99/month attached that closes most of the gap over five years.

Best big screen for the money
$474.47 · Check price on Amazon

$799.0041% off

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

2
NordicTrack RW900

NordicTrack RW900

A 24-inch pivoting screen on a silent magnetic rower — and a listing that states plainly that a $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required to use it as advertised.

Largest published screen
$1,999.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

3
Aviron Strong Series

Aviron Strong Series

Dual air and magnetic resistance up to 100 lb, a 22-inch screen, and the cheapest membership of any connected rower here at $34/month.

Cheapest fee behind a 22-inch screen
$1,998.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

4
Hydrow Wave

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Narrowest frame with a screen
$1,895.00 · Check price on Amazon

$1,995.005% off

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

5
NordicTrack RW300

NordicTrack RW300

The NordicTrack that does not need a subscription to be a rowing machine — a plain 5-inch LCD, 26 manual resistance levels and a device shelf for your own tablet.

Best screen with no membership
6
YOSUDA PRO Magnetic Rower

YOSUDA PRO Magnetic Rower

The top of YOSUDA's magnetic line: 400 lb capacity, a 16 lb flywheel and an aluminum rail YOSUDA describes as a 53-inch inseam fit, for roughly a third of a connected rower.

Budget pick: cheapest screen you own
$329.99 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

In detail

Every pick, and what is wrong with it

Each machine below gets the same four things: what it does well, what it does not, the five-year cost of owning it, and the case for buying something else instead.

Echelon Row-S rowing machine

1. Best big screen for the money

Echelon Row-S

A 22-inch rotating screen and handlebar resistance controls at a machine price well under Hydrow's — with $39.99/month attached that closes most of the gap over five years.

Five years of ownership: $2,874 — $474 for the machine and $2,399 in subscription, so 83% of what you spend is the membership. See the full table

Floor space: about 8.1 ft by 3.7 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 30 sq ft.

What is good

  • Resistance controls sit on the handlebar, so you change load mid-stroke instead of reaching
  • 22-inch rotating HD screen at a hardware price roughly a third below the comparable Hydrow
  • Folds for storage at 20.5 inches wide

What is not

  • $39.99/month Premier is what makes the screen useful; five years of it is roughly $2,400
  • 120 lb machine weight
  • Echelon does not publish a user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you want to own your workout data long-term — everything here lives behind a subscription that can change price.

$474.47 · Check price on Amazon

$799.0041% off

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

NordicTrack RW900 rowing machine

2. Largest published screen

NordicTrack RW900

A 24-inch pivoting screen on a silent magnetic rower — and a listing that states plainly that a $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required to use it as advertised.

Five years of ownership: $4,339 — $1,999 for the machine and $2,340 in subscription, so 54% of what you spend is the membership. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.7 ft by 3.8 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 29 sq ft.

What is good

  • 24-inch pivoting touchscreen, the largest here, and it turns to face the floor for off-rower classes
  • 26 digital resistance levels with SmartAdjust changing them mid-workout
  • Silent magnetic resistance — a genuinely different noise profile from air

What is not

  • NordicTrack states the $39/month membership is required for the connected features, which is most of what you are buying
  • 145 lb, and 52.7 inches tall with the screen up
  • NordicTrack does not publish a user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you resent recurring fees. This machine is designed around one and says so on its own box.

$1,999.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

Aviron Strong Series rowing machine

3. Cheapest fee behind a 22-inch screen

Aviron Strong Series

Dual air and magnetic resistance up to 100 lb, a 22-inch screen, and the cheapest membership of any connected rower here at $34/month.

Five years of ownership: $4,038 — $1,998 for the machine and $2,040 in subscription, so 51% of what you spend is the membership. See the full table

Floor space: about 8.0 ft by 4.3 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 34 sq ft.

What is good

  • Up to 100 lb of resistance from a combined air and magnetic system — far beyond what a pure magnetic budget rower reaches
  • $34/month, or about $29 on an annual plan, is the lowest recurring cost among the screen rowers
  • One membership covers unlimited household profiles

What is not

  • 27 inches wide is the widest machine on this page
  • 114 lb and 84 inches long, so upright storage is essential rather than optional
  • 1-year standard warranty

Skip this one if: Skip it if you row in a corridor or a narrow spare room — 27 inches plus elbow room is a real constraint.

$1,998.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

Hydrow Wave rowing machine

4. Narrowest frame with a screen

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Five years of ownership: $4,895 — $1,895 for the machine and $3,000 in subscription, so 61% of what you spend is the membership. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.7 ft by 3.6 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 27 sq ft.

What is good

  • 19 inches wide and 80 long — it genuinely fits rooms that a Concept2 does not
  • Electromagnetic resistance is near-silent compared with any air rower
  • Stores upright, which is the difference between owning one in a flat and not

What is not

  • The membership is the product. At $50/month it adds $3,000 over five years — more than most rowers on this page cost outright
  • 1-year manufacturer warranty against Concept2's five on the frame
  • Hydrow does not publish a user weight limit for the Wave on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you will not use classes. Without the membership you are left with a heavy magnetic rower and a dark screen.

