Best Smart Home Gyms for 2024 – CNET [CNET]

The COVID-19 pandemic started a boom of at-home workouts and created a new market for the fitness industry to target. Soon smart home gyms were popping up everywhere. A smart home gym can include anything from a smart treadmill, a smart fitness mirror or a unit meant to replace multiple pieces of equipment.

Working out at home has plenty of perks. Smart fitness equipment can offer some of the same options as gyms and fitness studios, which is why some people are forgoing their gym memberships. The best part is that smart home gyms can be used by everyone — no matter whether you’re a beginner or an experienced exerciser. As someone who’s tested fitness equipment for years, I set out to find the very best smart home gyms to invest in.

What is the best overall smart home gym?

Our roundup includes the best pieces of equipment across various categories: mirrors, bikes, rowing machines, treadmills and the like. While these are not comparable and there is no winner, every product listed is the best in its category based on my expertise and rigorous testing.

Best Smart Home Gyms for 2024

popular strength training smart home gym that’s been advertised everywhere, with endorsements by athletes like Lebron James and Serena Williams. While the Tempo Studio is excellent for people beginning to strength train, the Tonal is our pick for those who are well-versed and want to take things up a notch. 

When we tested this smart home gym, we loved its sleek look and were impressed by the hardware.  It resembles a cable machine combined with a touchscreen TV and is intended to replace your dumbbells, barbells and weight plates while saving space in your home. It has 13 different sensors to track your form and technique, while the smart handles and bar accessories (an optional additional $495) have a gyroscope motion sensor that keeps track of your reps. Tonal uses up to 200 pounds of total resistance and calibrates your weights for different exercises based on your initial fitness assessment. Before you start a workout, Tonal can also tell which muscle groups are fatigued the day of your workout and make sure to work around it. For example, if Tonal knows you worked out your legs yesterday, it may suggest an upper body workout today so your legs can properly recover.     

Tonal offers thousands of on-demand and live workouts for beginners to advanced athletes. It even has five dynamic weight modes that make your workout harder: Spotter, Burnout, Chains, Eccentric and Smart Flex. These modes challenge your workouts the way a personal trainer would in person, either by acting as a spotter, increasing your weight, focusing on high reps or changing up the focus from the eccentric to concentric part of the move and even making you lift till failure. If you don’t want to take a class, you can use the Tonal on its own and customize your own workout while still receiving the same feedback you would in class. You can also connect your Amazon Music or Apple Music account and listen to your own music during your workout. Although it is the most expensive smart home gym on this list, it’s worth owning one if you’re experienced with strength training and want that extra challenge in the comfort of your home without needing to go to the gym.

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The Tonal is a smart home gym ideal for serious athletes.

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The Tonal is a smart home gym ideal for serious athletes.

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The Tonal is a smart home gym ideal for serious athletes.

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The Tonal is a popular strength training smart home gym that’s been advertised everywhere, with endorsements by athletes like Lebron James and Serena Williams. While the Tempo Studio is excellent for people beginning to strength train, the Tonal is our pick for those who are well-versed and want to take things up a notch. 

When we tested this smart home gym, we loved its sleek look and were impressed by the hardware.  It resembles a cable machine combined with a touchscreen TV and is intended to replace your dumbbells, barbells and weight plates while saving space in your home. It has 13 different sensors to track your form and technique, while the smart handles and bar accessories (an optional additional $495) have a gyroscope motion sensor that keeps track of your reps. Tonal uses up to 200 pounds of total resistance and calibrates your weights for different exercises based on your initial fitness assessment. Before you start a workout, Tonal can also tell which muscle groups are fatigued the day of your workout and make sure to work around it. For example, if Tonal knows you worked out your legs yesterday, it may suggest an upper body workout today so your legs can properly recover.     

Tonal offers thousands of on-demand and live workouts for beginners to advanced athletes. It even has five dynamic weight modes that make your workout harder: Spotter, Burnout, Chains, Eccentric and Smart Flex. These modes challenge your workouts the way a personal trainer would in person, either by acting as a spotter, increasing your weight, focusing on high reps or changing up the focus from the eccentric to concentric part of the move and even making you lift till failure. If you don’t want to take a class, you can use the Tonal on its own and customize your own workout while still receiving the same feedback you would in class. You can also connect your Amazon Music or Apple Music account and listen to your own music during your workout. Although it is the most expensive smart home gym on this list, it’s worth owning one if you’re experienced with strength training and want that extra challenge in the comfort of your home without needing to go to the gym.

smart rowing machine that teaches you how to row and corrects your form. Although the price tag is steep ($3,195), the Peloton Row stands by its promise that it will make you a better rower. This machine is large, so you will need to make sure that you have room for it in your home. The good thing about this is that it’s appropriate for people of all heights and has a weight capacity of 300 pounds. The Peloton Row 24-inch HD Touchscreen easily rotates for those times you want to work out on the floor while using your All-Access Peloton membership (an additional $44 a month). 

