MERACH - Wooden Water Rowing Machine, FSC-Certified Oak, 350 lbs Capacity, 15L Water Tank, Foldable Design, Bluetooth - Wood

Pros: It works. Short list of pros but this is the obviously the most important thing. A water resistance rower you can get a nice rowing workout on at ~20% the cost of most recommended rowers. Cons: My model does not look like the oak one pictured, despite that being what I ordered. The wood feels solid but aesthetically it is not remotely the same as the light oak color in the pictures, which is unfortunate because I think that lighter wood looks great and it's part of why I ordered this one. The resistance is a little low. It's water so the harder you row the more resistance you feel, but the baseline/weight feels low even at max fill and on a hard drive. This is mostly noticeable in the start of the stroke where it feels too easy on the legs. Not a huge deal as you can always row a little harder for a little longer, but worth noting. No water tablets included. Again, very minor as these are only a few bucks, but annoying because it means you don't have the same confidence that the tablets are material-safe for this tank and seal. For the record I believe you want sodium troclosene. Foot plates are too close together. This is true for all water resistance rowers and I have no idea why. Still a little less than ideal. The foot plates came with little achilles cushions which are unfortunately useless. A bit of foam would have gone a long way and been a nice touch, no one is buying these to put them in gyms these are purely for residential use so I wish they had been designed to be usable in socks. I've ended up just keeping clean shoes indoors just for wearing while rowing. The data is pretty much useless. Unless you're getting a concept2 your metrics are only for self-referential use anyways so it's hard to really fault anything cheaper than those. Still, not sure what a better monitor or sensor would have added to the cost. A very minor con both because this is a fifth the cost of a concept2 and because I just row to time. Neutrals: Setup was pretty easy. Fit and finish is not bad, not the cleanest but good for so much wood on such an affordable rower. Most people seem to really love this seat, for me I feel like I slip slightly into a less than ideal position on it. This is probably a me thing and not relevant to most people (yes I made sure it's on the right way). This had no reviews so I figured I'd leave my thoughts here. For a pretty decent looking, if completely different shade from the pictures, and super cheap water resistance rower this is a solid choice. Would have been 4 stars on the basis of exercise to cost if it matched the shade in the photos, or even just noted that the wood you get might vary significantly in appearance.