Product Description
This rowing machine from Kettler was introduced in 2013, so is a modern addition to the packed rowing machine market.
It comes with 8 levels of resistance, provided through a magnetic resistance system, has an ear clip included to keep track of your heart date, and has pivotable foot plates to reduce risk of injury.
Our Review
The Kettler Premium Magnetic Rower is a really good mid-range rowing machine, currently available from Amazon for £349.00 in the UK when this review went live. It has an attractive, modern design that will fit nicely in any home, and folds up to be stored away neatly.
We’ve been using this machine for about 6 months, pushing it 3-4 times a week for a good 40 minutes, and to date it’s showing no signs of wear and tear at all.
Build quality
To some people, £349 might sound like a lot of money for an exercise machine. However, for a rowing machine this is still a steal – and as such you still run the risk of a low quality build. Not with the Kettler Premium. This rower is very good quality, and you can tell it’s made from hard-wearing, well built components.
Resistance
After many months’ of use, and many months of increasing fitness on my part, it still has plenty of resistance, and it’ll be a while before I choose the top level (there are 8) as my usual resistance level. So unless you’re a serious competitive rower, this Kettler magnetic rower should offer you enough resistance to keep you happy for a long, long time.
As the Kettler Premium magnetic rowing machine only offers magnetic resistance, rather than the air resistance you’d get on a high end machine such as the Concept 2 rowing machine, it doesn’t offer the smoothest of movements, and has a little bit of a jerky feel at times. However, unless you’re a seasoned rower, I don’t think it’s bad enough for it to be an off-putting factor, especially considering this rowing machine is still a fraction of the price of professional-level rowers.
Plus, as it’s magnetic, it’s very quiet.
Performance monitor
The on-board performance monitor / computer is a bit on the basic side, and is let down by the lack of backlight. Fine if you’re in a well lit room, but not ideal at all for an evening exercise with dimmed lights.
As with many low to mid-range rowers,it doesn’t give you the ability to programme your own workouts, so you’re a bit limited if you want to measure your progress over time. However, it offers all of the usual reports, such as distance, time/500m, time, calories and so on. You can plug in a heart rate monitor if you want to measure your pulse as well.
Watch out with the performance monitor, double check yours is compatible
So, overall, the on-board computer on the Kettler isn’t great if you’re wanting an advanced performance monitor and want a completely custom workout, but it does the job perfectly fine for people who just want to jump on and row whilst getting some basic statistics. And if you’re looking for a mid-range £350 magnetic rowing machine, that probably suits you just fine anyway.
Overall
The Kettler Premium Magnetic Rower is a sturdy and well built rower from Kettler. Its 8 levels of resistance should be absolutely plenty for all but the most seasoned of rowers, and I’m nowhere near using level 8 as my regular workout level even half a year into using the machine. It has a very strong, sturdy build, and its long length means that even if you’re approaching 6ft 5, you can still use it without a problem.
It’s let down ever so slightly by its on-board computer, but that’s a recurring issue with low- to medium-range rowers, and nothing is really going to compare to the kind of reporting you can get with the high end models like the Concept 2. But that’s probably just fine if you’re considering this level of rowing machine.
So overall, if you’re a beginner, or a seasoned amateur, this is a great model, with an attractive design as an added advantage. It remains vastly affordable, so offers an ideal combination of price, build quality and good resistance.
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