$1,895.00 · Check price on Amazon

$1,995.005% off

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

NordicTrack RW300 rowing machine

5. Best screen with no membership

NordicTrack RW300

The NordicTrack that does not need a subscription to be a rowing machine — a plain 5-inch LCD, 26 manual resistance levels and a device shelf for your own tablet.

Floor space: about 7.8 ft by 4.1 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 32 sq ft.

What is good

  • Rows perfectly well with no membership at all — the LCD and the 26 levels are self-contained
  • Device shelf means you supply the screen, so the recurring cost is whatever you already pay for
  • Silent magnetic resistance with pivoting pedals

What is not

  • A 5-inch LCD after you have seen the RW900's 24-inch panel is a plain thing
  • SmartAdjust and the AI coaching still sit behind a membership
  • No published user weight limit on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you actually want the class library — you will end up paying the membership anyway and wishing you had the screen.

YOSUDA PRO Magnetic Rower rowing machine

6. Budget pick: cheapest screen you own

YOSUDA PRO Magnetic Rower

The top of YOSUDA's magnetic line: 400 lb capacity, a 16 lb flywheel and an aluminum rail YOSUDA describes as a 53-inch inseam fit, for roughly a third of a connected rower.

Five years of ownership: $330 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.0 ft by 3.7 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 26 sq ft.

What is good

  • 400 lb published capacity, which is 50 lb more than most budget magnetic rowers and not published at all on YOSUDA's cheaper models
  • 16 magnetic levels on a 16 lb flywheel, on an aluminum rail rather than painted steel
  • Arrives 90% pre-assembled; YOSUDA publishes a 20-minute setup and a 1-year replacement-parts guarantee

What is not

  • YOSUDA publishes a 53-inch inseam fit for this listing but no maximum user height, so the fit check is indirect
  • 72.45 inches long and 20 inches wide in use - noticeably bigger than the 57.9-inch YOSUDA most people find first
  • Sold alongside a dimensionally identical YOSUDA listing (RM-187) at the same price, which makes the lineup harder to read, not easier

Skip this one if: Skip it if nobody in the house is over about six feet or 300 lb - the cheaper 57.9-inch YOSUDA rows the same way in two feet less floor.

$329.99 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of November 12, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

How to choose

What actually decides this

Every published screen, and what it costs per month

Here is the one table a shopper actually needs. The screen column is each maker’s own published wording for the display; nothing in it is converted or estimated.

Published monitor or screen, whether the machine needs mains power, overall width and machine weight for every pick on this page
MachinePublished screenNeeds mains powerWidth in useMachine weight
Echelon Row-S22" rotating HD touchscreenYes20 in120 lb
NordicTrack RW90024" pivoting HD touchscreenYes22 in145 lb
Aviron Strong Series22" HD touchscreenYes27 in114 lb
Hydrow Wave16" HD touchscreenYes19 in102 lb
NordicTrack RW3005" LCD + device shelfYes25 in108 lb
YOSUDA PRO Magnetic RowerLCD with 9 data readouts, 180-degree adjustable screen, holder for tablets to 9.25 inNo20.08 in59.53 lb

The range is 5 inches to 24, and the jump in machine price between them is far smaller than the jump in five-year cost. The NordicTrack RW900 publishes the largest panel on the site at 24 inches, pivoting so it can face the floor for off-rower classes. The Echelon publishes 22 inches that rotate. Aviron publishes 22 inches with the cheapest fee of the four. Hydrow publishes 16 inches on the Wave — the smallest of the connected screens, on the narrowest frame here at 19 inches wide, which is genuinely why some people buy it.

Then there are the two machines at the bottom of the table, which are the interesting ones. The NordicTrack RW300 publishes a plain 5-inch LCD, 26 manual resistance levels and a device shelf for your own tablet, and iFIT is optional on it rather than required. The YOSUDA PRO publishes an LCD with nine readouts on a 180-degree adjustable mount plus a tablet holder. Both give you a screen with no fee attached, and both let the screen you already own do the class-library work.

The five-year arithmetic, because it decides this

A 24-inch screen costs more than a 5-inch screen. That is not the expensive part.

At the published monthly rates, five years of membership comes to roughly $3,000 for Hydrow at $50, about $2,400 for Echelon at $39.99, around $2,340 for iFIT at $39, and about $1,740 for Aviron on the annual plan at $29 effective. Every one of those figures is larger than the hardware price of several excellent rowing machines, and three of the four are larger than the machine they are attached to will cost you. Every rowing subscription compared has each brand’s own published pricing with the date we read it, and the five-year cost of every machine does the arithmetic machine by machine.

