The Tron-inspired smart exercise bike
I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. I unbox, set up, test, and review a wide range of consumer tech products from my home in Florida, often with the help of my pitbull Bradley. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.
The Echelon EX-8S Connect smart stationary bike is striking, sturdy, and offers plenty of content to help you stay consistent, but its curved screen isn't worth the markup and the overall experience lags that of a Peloton.
As a New Jersey native, I often joke that I'm predisposed to appreciate tacky things. That's why I was so hyped when Echelon unveiled the flashy EX-8S Connect smart stationary bike at CES 2022. At $2,299.99, it's one of the most expensive models on the market (even before you factor in class membership fees), but it stands out thanks to its large, curved screen and Tron-inspired(Opens in a new window) LED rings that change color based on workout metrics. But the curved screen fails to deliver a more immersive viewing experience than its flat counterparts and the EX-8S is missing a few must-have features, including a rotating display and independent volume controls for the trainer and music. This machine offers no shortage of content to help you meet your fitness goals, but the same is true for a plethora of more value-rich competitors, including the Peloton Bike+, our Editors' Choice winner.
Echelon has a reputation for offering a Peloton-like experience for less, but the price gap has narrowed. At $2,299.99 (with interest-free financing options starting at $49 a month for 48 months), Echelon's EX-8S costs more than Peloton's equivalent, the Bike+, which got a permanent $500 price cut to $1,995 in April 2022.
In a role reversal, Echelon's previous flagship cycle, the $1,499.99 EX-5S, is now more expensive than the original Peloton Bike, which recently saw a $300 price cut to $1,195. When the EX-5S debuted in 2020, it cost around $600 less than the original Peloton Bike.
Although Peloton currently undercuts Echelon's hardware costs, the latter's Premier class membership is more affordable at $34.99 per month, $399.99 per year ($33.33 per month), or $699 every two years ($29.16 per month). Peloton, by comparison, now charges $44 per month for the All-Access class membership that pairs with its bikes.
Echelon requires you to select a Premier class plan at checkout when making any equipment purchase (unless you're already a member), which is customary for smart fitness machines. When you activate your membership on the bike, Echelon extends your warranty(Opens in a new window) coverage from 90 days to one year.
Echelon's membership gives you access to between 35 and 40 daily live classes, a library of thousands of on-demand workout videos, and the ability to create up to five separate profiles per account. Beyond cycling, Echelon's membership includes a range of floor-based workout and wellness classes, including boxing, HIIT, meditation, pilates, strength training, yoga, and more. With an active membership, you can use the same account credentials to log into the Echelon mobile app (available for Android and iOS) to follow classes on your phone when you're away from home.
Without a membership, you can still partake in unguided Freestyle rides and see the same metrics on screen as you would during a class (cadence, calories burned, distance, output, resistance, and speed). During Freestyle rides, there's no leaderboard and no trainer instruction, membership perks that go a long way to combat boredom and motivate you. If you cancel your subscription, you retain access to saved workout stats from when you had a subscription unless you delete your Echelon account entirely.
The EX-8S tablet is locked to Echelon's ecosystem. The same is true for most smart fitness machines except for the Stryde, which features an unlocked tablet. An Echelon spokesperson tells me that the company plans to add support for third-party video streaming apps like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+ soon, a feature not available on Peloton. The streaming apps will be locked behind the Echelon paywall as a perk for subscribers, however. Several other smart fitness machines offer access to third-party streaming services like Netflix, including the Aviron Rower, the Bowflex VeloCore, and the SoulCycle At-Home Bike with the same members-only caveat.
Unlike the EX-5S, which is essentially a clone of the original Peloton Bike, the new EX-8S brings some fresh ideas to the smart exercise bike market, including a curved touch screen and metrics-synced LED rings. Both are gimmicky and less useful than the differentiating features of Peloton's top-tier model: a rotating screen and support for automatic resistance adjustments.
My colleague, Will Greenwald, a home theater tech expert, says curved HDTVs are kinda dumb. After testing the EX-8S, I can say the same about its curved display. I understand why people like them for gaming, but curved screens are far less compelling for streaming fitness classes. NordicTrack's iFit platform might be better suited for use with a curved screen, given its scenic trainer-led classes that take place in picturesque locations all over the world. The vast majority of Echelon classes, on the other hand, take place in a studio and feature a single trainer. Echelon offers some unguided outdoor workout content but, due to the lack of a trainer, these sessions are boring.
The EX-8S's 24-inch, 1080p HD screen fails to impress as much as the flat one on a Peloton. Even at its maximum brightness (the only display setting you can adjust), images on the EX-8S's display lack the vibrancy of the Peloton’s. A flat but brighter and sharper screen is more immersive than a curved dull one. Another irk is that the screen constantly emits a low static sound when the bike is on.
