The upsides: I wanted a wooden water rower that folded but I'm new to rowing so I didn't care much about the computer or getting too high of resistance. This fit the bill! It is very nice looking, solid wood, folds easily and is pleasant to use. I've had it for a couple months. I really appreciate the cover. Oh and great price!

Downsides: As everyone else warns, assembly is annoying. Sometimes you have to unscrew preassembled parts because they're partially blocking other pre Drilled holes. The instructions in the packet are completely useless. The video is somewhat helpful but you're better off applying common sense gleaned from building furniture in young adulthood. The dye leaked in shipping but was wrapped in plastic with the parts so not much harm done. I don't think this would be long enough for someone much taller than 5'10" (could be wrong), no and I'm sure some people would want more resistance. People say the computer is terribly inaccurate, but I've not cared to test it.

I recommend this to any person (under 6' maybe) who is really rowing more for leisurely / amateurish exercise!

I rarely write reviews but I thought I would add my 2 cents on this machine.

Pros - It is sturdy and made from dense wood. It is foldable so it is entirely suitable for an apartment or smaller room. It is not terribly heavy given its quality, so moving it is not a problem. Despite the cons below, this gives you a pretty great workout. The feel of actual water is more comfortable to me than a flywheel like my Concept 2 has.

Cons - Without a doubt, it's the LCD monitor that comes with this. It is most assuredly not accurate, especially when I compare this to the Concept 2 rower I have at a different property. The only accurate items you will be able to use will be strokes per minute and of course your clock. Do NOT rely on the distance, it is very"¦generous. I know my general split times, so I rowed 500m and it registered this distance in a little over a minute. Either I suddenly became an Olympian or this thing was way off. I would say every actual 500m rowed is off by 30 - 40 seconds. That will add up as you go on endurance rows, so please keep that in mind.

The instructions, as everyone else mentioned, are terrible. Like really terrible. I basically put this together by studying a completed product picture and figuring out where things should go from the general diagram. Now I must say once you figure it out, it is NOT hard to assemble. You have a bunch of screws, washers, and gaskets. It is pretty logical, so don't let that dissuade you from getting this if that is what you are worried about.

Overall, this machine is not perfect. If they improved the assembly instructions and drastically improved the performance metrics, I would give this a solid 5 stars. But that's the thing - you can't expect too much at this price point. There's a reason why the Concept 2 is the gold standard of the industry and why it costs over 2 times the price of this machine.

Personally, if you can get past the inaccurate metrics and use this machine to improve your form and endurance with rowing in general, you'll get a lot of use from it and it will suit you well. If this bothers you, I would absolutely go for the Concept 2 rower as that is by far the gold standard used by amateurs and professionals alike.

The Positives: Rower looks great. Great materials. Rowing is smooth. Folds up nice. Came with a phone holder and dust cover. Cheaper than similar rowers but appears to have same quality. I say appears because I've had it for a couple weeks now so I have to see condition after a year. It feels like it will be fine for many years. The Negative: build instructions are in German. They emailed me a video of how to put it together but it did not correspond to the picture flow of the German instructions. The parts list didn't match what I received. Some things I did receive that wasn't listed and vice versa. There were quite a few nuts, bolts and washers left over after I finished putting it together. I went through the video and book over and over and could not find where they went. I guess they just send extra. Bottom line if they included English instruction book they would have gotten 5 stars. Putting it together is a real pain but once you get through that you have a great rower at at great price.

This rower is just what I wanted: a low tech pleasant rowing experience on equipment that is pretty enough to keep in the living room. I have had it for two days and done two longer rows on it.
- It was about half the cost of the other rowers I was considering. I bought from Amazon and delivery was via UPS. There was no issue with either purchase or delivery.
- Assembling it was a project. The booklet is useless. I assembled using the video that comes up when you scan a QR code on the booklet. Some of the pieces in the model I received were different from what was shown in the video, and there are way more bolts in the package than you need"”but by pausing the video every few seconds and studying it carefully, it is possible to figure it out. You have to start from the back of the rower and then put the seat in before you connect the handle/brace in the middle of the rower. You have to put the water tank on before you put the foot brace in. The video doesn't show it, but on the model I received, when you screw the foot brace onto the tank structure in the last step, you have to add the stops for the pull handle on those same screws. All of the holes were pre-drilled and everything lined up nicely. Nothing required much force or any particular skill to assemble"”just some common sense and careful studying of the video. I filled it using a funnel and a pitcher, not the hand pump that was provided.
- It folds nicely, and when folded it rolls easily. It was the only rower I was considering that folds.
- It is made of solid wood and feels very solid. It doesn't creak or squeak. The wood scratches fairly easily, so be careful as you assemble. The wood handle is pleasant to grip, and the seat is comfortable and rolls easily and quietly.
- The control module is inaccurate. It was showing me rowing about 20 to 30 seconds faster for my 500m splits than I actually row.
- I have been able to get it to connect via Bluetooth to two rowing apps, FitShow and Kinomap. The apps connect to my Apple Watch heart rate monitor. Both apps have videos of rows in various countries, and in Kinomap you can connect live to others who are also rowing in the app.

As other reviews have said, the instructions are useless and the video is a must. The LCD monitor broke on the second use. It turns on, but no longer tracks anything. The timer counts for like 6 seconds and then stops. None of the other numbers update.