NordicTrack Vault review

The futuristic NordicTrack Vault is part of an emerging new wave of home gym equipment. Like the Mirror and Tempo Studio, the Vault is essentially a high-tech mirror that streams on-demand workouts while simultaneously letting you keep an eye on your form — allowing you to make the most of every hard-earned rep. When combined with its iFit membership, this smart mirror represents a unique formula of fashion, function, and form-friendly fitness. In short, this is the future of personal training.

Unlike the smaller Tonal and Mirror, which are both wall-mounted devices, the Vault is a comprehensive workout station. Open it up, and you’ll find built-in shelving that holds an assortment of workout gear (weights, resistance bands, yoga blocks, and more), making it a complete home gym solution for your garage, living room, or bedroom. While one can’t deny its high cost — you’ll need to cough up a monthly subscription in addition to buying the Vault (which starts at $2,000) — NordicTrack’s full package might keep you out of the gym for good, saving you money in the long run. Keep reading our NordicTrack Vault review to see if it makes our list of the best home gym equipment.

• The competition: check out our full Tempo Studio review
• Tonal vs. Mirror: Which is best?

NordicTrack Vault review: Price and availability

NordicTrack offers two versions of the Vault: Complete and Standalone. The former costs $2,999, and includes an exercise mat, two yoga blocks, three loop bands, three super resistance bands, six pairs of dumbbells (ranging from 5 to 30 pounds, in increments of 5 pounds), two kettlebells (20 and 30 pounds), “premium” shelving, and a cleaning towel — which you’ll be using constantly to wipe fingerprints off the screen/mirror. 

The cheaper — but not cheap — Standalone version of the Vault ($1,999) only comes with shelves and the towel; this option is best for those who already have enough gym accessories to follow along with iFit’s roster of on-demand classes. For example, NordicTrack’s hex dumbbells cost anywhere from $10 to $63 each. The company’s $350 SpeedWeight adjustable dumbbells and $600 Select-A-Weight dumbbells take up much less space, though, and allow you to adjust the weights by 2.5-pound increments.

Both versions of the Vault come bundled with a one-year iFit Family membership, which renews at $396 every year. Unlike Tempo, which only lets you access classes through its equally immobile Studio tower, the iFit app is also available on your smartphone and/or smart TV, in addition to the Vault. (Not to mention other iFit-equipped treadmills and ellipticals from NordicTrack, ProForm, and Freemotion.)

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NordicTrack Vault review: Design 

Make no mistake, the NordicTrack Vault is an absolutely stunning piece of fitness-focused furniture. At first glance, it would be easy to mistake this thing as a high-end bedroom mirror (albeit with an industrial flair). When you unlatch the top, however, the mirror swings out to reveal all of your dumbbells and gym gear, neatly organized on the removable shelving.

The 71 x 23 x 9-inch apparatus sits affixed to a thin — yet very heavy — steel plate to keep it from tipping, and with all the weights in place, the whole thing clocks in at a whopping 518 pounds. Make sure your delivery crew drops this thing off in the same room you’ll be using it in, since you’ll absolutely need some help moving this thing around. 

The Vault’s dumbbells have a fantastic inner grip and rubberized ends; they don’t make nearly the same racket as traditional steel dumbbells if you accidentally clink them together during a particularly challenging rep. (Nor will they vibrate your limbs during such collisions in such a drastic way. They’re easier on your floors, too.)

Nestled in the top-middle of the mirror is a 32-inch HD touchscreen, and you’ll find 60W stereo speakers on the bottom, making the whole thing look like a giant iPhone when in use.

Still, I was disappointed to see how much smaller the touchscreen is when compared side-by-side to the Tempo Studio’s gorgeous 42-inch offering; it seems odd that NordicTrack would waste so much extra space on a boring old mirror.

NordicTrack Vault review: Setup

For an extra $200, you can opt for NordicTrack’s Threshold Delivery, which takes the hassle out of unpacking, unwrapping, and installing everything yourself. My review unit didn’t come with this service, unfortunately, but since setting up new tech is half the fun — for me, anyway — I didn’t have a problem taking care of the assembly myself. 

At least, that’s what I kept muttering aloud every 15 minutes or so. It took two full hours to unbox and set up this monster (every single weight is individually wrapped), and that’s around the time I discovered that NordicTrack recommends two sets of hands instead of one for the installation process. Lesson learned. I like saving money as much as the next fella, but after going through that whole rigmarole, I’d recommend spending the extra cash on professional installation, if you can swing it.

