What is the best massage chair?

One question that I get asked most often is: "What chair is the best massage chair?" There's no such thing as a perfect chair. It hasn't been invented and probably never will be. Why? Because there are two competing factors that go into designing a chair.

On one hand, the chair needs to be designed with a wide range of adjustments. You want your chair to fit every size and shape body that might sit in it - from basketball players to the vertically challenged. You also want a chair that can be adjusted for your body size and shape. For example, you don't want a chair that is so low that you feel that you have to do the massage on your knees.

On the other hand, the chair needs to have as few adjustments as possible so that it is easy to use. It must have the fewest number of adjustments to make so it can be set up in a few seconds instead of several minutes. You don't want to spend more time setting up the chair than you do on doing the massage.

In short, it has to be designed for both the comfort of the customer and for the convenience of the practitioner. The customer and the practitioner have conflicting needs, so there are tradeoffs. For example, to create a chair that is quick to set up, the designer creates fewer adjustable pieces, which means that you can't make fine adjustments to make the customer perfectly comfortable.

There are now dozens of chairs to choose from. I've bought and tested pretty much every one on the market. If a chair comes out that has any unique design features, I usually pick it up right away. There are probably no more than a half a dozen unique designs. Most chairs are simply knockoffs of the originals with some small variations.

Many manufacturers of the low-end or discount massage chairs argue that because the massages are short that the chair doesn't have to be all that comfortable. I'm afraid that I'd have to disagree. Even five minutes in an uncomfortable chair can seem like hours. And if the customer is uncomfortable in the chair, it doesn't matter how good your massage is. They won't enjoy the experience.

There are other considerations in buying a discount massage chair...

Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. A more expensive chair typically has a five-year warrantee. The StrongLite has a lifetime guarantee.

The cheap massage chairs often have only a one-year guarantee. This gives you a sense of the projected life of your chair and the number of problems you will likely see. In addition, the less you pay, the less support you can expect to receive if something goes wrong. Companies that operate on the basis of price are more likely to go out of business. They may not always be around to service your chair through its lifetime. Suffice it to say that you should buy the best chair you can afford.

Perhaps a more important issue is product liability. Larger manufacturers are usually smart enough and have the resources to invest in product liability insurance. Let's suppose you are using the chair and it breaks and injures someone. It's really the manufacturer and NOT you who are legally responsible. If the person takes legal action, the manufacturer has product liability insurance that should cover the incident. If they don't have product liability (most one person companies won't) then the lawyers will come after you. Beyond that however, why would you want to put a customer at risk in the first place by putting them in a chair that may be poorly constructed?

Don't put yourself or your customer at risk for the sake of saving a couple of hundred dollars. Please invest in a good quality chair produced by a manufacturer that has been around and will stand behind their product.

OK. Now, what chair should you buy? Although the perfect chair doesn't exist, there are some that come relatively close. If it's not obvious from this site, I think the best massage chair available today is the Stronglite ErgoPro. Take a quick look at the Stronglite Ergo Pro features or take this visual tour of the massage chair and you'll be able to see exactly why the Stronglite chair is so far ahead of the competition. You just can't go wrong in getting this chair.

When you are ready to purchase a Stronglite massage chair you'll find the Ergo Pro chair available here on this website. You can't get better value for your money.