Sunny Health & Fitness Premium Water Rower w/Intensive Dynamic Real-Time Resistance, 300 LB Capacity Flip-able Rowing Machine for Home Training, Optional Free SunnyFit App Connection

My wife and I were thinking about buying a water rower when we tried one out in a store this winter while we were in South Carolina. The manufacturer of that machine made an "attractive" looking model with several colors of wooden frames...costing about $1000. When we returned home in NY, and the Covid 19 "Stay at Home" guidelines were instituted, I started looking online for a water rower...I came across this model which was listed as "Amazon Choice"...and less than half the price of the Waterrower. After reading many reviews and considered the price and Amazon recommendation, I ordered one on April 4th...It arrived on April 14th. I left the box in my garage and brought it piece by piece into my basement for assembly. After I ordered it, I purchased enough !8x18 mat rubber squares at Home Depot to make a padded floor for the rower on my concrete floor...mine is about 106"x55" (more than enough to accommodate the rower). Assembly was not difficult at all...it took me a little under 2 hours working alone...mainly because I was being cautious and trying to read carefully. The directions are not bad...could be more descriptive...but with care, you can figure it out quite easily. My basement ceiling is NOT quite tall enough to stand the machine upright, so I have no intention to move it around. That's no big deal to me considering where we use it...and when I saw in reviews that a few people had problems with the water leaking, it seemed to me that it was when it was stored upright. When I filled the tank to the maximum depth, it is below the seam in the top and bottom of the tank, so I'm confident that the leaking issue is not a concern when the machine is stored flat in operating position. Now, using the rower is the best part ! It is quiet and smooth...the sound of wooshing water is soothing and one can't even hear it from the rest of the house. I brought a tv into the basement to encourage us to prolong our workouts....it's not necessary to blast the volume on the tv to be heard over the rower. My wife is new to rowing but loves it and has used it every day. I find the seat comfortable enough to get a 1 hour workout without my butt hurting....something I could never do at the gym without using a folded towel to cushion the seat. Granted we've only had this machine for a week, so I can't speak about the longevity, but the solid quality at this time suggests that we will be pleased with it for a long time. Our basement has been used only for laundry and storage in the past. Now we're saying "I'm going to the gym...hope that rowing machine I like isn't taken"...:) Follow up: Six months into owning this machine: I use it EVERY day for 1 hour or more (thank goodness for Amazon Prime tv and Netflix)....changed the water in the tank this morning as recommended after 6 months...no problem. I still love the workout, the smooth operation and quality of the machine. I did drill a hole in each of the foot pedals and secured them to the frame with a flat head bolt, a washer and nut so they no longer pivot. Some reviewers complained about that pivot action...I didn't find it a problem but I do like it better now that the foot rest is in a fixed position. Sunny Health makes a great machine.

I have only used mine a few times now, so I'll update this review if anything changes. Initial impressions are that this is a great machine at a great price. The rowing action is smooth, and the catch is far enough away from your feet that it's easy to get a full stroke without slamming the pull handle into the machine. i'm about 6'1" or so, and I don't have any trouble with the travel of the seat or the handle, though I suspect someone much taller than me would (i almost max the travel out). I'm especially impressed with the supplied hardware. The fasteners you use to put it together are all button head screws with a hex head, which look nice and are easy to work with. I would recommend some thread locker for some of them, as some are on the bottom of the machine and will undoubtedly work loose eventually. No torque specs are supplied, use your best judgement, I guess. My wife says the machine flexes a bit when I row (I'm 220lbs), but you'll never notice it from the seat. It feels solid and well built. Now, let's talk about those footrests. Mine don't seem to be having any trouble, but I question why Sunny built it this way to begin with. The issue comes down to the way they swivel, which doesn't seem necessary in the first place. Why do they need to swivel? When I row, typically my feet stay in the same spot, and if they move, it's only a tiny bit. They could have bolted the footrests in place securely, and I doubt many people would have a problem with it. It seems like an unforced error, for a feature people don't need. Furthermore, if Sunny wanted them to swivel, it seems like some threadlocker would have secured the bolts in place semi-permanently and people wouldn't have a problem. The computer is basic, but functional. It gives you readouts for strokes per minute, 500m split times, overall time rowed, calories, watts, and maybe others I can't remember. Because resistance can't be changed on the fly (you have to add more water), it doesn't have any pre-programmed workouts. It does have a "race" function though, which basically just means you have to keep a preset pace or fall behind. It's not great, but at least they tried. I just row manually, and the computer is good enough for my purposes. Bottom line, it seems like a great machine. Buy yourself some threadlock from home depot and use it during the the assembly, and I doubt you'll have any problems. if the footrests come loose, threadlock those as well.