The EX-8S's curved display tilts 180 degrees so you can set a viewing angle that works for you, but it doesn't rotate from side to side. Consequently, you may need to crane your neck to see the display when you're following floor-based workouts such as strength training and yoga. This is mostly a concern for those who are short on space and plan to stand beside the bike during floor-based workouts. If you have room for a yoga mat in front of or behind the bike, you should be fine.
Surprisingly, the LEDs have a purpose beyond aesthetics. When you're working out, they can signify either your heart rate zone (as long as you're wearing a connected heart rate monitor) or your output (a measure of your effort, based on cadence and resistance).
I set the lights to sync with my heart rate zone(Opens in a new window) and they work perfectly. As soon as my heart rate increases or decreases to a different zone, the lights change accordingly. The lights are pointless for cycling classes because it's easier to see your heart rate, heart rate zone, and output right on the screen, but they can be helpful during floor-based workouts.
During a recent strength class, I was a bit surprised when the lights switched to red, indicating the maximum heart rate zone. I glanced at the screen and indeed, my heart was beating at around 165bpm, which puts it in the red zone.
To customize the LED brightness, color, and effect, navigate to More > Equipment Lighting on the EX-8S display. Besides syncing them with your metrics, you can make the lights shine a solid hue, breathe, or pulse, as well as pick from 15 color options. You can also configure different light settings for when you're working out and when the bike is powered on but inactive.
Measuring 59 by 23 by 65 inches (LWH) and weighing 124 pounds, the EX-8S is standard sized for a smart indoor cycle. It's well built and sits on a sturdy base with four leveling feet you can adjust if you feel any rocking.
Using four different knobs, you can also adjust the height and depth of both the seat and handlebar to suit your proportions and comfort. Echelon Connect bikes are recommended(Opens in a new window) for riders who weigh up to 300 pounds and measure between 4'11'' and 6'4'' tall.
The EX-8S comes with dual-sided pedals that feature SPD clips on one side, and adjustable toe cages on the other. I ride with well-worn Pearl Izumis(Opens in a new window) I first got when testing the SoulCycle At-Home Bike, but the EX-8S works with any SPD-compatible clip-in cycling shoes, or regular athletic sneakers.
Echelon stationary bikes offer 32 levels of silent magnetic resistance that you manually control with a knob beneath the handlebars or a removable Bluetooth controller on the handlebar. The controller, which features up and down buttons to adjust resistance, is a nice bonus, but the knob is easier to use. The controller's non-rechargeable battery died after about three months of light use and I haven't felt compelled to replace it. If you like the controller, make sure to have a stash of Lithium Cell CR2450 3V coin batteries(Opens in a new window) on hand. The EX-8S does not support automatic resistance adjustments, a feature that is available on the Peloton Bike+ and the NordicTrack S22i.
The EX-8S's dual front-facing 5W speakers sit beneath the display and get sufficiently loud. My biggest gripe about the Echelon platform is that you cannot independently control the music and trainer volumes, a feature available on most smart fitness machines. Sometimes I want to turn just the trainer volume down and the music up, or vice versa, and that’s not possible on the EX-8S. An Echelon spokesperson says the company is planning to enhance the volume experience "by the end of the year."
The bike features Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity for wireless headphones and heart rate monitors. In testing, I had no problem connecting Apple AirPods and a Polar OH1 optical heart rate monitor with the bike. It also, strangely, features not one, but two 3.5mm audio jacks for wired headphones; one is on the bottom edge of the tablet and another resides on the back.
The tablet runs on an RK3399 hexa-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of ROM. The Power button is located on the front alongside the volume buttons. On the back, the tablet features Ethernet, HDMI, USB-A (two), and USB-C ports; a microSD slot (this doesn't have any functionality for users); and the aforementioned AUX jack.
Behind the padded saddle is a rack on which you can hang two dumbbells and your cycling shoes. A storage rack beneath the tablet has room for two water bottles. The power port sits on the back of the bike, beneath the rear flywheel.
If you opt for the one- or two-year membership at checkout, shipping is free in the contiguous US. Alternatively, you can upgrade to "premium in-home delivery and assembly" for around $100; this option includes delivery to the room of your choice, unboxing, setup, and debris removal.
If you go with the monthly membership plan, you pay around $100 for shipping or $200 for premium delivery and assembly.
Echelon provided premium delivery and assembly services for the EX-8S review unit. The two-person team fully assembled the bike in a flash and hauled away the packaging material after they were done. All I had to do was connect the tablet to my home Wi-Fi network and sign in with my Echelon membership credentials.
Although I can't speak to the DIY setup process, Echelon does provide a nice manual with photos and written instructions for each step. The assembly process involves attaching the base, saddle, dumbbell rack, handlebar post, tablet mount arm, handlebars, water bottle holder, pedals, tablet, and connecting a few wires.