This is not an argument against paying. Some people demonstrably row more when someone on a screen is telling them to, and a membership that gets you on the machine four times a week is worth more than a cheaper machine gathering dust. It is an argument for knowing the number before you sign, and for noticing that the same brand often sells a screenless version of the same frame — the RW300 against the RW900 is exactly that choice inside one product line.

What happens to the screen if you stop paying

Worth checking per brand rather than assuming, because the answers differ and the brands state them differently.

  • Hydrow. The membership is the product. Hydrow’s own pricing page prices it at $50 a month; without it you keep a heavy magnetic rower and a dark screen. That is why our review calls the hardware the cheaper half of the purchase.
  • NordicTrack RW900. NordicTrack’s own listing states the $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required to access all iFIT content and connected features. The RW300, by contrast, has a standalone LCD and 26 manual levels and rows without one.
  • Echelon. Premier is priced at $39.99 monthly on Echelon’s own store. The 22-inch panel is what the machine is built around, so the same caution applies.
  • Aviron. Aviron publishes $34 month-to-month and $29 a month billed annually at $348 a year, with one membership covering unlimited household profiles — the cheapest of the four and the only one that spreads across a family. Aviron also sells a screenless model where your own iPad does the display work.

If the honest answer is that you want the data and not the classes, the machine to look at is not on this page at all: the Concept2 PM5 records everything on its own and ErgData is free, which is why best rowing machines with no subscription exists as a separate list, and best rowing machines with games covers the case where the screen is for entertainment rather than instruction.

Where we would spend it

Biggest panel regardless of fee: the NordicTrack RW900 at 24 inches. Best panel per dollar of hardware: the Echelon Row-S at 22. Cheapest ongoing cost behind a big screen, especially for a household: the Aviron Strong Series at $29 a month on the annual plan. Smallest room: the Hydrow Wave, 19 inches wide. A screen with no fee and a shelf for your tablet: the NordicTrack RW300. And the cheapest way to get a usable, adjustable screen you own outright, on a rower with a published 400 lb capacity: the YOSUDA PRO.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

What is the best rowing machine with a screen?

The Echelon Row-S, on published screen size against machine price: Echelon publishes a 22-inch rotating HD touchscreen and the machine costs roughly a third less than the comparable Hydrow. The NordicTrack RW900 publishes the largest screen we have found at 24 inches. If you want a screen with no monthly fee attached, the NordicTrack RW300 publishes a 5-inch LCD with a device shelf and the YOSUDA PRO publishes a 180-degree adjustable LCD with a tablet holder.

What size screen do rowing machines have?

Among the machines we track, published diagonals run from 5 inches to 24. NordicTrack publishes 24 inches on the RW900 and 5 on the RW300; Echelon, Aviron and Hydrow's Origin all publish 22; Hydrow's Wave publishes 16. Note what no maker publishes: not one gives a resolution, a brightness figure or a refresh rate, so the diagonal plus the word HD is the entire specification you are given.

Do rowing machine screens need a subscription?

The big ones effectively do. NordicTrack states on its own RW900 listing that a $39/month iFIT Pro membership is required for the connected features; Echelon prices Premier at $39.99 a month; Hydrow's own pricing is $50 a month; Aviron publishes $34 monthly or $29 on an annual plan billed at $348. The two machines on this page with no fee are the NordicTrack RW300, where iFIT is optional, and the YOSUDA PRO, whose LCD is simply a display.

Can I use my own tablet instead of a built-in screen?

Yes, and on two machines here that is the designed approach. The YOSUDA PRO publishes a holder for tablets up to 9.25 inches, and the NordicTrack RW300 publishes a device shelf alongside its own 5-inch LCD. Aviron also sells a screenless model built around your own iPad. The practical limit is that your tablet will not control the machine's resistance unless the machine supports it, so you get the classes and keep the manual knob.

Is a rowing machine screen worth it?

It is worth it if it changes how often you row, and it is an expensive mistake if it does not. At the published rates, five years of membership runs from roughly $1,740 on Aviron's annual plan to about $3,000 on Hydrow - more than the hardware price of several very good rowing machines. The honest test is whether you have previously stuck with a subscription workout. If the answer is no, buy the screen you own.

Which rowing machine screen is best for a small room?

The Hydrow Wave, on published width. It has the smallest connected screen here at 16 inches but the narrowest frame at 19 inches wide and 80 long, and it stores upright. For a genuinely tight room the YOSUDA PRO is narrower still in practice and folds for upright storage, with the tablet you already own doing the screen work.

The honest part

What we did not do

We have not rowed on these machines. We do not own them, there is no test lab here, and nobody writing this holds a coaching certification. Every ranking on this page is an argument from published specification and buyer fit, not from a stopwatch.

What we did do is read each manufacturer’s own published figures, record the ones they decline to publish, compute the floor space and the five-year cost, and date all of it. The full method is here so you can check our working or disagree with it.

Show your working

Sources

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