SmartRow Reviews

SmartRow requires each user to buy into Ergometer Innovations’ Bluetooth-enabled pulley for the WaterRower. On the face of it, there are a number of advantages with this upgrade kit and the associated software. It promises improved stat accuracy over the stock S4 monitor and durability of construction with its aluminum casing.

If I were to judge SmartRow alone, I would be rating this four stars with only minor nitpicks. The software developers have been quick to respond to user requests and advance the capabilities of the software. In the last year they have added challenging workouts, races, and other features to improve iOS integration. It’s all good on the software side.

Unfortunately, the weak link remains the hardware itself. I bought a rev. B pulley for my home machine and the Bluetooth pairing mechanism eventually developed a fault and would no longer connect to my iPhone or the this app app (no LED lights). The online FAQ is not very detailed when it comes to resolving this issue, so mine is either a corner case or just plain bad luck. Anyway, once the pulley goes, the software is no longer useful since you cannot use it with any other system. WaterRower states that these electronic add-ons have a limited 1 year warranty, so buyer beware.

SmartRow is better since the recent update. BUT I wish you could make distance workouts and also when you set the screen for distance row (not a workout) I wish it went by 50’s. My coach likes to do a lot of 150m or 250m sprints and I have to set it higher and then just stop at the right distance.

SmartRow is great. I wish it integrated better with Garmin and TrainingPeaks (it exports to Strava and you can import from there and as I understand they are working on a data portal to manually pull your data), regardless SmartRow and the analysis it provides is pretty great. Its interesting that like swimming - a long, powerful smooth stroke goes a lot longer than high SPMs (not a rower so wasn’t obvious to me). There are certainly glitches here and there but I have to say that customer support is amazing.

For a $275 Waterrower add-on I would expect SmartRow to be a 5++ star. The features are fine enough in the since that it tracks most functions of rowing. While it connects to Strava it doesn’t have any “community” aspects to it to showcase and compare your rowing with others on SmartRow . A large draw of C2, Peloton, etc. is being able to compete against previous workouts, others doing the same workout, and having loaded workouts to follow beyond time or distance. I would expect integration with the rest of the this app community to vastly improve soon!

Assembly wasn’t too bad and the instructions were easy to follow. Both the physical device and SmartRow seem high quality. Hope more features get added to SmartRow like workouts, games, and maybe more flexibility with what displays on the screen as you work out. Even without that this is WAY better than the computer that comes on the Water Rower.

SmartRow functions for what it was intended for (recording data off of the smart row pulley).

One ask for the developer, for intervals can you goes incorporate a lap functionality? So I can see what my effort was on interval 1…then 5. I know I could look at the graph and see, but it would be much easier for us.

I bought the S4 Bluetooth conversion module and I already had the this app installed.

My preference is for the this app. It provides more information, history and is easier to use although it is much harder to install... but once installation is done it is easier to use and offers a richer experience.

My only regret is I bought the Bluetooth S4 module

Lowering star rating until distance intervals are added. Want to be able to conduct basic workouts, not have leaderboards to compare against people I don’t know.

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Devs, thanks for making SmartRow and the best erg for waterrower.

Some requests to consider:

-Allow interval segments to be distance based as an option.
-do not count rest intervals into split times
-for the graphs offer a smoothed version, potentially normalizing by using a running average of 3-5 strokes.
-allow intervals to be set as a % of users stored max heart rate.
-more options for mixing and matching display screens and metrics, potentially a more condensed option with more info on a single screen
-potentially an option to scroll through the various screens during the workout, Like a ticker.
-leaderboards by age / weight
-daily or weekly workouts with leaderboards by age / weight

App is intuitive and I like being able to edit what I can see on each screen. I would love to be able to set pace for my own intervals and see my statistics per interval (eg, what was my average speed during my 30spm interval). Thanks and looking forward to future updates!

Tried to sign up so I could keep track of workouts. Entered my info carefully, was supposed to get an confirm email, never did (checked my spam folder). Tried to sign up again, but it said my email is already in use from my first attempt. Tried to reset my password, and was supposed to get a reset email, never did (checked spam again). Emailed 24 hours ago, no response. Frustrating - spent a lot of money on the this app device.

Please just auto save sessions. They can be deleted from the list in “insights” later if you really don’t want them, and the right side button (where “next” would usually be) deletes your session. At least make it an option.

(Update: found it. The label “energy” threw me off) 👌🏼
Hi! I like SmartRow /thing but why no calorie counting? Especially when I have the heart rate monitor connected (and have added length/weight (would be cool if weight is just synced with Apple health btw))

I like that I can build custom workouts with as many intervals as I want but what would be even more helpful was to have data for each interval. The 500m split time, for example, would be great to see within a specific interval — something I’ve seen on concept 2 monitors.

I use it every day and it does a good job syncing my info with apples health app. Would be fantastic to have an option to pause and resume a workout.

I never thought I would say that I loved a rowing app, and now I am here! Just try it out, I’m sure you will not be disappointed! I give it five stars for sure ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Using this app made it easy to track progress and provided useful information during my workouts!

I purchased the smart row system and just finished installing yesterday. A fairly easy install, but the lack of a guide for the pulley line (as used to be on the original one) is kind of a bummer. SmartRow works solidly for a 1.0. I’m waiting for the Apple Health integration and for a link of this system into something with more fun... live classes would be ideal like the Peloton bike!!

The latest upgrade with the iWatch and multiple interval workouts is awesome. The present version has everything one can hope for. Great work this app developers

SmartRow is a game changer I wish we had this years ago me husband is back on the training hors because of it, it’s very motivating! A must have !!

I really like SmartRow, it helps me monitor my health and very easy friendly, easy to use, thanks so much.