OxeFit XS1 review – Unique smart gym to unleash your inner beast

Here's our OxeFit XS1 review in a nutshell: this might be the best consumer-level smart gym you’ll find on the market today. Its massive hoofprint is certainly intimidating at first glance, but for ox-like strength training in a relatively compact package, this is the beast to beat. 

Some smart gyms like the Tempo Studio, Tempo Move, and OxeFit XP1 analyze your form with built-in 3D sensors, but the OxeFit XS1 utilizes a dynamic force plate underfoot to identify real-time asymmetry in balance – and provides appropriate feedback as necessary. Uniquely, OxeFit’s strength-training programs are complemented by such cardio-centric exercises as paddleboarding, kayaking, and canoeing. It’s as if the dev team asked themselves one day, “How many sports can we simulate with one singular machine, exactly?”

For the uninitiated, some smart gyms double as a weight storage cabinet, but self-contained contraptions like the OxeFit XS1 house most hardware – including self-adjusting resistance mechanisms – within the machine itself, resulting in a more streamlined aesthetic overall. 

I hoofed it out to OxeFit’s Texan headquarters to test drive the XS1 training platform and explore as many futuristic fitness features as my feeble frame could follow in a 48-hour span. Fast-forward a few clicks, and I’m ready to weigh in on this bad boy. (After I catch my breath.)  Is this the all-in-one to rule them all? Read our full OxeFit XS1 smart gym review to find out. 

Editor’s note: I spent roughly three full hours testing out the XS1, and am basing this review off those impressions – leveraged against other smart gyms I’ve evaluated in the past.

 OxeFit XS1 review: Price and availability 

Let’s get this out of the way. All by itself, the OxeFit XS1 tower costs $3,999, which is the highest starting price I’ve seen thus far in terms of subscription-based smart gyms. There are three color finishes to choose from – gray frame/rose gold details, black frame/ black details, black frame/silver details – and three different accessory packages:

Flex ($599) – Accessories include OxeDot, weight bench, barbell, hand grips, rope, waist harness, ankles straps, SkiCross handles – Freestyle activities include strength training and SkiCross – $40 monthly membership.

Flow ($999) – Accessories include OxeDot, multi-function bench, multi-function bar, barbell, hand grips, rope, waist harness, ankles straps, SkiCross handles, swim paddles, adjustable paddle – Freestyle activities include SkiCross, SurfSwim, strength training, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding – $45 monthly membership.

Peak ($1,399) – Accessories include OxeDot, OxeReform, multi-function bench, multi-function bar, barbell, hand grips, rope, waist harness, ankles straps, SkiCross handles, swim paddles, adjustable paddle – Freestyle activities include SkiCross, SurfSwim, strength training, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, paddleboarding, pilates – $50 monthly membership.

Note: if you let that monthly membership expire, the XS1 essentially functions like a digital cable machine, akin to the Speediance Gym Monster.

OxeFit XS1 review: Setup and installation

If you don’t feel like hoofing it all the way to Texas for a test drive, you can schedule a live virtual demo from the OxeFit studio to review all the main features from the comfort of your own corral. (As mentioned above, white glove delivery and installation are included with that $500 shipping rate.) OxeFit recommends a 6 x 8.5-foot space for the machine itself in addition to 4 inches of clearance behind the main unit, which folds up to 45.5 x 21.5 x 78 inches when not in use.

Since the XS1 is loaded with sensitive electronics, it requires a climate-controlled environment to function properly. So if you were thinking about installing this thing in your Ohio garage, think again – about your insulation, that is.  

OxeFit XS1 review: Design

At 300 pounds and 45.5 x 80 x 78 inches with the deck unfolded, you’re not going to mistake this thing for the 50.9 x 21.5 x 5.3-inch Tonal, which resembles a wall-mounted mirror when not in use. The steel-and-aluminum design is slick as hell and hardly an eyesore – despite the relative bulk. 

Speaking of which. Tonal’s tech relies on a complex-yet-compact system of digital mechanisms to quickly adjust the resistance as you go, at a size that can hang discreetly on your wall. So instead of swapping out dumbbells or weight plates – as with the NordicTrack Vault or Tempo Studio – Tonal’s “smart” accessories connect to adjustable arms that swing out from either side; once the workout begins, the weight resistance changes automatically. 

OxeFit takes a similar approach. Once you unfold that rock-solid deck (ie, your primary workout area), you’re left with an L-shaped machine and two mini-monoliths flanking that beautiful 32-inch touchscreen. The XS1 uses dual motors to adjust digitally controlled weight resistance in real time, offering up to 140 pounds of resistance from the rack and 250 pounds from the deck. By comparison, Tonal only offers up to 200 pounds of dynamic resistance from those swingable arms. 