The Peloton Row provides a unique rowing experience that you won’t get with other rowing machines. This rowing machine has sensors that detect the position of the handle and seat. The sensors help when calibrating your rowing form, which is important when taking a class since it ties into the Form Assist feature. Form Assist provides real-time feedback on your form using the sensors from the calibration process. During class, an image of a digital person on a rowing machine shows up on the screen and moves in sync with you. If your form is off, Form Assist alerts you by highlighting a specific body part in red where the stroke needs correction. You’ll be able to see your form rating score at the end of class, which tells you how well you rowed as well as where you made errors and tips on how to correct it. When I tried the Peloton Row, it made me more aware of my rowing form and improved it thanks to Form Assist. 

If it’s in your budget and you’re serious about rowing, you can’t go wrong with purchasing a Peloton Row. 

” page-position linktext linkurl like=”~ Quiet ~ Form Assist teaches you how to row and improves form ~ Easy to operate if you’re familiar with Peloton programs ” dislike=”~ Expensive ~Large and may not fit all spaces” can-collapse=”true” can-truncate=”true” truncate-on-page-load=”true” offer techobjectinfo overridecredit=”Giselle Castro-Sloboda/CNET” overridecaption=”

The Peloton Row made smart rowing machines even smarter with its features.

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The Peloton Row made smart rowing machines even smarter with its features.

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The Peloton Row made smart rowing machines even smarter with its features.

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Last year Peloton unveiled the first smart rowing machine that teaches you how to row and corrects your form. Although the price tag is steep ($3,195), the Peloton Row stands by its promise that it will make you a better rower. This machine is large, so you will need to make sure that you have room for it in your home. The good thing about this is that it’s appropriate for people of all heights and has a weight capacity of 300 pounds. The Peloton Row 24-inch HD Touchscreen easily rotates for those times you want to work out on the floor while using your All-Access Peloton membership (an additional $44 a month). 

The Peloton Row provides a unique rowing experience that you won’t get with other rowing machines. This rowing machine has sensors that detect the position of the handle and seat. The sensors help when calibrating your rowing form, which is important when taking a class since it ties into the Form Assist feature. Form Assist provides real-time feedback on your form using the sensors from the calibration process. During class, an image of a digital person on a rowing machine shows up on the screen and moves in sync with you. If your form is off, Form Assist alerts you by highlighting a specific body part in red where the stroke needs correction. You’ll be able to see your form rating score at the end of class, which tells you how well you rowed as well as where you made errors and tips on how to correct it. When I tried the Peloton Row, it made me more aware of my rowing form and improved it thanks to Form Assist. 

If it’s in your budget and you’re serious about rowing, you can’t go wrong with purchasing a Peloton Row. 

Russell Holly tested various exercise bikes and named the Peloton Bike the most popular bike for a reason. The sleek signature look of the Peloton Bike is appealing because it looks like a sophisticated piece of equipment in the middle of your living room. It offers plenty of live and on-demand classes with its All-Access membership and lets you create up to 20 user profiles. 

The Peloton requires clip-on shoes, which normally cost extra unless you upgrade to a more expensive package. The Peloton community is also what keeps its name relevant as its members are supportive on and off the bike. Holly says, “Even if you’re not in one of the live classes, which run frequently through the Peloton app, your performance is shown in real time alongside others who’ve taken the class.” While in a live class, you may get an encouraging high five from another member through the leaderboard, and offline you can connect with your favorite instructors via social media. 

The Peloton Bike is ideal for those who want a classic smart exercise bike that provides an immersive group fitness experience.

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The Peloton Bike is the tried and true smart exercise bike.

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The Peloton Bike took the pandemic by storm and soon many people found the smart exercise bike in their living rooms. CNET’s Russell Holly tested various exercise bikes and named the Peloton Bike the most popular bike for a reason. The sleek signature look of the Peloton Bike is appealing because it looks like a sophisticated piece of equipment in the middle of your living room. It offers plenty of live and on-demand classes with its All-Access membership and lets you create up to 20 user profiles. 

The Peloton requires clip-on shoes, which normally cost extra unless you upgrade to a more expensive package. The Peloton community is also what keeps its name relevant as its members are supportive on and off the bike. Holly says, “Even if you’re not in one of the live classes, which run frequently through the Peloton app, your performance is shown in real time alongside others who’ve taken the class.” While in a live class, you may get an encouraging high five from another member through the leaderboard, and offline you can connect with your favorite instructors via social media. 

The Peloton Bike is ideal for those who want a classic smart exercise bike that provides an immersive group fitness experience.

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