Everything You Should Know About NordicTrack’s New RW600 Rower [A Review]

At roughly half the price of an Ergatta or Hydrow, NordicTrack’s New RW600 offers a significantly more affordable streaming rower experience.

Now to be fair, it’s half the price for good reason, but I still think the fact that you can get a rower with a 7″ HD touchscreen console for $1k is a pretty good deal these days.

And looking past the console, the New RW600 scores pretty highly in terms of performance too.

The New RW600 comes with 26 levels of smooth acting magnetic resistance to work with and a sleek frame that’l look great in any room.

And NordicTrack even backs it with a legit warranty, which is always nice to see.

All things considered, the RW600 isn’t the heaviest-duty rower on the market, but it’s easily one of the best streaming rowers $1k will get ya.

But before you decide, check out the rest of my review – in this article, I’ll be going over everything you need to know about this rowing machine, including specs, features, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

I’ll also compare it to some of the other rowers in this price range to see how it stacks up.

After reading, you’ll know whether or not the RW600 is worth investing in.

NordicTrack’s New RW600 is a sleek rower that offers affordable access to all the streaming features iFit has to offer, but with only a 250 lb weight limit, larger folks will have to consider other options.

NordicTrack’s New RW600 Rower

Streaming workouts seem to be everywhere now (I’m patiently waiting for a toaster with a touchscreen so I can get a quick workout in while making my toast in the morning), but in the early days, it was only found on indoor cycles.

I’m pretty sure we have Peloton to thank/hate for the streaming revolution that seems to have taken over home fitness…

But regardless, now there are all kinds of home fitness machines with streaming capabilities, including rowers.

The Hydrow was the first streaming rower I remember seeing, but there are several too choose from these days and they’re becoming more affordable all the time.

Anyway, the New RW600 we’re here to discuss now is an updated version of an older NordicTrack rower of the same model number.

And unlike some of NordicTrack’s updated versions, the New RW600 is quite different than the classic model (different resistance system, different frame, different console, etc.)

The older RW600 may still be available online, so just double check to see which edition you’re looking at if you’re not purchasing through NordicTrack directly.

Anyway, the New RW600 usually sells for roughly $1k, making it affordable for a streaming rower.

Pros

• Smooth, quiet magnetic resistance system
• 26 magnetic resistance levels
• 7″ HD touchscreen console
• Sleek frame
• iFit ready
• Automatic Trainer Control (iFit)
• Unlimited workouts on/off of rower (iFit)
• Metric tracking (iFit)
• Quick touch resistance buttons
• Easy assembly
• Fairly priced
• Great warranty

Cons

• Weight limit only 250 lb
• Doens’t fold

Resistance

I stress the important of examining the performance specs for any home fitness machine and when it comes to rowers, one of the most important is the type of resistance it uses.

There are several types of rowing machines you can get now and classifying them by the type of resistance they use is the easiest way to organize ’em.

I’m not going to go into the pros and cons of each type of resistance here, but if you’re interested in more info, check out my full rowing machine guide.

Instead, I’ll cut right to the chase – the New RW600 uses a magnetic system.

With a magnetic system, you get very quiet operation and constant resistance regardless of how fast you pull.

You set your resistance level (in the case of the RW600, it comes with 26 levels to work with) and off you go – anytime you want more resistance, you have to change your level manually.

This doesn’t provide the most life-like rowing experience because rowing a boat on real water doesn’t work this way, but it does have its advantages.

Like the ability to row as fast or slow as you like without having to worry about the resistance changing.

If you like the idea of doing some strength training with your rower, you’ll appreciate this because you can row slower against heavier resistances (something that isn’t really doable on water and air rowers).

Magnetic rowers are also exceptionally quiet, so you’ll be able to use the RW600 without disrupting sleeping family members.

Now it would be nice if you could adjust the resistance directly from the handles, but reaching to touch the console isn’t a huge distraction to your workouts either.

