The Peloton Guide is a little over a year old now, having released to the US, UK, Canada, and Australia in April of 2022. At it's core, it's a simple product. The Peloton Guide is a $195 streaming box with a wide angle camera on the front that can output 1080p HD video. For what it is, it's built well and a good looking product. I've used it every day for the past week, and here's what I have to say about it.
What's included?
Included in the box are the device itself, a stand for the Guide that lets it sit under or on top of a TV, a remote with some AAA batteries, a USB-C brick and cable for power, and an HDMI cable. For such an expensive device, the package contents are relatively sparse. My Roku Ultra came with a few more goodies, as well as a rechargable remote. Speaking of, I have a lot to say about the Peloton Guide's included remote.
The miserable remote.
To be clear, this remote is not mandatory. The device supports HDMI-CEC (High Definition Multimedia Interface - Consumer Electronics Control), allowing this remote and the TV to talk. You can use the TV remote that came with your TV on the Guide if you so please. By pressing any button on the remote when the Guide's asleep, it'll turn on the TV. By pressing the Sleep option in the Guide's interface, it'll turn off the Guide and TV. Oh, and there are some volume buttons for the TV on the right side of the remote.
This remote... is actually unpleasant to use. There are multiple things that lead to this. Number one is how symmetrical it is. With how the D-Pad is sunken into the remote, it's hard to pick it up the right way. Since the remote is basically just an oval, if you work in the dark like me there's no good way to visually tell where up is. It just takes pressing down on the non-moving Peloton logo on the bottom to figure it out. The buttons in the center don't help out much. There's a back arrow, a menu button, and a play/pause button. I have never used the latter two.
On the topic of the D-Pad, it's indcredibly un-tactile. I personally really enjoy the D-Pad on my Roku Ultra remote, as well as on my Sony Bravia A80K remote. This, D-Pad on the other hand, isn't too great. There's not a real way to tell where each direction is. I know it's such a small thing, but the little bumps on the edges of the circle on my Sony Bravia remote are a lot better than this flat circle. In addition, the circular D-Pad is as mushy as one of those Heinz squeezable ketchup packets they have at Chick-Fil-A. Not pleasant.
Don't even get me started on this center button. Mine has to be defective. It takes two times the force that should be required to register a press. I can just press the button to hear the click, but that doesn't do anything. I have to force the button down further than I should. It's annoying at best, and should not be happening on an expensive device such as this Peloton Guide.
The last knock against the remote is the full rubber coating. I can see why they did this. The idea is that you're gonna be sweating from working out, so having a sealed rubber top will make it mildly sweatproof. This may be true, rubber like that loses it's matte finish in the water. I've noticed this from my various silicone Apple Watch bands after wearing them in the water, and my silicone iPhone case where I hold the phone. The nice coating is rubbing away, and it's not good.
The Guide's software could use some work.
When you turn on the Peloton Guide, you're greeted with a user account picker reminiscent of the PlayStation 5's picker. Any users will have their profile picture shown, and you can select it. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, however selected pictures appear to be overexposed for some reason. I'm not sure why it does this, but my face looks like a pure white smudge with some colors around it.
After logging in, you're dumped onto an okay looking home screen that's pictured above. It shows your streak, how many days that week you've worked out, how many workouts you've done (this week? it doesn't specify), how many rep/time targets you've hit, and what muscles you've worked out. Some of this is fine, but I find issue with the streak it shows. All it needs is a single workout done per week. As pictured above, I haven't worked out every day for three weeks. I did one workout three weeks ago, then every day for two weeks. The muscle-strain indicator is really neat, though. The Guide also shows info on a program if you're doing one.
There's a sidebar on the left that gives options (in order of top to botton) for the home screen, your profile, all classes, programs, collections, settings, and the Peloton logo changes to power options. By clicking on power and selecting sleep, the Guide can turn your TV off. I think that these menu options aren't too great, as you can run into some double-menus. As shown in the picture above, the home screen shows some workout types. In addition, the glyphs for the Programs and Collections menus aren't very clear what they are. Some stacked squares in different directions aren't exactly the most intuitive thing ever. I mean, just look at modern Xbox controller selection buttons. You've got the View and Menu buttons, signified by two overlapping squares and three lines respectively. They're usually referred to as the latter.
What workout to pick?
I find it very clunky to use the Peloton Guide itself to pick a workout. There are tons of submenus and filters to sift through. I prefer going to the phone app and selecting workouts there, as it's much easier to sift through the hours of workouts that Peloton has. From there, once adding a group of workouts to your "stack," you can move through the stacked workouts without navigating through the menus again. It makes it pretty simple to plan your workouts ahead, and it only takes a fre minutes.
