Tonal Smart Home Gym Review: The TRUTH After 6 Months

I've been testing, training with, and putting together our review of the Tonal Smart Home Gym.

This is somewhat of a controversial product among home gym owners. It's different. There's not plates or stacks. It uses technology instead of steel. It doesn't feel intimidating, it feels inviting.

However, after using Tonal for over 6 months, I'm a believer that this type of home gym is the future for most people. As much as I like barbells, I love Tonal. It's so simple, easy to use, and effective. I don't plan on selling my barbells, but I do plan on using Tonal a lot.

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[yevgeniyfiskin]

The monthly fee is a huge draw back. They should of done it by pre-loading a library of workouts and then giving you options to pay for new workouts, enroll with trainers for a customized plan, live group classes etc.. There are so many options available for them to generate recurring revenue without making people feel like they are forced to pay $50 a month just to use the thing they already paid thousands for.

[teddyruxpin]

This actually looks AMAZING and I went to go buy one right now even though the price tag was $3, 000 but then I saw it requires a $50/month membership and I immediately stopped. No thanks. That was a deal breaker for me. Sure, if you don't get the membership you're able to still use the machine to do exercises but it doesn't allow you to do any of the smart features like logging your workouts or viewing the video exercise demos. This machine is a self contained computer that's isolated from the rest of the world and it doesn't even require internet access, so why would anyone pay a monthly fee for it? If it were a live webcam workout like Pelaton then ok sure a membership fee makes sense. But this is like buying a Dell PC without internet access and paying Dell each month to use the computer that you already paid full price for. I feel like we as consumers should NOT support corporate greedy tactics like these. If we do, we won't actually "own" anything in the future. Need to wash your clothes? Gotta pay $25/mo for your washer and dryer. Want to do dishes? Gotta pay $35/mo for your dish washer. You get the idea...

[cefrayer]

Hi Coop. Just want to thank you for this review. You heavily influenced our decision to purchase a Tonal, which we received in mid-April (2022). We converted our den/library into a home office/gym and added the Tonal, a Sole F85 treadmill, and a set of 5-25 lb. dumbbells (for my wife only). So far, I could not be happier with our Tonal. I had done zero resistance training since we stopped going to our local gym at the outset of the pandemic in March 2020 (i.e., over two years). However, as of this posting (early Aug. 2022) I've completed 98 Tonal workouts over 17 consecutive weeks (including 22 of the last 30 days) for a total of just under 300, 000 lbs., comprised of 165 (of 245 possible) different movements/exercises. In addition, I've increased my strength score by 43.4%, which is well ahead of my initial goal of achieving a 50% improvement by mid-October (i.e., 6 months). I haven't felt (or looked) like this since the summer of '94 when I was 33yo. Lastly (and, again, mostly for my wife), we also took your advice and ordered a white Rep AB-4100 bench to replace the Tonal bench (should be arriving soon). I genuinely respect and appreciate that you were able to be open-minded and honest about the value of Tonal given that it is so different from nearly all of the other equipment you've reviewed.

[ryangrady]

Throwing this out there, I never received my tonal. The entire process was a nightmare. Delivery was scheduled several times, I'd wait around all day and they wouldn't show. The support team at Tonal has little to no idea what's going on. My tonal ended up getting shipped to Boston, I live in Colorado. They then rescheduled it, after waiting for months, for it to arrive on Christmas eve. I let tonal know that after waiting around all day, no one showed AGAIN. On Christmas Eve! They had no idea until I made them aware. Seems like a nice piece of equipment but not worth the headache.

[jzuffoletto]

I’ve had my Tonal for about a year and love it. The subscription cost is a negative, especially since I don’t use any of the trainers (I suffered a severe ankle injury so I had to design my own workouts to accommodate that). But it’s solidly built, takes up very little space, and looks good in my home gym.

The white glove installation is great if you live in the US, but I recently moved to Mexico and they obviously don’t offer it down here. No worries, I thought, I’d just call Tonal, explain my situation and ask them to send me the instructions. No dice. They absolutely refused to do it. So their customer service is definitely crap.

Fortunately, after a deep dive on the InterWebs, I managed to find a copy of the installation manual posted by a former Tonal installer. It took two guys to install it, but anyone who can operate a tape measure, drill and screwdriver can do it.

[Whiskel]

The tension is highly-trained hamsters, there's a team of 50 in every box. They can be swapped out for new ones once they 'fail'.

[Rocket_Man.]

Year 2030: *...when you forget to charge your dumbbells😢*

[MonsterChuck]

I think this thing would be awesome in place of a traditional cable machine. The biggest turnoff I see is the subscription. This was a factor when I was looking at treadmills. Really liked the Norditrac but ended up buying a Sole because I didn't want something that had features tied to a subscription. That is the whole point of a home gym, convenience and only having to pay once.

[mandoso]

Someone’s is in the process of making a more affordable one just wait

[ashea]

I would buy this right now IF a membership was INCLUDED for the first 12 months. The fact that this thing is expensive already, and then they’re requiring an additional 12-24 months of the monthly membership paid up front nearly doubles the price. That’s INSANE to me.

[Thnickaman]

Coop forgot to mention that the accessories (that you need to use the damn thing) are not included. All of the attachments and the bench cost $500. And if you want to just use cable attachments you already have, you still have to buy their proprietary adapters to make them attach. So base cost for the Tonal, attachments, and the REQUIRED 12 month subscription, is $4100, not including shipping and tax.

[caughtinside]

My free weights don’t have a monthly subscription fee

[wnb]

“There’s a camera that doesn’t work” 🤔 oh, I’m sure it works...but they don’t want us to know that

[BusinessAndFitness]

Not letting my fiancé watch this video

[craigraglin]

Hotels seems like a good target market for something like this. Small footprint and serves multiple workouts for people trying to break a sweat while traveling. I'm not sold on it being a good option for a home gym. I think cardio based equipment like treadmills and bikes are far more prolific in homes than strength training equipment which is why Peloton is such a success; although, if you rent and are moving every year or two it could be good supplement to a gym membership.

[verbal]

Are we gonna see a drop test on this one, coop?

[TwoLeggedTriceratops]

Lol wtf were they thinking $50 a month after dropping $3k? Dead on arrival.

[rhfcdge]

$50 /mo membership on top of the $3000.... HARD PASS.

[CB-sree]

Love the idea. The price is just too high. We sourced our almost our entire gym second hand (squat rack, weights, functional trainer, etc). Our gym is packed with more than what we need. I just couldn’t stomach paying that much for this equipment AND paying a subscription fee.

[benjamingoudreau]

I almost never leave comments but that was the review I was looking for. Straight and to the point. Thanks!