Overall, the New RW600 scores highly with its smooth-acting magnetic resistance system.

Frame

The RW600 comes with a sleek frame and the single piece rail certainly adds to the aesthetics of the overall design.

But this design does mean that the RW600 can’t fold for storage.

Luckily, this isn’t a big deal because it can still be stored vertically.

When looking at rowers, or any other fitness equipment for that matter, I like to get an idea as to how robust or ‘heavy-duty’ the machine is as well.

You know, mostly because I don’t like the idea of buying a machine that’s going to feel flimsy and wiggle every time I get on/off it.

When looking at new equipment, I always look for the assembled weight.

The assembled weight tells you exactly how heavy the rower is and heavier rowers are usually going to feel more secure than lighter ones.

And by the same rationale, rowers with a higher weight limit are also more likely to be better built and feel more secure during use.

Of course, there are always exceptions – Concept2’s highly popular RowErg only weighs around 70 lb and feels rock solid…

Anyway, with this in mind, the New RW600 comes with an in box weight of 129 lb.

Now the ‘in box weight’ includes the box and any packaging, so we have to subtract a little something to get an idea of what the rower itself weighs.

And I don’t know exactly how much the packaging weighs, but if we subtract a conservative 30 lb, that puts the true weight of this rower somewhere around 100 lb.

Which isn’t bad for a rower in this price range.

Sole’s SR550, for example, weighs in at 106 lb, and Sole creates some of the heaviest-duty equipment out there.

What’s a little more disappointing though is that the RW600 only comes with a weight limit of 250 lb.

So larger folks will have to go with a heavier-duty model.

Most higher-quality rowers come with weight limits in the 300 lb+ range, so this is low for a rower of this caliber (surprisingly, the RW900 also comes with a 250 lb weight limit).

But if you fall under that weight limit, you’ll be just fine.

Overall, I like that the design of the RW600 and it’s nice that it can be stored vertically, but its weight limit is a bit low.

Features

The NordicTrack RW600 Rowing Machine comes with the following features:

7″ HD console- it’s hard to miss the touchscreen console mounted in front and even though this is small by NordicTrack’s standards, it’s still bigger than the consoles most other rowers in this price range are offering. And it’s still big enough to see all the streaming workouts while rowing.

iFit- that touchscreen console is there for a reason – streaming workouts through iFit. iFit is NordicTrack’s streaming platform and through it, you get access to unlimited instructor-led workouts, scenic routes, metric tracking, and all that stuff. iFit is optional, but you kinda need it to take advantage of all the good stuff this rower has to offer. NordicTrack includes a free 30 day trial, but after that iFit will cost ya $39/month.

Bluetooth- the console is bluetooth compatible with headphones so you can listen to your workouts without bothering nearby family members.

Automatic Trainer Control- oh, this is another feature available through iFit and it’s a cool one. This feature allows the rower to automatically adjust its resistance to match what the instructors are telling you to do. Most users enjoy it, but you can always make adjustments manually too.

Molded seat- the seat is contoured for a more comfortable feel during workouts.

Pivoting pedals- the pedals move a little with your ankles, making for a more natural movement for your feet as you row. Each pedal also comes with an easily adjustable strap to keep your feet secure.

Quick touch buttons- you can instantly set the resistance to preset levels with the quick touch buttons on the console.

Assembly

NordicTrack did a great job making their New RW600 easy to assemble.

The main frame itself comes entirely pre-assembled, so you don’t have to worry about messing with the rail or main frame.

Assembly basically involves attaching the stabilizer feet, connecting the foot pedals, hooking up the console, and attaching a few covers.

You also have to slide the seat on the rail and connect the stopper, but that’s about it.

As always, you have to make sure not to pinch any console cables while connecting the console and putting on the covers, but that shouldn’t be too challenging.

The assembly manual is also easy to follow and there are walkthrough videos as well if you need more assistance.

Overall, this rower should be easy to assemble.