After looking at several water rowing machines, I finally decided on the Obsidian. Price was a huge factor as well as finding some favorable industry reviews outside of the already high number of good reviews on Amazon. I was originally going to get a Water Rower brand, but at three times the price this seemed like the better route for someone new to rowing. The machine is very sturdy and smooth. Assembly was fairly easy, but I did have a couple of issues. First, and most notably, was with the computer bracket. The holes to mount the bracket to the machine did not line up with the threading underneath, even though it is keyed to prevent incorrect assembly. It was enough of an issue that the bolt was cross threading as I attempted to screw it into the frame. Luckily, my tool box is deep and I had a round file that I used to turn the round mounting hole into a slot on the bracket. This corrected the misalignment, as the threading was no longer partially covered, and the bolt threaded easily afterward. Someone not as mechanically inclined probably would have just powered the bolt into the frame, cross threaded the bolt, and never gotten a good final result. Funny thing is, the two top holes were already slotted from the manufacturer. The whole issue could have been avoided if they just machined all four mounting points with a slotted hole to begin with. Second and more minor issue, the end caps for the front stand were very difficult to slip on and align properly with the holes for the screws to mount. Whole assembly job, including filling the water tank, was about an hour and half. It would have been much quicker if not for the mounting hole issue. Also, as a side note, the box is fairly heavy and offset in weight, so if you have to move it upstairs (like I did) you will need help. Actual use of the machine, excellent! Like I said earlier, very smooth and solid construction. Very easy to pick up and move about the room. I filled the tank up to level 3 after some experimenting to find the best starting resistance for me. This made the workout just about perfect for me at this time. I am completely new to rowing so I had no idea where to even start. I had an ACL repair last year and I needed an exercise that was low impact to help get me back into regular workouts without pain. This machine does the trick! Very happy overall with the purchase and I definitely recommend this unit to anyone interested in or looking for a decently priced water rower with high quality. Rated it at four star mainly for the assembly issue with the computer bracket, otherwise a five-star purchase!

When I was in college I used a water resistant rowing machine, after I graduated (and gained like 100 lbs) I wanted to go back to what worked. This machine more than enough filled what I was looking for. I've used it about 6 months now and I don't think I regretted my purchase once. (Ok, maybe at the start when everything hurt I regretted it a little) Disclaimer: I got this when it was heavily on sale, so my bang for my buck probably a bit higher. Pros: -Sturdy af: I'm 6'0" and was 300 lbs, so I was a bit worried I either wouldn't fit or I'd break it. Luckily neither was the case. It was a bit awkward using it at 300 due to the gut, but I stuck to it and the machine held up nicely. -Mostly easy to put together: I live alone, so it took a bit of finagling to get it together by myself, but it wasn't too bad. -Easy to stow: the machine stores upright and takes up surprisingly little room. I like to put it in a closet when guests come over. The wheels move alright on carpet. The device can be stored with water in, but the supports dig into the carpet pretty deeply. I'd be careful storing it long term with water in it. Cons: -Display: the display is pretty basic but it gets the job done. Unfortunately it cycles the elapsed time with a couple other stats I don't care for, which makes keeping track of time a little frustrating. Also the batteries they include are pathetic. The default price tag is like $500, maybe spend the extra $1 and throw in a battery that has more charge than a potato -Foot rests: a lot of people have complained about this. I personally don't mind the swivel action, but I do find my shoe likes to slip out but it's usually if I don't tighten the strap correctly. I wear size 13 sneakers so I think mine fits a bit better than most. Still wish the heel wall was just a little bit taller. Final word: This is a nice, sturdy machine that I plan on using well after I hit my goal weight. if you are my size (6', size 13 shoe, and <300lbs) this machine will serve you nicely. If you are smaller than me, you may find difficulty with the foot rests.

