I took advantage of a sale to buy a TRX Pro 4 System as a second TRX strap trainer that I can take with me while traveling, leaving my home setup intact.
My home setup is a TRX Tactical Trainer I bought at Misawa Air Base more than 15 years ago. It has accompanied me around the world and now hangs from a tree in my backyard for easy access. After more than 15 years in tropical jungles and Southwest deserts, it still operates like new, which shows how durable the older models are. Impressive.
The TRX Tactical came with the TRX Force App, which included a 12-week military training program. No subscription. The Tactical trainer also included an impressive book of the program with four exercise posters for each phase of the training. I either hang the posters on the tree or play the workouts on the TRX Force App. Similarly, when I bought the TRX Rip Trainer, it came with a book of exercises. These provided resources justified the higher cost compared to competitive products.
That was an old-school approach: buy the system once and use the printed materials and app forever. That no longer seems to be the case. TRX has become a software company that sells app subscriptions. You pay premium prices for the hardware and get one sheet of a few exercises with an invitation to pay monthly or annual fees to access everything else.
I'm still a TRX fan because it has served me so well for so long. I imagine this TRX Pro 4 system will become an heirloom. My little grandkids are already asking for one of their own.
However, if I didn't already have all the resources from the old-school TRX Tactical package, I'd be upset about paying a heavy price for the hardware, only to learn I would have to pay a subscription fee to access exercises and programs.
Comparable competitive products are available for about $250 less than the retail price of the TRX Pro 4 system, and they come with manuals of exercises and programs, with no app or subscription fees required. Even if they don't hold up as well as my trusty Tactical Trainer, it's hard to justify a $230+ price difference for comparable products.
Still, I'm glad for my TRX products but will recommend and gift competitive offerings so I don't force subscriptions on my friends and family. The wow factor gets extinguished when that gift comes with a subscription fee.
-badphd