11 Best Smart Home Gyms of 2024 | GQ

Oct 29, 2024

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There’s nothing wrong with old-school gym equipment, but for a lot of people, there’s a better way to work up a sweat at home: Using one of the best smart home gyms. Digitally-connected fitness equipment with advanced tech like motion sensors and HD touchscreens can provide top-notch workout guidance, interactive classes, AI-powered form corrections, and resistance that automatically adjusts based on how much your muscles are shaking. Meanwhile, data insights can show you the actual results you’re getting from working your butt off.

“An average Joe off the street will get a better workout from a connected platform than just doing [their] own thing,” says Anthony Crouchelli, CFSC, NCSF, founder of The.1Method and master trainer at Litesport. “You’re getting told what to do with each rep, you [see] your progress from workout to workout.”

There’s a lot of options out there these days when it comes to digital fitness equipment. To get you the best smart home gym recs, we tested out a whole bunch of machines firsthand to see how all those high-tech bells and whistles actually perform in real life.

We were so in awe of the versatile Beyond Power Voltra I—a cable trainer that packs 200 pounds of resistance into something the size of a shoebox—that it made us want to rework our entire at-home gym around it. With tons of exercise options, helpful data, and top-notch engineering, it offers just about everything a strength-training lover could ask for.

We did the literal heavy lifting to find you the best smart home gyms your money can buy.

How We Chose the Best Smart Home Gyms

To find you smart workout equipment that won’t just end up becoming an overpriced laundry basket, we sweated through all kinds of connected workouts on cable machines, rowers, bikes, treadmills, and more. We recorded what each one felt like to use, how the interface performed, whether the instructors annoyed us, and how the equipment stood up over time. Yep, our fitness equipment testing process is pretty intense, but it helps us make sure we really stand behind every single one of our recs.

Beyond Power

Beyond Power

The Beyond Power Voltra I is an uber-compact cable machine with up to 200 pounds of resistance to streamline your power rack—without forcing you into a monthly subscription.

Product Features

Just 13 pounds, the Beyond Power Voltra I lets us simplify our home gym space—and it doesn’t require us to fork over a monthly membership fee to do it. Using a rack mount, the Voltra hooks to a power rack or functional trainer to imitate cables or a barbell. Get in your curls and deadlifts while seeing real-time stats like max power and average velocity. The quality and craftsmanship is on par with commercial training gyms with a secure mount, sturdy cable, and smooth direct drive motor. We also appreciated the range of options it offers: With up to 200 pounds of resistance, you can program the Voltra to focus on eccentric loading, mimic a resistance band, or even try the velocity-based damper to work on, say, your baseball pitch. Your rec league teammates will be so proud.

Peloton

Peloton

Amazon

Peloton’s Bike is the OG of connected fitness equipment. The top-notch classes and motivating stats keep drawing us back to the saddle—without getting bored.

Product Features

Peloton’s been in the smart home gym game for more than a decade, and the brand knows how to make at-home workouts something you’ll actually look forward to. We find the instructors to be best-in-class, while the metrics and live class stats rev up our competitive side—and we’re not just talking about the cycling workouts. This is one of the best exercise bikes, partially because you also get access to strength training, stretching, and yoga classes, making it a one-stop workout shop for well-rounded fitness.

Plus, the hardware has real staying power: Our tester has owned her Bike since the height of Peloton-mania in December 2020—and it remains just as sleek as the day it arrived. “The pedals and the flywheel still seem to be pristine, and the touchscreen is easy to wipe down after class,” she says. “Peloton may not be the new bike on the block anymore, but my cost-per-use has never been lower.”

NordicTrack

NordicTrack

The NordicTrack Commercial 1750 is the best smart treadmill you could ask for as a runner: It just feels good to run on, with clutch shock absorption and smooth adjustments that make your miles a little easier.

Product Features

During our testing, the NordicTrack Commercial 1750 went from a -3 percent decline to the full 12 percent incline in just 22 seconds without any jerking, and easily responded to our sweaty fingers with just one light tap. (For streaming workouts on the accompanying iFit fitness app, you don’t even need to tap—the incline and speed adjust automatically with the instructor’s cues.) No matter the incline, the deck seemed to move with us as we landed each stride.

