There was a time when working out at home meant owning a menagerie of equipment. Even after stocking your basement with a treadmill, assorted gear and accessories, you still needed to be your own trainer with an encyclopedic knowledge of exercises, workouts and proper form. All that has changed now that so-called workout mirrors are here. The best workout mirrors are like having a real live trainer in your home whenever you need a workout.
The workout mirror craze started in 2018, when the appropriately named Mirror debuted, single-handedly inventing a whole new home fitness category. It was a hit, and that wall-mounted display has spawned a slew of competitors. These days, they all have a few things in common, like subscription workout programs with on-demand training classes, the ability to pump you up with music and heart rate sensing through your watch or some other sensor. But they differ in a lot of ways, too.
To help figure out which mirrors are the best at helping your daily workout, we enlisted the advice of some fitness professionals. NASM-certified personal trainer and performance coach, Keith Hodges is the founder of LA’s Mind In Muscle Coaching. And Garret Seacat, head coach and owner of Absolute Endurance, trains endurance athletes such as runners, triathletes, and ultra endurance cyclists.
If you’re looking for a workout mirror that can help you stay (or get) in shape, keep reading. With the help of Hodges and Sewacat, we’ve assessed the best high tech home fitness systems you can buy today.
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ByDave JohnsonForbes StaffBest Overall Workout Mirror
It’s A Huge Touchscreen On A Floorstanding Easel With 3D Tracking
Tempo Studio Starter Package
Tempo has an important ingredient that you won’t find in most other workout mirrors competing for your home workout dollars: 3D sensors that track your body and tell you if you’re maintaining the right form while it automatically counts your reps for you. That makes it stand head and shoulders above the rest, and a great choice for both fitness enthusiasts and rote beginners alike.
Hodges thinks the Tempo appeals to a very specific kind of user. “If you are someone that is very form conscious, I'd suggest the Tempo Studio because it gives you movement cues to help ensure you perform at an optimal level.” Keep in mind, though, that as great as that feature is, the rep counts are not available for every exercise in the Tempo library.
Unlike the Mirror, which started this craze, Tempo isn’t actually a mirror. In fact, while Tempo is clearly inspired by the Mirror, it is much more different than it is alike; you can control the tempo from its own giant touch screen, for example, while Mirror relies on its mobile app; it isn't hung on the wall, but instead is built into an easel-style stand; it has internal storage for a bunch of weights.
Tempo focuses mainly on weight training, but there are all sorts of workouts available in categories ranging from boxing to yoga to HIIT. You’ll need a fair bit of space for the Tempo, because the 3D sensors need you to stand about 6 feet back. But the device is attractive, the display enormous, and the wealth of classes offered by the subscription service make it well worth the considerable investment.
Another option: If you like the idea of getting real-time feedback on your workouts but don’t want a separate screen, you can connect the $495 (currently marked down to $395) Tempo Move to your existing TV and turn your living room into a home gym.
Best Value Workout Mirror
The OG Wall-Mounted Mirror Has Trainers Who Can See You
Mirror Essentials
If not for this, the original Mirror, you wouldn’t have a wealth of fitness mirrors to choose from right now. And there’s a lot to recommend the Mirror. It’s gorgeous, especially when mounted on the wall (though you can also opt for a floor-standing setup), and complements any home rather than looking like a piece of gym equipment. It’s literally a mirror when not in use, but when you use it for workouts, you still see yourself—and hence your form—in the screen as you exercise.
Unfortunately, Mirror isn’t a touch screen, so you’ll need to use the mobile app to control it. All these fitness mirrors come with mobile apps of one sort or another, but Mirror requires you to use it. Mirror offers one of the widest variety of workouts, with boxing, cardio, dance, Pilates, yoga and tai chi only a selection of all the kinds of activities you can do. You can jump into a live class or one of over 10,000 on-demand sessions, and get 1-on-1 training sessions as well.
And using Mirror isn’t a solitary experience—or at least it doesn’t have to be. Mirror has a built-in camera which trainers can see you with. Seacat likes the Mirror, saying, “Live workouts are a good time on Mirror. You may even hear your name called out to give kudos or correct your form. You also get exercise variation exercises during classes if you noted during setup any kind of previous injury.”
Mirror is available in a variety of bundles. Mirror Basic, at $1,495, is the cheapest way in, though the Essentials bundle includes accessories liken a mat, yoga block and foam roller. The Family package, for $2,045, includes weights as well. Choose carefully, because Hodges points out that “Some classes require additional workout equipment which is sold separately,” and that can be a bummer if you try to do a lot of work with the Mirror Essentials, for example.
Best Workout Mirror For Weightlifters
An All-In-One Weight Training Machine That Needs A Strong Wall
Tonal
Perhaps more than any other fitness mirror, Tonal is like having a gym in your home—especially if weight training is your jam. Says Seacat, “Tonal is a favorite of a large number of our athletes because everything is built right in, which it should be for the premium price.” But you’ll need a generous amount of room to make it work; you need an area that’s at least 7 x 7 feet, with a ceiling that’s at least 7 foot, 10 inches high. And there’s no floor-standing option here—it has to mount to a wall, and the wall needs study wood or metal studs for mounting. Tonal doesn’t mess around, because the device has attachments like arms and rope built in that taken a lot of stress when you’re working out. In fact, Tonal handles the installation. This is not a DIY proposition.
