6 Best Smartwatches for Indoor Rowing: (2025 Guide & Reviews)

Last Updated on December 19, 2025 by Luis Cooper

Rowing is a fantastic exercise to stay fit and reduce weight quickly.

A rowing boat is done in water and a lot of people are aware of this type only, but today you can also discover rowing machines that help you get the same great workout advantages indoors.

This exercise has a great influence on your physique and mind, whether you practice it indoors or outside.

If you’re able to track your exercises, rowing’s advantages can be further increased.

As a result, we’ve compiled a list of the top fitness trackers and smartwatches that are best for rowing, so you’ll be able to keep track of both your outdoor and indoor rowing activities.

Which are the Best Smartwatches for Indoor Rowing?

Here are my recommended top 6 Best Smartwatches for Indoor Rowing:-

 

Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra: (Best AI Rugged Smartwatch)

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra  is a rugged, well-rounded smartwatch that works surprisingly well for indoor rowing.

It blends a large, bright display with reliable sensors and useful workout tools.

For rowers who want accurate heart data, clear interval tracking, and quick on-wrist controls during erg sessions, the Ultra feels like a premium companion: big enough to read at a glance, robust enough to handle sweat and splashes, and smart enough to keep focus on training rather than fiddling with settings.

BATTERY:

Battery life is practical for indoor athletes.

With GPS turned off for indoor erg work, the Ultra easily lasts through multiple workouts and a full day of tracking.

On heavy-use days (lots of workouts, Always-On display, and frequent notifications) expect to recharge sooner, but for typical rowing routines the watch won’t force mid-session charging. I

f you prefer long studio sessions or double workouts, switching to a power-saving mode extends runtime without losing core heart-rate and interval logs.

MUSIC & PHONE-FREE USE:

The Ultra supports local music storage and Bluetooth audio so you can row without your phone.

Playlists load quickly, and on-wrist media controls are easy to hit between intervals.

If your gym uses a tablet or coach app, the watch still offers simple pause/skip controls so you don’t break flow to change tracks.

RECORDING & ROWING METRICS:

For indoor rowing the essentials are clean heart-rate tracking, precise interval timing, and clear split recording.

The Galaxy Watch Ultra captures heart-rate zones reliably during steady rows and threshold pieces.

Workout modes let you set up warm-ups, intervals, and rest repeats.

While it won’t read every erg’s native metrics directly, it records time, heart rate, calories, and lap splits accurately and exports sessions to training platforms for post-workout analysis.

The big screen also makes it simple to track countdown timers and stroke intervals mid-set.

HEALTH & RECOVERY FEATURES:

The Ultra includes continuous heart-rate monitoring, HRV-based recovery suggestions, sleep staging, and stress tracking — all useful for planning rowing intensity.

After hard sessions you’ll see recovery scores and sleep trends that help decide whether to push or rest the next day.

The watch also offers breathing guides and cooldown timers that pair well with a rowing cooldown routine.

FIT & PRACTICAL TIPS FOR ROWERS:

• Positioning: Wear the watch slightly higher on the forearm during erg work to reduce wrist flex and get steadier heart-rate readings.

• Strap choice: A snug silicone or sport strap keeps the watch from sliding when you’re pulling hard.

• Workout setup: Build a custom interval workout in the Samsung Health app and sync it — starting sessions is then one-tap simple.

• Power management: Turn off Always-On display for long sessions to preserve battery while keeping heart-rate sampling active.

Conclusion:

I used the Ultra for a mix of 2k intervals and a 60-minute steady row.

The display made it easy to glance at splits without losing form, and heart-rate traces matched chest-strap behavior closely during steady efforts.

Heavy sprint intervals showed some optical noise during the fiercest efforts, but raising the watch slightly improved stability.

Overall, the Ultra felt solid and unobtrusive for repeated erg training.

SPECS:

• Display: Large, high-brightness AMOLED — easy to read during sessions.

• Sensors: Optical heart rate, accelerometer, gyroscope, barometer.

• Battery: Multi-day typical use; indoor rowing with AOD off gives long runtime.

• Storage: Local music and media controls for phone-free training.

• Water resistance: Swim-safe rating and durable build for sweaty gyms.

• Workout features: Custom intervals, lap splits, HR zone alerts, exportable session data.

Garmin 7X: (Best Smartwatch for Indoor Rowing Under $600)

It is easy to claim that this is the best smartwatch for indoor rowing available in the market.

On my birthday, my father gave me this watch, and I’ve worn it nonstop ever since.

It is easy to use and provides the best features.

The GPS and other tracking sensors are excellent and offer precise tracking of all the vital signs of a person’s health.

Features:

Design:

The Fenix 7X improves the watch casing with robust button shields as well as metal-reinforced studs, further enhancing the reputation for the ruggedness of the Garmin Fenix line.