Pros: - Great price for a water rower (the ones from First Degree or Waterrower are at least double that price) and nice design. - The assembly instructions are very clear and easy to follow if you have basic mechanical skills (all screws are marked by numbers and the packaging is done very systematically) - The machine and resistance feels very similar to more expensive rowing machines I am using at the gym. The water level can be adjusted slightly by adding more or less water which changes the resistance. This adjustment is of course slow compared to the dial in the rowers from FirstDegree. However, I did not find a strong need for it as you just go faster if you want more exercise. - The electronic display is OK and in one mode one can race against the computer but personally I don't use the display. It is quite easy though to attach an ipad on a flex mount to the frame to watch movies if desired. - The machine can be moved around rather easily via the rollers and storing it upright saves space. Because this is a metal frame it is of course heavier than a wooden rowing machine. This is something to consider if you have to move it around frequently. Cons: - My main complaint are the swiveling foot rests. I found them extremely slippery and uncomfortable, my heels always slipped out and I did not like the swivel action. Maybe it is a matter of getting used to it but I recommend taking the foot rests off and replacing them with two wooden boards and mounted to it the flexible foot rests from the Concept 2 rowing machine (can be bought on their website). This modification takes a little bit of work (mainly cutting two boards to length and drilling a few holes) but it is inexpensive and the result is much superior. The wooden plates can be attached to the two existing holes on the rowing machine (underneath where the old foot rests were located) so no holes have to be drilled into the frame of the machine. I recommend adjusting the angle of the footplates closer to 45 degrees using a spacer on the lower one of the two holes since the slope of the metal part with the two holes is fairly steep. The attached picture shows the modification. - It seems that the length of the machine (maximum travel of the seat) may become a problem if you are over 6 foot tall.

I initially found this rower's price point reasonable, and upon receiving it, the build quality seemed solid, meeting my expectations for a rowing machine. However, within six months of use, I encountered issues with the handle and the belt breaking, frustratingly just outside the warranty period. While Sunny H&F provided a replacement for free, the machine's downtime lasted around a week, with no expedited options available. Communication with the company was sluggish, with responses averaging 24 to 48 hours for each email exchange, which didn't quite meet my expectations for prompt customer support. After receiving the replacement belt, which was relatively easy to install, another issue cropped up with the sensor malfunctioning. It took approximately two weeks of back-and-forth, involving sending pictures and videos of the machine, before they agreed to send me a new sensor, albeit at $12. While the sensor replacement was relatively inexpensive, the $15 shipping fee for such a small item seemed excessive. This became more apparent when I purchased a spare bar and strap for future use, which cost $20 but incurred an additional $25 in shipping fees. Sunny H&F justified this as their "discounted shipping rate," but it felt like an attempt to inflate costs for essential parts. The shipping charges seemed disproportionate, especially considering the packaging size of the items, and it appeared as if the company was leveraging these fees to extract more money from customers for replacement parts. Furthermore, the process of placing the order itself was drawn out, requiring almost two weeks of emails, and it's likely to be another week or longer before the part arrives, resulting in nearly a month of downtime for the machine. Overall, while the initial build quality seemed promising, the recurring issues and the sluggish customer service response, combined with what feels like inflated shipping costs, detract from the overall experience of owning this rower from Sunny H&F. ADDITION - 29 May 2024: Since receiving the replacement strap in March, it has already started to fray and is now halfway torn. Despite two weeks of back-and-forth emails, with typical replies from Sunny taking 5-7 business days, they finally contacted their warehouse to check for replacement parts. They confirmed the availability of replacement pieces, with the pull strap and bar costing $20 each, as before. However, shipping has increased by $10, now totaling $35 for "business shipping," which seems like an unjustified markup since shipping this box should not exceed $10. I requested to purchase multiple pulleys to save on future shipping costs, given the poor quality of the parts. Sunny refused to ship more than one part per order, insisting on shipping each part separately and charging an additional $35 per part. This policy seems designed to extract more money from customers. Upon further investigation in the community, it is clear that Sunny has a reputation for low-quality products and subpar customer service. Avoid this brand! Invest in a C2 rower now, as Sunny's poor quality and relentless nickel-and-diming will ultimately cost you more in the long run. Save yourself the headache!

