Winfita Rowing Machines for Home,Quiet Resistance Magnetic Rower Machine with 32 Levels,350lb Weight Capacity,Compact Dual Slide Rail,LED Monitor & Comfortable Seat,App Supported&Tablet Holder

Why it's worth it

The Winfita is a magnetic rower that costs a fraction of the others here, weighs under 40 pounds, and makes essentially no noise. It's the right first machine for building a habit, and the wrong one if you already row seriously.

Magnetic resistance means silence, and silence means you'll actually use it. There's no flywheel and no air, so the only sound is the seat rolling on the rail. You can row at 5 a.m. in a building with paper-thin floors. One owner bought it specifically because they lived in an apartment and needed something small and quiet, and that's exactly the brief it fills.

It arrives nearly assembled and takes about twenty minutes to finish, and it stores vertically in under four square feet. At 36 pounds you can move it yourself without a second person or a plan. For a spare bedroom, a corner of an office or a closet, that's the practical difference between a machine you use and a machine you resent.

From our review of 5 compact rowing machines, by Eleanor Vance, Health & Beauty Editor

What we like

• +Magnetic resistance means silence, and silence means you'll actually use it
• +It arrives nearly assembled and takes about twenty minutes to finish, and it stores vertically in under four square feet
• +The dual-rail design is the one spec that separates it from the wobbly end of the budget category — two rails rather than one,…
• +Someone finishing cardiac rehab picked this after comparing options and stayed happy with it, which tells you the ceiling isn't…

What to know

• –The resistance tops out where a fitter rower stops being challenged
• –The monitor tracks time, count and calories — no pace, no watts, nothing you can compare against a real benchmark
• –Assembly instructions come in for criticism even from owners who like the machine