If you’re in the market for an interactive fitness machine, the Mirror and Tempo Studio are likely at the top of your list. After extensive testing, both earned our coveted Editors’ Choice award, designating them as class-leading smart home gym products we highly recommend. But which one is right for you?
We’re comparing the Mirror and Tempo Studio to help you decide which is the best fit for your budget, home, goals, and preferences. And because they aren’t the only models worth considering, we’ll go over some of our favorite alternatives.
The Right Size for Your Home
If you’re short on space, the Mirror and Tempo Studio are both fantastic options. The Mirror is smaller and more discreet, while the Tempo has a superior display.
When the Mirror isn’t in use, it’s hard to tell there’s a display inside, so it can easily pass for a regular full-length mirror. If you don’t have a dedicated workout room or home gym, you can put it in your living room or bedroom, and it won’t stand out like a sore thumb. It features a 40-inch 1080p display, measures 52 by 21 by 2 inches (HWD), and weighs 70 pounds. You only need enough floor space for a workout mat.
The Tempo Studio is also compact and attractive, featuring an easel-like design with a 42-inch 4K touch screen and a cabinet on the front that neatly stores all the included weights so they’re out of sight when not in use. You can hang the included dumbbells and barbell on the back. It measures 72 by 26 by 16 inches (HWD) and weighs 100 pounds. It takes up three square feet on your floor, but you need six feet clear in front of it. It’s important that you have enough space, because you need to place your mat six feet away from the machine, horizontally, for its sensors to track your movements.
Since the Mirror’s display isn’t a touch screen, you have to control it with your phone via the Mirror app (available for Android and iOS). The Tempo, in comparison, functions like a massive tablet—you can navigate the interface with swipes and taps on the screen itself. It currently streams workouts in 1080p, but the company says it plans to move to 4K in the future.
Winner: Mirror (for taking up less space)
Price and Membership Fees
Both products are expensive, but if price is your biggest concern, the Mirror is the more wallet-friendly choice, though you’ll want to consider whether you already own the necessary accessories for the workouts you want to do. The Tempo Studio costs $500 more than the Mirror, but it comes with pretty much all the accessories you need for classes.
The Tempo costs $1,995, and you can finance it for as low as $55 per month for 36 months. The cost includes two 7.5-pound dumbbells, a 25-pound barbell, a heart rate monitor to track your calorie burn, a workout mat, and a recovery roller. To load your dumbbells and barbells, you get four 1.25-pound (red) weight plates, four 2.5-pound (yellow) plates, four 5-pound (gray) plates, and four 10-pound (blue) plates.
Unless you’re a serious weightlifter, those should be all of the accessories you need for classes. If it’s not enough weight for you, Tempo sells sets of 25- and 45-pound competition plates for $175 and $265, respectively. The machine comes in white or black (which is really a dark, grayish-blue color).
The Mirror will set you back $1,495, and the company offers the option to finance it for as low as $41.53 per month for 36 months. It comes with a wall mount and a carbon steel stand if you prefer to lean it against the wall rather than mount it. If you need accessories, Mirror charges $100 for a Starter Pack, which includes resistance bands and a Bluetooth heart rate monitor. The company doesn’t offer its own strength training equipment, but you’ll need to purchase dumbbells and a kettlebell if you don’t already have them and want to participate in the strength classes.
As is customary for smart home gym equipment, you’ll have to pay extra for a class membership. Mirror and Tempo both charge $39 per month for a membership, which gives you unlimited access to their respective live and on-demand classes. The Tempo membership lets you set up as many profiles as you want on your machine (everyone in your house will need their own profile so the correct weights are recommended). Mirror lets you create up to six profiles on one account.
Winner: Mirror (for a lower upfront price)
The Workouts
Both the Mirror and Tempo offer a wide selection of on-demand classes with options for all levels, as well as live workouts each week. The Mirror offers more variety in terms of workout types and a larger class library, but the Tempo Studio’s weightlifting experience is unmatched.
The Mirror currently offers thousands of on-demand workouts across more than 50 genres, including barre, boxing, cardio, chair, dance, kickboxing, pilates, pre/postnatal, strength, stretch, toning, and yoga.
The Tempo is mostly geared toward strength training, but it also offers cardio, HIIT, mobility, and recovery classes. It currently has hundreds of workouts in its on-demand library, and the company has been publishing new ones daily, so while there isn’t as much as Mirror, there’s no shortage of content.
During Mirror workouts, the instructor is in the middle of the display, explaining and demonstrating each exercise, and you can see your own reflection, which makes it easy to check your form.
On the Tempo, you can follow the trainer on screen, but it’s not a mirror, so you won’t see your own reflection. The Tempo uses a sophisticated 3D motion capture system and artificial intelligence to offer real-time feedback about your form, keeping you honest and helping to prevent injury.
In testing, we found the Tempo’s form feedback incredibly helpful. It will, for instance, tell you if you’re leaning or swaying with your back to complete a rep, or if your knees go past your toes when performing a squat. It also suggests the appropriate weight you should be lifting for each move, counts your reps, and records your pace and range of motion.
If you like to mix up your workouts and try different things, or you favor bodyweight exercises like yoga, pilates, and dance, go with the Mirror. If you prefer pumping iron, the Tempo Studio is the better choice.
Winner: Tie (Mirror for general workouts, Tempo Studio for strength training)
Alternatives to Consider
While the Mirror and Tempo Studio are two of our top picks, you’ll want to consider all of your options before investing in such costly equipment.
If you’re looking to make gains, it’s also worth checking out the Tonal, which packs an entire gym’s worth of strength training equipment into one sleek, wall-mounted smart machine. Starting at $2,995, it’s one of the most expensive smart home gym machines we’ve tested, but it’s also one of the most sophisticated. It uses a combination of electricity and magnets to digitize weights, offering up to 200 pounds of resistance, or 100 pounds on each arm.
There’s also the Echelon Reflect, an excellent Mirror alternative that gives you access to a range of on-demand and live workout classes, including barre, boxing, cardio, pilates, strength, yoga, and zumba. Echelon sells two models: a 50-inch version with a touch screen for $1,639.98, and a 40-inch version without a touch screen for $1,039.98.
For more, see our picks for the best smart home fitness equipment, as well as our ultimate guide to health and fitness tech.
