Hello, Curious friend!
You’re here because you’re wondering what The Mirror is all about, and if it would be worth it to add it to your home. I’ve had it for a few months, enough time to try it out- and I have some thoughts to share!
Let’s start with my experience, then I’ll go into pros and cons.
My Experience
So, I decided when I moved to my new place that one of the rooms would be a little gym for me. The central piece of it would be this Mirror. I ordered one online, using a discount code, and got free delivery & installation. It cost $1476 for the Mirror after taxes. They do offer a $42/month for 36 months option. XPO Logistics was the provider and the man who came did a great job installing it, and he took the time to show me where the power button is located- which is actually a little tricky to find. It’s located at the bottom of the Mirror, and a little to the back.
I have been using it for stretching, yoga and dance, mostly. The dance workouts are a lot of fun! Whole body stretch is perfect- it is definitely all levels appropriate and they keep the stretching dynamic so if you’re planning to do another workout after you’ll be fine. I found the yoga levels appropriate. I have been choosing beginner and intermediate depending on the day and how I’m feeling. I did want to try at least one of every class before writing my review, so I can say I’ve had the full experience, so, even though the dance, yoga and stretching sessions are my favorites, I can say that all the other classes are of equal quality.
Set up involved downloading the Mirror app, and connecting it to your wifi network. Controlling your Mirror happens exclusively through the app- it is not touchscreen. I think it’s very esthetic and looks great on the wall. When it is off, it literally just looks like a mirror. When it’s on, the resolution of the instructors is great!
PROS
The quality of the workouts is great. Exactly what I would expect from any paid service, they have qualified instructors who are entertaining when the occasion calls for it and educational throughout the sessions.
The interaction available during the live sessions is minimal, but that is to be expected. Usually they just say something encouraging to a specific user who is present in the live session. If you’re watching along or on the replay, it is not disruptive at all. However, if you are watching live, it can be nice to get a shoutout if that’s something you’re interested in. Personally, I keep my camera off. There is a black slider located at the top of the Mirror to hide your camera as well as a setting in the app itself that will turn your camera on or off. You do not need to have your camera on during live group workouts.
I appreciate the selection of workouts available. There are a lot of different sessions at different levels. When I select an intermediate level class, I can tell the difference from the beginner classes and it is typically exactly what I am looking for, skill-level and exertion-wise.
My favorite thing about the Mirror, and what sets it apart from other workout on demand platforms, including the workouts available for free on YouTube is the ease of searching and finding exactly what you’re looking for. I can go through several videos on YouTube or on other paid apps before I find exactly what I am looking for. With the Mirror, I have the ability to filter by so many different things, I usually find what I want immediately. That way, I can get my workout done and go on with the rest of my day!
As you can see from the screenshots, there are all sorts of things you can filter for. Type of workout, length, instructor, equipment needed and difficulty. So, for example, if I only have 15 minutes to work out, I want to do a quick cardio dance workout and I enjoyed Deja last time, I’ll select those options. You don’t have to select from all the drop down menus if you don’t want to. So, for example, you may not have a prefered instructor, so you don’t have to select one- The Mirror will just show you each workout that corresponds to the options you did select. This is very useful, in my opinion. Let me know what you think about this feature.
There are SO MANY workouts available. I don’t think any one person could complete all of them. And they are adding new ones all the time. When you search, in my experience, the most recently added workouts that meet your search terms are displayed first. For each workout, you’ll see “aired on” with a date that it was live. Typically, when I search, there’s a workout that’s not even a week old that matches everything I asked for.
CONS
There aren’t many “cons.” The price may be a limiting factor for some. Even with the $42/month paid for 36 month with Affirm, it is still not “cheap.” Plus you need to maintain a subscription, which is $39/month- with a minimum year-long commitment. If you want to use the Mirror, you need to have a subscription. So, basically, while a year commitment is the minimum, for so long as you own your Mirror, you’ll need to maintain the $39/month fee. This fee allows you to access the full spectrum of fitness programming offered.
Space is a huge factor. I love how, in the commercials, they show the Mirror in spaces throughout the home. Unlike Peleton, which got made fun of for only appearing in the most picturesque, pristine spaces, commercials featuring the Mirror appear to have it seamlessly existing in spaces in everyday people’s lives. Sure, there were some people who had it in their gyms, or their perfect living rooms, but there was a family in one of the ads working out in the space they had and some Mirrors in smaller areas like beside the kitchen. I think they were trying to demonstrate that the Mirror can fit into any space and any lifestyle. And it kind of can. I think it would be fine on a living room wall- and it doesn’t take up more space than any other Mirror. The space that is needed is enough for you to move around and do the exercises. So, I would suggest having enough room for the Mirror itself, then, about a yoga mat’s worth of space for working out it- maybe a foot or two wider on each side of the mat, depending on what workouts you plan to do. So, while the Mirror’s footprint is smaller than a lot of other personal fitness devices (like treadmills or stationary bikes), that doesn’t mean it does not require some amount of space. And you could always move things around a bit for when you’re working out vs when it is dormant. That’s up to you. I keep mine in my gym.
This next “con” is a me-problem, but this is a me-blog post, so I’m gonna write about it anyways- I have a barre at home and I wish they had Barre workouts that use a barre instead of a chair, but when I asked, they tweeted back
And of course, that’s fair- I am just hoping that they do demonstrate with a barre one day. Just a preference, and not really a “con” I guess. I am glad they use something that will work for everyone, but why not switch it up sometimes? When I took barre, we leaned on and pulled the barre in ways that a chair might not support but the barre classes on the Mirror have a lot of other similarities to ones that I am familiar with. Probably gone on long enough, just wanted to point it out, I guess.
Anyways, what do you think about the Mirror? I’m especially curious about what you think about the pricing structure- is it too expensive? Just right? It ain’t cheap, but I want to know what y’all think.