The XS1 comes with a variety of dynamic fitness tools. Depending on which accessory package you choose, this may include a multi-function bench, multi-function bar, barbell, hand grips, rope, waist harness, ankles straps, SkiCross handles, swim paddles, and adjustable paddle. The more sports you play in real life, the more intuitive these tools become.   

OxeFit XS1 review: Display

A stellar smart gym starts with stellar optics, and Tonal’s 24-inch touchscreen is dwarfed next to the XS1’s excessively larger 32-inch display. While the even-higher-end XP1 has a built-in camera for real-time form tracking – kind of like the Tempo Studio on steroids – the more consumer-friendly OxeFit XS1 relies on AI software within the machine itself (coupled with force plate sensors beneath the deck) to keep muscle symmetry top-of-mind as you plow your way through every hard-earned rep.

Think of the XS1’s 32-inch display as the command center for your new fitness routine, and a one-stop shop for OxeFit’s ever-expanding library of content, curated by professional personal trainers who walk you through each and every exercise, step-by-step. Or curl-by-curl. Or squat-by…well, you get the idea. This might seem substantially smaller than the XP1's stunning 42-inch screen, but 32 inches is just fine for following along to most workouts, though I would have appreciated a mechanism to lower or tilt the screen. 

Note: I had to crane my neck for any floor-based exercises and cool-down stretches. This is a complaint I’ve had for every smart gym I’ve ever tested, but it becomes less of an issue the longer you use the machine and familiarize yourself with each exercise.

Uniquely, OxeFit’s platform is both upgradeable and customizable; their dev team is constantly tweaking the software side of things to optimize your fitness experience. In my testing, screen navigation was smooth as yak butter (i.e., lag-free). And though I didn’t spend much time digging through menus during my tutorial, the workout-selection screens felt very similar to iFit in all the best ways and were just as intuitive. 

Akin to Tonal, Tempo, and NordicTrack, most OxeFit classes involve a warmup or cooldown, and you can follow the trainer’s movements to find proper form if you’re unfamiliar with a particular exercise. Once you activate the resistance/load during each set, the XS1 keeps track of each rep on screen, along with other contextually useful metrics (ex, power production, time, distance, pace, average pace, and stroke rate for paddleboarding). If you’re into the gamification of your workout routine, OxeFit is changing the game by evolving the players – from the ground up. 

 OxeFit XS1 review: Inner tech 

All right, let’s get down to brass tacks. After touching down in Texas, I put on my stretchiest workout gear, pounded some electrolyte water, and headed out to meet Rab Shanableh, co-founder and CEO of OxeFit. He gave me a crash course on the state-of-the-art tech housed within OxeFit’s equipment.

By integrating cutting-edge robotics, movement and performance tracking, and advanced coaching analytics into a first-of-its-kind platform, Rab envisions this technology finding a home not just among general consumers, but also professional athletes, military personnel, and rehab clinics worldwide. And while OxeFit has only been on the fitness tech scene since 2021, it’s already making a splash with professional athletes such as Dak Prescott, Jason Witten, and Demaryius Thomas, just to name a few. 

This extra-comprehensive data collection really raises the bar with real-time form tracking to complement any fitness goals you might have. Long-story-long: the more you use the XS1, the smarter this smart gym becomes.  

OxeFit XS1: Performance

Once I’d gotten a lay of the land, Rab set me loose with Darnell Jones (chief strategy officer), Dr. Chantel Coleman (director of exercise science), and Anna Fitzgerald (onboarding specialist) – who collectively introduced me to the OxeFit studio, where all their main subscription content is filmed. After a brief introduction to the machine itself, it was time for a proper sweat session. 

Similar to Tonal, if you forget to load your weights before starting a given set, the adaptive weight feature won’t work properly. As I navigated from one exercise to the next, I found attaching and detaching each accessory to be instantly intuitive, and OxeFit’s steel-and-aluminum mechanisms felt secure whenever they locked into place. Paired with all that inner tech, the XS1’s force plate was highly sensitive throughout, and the software did a great job of letting me know whenever my body symmetry was out of whack.  

To get the full OxeFit experience, I completed a variety of short workouts that included bicep curls, seated rows, shoulder press, woodchoppers, and other core-crushing exercises that put my whole body to work in all the best ways.  

As of this writing, OxeFit only had four full-time trainers to choose from – three are triplets! – but the whole team has been going to work in terms of creating new content: there are 250+ strength exercises to choose from, along with six different cardio options: SkiCross, SurfSwim, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding. My inner child ran wild as the OxeFit team showed me how to virtually kayak, paddleboard, and swim with the XS1’s various accessories. 