To strengthen the construction and make the casing even tougher without drastically altering the design of the watch, Garmin likewise utilized reinforced materials in vital spots.

The case features the exact five buttons all over it, and it resembles the Fenix 6 Pro in terms of both the bezel as well as the case.

The Fenix 7X watch face appears less cluttered since the body’s tightening screws have been cut back and moved far away from the bezel.

Battery Life:

The Fenix 7X boasts a battery capacity that is comparable to the Garmin Enduro because of the inclusion of the solar Energy Glass.

According to reports, the Fenix 7’s upgraded Energy Glass is higher, which increases its potential to capture solar energy nearly to 200% when in smartwatch function.

For greater efficiency, the improved structure increases solar surface region.

The solar-powered Fenix 7X versions have a battery lifespan of up to 5 weeks for the smartwatch style or 5 days when in GPS mode, allowing them to last even longer between charges.

On a single charge, the five days of GPS tracking are astounding.

What Makes It Best:

I’ll admit that when I initially learned about the flashlight functionality in the Fenix 7X, I dismissed it as a novelty.

However, now that I’ve used it, I’m left wondering how I ever got along without it.

To be clear, I’m not speaking about the typical flashlight where the display brightens up, but rather a real flashlight that is incorporated into the watch.

It can be turned on by swiftly double-pressing the lighting key (top left) or by long-pressing the lighting key and selecting the flashlight mode.

Conclusion:

The Fenix 7 is Garmin’s most sophisticated multi-sports smartwatch to date, but it also comes with new training capabilities that have been thoughtfully created to be used by a broader variety of athletes.

 

Apple Watch Series 10: (Best Smartwatch for Indoor Rowing)

The Apple Watch Series 10 is one of the strongest choices for indoor rowers who want accurate heart data, stroke-aware workout tracking, and smooth on-wrist controls during erg sessions.

It pairs a refined sensor suite (electrical heart sensor + third-generation optical heart sensor, high-g accelerometer and gyroscope) with a growing set of rowing-focused apps that record stroke rate, split times and rowing-specific intervals.

Together, those pieces make the Series 10 excellent at turning an indoor workout into a clean, reviewable training session on your wrist and phone.

Battery:

For indoor rowing you won’t be burning GPS or heavy background services, so the Series 10 easily covers long erg sessions plus the rest of a normal day on a single charge.

If you use Always-On display, continuous SpO₂, or long post-row syncing to third-party apps your runtime shrinks, but switching those off during a hard erg set keeps the watch running without interruption.

The practical takeaway: manage power features and you’ll get through multi-hour training blocks without anxiety.

Music & Phone-free Training:

Apple’s music playback and offline playlists work well for phone-free erg pieces.

With Bluetooth headphones paired, you can start a rowing workout, control music from the watch, and keep momentum through intervals without touching your phone.

Cellular models add the option to stream when you need it, but most indoor rowers prefer downloaded playlists to avoid any streaming hiccups during sprint repeats.

What matters most:

The Series 10 shines because developers can now build stroke-aware apps that read accelerometer/gyro patterns and translate them into stroke rate and per-stroke stats.

There are dedicated rowing apps on the App Store that count strokes, give strokes-per-minute, and let you mirror a live dashboard to your iPhone while you row.

For erg workouts the watch records heart rate and calories accurately and logs interval splits cleanly; many athletes pair those logs with platform exports (Strava, TrainingPeaks) for deeper analysis.

If you want distance from an erg, use a compatible rowing app that accepts machine output or let the watch focus on stroke rate and effort rather than GPS distance.

Why this helps your rowing:

Series 10’s improved heart sensors give solid zone data during threshold pieces and sprints.

That data powers recovery insights and sleep scoring so you can see whether hard sessions are leaving you recovered or drained.

The electrical heart sensor and better optical readouts reduce artefacts during high-impact efforts, making heart-rate-based pacing on the erg more reliable than older watches.

Use the watch’s recovery cues and sleep score to plan hard efforts and rest days more intelligently.

Practical tips for indoor rowers:

• Use a rowing-specific app (stroke-counting apps are common) and leave the standard Workout app set to Indoor Rowing for heart and calorie logging.
• Wear the watch slightly higher on the forearm during long erg sessions to reduce wrist flex and improve heart-rate accuracy.

• Turn off Always-On during long intervals to save power; enable it for casual steady rows when you want quick glances.

• If your gym erg outputs Bluetooth/ANT+ data, export session files from the rowing app to your training platform for more precise distance and split matching.