The first time I attempted to use the EX-8S, the resistance system didn't work correctly. The bike simply would not respond when I turned the knob or pressed the buttons on the resistance controller. At other times, the resistance would change when I wasn't even moving the knob or pressing the controller. An Echelon spokesperson said the company was aware of the issue and they rolled out a firmware update that fixed the problem the next day. Since then, I have not had any problems with the bike's resistance.
One small gripe about the EX-8S is that it can be annoyingly slow to boot up. Each time you power it on, you must "wake" the bike by moving the pedals to connect it with the app. Next, it always checks for firmware updates, which take a few minutes to install, if available. Echelon rolls out frequent firmware updates, which is a good thing, but they may occasionally delay the start of your workout. If you're short on time, try to remember to boot up the bike a few minutes before you plan to hop on. When you only have a 30-minute window to work out, the last thing you want to do is wait for a firmware update to install (I know from experience).
On rare occasions, classes on the EX-8S buffer, but I attribute that more to my Wi-Fi network than the bike. For comparison, the buffering I experienced on the Stryde bike was way worse. On the EX-8S, I was able to resolve any buffering by switching the connection from 2.4GHz to 5GHz. Echelon recommends(Opens in a new window) minimum download speeds of at least 20Mbps, which shouldn't be an issue for most households.
I have tested several Echelon machines over the past few years, including the EX-5S bike, the Reflect 50-inch touch screen workout mirror, and the Stride foldable treadmill, so I already had a good idea of what to expect from the platform. When briefing me about the EX-8S, Echelon CEO Lou Lentine says the company made significant investments on the content side since I tested the EX-5S in 2020, so I was excited to see how the overall experience has evolved.
Those investments include several new instructor hires, partnerships with popular musical artists like Pitbull(Opens in a new window) and New Dominion(Opens in a new window) , and classes featuring tunes from Broadway musicals like Phantom of the Opera and Wicked. The platform also now offers Tour de France- themed(Opens in a new window) rides, Zumba-inspired(Opens in a new window) classes, and Monday Night Football pregame workouts(Opens in a new window) featuring NFL players.
With around 5,000 classes in its on-demand library at the time of this writing and live workouts streaming throughout the day, Echelon's commitment to content is evident. There's no shortage of classes on the Echelon platform to meet your fitness goals and stay motivated.
That said, I'm disappointed by Echelon's user interface, which is laggy and could be much better organized to help users more quickly sort through the vast workout library. At the time of this writing, there are five main sections: Featured, On Demand, Live, Progress, and More. When browsing classes and moving between tabs on the EX-8S, I always encounter a spinning circle, a problem I never encounter on Peloton's zippy interface.
Beyond speed, Peloton's interface has a significant usability advantage, with a personalized Home tab that makes it easy to find new classes from your favorite instructors and sessions similar to those you have taken in the past. The EX-8S's Featured tab is more generic, with carousels of upcoming live workouts, trending classes, Challenges, and more.
In the On Demand tab, you can browse Echelon's entire class library and filter workouts by Type, Length, Genre, and Instructor, but this section is poorly organized. Some of the filtering options are useless: For instance, when I click Bands, which would presumably surface classes featuring resistance bands, nothing comes up. Many Echelon strength classes do indeed utilize resistance bands, so it would be nice if this filtering option worked. The same is true for the Weights filter, which, at the time of this writing, brings up zero results. At the same time, the Strength filter offers more than 1,000 classes, many of which incorporate weights.
Moreover, you can select only one filtering option from each category at a time. Say I want to find beginner yoga classes, for instance. Under the Type filter, you'll find options for Beginner and Yoga, but I can't select them at the same time. Say I want to use the Length filter to find both 30- and 45-minute classes; you have to search for them one at a time because you can't select both.
The Live tab shows a schedule of upcoming live workouts, organized into the following categories: Cycling, Strength, Tone, and Stretch. I wish Echelon lumped all of the live classes together because you have to click into each category to see what's available. The company streams live cycling classes pretty much every hour, from at least 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., so there's a good chance you can find one when you want to work out. Like on Peloton, Live classes are a strength of the Echelon platform; I'll describe them in the next section.
In the Progress tab, you can view your workout history and stats, but there's room for improvement here in terms of usability. My biggest complaint is that there's no way to replay a workout from the Progress tab. Given the disorganization of the On Demand tab, I find it's sometimes almost impossible to locate and replay specific classes you have already completed.
At the same time, the class previews offer no indication that you have already completed that session. Echelon also often reuses the same generic instructor headshots for floor-based workouts, so you might accidentally repeat a class. On Peloton's more intuitive user interface, every class preview has a unique image from that session and a simple check mark denotes those you have already completed.
