Buying guide
Best Air Rowers
The best air-resistance rowing machines for an authentic erg feel, where effort scales with how hard you pull, from elite competition rowers to budget picks.
Air rowers are the machines that built rowing’s reputation as the best full-body cardio there is. Instead of a fixed dial, resistance comes from a fan: the harder and faster you pull, the more air the flywheel has to move, and the more it pushes back. That effort-scaling behavior is what gives the air rower its honest, infinitely responsive feel — ease off and it eases off, sprint and it fights you.
This is also why air is the resistance of choice for competition. The Concept2 “erg” feel that crews, rowing clubs, and CrossFit athletes train on comes from this exact mechanism, and a good air rower’s monitor can translate your pull into watts and 500 m splits accurately enough to race against. The trade-off is noise: that fan is essentially a small wind machine, so air rowers are the loudest type and not the friendliest for thin-walled apartments.
If you want the most authentic, no-compromise rowing stroke and you can live with the whoosh of the flywheel, an air rower is the right call. The picks below run from the genuine competition standard down to honest budget options.
- 1 Best Overall$990
Concept2 RowErg (Model D)
Concept2
The RowErg is the reference standard that competitive crews and CrossFit boxes actually train on, and its damper-and-flywheel design gives the truest effort-scaling stroke you can buy. The PM5 monitor tracks split, watts, and pace with the accuracy serious rowers rely on. If you want one air rower that you will never outgrow, this is it.
- 2 Best for Technique$1,490
Concept2 Dynamic Indoor Rower
Concept2
The Dynamic moves the footplate rather than your bodyweight, so the catch and finish mimic an on-water shell far more closely than a fixed rail. That makes it the choice for athletes refining stroke mechanics for the boat. It is pricier and longer than the RowErg, but the carryover to real rowing is unmatched.
- 3 Best Value$799
Xebex Air Rower 3.0
Xebex Fitness
The Air Rower 3.0 delivers a genuine fan-driven, effort-scaling pull at well under the price of the Concept2 machines. Build quality and the console are a step down from the benchmark, but the core stroke feels honest and the dual air-plus-magnetic option adds versatility. It is the smart pick if you want the erg feel without the flagship price.
- 4 Best Budget$449
Sunny Health & Fitness SF-RW5623 Air Rowing Machine
Sunny Health & Fitness
Sunny's air rower brings the responsive, hard-pull-equals-hard-resistance character of a fan flywheel to the lowest price here. The monitor and frame are basic and it will not match a Concept2 for longevity, but for a first air rower on a tight budget it captures the essential feel. Expect to row hard to get the resistance climbing.
Last updated June 2026.