“[It] had a little bounce to it that took some of the pressure off of my worn-out knees,” said our tester, who’s been working in fitness for 15 years and calls the 1750 “by far one of the better treadmills that I’ve used.” One major bonus is how easy it is on the ears. “This treadmill would not wake a sleeping baby,” he says. We didn’t bring any infants into our testing studio to fact check him on that one, but trust us: This thing is really quiet.

Echelon

Echelon

The Echelon Reflect 50" Fitness Mirror brings premium workouts right into your living room with a design that’s so straightforward even your technologically challenged dad could figure out how to use it.

Product Features

Designed for the gym rat who wants a pro to lead them through a workout rather than design their own set-and-rep schemes, the Echelon Reflect Fitness Mirror brings more than 2,000 on-demand classes and live workouts right into your home. Whether we were doing a bootcamp, strength session, or yoga flow, we found the training super well-designed—and we actually enjoyed it.

Unlike some smart workout equipment, there’s not a bunch of settings you need to screw around with or an app you need to download since you can access everything right from the 32-inch touchscreen. In some ways, it feels almost analog. There’s no fancy camera or rep tracking, but the surface is reflective so you can check your form old-school style. TBH, the quality of the tech itself is not the very best—in our testing, the touchscreen sometimes lagged a bit, and the audio and visuals could get a bit glitchy at times, but the top-tier classes made up for it.

Tonal

Tonal

Tonal is basically the equivalent of installing a weight room—plus your own personal trainer—right on your wall. The AI measures your fitness in real time to give you the exact resistance you should be lifting, no shortcuts allowed.

Product Features

There’s a reason our tester calls the Tonal “by far the coolest thing I own.” With this wall-stationed cable machine, you not only get the ability to do more than 245 strength exercises—from Turkish get-ups to skull crushers—but you can perform them with digital resistance that adjusts precisely to your current fitness (and eases up when you start to struggle).

“The smart resistance is next level; I love that I don't have to keep track of my weight history,” our tester says. “Tonal pushes me a little harder to level up each workout so I don't plateau.” Plus, it’s easy to filter through the workouts to find exactly which ones you’re after, or you can follow along with a weeks-long program that will pre-select the right classes for you. This do-it-all machine doesn’t come cheap—it’ll set you back nearly $4,500 if you get all the smart accessories, and you’ve gotta pay for a $60 monthly subscription on top of that.

Speediance

Speediance

The Speediance Gym Monster is a jack-of-all-trades home solution for smart strength training and cardio, thanks to an ingenious little rower-like setup. With digital strength assessments and AI coaching, even a fitness newbie can get in a good workout.

Product Features

If you want just one piece of smart workout equipment to do both strength training and cardio, the Speediance Gym Monster is our pick. It’s an all-in-one squat rack, cable machine, dumbbell set, and even rower, all with digital resistance up to 220 pounds. The machine’s AI will assess your strength, then tailor your workouts to your goals with real-time feedback and long-term data insights. The best part: You don’t need to sign up for any monthly subscription to get access to the workouts. A lifetime membership comes included at the time of purchase—a rare perk among smart home gym equipment these days.

Hydrow

Hydrow

The Hydrow Wave Rower takes the cake when it comes to quality rowing machines because of its silky smooth hardware and seriously tough instructors. It’s the closest you’ll come to getting out on the water without leaving home.

Product Features

Indoor rowing can’t quite match the magic of paddling along a river, but the Hydrow Wave lets you get in some seriously satisfying strokes at home. Our tester says it’s by far the best rowing machine she’s ever used. “The rowing action feels smooth and the machine is nearly soundless,” she says. Plus, this equipment is just over 100 pounds, so you can stash it vertically when you’re done, taking up a little more than a couple square feet of your floor space.

But the best part is the classes. “The programming is obviously a standout—real instructors, all with serious rowing experience on the open water (which sets it apart from other apps' trainers who have clearly only ever rowed indoors),” our tester says. The workouts take place with the instructors out on the water, making things much more scenic and adding some welcome variety.