Echelon's Star feature isn't much help, either. Classes you manually mark with a star show up in a Favorites carousel in the Featured tab for easy access. You can manually Star any class from the Featured or On Demand screen (in other words, before you have taken it), but not from the post-workout summary, which is where it would make more sense.
These critiques might sound nitpicky (and I could go on), but my point is that if Echelon wants to charge Peloton-like prices, it should offer a similarly slick experience.
Its user interface needs work, but I have fewer complaints about Echelon's fitness offerings. They still lack some of the polish and theatrics you find on Peloton, but Echelon's classes are entertaining, well-planned, and deliver a real burn.
I have been testing the EX-8S for three months. I shoot for a couple of classes per week, and usually stick with cycling, yoga, and strength training. I really love Echelon's Intervals & Arms classes, which alternate bursts of all-out effort on the bike with free weight sections for a total body workout. As a longtime yoga practitioner and teacher, I also enjoy the Athletic Yoga classes, which offer fun and challenging sequences incorporating fitness moves such as planks and crunches.
Echelon has a large and diverse instructor roster, so you're sure to connect with a few. I quickly found my favorites on the platform: Lindsay Gurry, Janet Adams, and Nicole Griffin make cycling sessions fly by; Dani Dellarco and Jama Oliver deliver kick-ass strength workouts; and yoga instructor Ryn Tucker helps me find peace. The Echelon instructors foster a sense of community. They talk about things going on in their lives to help pass the time. After a while, taking class with them day after day, you start to feel like you know them.
Echelon's Live classes are fun and competitive. They typically attract between 60 and 100 riders, so you have a better chance of getting a teacher shoutout than on Peloton, where it's not uncommon to see hundreds, if not thousands, of other members on the live leaderboard. After each cycling class, a post-workout summary shows your leaderboard rank, output, calories, resistance, cadence, and distance. I'm usually in the bottom half of the leaderboard.
The Echelon class screen hasn't changed much since I reviewed the EX-5S, so I won't detail it here. If you're interested in learning more about the on-screen metrics and leaderboard, scroll to the "Working Out" section of my EX-5S review. You can pause workouts on the EX-8S at any time, but you can't fast forward or rewind.
The fitness platform offers plenty of musical variety to suit everyone from EDM to country fans, but the audio occasionally sounds far away or slightly muffled, which really hampers the experience. And, as mentioned, you can't control the trainer and music volume separately, which should be a default feature, especially in this price range, considering that music can make or break a workout.
Echelon's Spotify integration leaves much to be desired, especially compared with the frictionless experience on Peloton. I successfully signed into my Spotify account on the EX-8S, so I should have the ability to save playlists and individual songs to my music streaming account from the Echelon class preview screen. I've tried several times, and though the EX-8S flashes a message saying "playlist added to Spotify," I can't find the music in my streaming app.
Peloton, meanwhile, integrates with both Spotify and Apple Music; it lets you save tracks during classes. If you like a song you hear during a Peloton workout, simply tap the heart icon next to the song name to add it to a playlist called "My Peloton Music" on your connected streaming account. During workouts, the EX-8S doesn't even show the name of the song that is currently playing on-screen. You can see the playlist only on the class preview screen.
With its curved display and bright lights, the Echelon EX-8S Connect Bike certainly looks cool. I'm a fan of the metric-synced LED rings, but the curved screen sadly falls flat. Moreover, Echelon's user interface is frustratingly disorganized and the audio experience wasn't up to par. Where the EX-8S shines is on the content side; you get tons of live, trainer-led classes throughout the day, as well as an expansive library of on-demand workouts to help you meet your fitness goals. However, the EX-8S is around $300 more expensive than its closest competitor, the Peloton Bike+, and its differentiating features are not worth the upcharge (even if its cheaper membership rate can save you money in the long run). The Bike+ ultimately remains our Editors' Choice winner in the premium smart stationary bike category because of its automatic resistance adjustments, brighter screen, excellent audio experience, and more intuitive interface. If you don't care about competing on a leaderboard, we highly recommend the dance-focused SoulCycle At-Home Bike ($1,950) and the more affordable MYX II ($1,399).
The Echelon EX-8S Connect smart stationary bike is striking, sturdy, and offers plenty of content to help you stay consistent, but its curved screen isn't worth the markup and the overall experience lags that of a Peloton.
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I'm PCMag's expert on fitness and smart home technology, and I've written more than 6,000 articles and reviews in the 10-plus years I've been here. I unbox, set up, test, and review a wide range of consumer tech products from my home in Florida, often with the help of my pitbull Bradley. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade.
Before becoming an analyst in 2020, I spent eight years as a reporter covering consumer tech news. Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
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