Peloton has a huge library of workouts. There's no way any human being could get through all of them. You've got tons of different types of workouts at your disposal, with new ones being added to the platform every day. There are over a dozen instructors, and many different workout lengths, ranging from five minutes to an hour and a half.
There aren't very many Guide optimized workouts, though. Peloton launched their first bike model in 2014, with live and on demand classes available from the beginning. With the Guide releasing in April 2022, the first eight years of Peloton classes aren't Guide optimized. By default, when looking for workouts there's a filter applied to only show Guide optimized workouts. You have to deselect that to get acess to everything.
The Guide's gimmick is really it's downfall.
Peloton slapped a wide-angle camera onto the front of the Guide. That's the whole gimmick. It has a camera. The idea is that the camera can do things, such as, "[be an] AI-powered personal trainer with progressive programming to grow with your strength goals." That is a direct quote from Peloton. AI? I don't even know what they're talking about.
The Guide's camera does one useful thing. It tracks your reps. That is it. Take a look at the image. Tracking your weight? That's just selecting what weights you're using and combing that with how many reps you've done. Body activity? You don't even need the camera for that. It doesn't even "improve your form." Never once has it made any attempt to do that. In the end, the Peloton Guide can count your reps. And it can't even do that well. It constantly counts over what you've done, and sometimes under.
Sure, it can show you what you're doing, but that can be accomplished with a mirror next to the TV. It's not even like the Peloton Guide is the only way to access Peloton strength or cardio workouts on a TV. The Peloton app is available on every Smart TV platform, as well as on the web and the mobile app. You can buy a Roku stick that will look better being hidden behind a TV, have a much better remote, and do more than just the Peloton app.
Don't buy the Peloton Guide.
That's right. The Peloton Guide is a $200, single use box that can only access workouts. At that, you have to pay $25 a month to access the classes anyway. I cannot recommend that anyone should pay for this. You can purchase a 4K Roku Streaming Stick for $50, and it has a better remote, hidden behind the TV, and it can do any other app.
Don't get me wrong, the Peloton Guide can seem tempting. Especially if you can get it on sale with weights included like we did. If you have other Peloton devices such as the Bike, Tread, and Row, you also don't even need to pay extra for the subscription. If this applies to you, sure. Buy the Guide. But if you're a new customer, avoid it. Here's what you should get otherwise.
Roku TVs are a great pick.
If you don't already have a TV, this 4K HDR Roku TV looks like it would be a great option. It's large at 50", and has a good display panel. The reviews are mostly positive. Most importantly, this entire package is only a little over $20 more than the Peloton Guide itself. If you have an old TV you'd like to use, a Roku Streaming Stick 4K is only $50. I'd spring for a 4K one, since they include remotes that can control your TV, and just for longevity. Also remember that there are other Smart TV operating systems and brands. Pick whichever one fits into your budget and your current ecosystem of TVs.
If you're an Apple user, Fitness+ is a good deal.
If you have an iPhone, iPad, and/or Apple Watch, Fitness+ is a great choice. Fitness+ costs $10 a month with three months free for new subscribers, as opposed to Peloton's $25. Both subscriptions you can share with other people, so that's a non-issue. If you want to use Fitness+ on a TV, all you need is an Apple TV box. It's only $130 for a box, $70 less than the Peloton Guide. Once again, an Apple TV supports 4K and HDR, unlike the Peloton Guide.
In conclusion...
The Peloton Guide is only (sorta) worth it if you're fully indulged in the Peloton ecosystem. If you already have a Bike, Bike+, Tread, or Row, you at least won't have to pay any extra for a subscription. I say sorta worth it because you don't need this specific hardware. With an existing Peloton subscription you can sign in to the Smart TV app.
If you don't have a Peloton device, steer far away from this expensive piece of hardware. Like I've said before, if you use Apple devices the best option for you is Fitness+. I'm sure there are alternatives as well if you don't have an iPhone. The Peloton service could be intriguing, however it won't be significantly better than other offerings.
Mostly, I'm disappointed in the execution of the Peloton Guide. It could've been this great culmination of what workout tech has come to. Instead, it's a rep tracker that doesn't even work well. Constantly miscounting is a massive issue. My form is correct, the Guide just can't detect it properly. With this being the only unique thing about the Peloton Guide, the lack of the rep tracker functioning properly is a dealbreaker if I've ever seen one.
Please look into alternatives from the Peloton Guide. At worst it's not what's advertised, and and best it's a very limited streaming box with a semi-functional camera. Buy a Roku or your preffered streaming company's product. I'm not saying that Peloton only makes bad products and has a bad service. Their Bike+ and Tread are pretty great, and so is their service. The Guide, though, isn't at the same level as their other products. I predict that it will be discontinued in a years time, as sales haven't been great in the first place.