ProForm

ProForm

The specs and features on the ProForm Carbon E7 ensure everyone in your household feels comfortable when they hop on for a workout: You can adjust the stride length, ramp height, and even the pedal position.

Product Features

A session on the ProForm Carbon E7 elliptical is adjustable every step of the way. Want to crank up the intensity? Well, you can open up your stride up to the full 19 inches, bump up the ramp to a 20-degree incline, and hit the top of 24 resistance levels. Or, you can mellow things out to just glide along comfortably for some slow, low-impact cardio. However high you get your heart pumping, you can choose between three foot pedal positions so that you always feel super stable.

One major perk: This machine comes with a 3-year membership to the iFit Pro fitness app included (typically $396 per year, plus tax). That gets you access to hundreds of trainer-led workouts in which the machine adjusts the resistance automatically along with the instructor’s cues, making it super simple to get in a challenging cardio session.

Tempo

Tempo

The Tempo Studio makes for an ideal home gym starter kit: It’s a freestanding virtual studio to stream fitness classes with AI-powered feedback on your form, but it also comes with the dumbbells and weight plates you need to do all the workouts.

Product Features

If you crave the expert feedback of a personal trainer but hate interacting with real people (or schlepping to a gym), Tempo Studio has you covered. You can stream hundreds of live and on-demand classes on the 42-inch touchscreen, while the AI offers real-time feedback on your form, plus rep counting and weight recommendations based on whether you’re flying through sets or getting shaky.

But that’s not the only reason why this freestanding virtual studio is ideal for those just starting a fitness routine. The package also comes with high-quality free weights (though you will need to invest in heavier ones once you’re strong enough to lift more than 75 pounds). “The quality of the included dumbbells and weight plates is surprisingly great—the colors are fun, and the coating feels almost soft in my hands,” our tester says. She also loved the smart storage: “Everything stacks neatly away when not in use.”

Maxpro

Maxpro

The Maxpro SC Portable Cable Machine is light and compact enough to go wherever you do, yet it gives you a whopping 300 pounds of resistance. Fortunately, it comes with personalized fitness plans on a connected app so you’re not just throwing around all that weight willy-nilly.

Product Features

Whether you’re looking for a way to stay fit while on the road for work, or want gym equipment that you can easily pack for vacations, the 9.4-pound Maxpro is your answer. It’s the most packable cable machine we’ve ever seen. Despite being small enough to fold up to just about 16" by 7", it gives you 300 pounds of resistance for concentric exercises (meaning: the part of a movement when your muscles are contracting, like the first half of a biceps curl).

One major bummer is that it doesn’t let you work on eccentric movement (when your muscles are lengthening, like when you’re coming out of a biceps curl). Still, if you mount this to a wall or door frame—which we highly recommend—there’s a ton of exercises you can do, from deadlifts to Pilates. Don’t worry: The Bluetooth-connected app will help you figure out what the heck you should be doing with it, courtesy of personalized fitness plans plus live and on-demand workouts.

Future Fitness

The Future App gives you personalized training right through your smartphone or tablet. An expert coach will consider your goals, the equipment you have access to, and any time constraints to create a workout program that fits your lifestyle.

Product Features

Virtual coaching these days is largely done through AI, but the Future App connects you with a real, live human being who has certified fitness training expertise. These coaches program personalized workouts each week based on your goals, schedule, and the data they see coming in from your fitness tracker. “I travel often, and sometimes I don't have a full gym to work with,” our tester says. “I can let my trainer know exactly what equipment I have access to, and they'll program a workout based off of that.”

Video demos walk you through each exercise, though if you’re not sure whether you’re doing them right, you can record your form to get input from your coach later on. “I appreciate how easily you can give your trainer feedback on the workout as a whole and the specific moves they've programmed,” our tester adds. “It's completely personal to you, your abilities, and your goals—what's smarter than that?”

Heads up: This how each much each smart home gym costs before any discounts or promotions. We also didn't include any monthly subscription costs associated with the equipment, so make sure to include that in your research and budget.

Good recs take serious research, and GQ’s fitness equipment testing is no joke. We asked certified personal trainers about the best smart home gym products available today, then got our hands on those very machines ourselves to see how they worked in real life. Several GQ editors and contributors have kept many of these smart fitness tools in their own homes for long-term testing (despite some complaints from our housemates).