Specs:

Feature	Why it matters
S10 SiP + 4-core Neural Engine	Smooth app performance and fast on-device processing for workout apps.
Electrical heart sensor + 3rd-gen optical HR	Cleaner HR data during heavy intervals and sprints.
High-g accelerometer & dynamic gyroscope	Enables reliable stroke detection and rate counting by third-party apps.
Water temperature sensor & depth gauge	Not needed for erg, but shows the watch’s broader sensor depth.
Storage / Music	Local music playback for phone-free training and Bluetooth audio.

Garmin 955: (Best GPS Running Smartwatch with Solar Charging Capabilities)

I gave my brother the best smartwatch for indoor rowing as a wedding gift, and he adored it.

He talked about how well it had functioned and how much he had loved having this watch.

I received a heartfelt thank you from my brother for giving him this watch.

He explained to me how this smartwatch is the ideal size for practically any man’s wrist.

Features:

Design:

Although it weighs only 52 grams, the watch seems appropriately weighty and durable, so I have no qualms about using it on the craziest adventures.

The watch features a soft silicone band that is ideal for swims and is 5ATM completely waterproof, as you might expect from a triathlon-focused product.

It is also easy to wear on the wrist.

The aluminum case and five-button buttons of the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar are among the elements that share a significant portion of design DNA with several of Garmin’s iconic features.

Performance:

I thoroughly enjoyed my workouts while wearing this watch.

Having worn numerous Garmins before, I found them to be easy to use.

My GPS navigation and calories burnt on my regular 6 km training route matched up nicely with the GPS on my smartphone and the information gathered by MapMyRun, so I’m happy with the validity of the watch’s Multi-Band Global positioning software.

The pulse rate accuracy was also great. Excellent and simple-to-use coaching modalities were provided.

It made it possible for me to evaluate my progress as a racer like never before.

What Makes It Best:

The Garmin Connect application lets the company’s smartwatches connect with iOS or Android devices, giving you access to a wide range of health and wellness features without paying a separate subscription.

Using this watch, you can keep track of every single stat related to your exercise, performance, body composition, recuperation, and overall health.

And regardless of whether you’re simply reading through the regular feed or delving deeply into the analytics, Garmin makes every effort to provide you with information that you can use.

Conclusion:

I had high hopes for the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar, and it even topped all of them.

The Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar is one of the greatest fitness watches I have ever used.

I adore the watch’s style and layout the most.

Coros Pace 3: (Best GPS Sport watch)

The Coros Pace 3 is a lightweight running and multisport watch that also works very well for indoor rowing.

Its small, comfortable case and fast, accurate sensors make it a practical choice for rowers who want precise heart-rate data, long battery life, and simple on-wrist controls during erg sessions.

Coros focuses on clean workout data and reliable GNSS for outdoor use, but the Pace 3’s core strengths — accurate optical heart rate, responsive accelerometer, and easy workout setup — translate directly to better indoor rowing tracking.

If you want a watch that stays out of the way while giving you trustworthy training numbers, the Pace 3 delivers without fuss.

BATTERY:

One of the standout features for indoor athletes is the Pace 3’s battery.

The watch routinely lasts many days on a single charge with regular training, so you can use it for frequent erg sessions without thinking about charging each night.

Because indoor rowing doesn’t use GPS, battery drain during a row is minimal and you can run long interval blocks or extended workouts without worrying about the watch failing mid-session.

In daily practice the battery supports multiple workouts, sleep tracking, and continuous heart monitoring across several days.

MUSIC & DAILY USE:

The Coros Pace 3 supports music control from your phone and stores a small amount of local music for phone-free runs on some variants.

For indoor rowing you’ll usually bring a phone or tablet anyway for coaching apps or video, so having on-wrist media controls and the ability to pause, skip and adjust volume without reaching for your device is a real convenience during intervals and steady-state pieces.

RECORDING & ROWING METRICS:

For indoor rowing the most important metrics are heart rate, intervals, stroke rhythm (which the watch infers from arm motion), and accurate time/split logging.

The Pace 3 excels at clean heart-rate reads during steady and high-intensity intervals thanks to Coros’s refined optical sensor and smart smoothing algorithms.

You can create custom interval workouts on the Coros app, start an Indoor Row or Strength workout profile, and the watch will record precise intervals, rest sets, and total duration.

While it does not directly read data from connected rowing machines via ANT+/Bluetooth on most models, the watch captures cadence and movement patterns that combine with heart-rate zones to give a clear picture of effort and recovery.

Practical tip: position the watch a little higher on the forearm during long erg sets to reduce wrist flex and improve pulse stability.

That small fit change noticeably reduces spikes and gives cleaner zone training.

HEALTH & RECOVERY FEATURES:

Coros includes continuous heart-rate monitoring, sleep tracking, and recovery guidance — useful for rowers who balance multiple weekly sessions.

After a hard rowing block you’ll get heart-rate variability and recovery suggestions in the app, which help decide whether to push a hard day or keep it light.