But Tonal is a weight trainer’s dream. It offers up to 200 pounds of resistance and almost 200 different moves. You start out with a live-instructor-led strength assessment and you can choose what kind of workouts you want—to build muscle, gain strength, lose weight and more. Everything is easy to configure via the built-in touch screen, and if you’re a beginner, no problem, because the on-screen trainers show you how to configure the equipment for each workout. If you every felt dumb at the gym because you didn’t know the right way to use equipment, you’ll feel at home here.
When Tonal launched, it counted reps for you, but didn’t offer real-time feedback on your form. To stay competitive with Tempo, which has had that from day one, Tonal has kept pace. In addition to straight-up weight training, Tonal also offers a variety of other exercises, including yoga, Pilates, barre and HIIT, among many others in both live and on-demand classes. It has a lot to offer, though the price is not for the faint of heart, it is not renter-friendly, and it needs the most space of any fitness mirror.
Best Budget Workout Mirror
A Budget-Minded Version Of The Mirror
Echelon Reflect Touch
First things first: If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to get into a fitness mirror, you can get the far more affordable, first-generation Echelon Reflect. For $750, it is a bargain even compared to the Mirror. But it’s not a touchscreen, and the display is smaller, so we’d definitely go with the Reflect Touch, which is still at the lower end of the fitness mirror price range, and the smarter buy. This 50-inch touch screen has so much more to offer.
You can mount it on the wall or stand it on the floor, so it’s apartment-friendly, and the Reflect offers classes in yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, cardio, HIIT, core and more—a generous array of workouts. On the other hand, you’ll need to bring your own accessories for many of these activities. Unlike most of the other devices that have the gear you need baked in (Tempo) or available as a bundle (Tonal, Mirror, and so on), Echelon doesn’t offer weights, bands or other gear. And you generally won’t know what equipment a workout needs until you start it, which can be annoying. On the other hand, you do get to choose from live classes, on-demand and one-on-one sessions.
Best Freestanding Workout Mirror
The Giant Floorstanding Display Has Secret Storage For Your Weights
NordicTrack Vault Complete
You don’t have to be a renter to love the NordicTrack Vault, but it doesn’t hurt, either. A great freestanding mirror, there isn’t even a wall-mount option. You set it on the floor and it is a full-length mirror that hides an integrated storage rack with adjustable shelves to keep your weights, bands and other gear. When not in use, doesn’t look like exercise gear or tech at all; it looks like a mirror.
The Vault comes in two flavors. You can get the Complete, which comes with dumbbells, kettlebells, a mat, yoga blocks and more. Or you opt for the Standalone version, which has a few hanging shelves and plenty of room for your own gear. The version you choose depends on how much gear you already have, though the Complete offers a more thoughtfully stocked home gym that’s ready for whatever exercises you choose.
Those exercises are delivered via the iFit app on the Vault’s touch screen, so if you’ve ever used iFit on any of NordicTrack’s other products, you know what to expect. There is a wealth of live and on-demand classes, with beautiful environments to keep you engaged. There’s strength training along with HIIT, Pilates, yoga, and others, and you can follow programs designed to help you build strength and endurance over time. But while you can see both your trainer and yourself reflected in the display, there’s no feedback on your form or rep counting like you can get with the Tempo and Tonal offerings.
Best Workout Mirror For Renters
It’s Inexpensive And Renter-Friendly, But Has A Beginner Focus
ProForm Vue
You can generally rely on ProForm to offer dependable but budget-priced fitness equipment which is a great alternative to the Pelotons of the exercise world. The ProForm Vue is exactly that, for fitness mirrors: Clocking in just under $1000, it is a freestanding full-length mirror that’s reminiscent of the Mirror and the NordicTrack Vault, but priced nicely with some great features to recommend it.
There’s no wall-mount option, so this is a great option for people who don’t want to (or can’t) drill into their wall. And because there are no bulky accessories like a workout bench or 3D sensors to track your form and reps, you don’t need a lot of room to set it up, either. The net effect? It’s great for renters. Even so, you can see your form in the display, along with your live or on-demand trainer (the Vue uses the same iFit software as the NordicTrack Vault). And it’s all controlled with a touch screen display. And the entire mirror is cleverly built on a rotating base, so you can pivot the display as needed to make room for your workout space.
Because it’s running the iFit software, you get all the usual workout options, including strength training, HIIT training, Pilates, yoga and more. The system also comes with a small collection of accessories, including a bar and some weights, all of which hang discreetly on the back of the mirror. But considering that you only get a few very light weights, you’ll really need to supply your own for any meaningful workout. Likewise, Hodges warns that you need to set your expectations appropriately, because this might not be the best choice for serious athletes. “It is designed for beginners so advanced users have very few workout options when compared to most of its beginner programs.”