Warranty

NordicTrack backs their RW600 with the following home warranty:

• 10 year frame
• 2 year parts
• 1 year labor

You know, NordicTrack offers this warranty on most of their products and while I find it a bit short for a $3k treadmill, I think it’s quite generous in this case.

10 years on the frame is great considering most other brands only offer 5 years (including Hydrow and Ergatta) and 2 years on parts beats out the 1 year Hydrow and Echelon offer too.

Sole still offers a lifetime frame warranty on their rower, but most do not.

A year on labor is what pretty much everyone offers, so nothing too crazy going on there.

Overall, I think this is a great warranty for any rowing machine, but especially one in this price range.

NordicTrack’s New RW600 vs The Competition

	New RW600	Echelon Row	ProForm Pro R10
Resistance	26 magnetic levels	32 magnetic levels	24 magnetic levels
Weight limit	250 lb	300 lb	250 lb
Console	7″ HD touchscreen	Your pad	10″ HD touchscreen
Warranty	10 year frame 2 year parts 1 year labor	10 year frame 1 year parts	5 year frame 1 year parts 1 year labor
Price	~$1000	~$1000	3 year iFit membership ~$1400

There are a ton of traditional rowers in the $1k price range, but there aren’t that many streaming rowers.

And since the RW600 is a streaming rower, I think it makes sense to compare it to others of the same variety.

Regardless, I was able to come up with a couple of comps to compare the RW600 to.

The Row is another magnetic rower and it comes with 32 levels to work with. In terms of heavy-dutiness (I know, not a real word), it’s similar to the RW600, although it does come with a higher weigh limit.

The Row does fold for easy storage, but you have to use your own phone/tablet as the console to access all Echelon’s workouts and metrics.

And Echelon only offers a 1 year parts warranty on their equipment, which isn’t great.

The Pro R10 comes with 24 magnetic resistance levels, a 10″ HD touchscreen, and is also a folding rower.

It comes with the same 250 lb weight limit as the RW600, but its warranty isn’t quite as generous.

Getting it at no added cost with a 3 year iFit membership is still a pretty good deal though.

NordicTrack’s New RW600 vs RW700 vs RW900

	New RW600	New RW700	New RW900
Resistance	26 magnetic levels	26 magnetic levels	26 magnetic levels
Weight limit	250 lb	250 lb	250 lb
Console	7″ HD touchscreen	10″ HD touchscreen	22″ HD touchscreen
Warranty	10 year frame 2 year parts 1 year labor	10 year frame 2 year parts 1 year labor	10 year frame 2 year parts 1 year labor
Price	~$1000	~$1500	~$2000

Before we wrap things up here, I want to briefly mention NordicTrack’s other rowers, the New RW700 and New RW900.

In terms of performance, all of these rowers are pretty identical.

They all use magnetic systems and they all come with the same 26 levels to work with.

They all look the same too, utilizing the same frame design and they can all be stored vertically when not in use.

They all come with the same weight limits and warranties as well.

The only real difference between these rowers is the size of the consoles.

The 22″ screen on the RW900 is obviously awesome, but it’s nice that NordicTrack offers folks more affordable options too.

Especially in the case of the RW600.

Again, if you’re choosing the RW600, don’t feel like you’re missing out in terms of performance – the only difference here is the screen size.

Final Thoughts

Ok, that’s about all I got when it comes to the New RW600.

And when you put it all together, there’s a lot to like here.

This is an attractive rower and I like that it comes with so many resistance levels to work with.

The HD touchscreen console is likely the show stopper here, but NordicTrack’s warranty on this rower is equally impressive.

It would be nice to see a higher weight capacity, but smaller users shouldn’t have any issues with the RW600.

Based on the specs and features, I’d argue that this rower is priced fairly, especially considering there aren’t many streaming rowers in this price range.

Speaking of the comps, I think the above shows that the RW600 can easily hang with any streaming rower in this price range.

All things considered, I think the RW600 is easily the best streaming rowing machine $1k will get ya.