While we were at it, we dug into everything that could affect your experience with this smart workout equipment: the buying process, customer service, footprint, portability, durability, ergonomics, interactive programming, customizable features, accessories, and the warranty—and with all that in mind, the value you’re getting for your money. Everything that made this list is something we truly think is worth your hard-earned cash.

You don’t need to be a fitness pro to benefit from smart workout equipment. “The connected fitness space is really for everybody, whether you are a seasoned athlete or a first-timer,” Crouchelli says. Here’s why.

Convenience

Having quality fitness equipment at home means you’re more likely to regularly use it, even when your calendar gets jam-packed. With smart programming, you don’t have to research or plan out your own workouts—they’re all laid out for you.

Personalized Workouts

Smart workout equipment can keep you just challenged enough so that you continue to get stronger without getting hurt. You might get suggestions for classes that fit your fitness goals. Some cable machines will automatically adjust the resistance to account for how much you can currently lift, and some treadmills will customize the intensity of your speed and incline based on adjustments you’ve made in previous workouts.

Video Guidance

If you’re not exactly sure about your form or technique, or just want someone with more expertise to coach you through an effective workout, having a smart touchscreen or app where you can follow along with workouts will ensure you’re getting the most out of your session.

Progress Tracking

Many smart home gyms keep track of your workouts and record stats about your progression over time, which can give you extra motivation to keep at it. “[Smart equipment is] data-driven, which is really great for you to build accountability,” Crouchelli says.

When you’re buying a piece of smart workout equipment for your home, you want to make sure you’re investing in something you’re gonna love for years of workouts to come. Keep these details top of mind while you’re shopping.

Features

Different machines offer different features, so ask yourself which will motivate you most. Do you want trainer-led classes? Data insights? Smart resistance? “A lot of my friends want gamified fitness,” Crouchelli says. “They work stressful jobs, and want to be able to have fun and break a sweat at the same time.” You do you; just make sure your machine will support it.

Budget

The up-front cost of the main hardware isn’t the only number to consider when thinking about what you can afford. Most pieces of smart workout equipment require a monthly or yearly membership fee to access features like workout classes. You might also need additional accessories like specific cycling shoes or a wall mount to really get the most out of the workouts. Calculate the total in advance.

Goals

Ask yourself what you want to get out of your workouts. If you’re mainly looking to build functional strength, you’ll benefit from something like a cable machine, while your co-worker who keeps bragging about his marathons will likely prefer a treadmill. Or, if you just want to decompress a bit while sweating, consider a cardio machine that lets you stream apps like Netflix.

What is smart home gym equipment?

Smart home gyms are digitally-connected pieces of fitness equipment that use advanced technology like motion sensors and data insights to give you personalized workouts. Many include a touchscreen that streams interactive workouts.

Are smart gyms good for beginners?

Smart gyms are a particularly good choice for beginners since they can give you an AI-guided, low-pressure intro to fitness, often with trainer-led workouts and sometimes even feedback on form.

Is a smart home gym worth it?

A smart home gym is definitely worth the money if you want premium features to guide you through your workouts. As Crouchelli puts it, when people buy a smart home gym, “they get accountability, they get form, they get a foundation.”

Can you get a good workout with a smart home gym?

Most people can get a better workout with a smart home gym than they could if they were just trying to figure out what to do at the gym by themselves, according to Crouchelli. Features like instructor-led workouts, smart resistance, and real-time metrics set you up to exercise more effectively.

What is the best smart home gym machine?

We found the Beyond Power Voltra I to be the best smart home gym machine thanks to its compact design, versatile exercise options, helpful data insights, and high-quality hardware.

Do smart gyms require a membership?

Most smart gym equipment requires a monthly subscription fee to access premium features. However some, like the Speediance Gym Monster, come with lifetime access to workouts, no membership required.

Former pro soccer player Anthony Crouchelli, NCSF, CFSC, has over a decade of experience in fitness. He is the founder of The.1Method and the lead trainer and director of talent at Litesport.