Smart fitness mirrors are one of those products that imply that you are serious about working out. It’s not like having an old exercise bike covered in a pile of laundry and cobwebs. They are tall and narrow and it would be hard to drape anything over them to hide your guilt.
Even calling them a mirror feels wrong. Yes, technically they still mirror your torso and face. But these mirrors think they’re better than your other regular mirrors, and would beat them all if they could, then shout, “Looks like 28 years of bad luck in this room!”
Fitness mirrors tend to feature touchscreens that offer real-time feedback on fitness goals, host a range of aerobics and strength training classes, and are ideal for those who like to look at themselves in the mirror while working out, but don’t want others to see that they’re doing it in the gym.
Why is my mirror screaming at me?
The highly advanced (expensive) Tonal is pretty much the centaur of the smart mirror world, acting as a half-mirror, half-weightlifter. It features two built-in resistance arms that can be applied to over 200 exercises (I didn’t know there were more than seven) and gives you access to instructor-led virtual studio classes.
Since the hardest part of going to the gym is leaving the house, what it does more than anything is prevent those embarrassing moments where you put on your workout clothes but end up sitting down. in front of the television while eating hot Cheetos. Who am I kidding? I would still end up doing that with this $3,400 machine.
This arm mirror also has multiple sensors to make sure you’re performing the moves correctly and provides tracking and feedback like a personal trainer, but without you secretly hoping they’ll take pity and walk away with you.
Mirror (which is owned by Lululemon), seems to have taken the simple “Let’s just call it Mirror” route. It’s geared more towards aerobics classes than weight training and gives you access to kickboxing, pilates, ballet, barre, and all kinds of other classes they’d ask me to quit.
Although it doesn’t have sensors, you can get real-person training using Mirror’s two-way camera, which shuts off to protect privacy when the session is over. Otherwise, you’d hear things like, “Is that what you eat after you exercise?”
The Echelon Reflect offers personalized real-time stats on your heart rate and calories burned and lets you compete with friends while doing it (my friends and I have drinking contests instead, but to each their own) .
There’s even a celebrity section where you can take classes led by celebrities like Mario Lopez. Listen, who were you expecting? Christopher Walken? Jesse Eisenberg?
Feel the burn (in your wallet)
Smart fitness mirrors are not like other smart products where a consumer tries to decide between buying a regular mirror and a smart fitness mirror like one might with a smart toothbrush or something. No one is on the fence here.
But I like the idea that somewhere out there, someone bought a smart fitness mirror for a couple thousand dollars, and later thought, “He should have gotten a $47 one from Home Deposit.”
Technically, you could replicate all of the above functionality by buying a regular full-length mirror and using fitness apps and trackers on your smartphone with inexpensive home gym equipment, but you wouldn’t feel to live in the future. So if you’re someone who is already very disciplined in your workouts and you know you won’t just end up shaving or practicing card tricks in front of these, these might be for you.
Just don’t use one of the smart fitness mirrors in the bathroom. You will slip and gouge out your eye.
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