Pace 3 also tracks stress trends and sleep quality; pairing those insights with interval data gives a clear view of how training impacts readiness.

WHY IT BEATS MANY COMPETITORS FOR INDOOR ROWING:

• Comfort and size: the Pace 3 is light and low-profile, so it doesn’t interfere with the rowing stroke. Many bulky multisport watches feel cumbersome on erg handles; this one stays out of the way.

• Heart-rate accuracy during intervals: Coros has improved optical algorithms that keep readings stable during high-intensity splits — this matters more to rowers than raw GPS bells and whistles.

• Custom workout flexibility: the Coros app is simple to use for building interval sessions and rest sets specifically for erg training. You get structured sets, repeat counts, and alarms on the wrist without complex setup.

• Battery that lasts: because the watch doesn’t force daily charging, you can focus on training rather than power management.

FIT & PRACTICAL ADVICE:

• Wear it slightly above the wrist bone for the best HR stability.

• Use a snug strap during erg workouts; silicone or sport straps work best.

• Create a rowing workout template in the Coros app with warm-up, intervals, and cool-down; sync it to the watch so you start sessions quickly.

• Export workout CSV/TCX files if you use third-party training platforms to keep a full training log.
  

 

Polar Pacer Ultra Light: (Best Fitness Tracker)

The Polar Pacer Ultra Light is built for athletes who want exact heart data, simple widgets, and a near-weightless feel during erg sessions.

Its compact case and flat profile reduce wrist interference while you pull, and the screen shows clear workout timers and zone indicators so you never miss a rep.

Polar focuses on pure training tools rather than flashy extras, which makes this tracker especially useful for indoor rowers who care about clean metrics and dependable logging.

BATTERY:

Because indoor rowing doesn’t use GPS, the Pacer Ultra Light’s battery lasts through many sessions without stress.

Expect multi-day use with regular training, and long interval sets won’t drain the watch noticeably.

The efficient power management gives peace of mind during back-to-back workouts and lets you concentrate on performance rather than charging.

MUSIC & DAILY USE:

The device offers phone music controls and quick media actions on the wrist, so you can pause or skip tracks while holding the handle.

It isn’t designed to store large local libraries, but paired phone control is smooth and instant, which is enough when you run a rowing app or playlist from your phone or tablet during sessions.

ROWING METRICS:

For erg work the Pacer Ultra Light records the essentials precisely: continuous heart rate, interval timing, lap splits, and elapsed time.

Polar’s heart-rate smoothing keeps spikes down during aggressive intervals, giving a realistic view of effort.

You can build custom interval workouts—warmup, repeats, rests and cooldown—and send them to the watch.

The unit logs every set cleanly and exports workout files for deeper analysis in training platforms.

If your erg broadcasts Bluetooth data, use a compatible app to merge machine metrics with the watch’s heart data for a richer session file.

TRAINING and RECOVERY FEATURES:

Polar adds value with recovery guidance and training load tracking that help rowers balance hard days and rest.

After a tough erg, you’ll get recovery recommendations based on HRV trends and recent workload.

Sleep and daily readiness scores show whether a hard session pushed you toward fatigue or productive stress.

These signals let you plan the next workout smarter instead of guessing.

FIT & PRACTICAL TIPS:

• Wear the watch slightly above the wrist bone to reduce motion artefacts during powerful pulls.

• Use a snug sport strap; less movement equals steadier heart reads.

• Build interval templates in Polar Flow and sync them so sessions start with one tap.

• Turn off unnecessary background sensors during long training blocks to keep battery levels healthy.

Conclusion:

In several weeks of erg training, the Pacer Ultra Light tracked intervals and steady pieces with consistent heart-rate curves.

Short, intense sprints showed small optical jitter at the very peak, but placing the watch a touch higher on the forearm reduced noise.

The lightweight feel meant the watch stayed out of the way during long distances and did not interrupt handle movement.

SPECS:

Feature	Detail
Case	Ultra-light compact design, low profile for minimal interference
Display	Clear transflective / color display, easy to read under gym lights
Sensors	Refined optical heart rate, accelerometer, gyro
Workouts	Custom interval builder, lap/split logging, exportable files
Battery	Multi-day typical use; long runs without GPS consume little power
Connectivity	Bluetooth for phone sync and third-party app integration
Extras	Training Load Pro, Recovery Pro, sleep and readiness metrics

Ending Paragraph:

Alright, guys, We have finalized our discussion about the best smartwatches for indoor rowing. 

Do you guys have experience with the best smartwatches for indoor rowing?

What are your thoughts on them?

Which smartwatches are the best smartwatches for indoor rowing? 

Is there any smartwatch you love to give that I didn’t mention in this article?

Would you please leave your comments below?

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