Peloton takes on strength training with its $495 Guide camera system, coming in 2022 – The Verge

Peloton is moving into strength training with its latest product, the Peloton Guide, a TV-connected camera that can display workouts and track your movements in real time to help make sure you’re doing things properly.

Peloton Guide is also the company’s cheapest product yet, set to cost $495 at launch in “early 2022” for a bundle that includes the Guide camera, the company’s newly updated Peloton Heart Rate Band, and a remote. You’ll have to provide other workout equipment like weights or resistance bands on your own, though.

Additionally, Guide owners will need a $12.99 per month membership (the same price that Peloton charges for its app-only subscription) to use the service, although if you already own a Tread or Bike and pay for the $39-per-month All-Access Membership, you won’t have to pay more to use a Guide.

Technically, Peloton has already offered strength training classes for a while now (the rotating screen on the Peloton Bike Plus is even designed to help facilitate them). But the Guide aims to provide a more comprehensive experience by offering what the company calls “Self Mode,” which uses the Guide’s built-in camera to track your movements and show your workout on the screen alongside the instructors to make sure you’re doing exercises properly.

That said, with the cost of membership the same between using the free app on an existing set-top box and buying Peloton’s $495 bespoke hardware, Peloton’s tracking will have to be very impressive to justify the added cost here. It’s about on par with competitors like the Tempo Move ($495 at launch), although that bundle simply uses an iPhone for a camera and does include weights.

In addition to the camera for tracking movement, the Guide also features a built-in microphone, allowing you to play, pause, rewind, or fast forward through a class without having to put down your weights or stop whatever exercise you’re doing.

Of course, with any smart device that features a microphone and a camera that lives in your living room, there are the obvious questions of privacy. Peloton promises that customers will be able to fully control the device with an integrated camera cover for when you’re not using it and a physical switch to disable the microphone.

To start, the Guide will only offer strength-focused classes (both bodyweight only and with added weights), although Peloton says that it plans to add support for more types of workouts over time. The company’s announcement also conspicuously doesn’t have any information about whether the Guide will offer live classes for strength workouts like those Peloton offers for its Tread and Bike products.

In addition to the Guide, Peloton is also debuting a new heart rate monitor (which will be included with all Guide purchases). The updated monitor is an armband, instead of a chest strap, and features integrated LEDs to allow you to more easily check your heart rate with a quick glance. The new strap will be sold separately for $89 in “early 2022,” a $40 increase over the company’s soon to be discontinued $49 chest strap.

The Peloton Guide is set to launch in the US and Canada in early 2022, and in the UK, Australia, and Germany “in 2022.”