It’s a tight team of trainers, but they’re each helpful, knowledgeable, and friendly to the max. In fact, their energy was downright infectious throughout, and from my experience, personal training is all about that genuine exchange of energy; it honestly felt like they were right in front of me once each workout began. (Though to be fair, one of them actually was.) 

OxeFit is smack-dab in the middle of building more video content for the entire platform, so I’d expect more trainers to appear in the software somewhat soon. Predictably, my favorite part about the XS1 platform has to do with their cardio content. The OxeFit team let me sample the SkiCross, SurfSwim, rowing, kayaking, canoeing, and paddleboarding attachments, and these exercises are way more dynamic than the average dumbbell workout.

As I plowed through each exercise, I could monitor myriad metrics on screen, such as my heart rate, time active, distance traveled, and total volume lifted. As a longtime lover of logistics (and gamifying my workouts on the fly), the summary screen was a siren song to my sinewy soul, and I really appreciated the wealth of data at the end of my tutorial. 

In the advanced training modes, OxeFit’s adaptive weight resistance automatically provides concentric and/or eccentric overload throughout the entirety of each and every rep, allowing for maximum efficiency on the machine’s part – and maximum effort on yours. If you’ve ever done negative rep bicep curls at the gym before, try to imagine that same burnout effect with an invisible spotter. 

On a related note, OxeFit doesn’t skimp on safety features. For example, if the machine senses you tilt, rotate, or get pinned for more than seven seconds, the load is automatically negated until you reset the exercise and get your form in order. You can’t put in the work if you’re constantly nursing one micro-injury after another, after all, and OxeFit keeps proper form top-of-mind. 

 OxeFit XS1 review: Mobile content 

While I didn’t get the chance to test out the OxeFit smartphone app, this is where you can access even more instructional content and create customized fitness plans. These progressive programs are backed by solid science, and thanks to global leaderboards and group workouts, you and your fitness friends can push each other from afar. Akin to Tonal’s online ecosystem, you won’t get the full OxeFit experience from their mobile app, but you can still access on-the-go workouts that don’t require any fitness gear at all, aside from a yoga mat and some time to kill.

After breezing through the OxeFit website, it appears even more community features are on the horizon courtesy of an additional OxeLife subscription. According to an OxeFit representative, this upcoming content “will focus on building a stronger, healthier lifestyle driven by celebrity trainers, chefs, life coaches and professional athletes. OxeLife will be separate from the machines and will provide tips for healthy recipes, meal planning, sleeping, recovery, as well as 15–30-minute workouts to do anywhere you are.”

In short, OxeLife appears to add another layer of futureproofing to the platform; once you own all the proper hardware, the sky's the limit in terms of firmware/software updates, upgradeable content, and additional streaming services. Working out in isolation can take a psychological toll, after all, and the more interconnected the community, the better.

OxeFit XS1 review: Verdict

Though my playtime was brief, the OxeFit XS1 is the best consumer-level smart gym I’ve tested to date – and that includes the premium-priced Tonal, Tempo Studio, and NordicTrack Vault. OxeFit definitely has the edge over its closest competitors in terms of AI-powered personal training and data-driven form tracking. (Including Tonal, which I tested for roughly the same amount of time, and in a similar manner.) 

To be fair, you can accomplish many of the same fitness goals with any of these smart gyms – the hard work is always up to you – but when it comes to comprehensive coaching paired with top-notch training tech, as far as I’m concerned, the XS1 is the smart gym to beat. And I didn’t even get the chance to explore the OxeFit app or OxeLife community yet.    

Everyone has a different fitness journey, but the OxeFit XS1 has all the training tools most humans could ever need, no matter how lofty your fitness goals are. Plus, just like every other smart gym on the market, the OxeFit platform is constantly evolving; the company was shooting brand-new content from their studio during the same weekend as my testing. If you’re on the prowl for a future-proof fitness platform that evolves even faster than you do, the OxeFit XS1 is tough to beat. 

OxeFit XS1 review: also consider

The multiverse of fitness tech is downright saturated with all-in-one multi gyms right now, and at this point, OxeFit competitors like the NordicTrack Vault, Tempo Studio, Fiture, and Tonal have been around long enough to drop their original prices for the masses. Subscription-based fitness is here to stay, and it’s no longer a matter of asking, 'Can you replace your old gym membership', but 'should you'?

If you’re on a budget, consider more modest competitors like the Tempo Move ($495) or Peloton Guide strength trainer ($295), which both utilize AI tech to facilitate top-tier personal training right from your TV. 

Granted, you can spend less than $1K on a good smartwatch and a quality set of adjustable dumbbells to maintain a solid strength-training routine on the cheap. Kemtai ($40 per month) is another web-based fitness app that uses your device's webcam to track 44 different data points on your body – no extra equipment required.