Let's be clear: I have never, in my life, rowed a boat competitively. The closest I've ever gotten was being woken up by a cockswain yelling the cadence to rowers when I was in college. Poor guys were on the water by 6 AM. I have no idea what those folks would think of this machine. For me, though, it's excellent. Set-up: The machine is relatively easy to assemble, and it comes with (very basic versions of) all the tools you'd need to do so. Sunny provided all the hardware on one vacu-sealed, labeled card. Between the manual and that card, every piece is numbered, and the illustrations in the manual make it very easy to tell what goes where. My only complaint about the illustrations is that it isn't entirely clear which end of the long support goes to the front and which way to mount the seat. Looking at an actual photo of the machine tells you the stickers go toward the back and the leg depressions go forward, so from there, everything was good to go. Using my own electric screwdriver (and otherwise using the provided tools), the time between opening the box and rowing my first stroke was about 90 minutes. I really appreciated that Sunny included both a funnel and a simple transfer pump for adding and removing water. I over-filled it at first, and the pump made it really easy to get it down to the level I wanted. Operation The machine works great. The mechanics are very smooth, and it's very quiet while in use. The water makes a light "woosh" noise that's actually really pleasant. I set this up downstairs, away from our baby's room, but I would be comfortable using it in the room next to his without fearing that it would wake him up. I filled the bubble to level 3. A review on another site said that 6 felt like rowing in real water "with a little extra," and that's not what I was going for. At level 3, I can keep a nice slow-ish pace and build up my heart rate, or I can push harder or do intervals to really get going. The monitor is the real reason I chose this model over the cheaper magnetic model, also from Sunny. This version counts strokes per minute, and that was important to me. Online training videos use strokes per minute as a reference point, and I wanted to be able to follow along with those. Weak Points Only a couple of weak points on this machine: 1. No place to stand a phone/tablet up. There's a depression in the front unit where you can *store* a phone (iPhone 8 Plus with an Otterbox-style case fits with room to spare), but it's horizontal so you can't watch the screen. If you plan to watch workout videos or your favorite TV show while using this, you'll have to find a way to stand your device up independent from this machine. 2. The LED monitor picked up a pulse reading from somewhere even though I don't use a heart monitor. I imagine this is an issue with the heart monitor radio standard itself - interference from something else in my house. And it isn't consistent, just something clocking in at 70-ish beats per minute every now and then. No idea what it is, but not an issue for me. If you plan to use a heart monitor band that connects wirelessly to the machine, you might run into a similar issue, but I can't say that for certain. Overall I'd recommend this for anyone looking to establish/maintain a general level of fitness with an indoor machine. It's quiet, it's an efficient workout, and the price is almost unbelievable for the quality of machine that you get.

