The Hydrow rowing machine comes with a built-in speaker for listening to music and the athletes that give instructions, but the speakers under the large monitor screen aren’t the best.

Combine that with the noise of the belt as you row, and you might want to look at either connecting a pair of Bluetooth headphones or a Bluetooth speaker to the smart rowing machine to enhance the experience.

Read on to find out how.

How to connect a Bluetooth speaker or headphones to you Hydrow

Hydrow doesn't feature a 3.5mm headphone jack so you'll have to opt for a Bluetooth enabled device if you want to hear the instructions or music on a device other than the machines own built-in speakers. 

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To get started, you’ll have to pair your Bluetooth audio device first via the Settings page.

Pairing is easy. Simply put your device in discovery mode in the usual way, wait for it to show up in the list of available devices, and then start the pairing process. Once connected, you can then select the headphones or speaker as a device at the start of each workout.

Using a Bluetooth speaker or headphones with Hydrow

At the start of each Hydrow workout there is an option to connect a Bluetooth Audio device. If your Bluetooth speaker is always on then it will automatically connect to Hydrow for you. 

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If it's not connected, connection is easy. To do this, simply tap on the Bluetooth Audio option on the screen, then select either the paired device you want, or if it's the first time using the device, follow the instructions above to pair it.

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Once paired, tap anywhere outside the current pop up to go back to the workout. Your headphones or speakers should now ready to play audio.  

Can you play your own music on Hydrow?

No. At the moment Hydrow cannot be connected to receive audio from your phone or a streaming service like Spotify. According to Hydrow, the music played in the workouts has been chosen by the athletes to match the pace and feel of the workout.

However, there's nothing stopping you from turning off the audio altogether and rowing with your own tunes, the only catch is that you won't get the instructions from the athletes.