Tonal 2 Review: Smarter Strength Training

Tonal is a high-tech slab of ambition—a gym successful a reflector for those wanting to commercialized dumbbells for algorithm-powered gains. Tonal 2 is sleeker, sharper, and someway adjacent much costly than before. At $4,295 (plus respective add-on costs), it’s some a connection portion and a superior fiscal commitment.

I wanted to cognize if Tonal could alteration the mode I train. After weeks of testing, I analyzed everything from installation to regular show to spot if Tonal 2 could support maine motivated—no tiny feat fixed my squirrel-like attraction span—or if it would conscionable crook my surviving country into the acceptable of a Black Mirror episode.

New and Improved

Tonal 2 sticks with the aforesaid wall-mounted plan arsenic its predecessor (7/10, WIRED Recommends) but refines the aesthetic with an all-black decorativeness and chrome accents. It looks chill successful immoderate location gym—as agelong arsenic you hitch disconnected the inevitable smudges aft each workout. The astir noticeable upgrade is the built-in camera, which enables real-time signifier feedback on-screen. Previously, Smart View required a abstracted mobile instrumentality to analyse movements, but present corrections are immediate. You tin inactive integrate your telephone for a side-angle, which improves the coaching cues.

In my experience, Smart View caught subtle but captious posture mistakes—like hunching my shoulders oregon letting my thorax drop. But it wasn’t flawless. For example, it didn’t emblem erstwhile I performed an wholly antithetic exercise, similar a constrictive hamstring curl alternatively of a wide bicep curl. Certain exercises besides marque it hard to glimpse astatine the surface mid-set, truthful I relied connected the post-workout videos and feedback for reappraisal much than successful existent time.

Connectivity has besides improved, with stronger Wi-Fi and Bluetooth stability. Your net inactive matters—if your transportation is spotty, expect occasional lag—but I didn’t acquisition immoderate streaming disruptions during testing.

Perhaps the astir meaningful upgrade is its durability. Tonal 2’s caller cables are 75 percent stronger, pushing the integer absorption headdress from 200 to 250 pounds—a immense positive for precocious lifters. Tonal besides introduced a caller workout modality, Aero HIIT, a cardio and spot grooming hybrid, that adds 5 caller moves to the list: Aero Pull, Aero Mini Pull, Aero Twist, Aero Chop, and Aero Lunge. Drop sets are besides present built-in, making pushing done fatigue imaginable without manual value adjustments.

Not Just Weights

Tonal 2 requires professional installation, adding different $295 (or more, depending connected your location). It mounts flush to the wall, keeping your abstraction clutter-free, but it demands astatine slightest 7'x7' of level abstraction and a 7'10" ceiling tallness for a afloat scope of motion. If you unrecorded successful a smaller space, beryllium prepared to shuffle furnishings astir earlier workouts. The existent installation took astir 45 minutes and went smoothly. Though just warning, the drilling is loud. If you person neighbors, possibly springiness them a heads-up.

Lifting with integer absorption feels antithetic from escaped weights. According to Tonal, the pin-loaded instrumentality tin consciousness 23 percent heavier than barbell dumbbells. There’s nary momentum, truthful your muscles enactment engaged passim the motion. It’s a much controlled (and limiting) mode to train. The touchscreen is responsive, making it casual to set weights, travel programs, and way progress.