Meet Reflect—Echelon’s Latest Addition to the High-Tech Home Gym Equipment Market

Reflect, track, swipe: Reflect 50” provides an intimate, immersive, and personalized workout experience from the comfort of your home

Rating: 88/100 Interactive training has taken the fitness world by storm. What started out as a luxury addition to a home gym equipment purchase has since become a common feature and popular selling point of most home-use fitness machines and gadgets today. From iFit Google Maps trails on ProForm and NordicTrack treadmills, to live streamed spin classes on the Peloton, interactive training is now a standard part of in-home exercise that’s here to stay. 

But what if you didn’t even need a machine to interactively train? Or maybe you’re short on space, and don’t really want a full size fitness machine in your home. Sometimes, unwieldy machines—whatever their impressive tech or features—just don’t go with the decor.

This is where the mirror comes in. The world of high-tech home gym equipment is constantly evolving, but Smart mirrors (not to be confused with the brand Mirror who manufacture one of these devices) are becoming a popular gadget in the fitness space. They give you access to innovative fitness technology from the comfort of your home, without a bulky machine that may even need a room of its own. One such example is the Echelon Reflect 50″ Touch.

Allowing its users to discover ‘decorative fitness’, the Echelon Reflect 50″ Touch is a lightweight Smart mirror which has been upgraded from their earlier Echelon Reflect 40″ model with the addition of touchscreen tech. This chic wall decor comes with a specially made bracket which secures it flush against the wall, allowing it to blend into your living space as an elegant mirror when out of use. Although it looks just like your average mirror, the Reflect offers workout guidance that rivals any other machine like Mirror or Tonal. 

With a subscription of $39 per month you open the doors to a whole whole host of on-demand workouts, live streamed classes and training methods, from high-energy cardio to meditation and beyond. With heart-rate tracking technology, real-time stats, and personalized training, staying on track with in-home fitness is simple and fun. What’s more, there’s not a machine intruding on your living space in sight.

Features

The Reflect 50” is sized at 47.75″ H x 24″ W x 2″ D and weighs in at 52 lbs, making it suitable for any high-end gym, hotel, residential space or commercial space. The 32″ full HD 1080p 60 Hz touchscreen has NANO crystal coating and fingerprint resistant glass designed in portrait layout. As opposed to a landscape design like a traditional television or monitor offers, this layout allows you to view yourself as you work out. This is perfect for following your interactive routines and something that comes especially in handy for classes like yoga and pilates in which you can alter your pose and technique in line with the instructor. 

For your workout guidance, the Reflect offers a set of 8W speakers with good sound quality for both exercise class instruction and background music. It’s also WiFi and Bluetooth enabled for you to stream new workout classes, and has an 8 megapixel front-facing camera for future 1:1 coaching. Driving the Reflect is a 1.8GHz Quad core CPU (Android 7.1 system).

When it comes to interactive workout tech, the Reflect 50” doesn’t disappoint. Heart-rate technology is the name of the game here. The Reflect features a heart-track system which shows your heart rate up to the second, allowing you to stay in your optimal zone. You can set your goals with the help of biometrics tracking to ensure you perform at your best. 

As for the workouts, there’s no app download required by each user, and the Reflect’s accessible, WiFi enabled touchscreen display will give the feeling of being fully immersed in every class. Cloud-based streaming video technology is used to deliver the exclusive Echelon Reflect classes 24/7, anywhere in the world, including live streamed classes. Subscription to the service costs $39 per month, and if you already have a Connect Bike membership, your Reflect membership will be free. Whatever your workout style, you can mix it up with anything from pilates to barre, or zumba to boxing. There’s also live one-on-one classes in the pipeline, something which Mirror is also offering in the near future.

Warranty Details

The Reflect 50” probably needs a longer warranty for a gadget at this price point. Although wear and tear isn’t a concern here like it would be on something like a treadmill or elliptical machine, a 2-year warranty seems a bit light for a gadget in its price class. It would just help to instill confidence if the warranty was a bit longer. That said, they do offer a 30-day return policy, so if you decide the Reflect isn’t for you, you can return it for a replacement or refund in this time frame.

Compared to other similar machines, the warranty falls right in the middle. Where Mirror offers a 1-year warranty, Tonal offers 3.

How does Reflect 50” compare to other Smart mirrors, like Mirror or Tonal?

The main differences between the leading Smart mirrors on the market come down to the type of display, the workout variety, and the actual physical design of the mirror.  Tonal and the Reflect 50” are a cut above Mirror for the simple fact that they both have touchscreen displays rather than being controlled by your phone or tablet. This means you can swipe, browse and change workouts really easily, which is of course a big bonus.

As for workout variety, the Tonal’s monthly membership fee is $49/month and gives users access to a whole host of training options geared towards a variety of goals. Mirror’s fee is the same as Reflect; in both cases, when you pay a monthly subscription of $39 per month you will gain access to a host of training sessions in a broad range of categories including cardio, strength training, yoga, pilates, and more. 

The Tonal’s workout variety is intrinsically linked to its physical design; Tonal is not only a fitness tracking and interactive workout delivery mechanism like Mirror and Reflect 50”, it also adds actual strength training to the mix. Tonal has the ability to dynamically alter resistance in order to help you reach your goals; strength training is the key focus here. So it really comes down to whether this is a key fitness goal for you or whether you are more interested in trying a wide variety of fitness classes and reaching more general goals such as improved cardio or enhancing your well-being with your machine.

Conclusion

Although Reflect (and Smart mirrors in general) may seem like a niche piece of fitness gear, depending on your workout interests, budget, and residential space or decor constraints, it could be your perfect fitness companion. The key positives come down to saving money on boutique fitness classes, convenience, and a chic design that doesn’t sacrifice any space in your home. 

For those that find themselves spending a small fortune on boutique fitness classes, pricey gym memberships or fitness bootcamps, bringing interactive training into your home could save you a lot of money. So even though it does have what seems like a hefty price tag, if you fall into the fitness audience just described and don’t mind sacrificing the social aspects of being part of a live class with others and an in-person instructor, you’re going to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in the long run. 

The other key positive is the design of the Smart mirror in general. These machines bring professional training into your living space, without sacrificing space or decor; it’s not an eyesore like many other unwieldy machines on the market. If you’re looking to stay on more of a budget or instead want to exercise on a machine that offers interactive training instead, it would be better for you to look at iFit enabled treadmills and exercise bikes.