I chose this rower because 1) I really wanted a water rower, 2) I wanted a real brand so that I would be guaranteed some level of sturdiness, and 3) I didn't want to drop $1k on one. It showed up on my doorstep and I managed to drag it over to the "home gym" in my garage. It was heavy, as you might expect, but doable. The assembly part was actually pretty easy! I didn't have trouble assembling it myself. Filling the tank was a little more fiddly, but still not bad (and it's not like you have to do that all the time). After looking up what to do if storing it somewhere like a garage that can theoretically get below freezing, I added a fair amount of rubbing alcohol in with the water. Still, when we got a blistering cold snap of like -30F out of nowhere, I tilted it up and rolled it inside until it was over. (Not the easiest thing to do, but still not bad! The little wheels helped, even if it's heavy and awkward. Using it is pretty nice. It feels very stable to me. The action is smooth, and I like that it has Velcro on the pedals. I keep the tank pretty full because I do want it to work my arms and shoulders a bit, in addition to being cardio, and that seems to work pretty well. Now, the bad news is that the computer isn't connected up right. I put in the batteries and it powered up, but it doesn't know that strokes are happening, so it just goes back to sleep in a minute or two. I emailed them about it and they recommended trying to make sure there wasn't a break in the wire connection. I followed them as well as I could and never found a breakage, so it's possible it was closer to the magnets (or that the magnets weren't correctly places). Unfortunately, trying anything else would mean having to disassemble the whole thing, including the parts that came pre-assembled, and I don't trust that it would for sure work again after I got it back together. So sadly I just won't ever know my strokes per minute or anything, so I won't be able to track my progress as I get better at it. Not really worth sending it back for, given how big and heavy it is, but it's frustrating given how much I paid for it. So I guess be aware that it's a possibility and maybe pop the batteries in real quick before assembling the whole thing if it's a dealbreaker for you and you think you might need to send it back.

Cons: -display stays on, battery will die quickly -track length is shorter than I’d like. Hit the end every draw. I am 6’7” tall, keep that in mind. -Display instructions are lacking. -feet are not grippy. On hard surface they slide, on the front stroke. Pros: -made like a truck. There is serious metal in the unit. Bar and framing is really sold. I weigh 280lbs(top of weight limit) and I do not feel any twisting or flex in the metal. -display is large compared to other units. Wish it had back lighting. Hard to see in low light. -good handle. Feels grippy. Wish it to have bit more texture for when you get sweaty. -the water tank looks very robust. At price point wasn’t expecting such a sturdy build. -assembly was very doable instructions were good -seat slides quietly and if pretty comfortable. Feels sturdy on the track. -feet pedals are pretty comfortable and swivel nicely. I have size 12 shoes and they feel good. My wife feels they are too big. She wears size 8.5 lady shoes. -has cell phone tray which is nice. -with water it is pretty heavy but still easy to move. Does not mark up hard wood floor. But still will be getting rubber pads for under it. -the movement of the bearing and belt are quiet. Only hear the water movement which is relaxing. I wanted the sound. -pull resistance is great. I really prefer the water rowers, feels more natural than fan or magnet. -price is great. Purchased on Black Friday sale. Couldn’t find it any cheaper and for water rower was the cheapest I have ever seen in Canada. I would highly recommend if you are 6’ 2” and under. I wish it was bit longer but it will work. This unit is a great deal and imagine it will last for years. If I have issues will update my review.

Part of the rower came rotted

Tolles Gerat , Computer leider nicht auf deutsch , sonst alles super an dem Gerät

Primero deben entender que por este precio, NO van a obtener la mejor máquina del mercado. Si tu intención es utilizarla a manera de acondicionamiento físico individual, cumple satisfactoriamente su función. Si quieres una máquina con infinitos niveles de resistencia NO lo es. Llevo 3 semanas de uso, 2500 remos realizados y no he observado o encontrado, ningún detalle negativo. Es resistente, de construcción firme, se arma en 15 o 20 minutos, hecha con materiales decentes y el ruido que produce es muy discreto en interiores. Los que se quejan del vaivén de los soportes de los pies, es probablemente por postura, pues en las remadoras que tienen los soportes fijos los talones se levantan. No tengo queja alguna de este producto y personalmente lo recomendaría.

Good quality product, you will have to work hard to see the results