I already had an active iFit account thanks to my previous review of the ProForm Pro 2000 treadmill, so once the Vault was fully assembled, all I had to do was catch my breath, turn it on, and sign in. This is a great example of iFit’s ever-expanding ecosystem, which spans multiple devices and platforms.

NordicTrack Vault review: iFit classes

As of this writing, I counted at least 250 classes available through the Vault’s searchable library. You can narrow your searches based on workout duration, muscle groups desired, and so on. 

iFit does a superb job of on-boarding some genuinely fantastic talent; there are currently 14 different coaches available on the Vault, though iFit employs dozens of others for their other elliptical, running, rowing, and cycling classes. After sampling a number of sweat sessions from Alex Morgan, John Peel, Gideon Akande, and several other certified personal trainers, I really did appreciate their motivational energy during each class, not to mention their detailed step-by-step instructions.

Note: While some iFit-enabled machines grant you access to live cardio classes, the NordicTrack Vault lacks this particular feature, giving the Tempo Studio a slight edge when it comes to that authentic personal training experience.

In contrast to the Tempo Studio, which only offers classes through the machine itself, iFit packs in a lot more value with its $39-per-month iFit membership, since you can access classes on your phone, smart TV, or any iFit-equipped device; the more iFit-friendly gadgets you own, the more dynamic — and fun — your monthly membership becomes.

That being said, Tempo’s 3D sensor tech makes for a much more comprehensive personal training experience overall. However, the Tempo requires you to stand six feet from its display in order for the sensors to work; you can stand much closer to the Vault’s screen during each workout, which makes its smaller 32-inch display way more palatable. Just make sure you don’t accidentally swing a kettlebell into that glass surface.

The Vault’s swiveling mirror is a huge plus; you can turn it to any horizontal angle you like when in use, simultaneously giving you full access to the inner shelving.

iFit classes on the Vault felt slightly more rushed — and sometimes more advanced — than the ones offered on the Tempo. For example, every Tempo class begins with a brief trainer-led warmup (lasting five minutes or less), complete with a countdown clock in the upper-left corner of the screen to let you know when the real workout begins. With iFit on the Vault, you have the option of completing a one, three, or five-minute warmup of your choice before the class starts (customizable via the Settings menu), in addition to the trainer-led warmup that leads into each class. It’s a slightly different way of accomplishing the same goal, but Tempo’s offering seems to provide more step-by-step guidance right out of the gate; I never had to guess what the coaches were doing or why, because they were always explaining each movement as they went. Each platform is constantly expanding, too, as is each respective roster of (highly talented) fitness gurus. 

If you’re ever lagging behind in a given class, you can pause the workout by simply tapping the screen, and resume after you’ve taken a few moments to collect yourself. 

NordicTrack Vault vs. the competition

The NordicTrack Vault isn’t the only smart home gym you’ll find on the market today. For example, the $1,495 Mirror is more compact and less expensive, but you won’t get the same strength-training accessories to complement the classes. The Tempo Studio is a more robust personal training solution — complete with 3D sensor technology to correct your form in real time — but it’ll cost you anywhere from $2,500 to $4,000, depending on which accessory bundle you go with. All three smart gyms require a monthly subscription of $39, but in my opinion, the Tempo Studio is the best personal training experience overall.

If form-correction is important to you, Kemtai ($20 per month) is a laptop-based fitness app that uses your device's webcam to track 44 different data points on your body and provide real-time feedback as necessary; the price of admission is obviously much, much lower here. 

Remember, you can save $1,000 simply by opting for the Vault Standalone versus the Vault Complete. To give you an idea of why you might consider buying your gym gear piecemeal, consider this: I priced out the average cost of a decent yoga mat and blocks ($50), loop and resistance bands ($50), and comparable dumbbells/kettlebells ($450) as the ones offered in NordicTrack’s Complete kit. That comes out to a grand total of $550, which is roughly half the price of aforementioned equipment. However, other brands’ dumbbells might not fit as neatly into the Vault’s custom-sized storage area, so measure before you buy.

NordicTrack Vault review: Bottom line

Can the NordicTrack Vault replace your old gym routine? While everyone has a different fitness journey, this smart home gym has all the top-tier training tools you need, as long as your goals aren’t too hardcore. (The Vault isn’t designed for powerlifters.) And iFit does an excellent job of vetting its coaches; each one brings their own unique flavor to the floor, and I genuinely enjoyed their individual energy for each and every class.

If you’ve been thinking about trying out a smart home gym and are also in the market for a tech-centric mirror, the NordicTrack Vault really does represent the future of fitness for your whole family. At $2,999 for the company’s Complete package, this eye-catching furniture isn’t for everyone, but it’s a comprehensive home gym solution that’s equally fashionable as it is functional. 

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