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We’ve added some new models presented at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (2023) to What to look forward to. We’ll test them and update this guide with our thoughts as soon as we can. China Eye Massager
Mechanical massage chairs promise comfort, relaxation, and self-indulgence, but shopping for one can be stressful. There are seemingly endless models to choose from—many of which merely vibrate, rather than knead, or tout dubious features like “air ionization,” “body scanning,” and “chromotherapy.” After testing 21 models from some of the top brands, we think the Osaki OS-Champ is the closest thing you can get to a real massage. This chair is comfortable to sit in and sturdily built, and it massages the entire body. Plus, it outperformed more expensive massage chairs in key areas like heating and reclining.
We choose massage chairs that recline at least partially, and we prefer those with the option to lie fully supine.
We search for massage chairs with a heating feature, since warmth helps to promote blood flow and relax muscles.
We seek massage chairs with two or more intensity settings to let you customize the strength of the massage.
We want at least one setting to mimic the kneading motion of a massage therapist’s fingers, rather than simply vibrating.
This massage chair offers good heating and reclining—two must-have features—and our testers gave it top marks for comfort, build quality, and overall experience.
The Osaki OS-Champ reclines until you’re fully supine, and it envelops your body in pillowy, faux-leather padding. Internal mechanisms massage your neck, back, and thighs, and airbags on the front and sides of the chair apply pressure to your shoulders, arms, calves, and feet. Its heating feature warmed our testers’ bodies better than that of any other model, and this massage chair is as luxurious and well constructed as chairs costing up to four times as much. Also, Osaki backs it with a generous, three-year warranty. Our only complaint is that the OS-Champ (like most massage chairs of this size) looks like a prop from Star Trek and is sure to dominate the decor in any room.
This is by far the best portable massage chair we’ve tested. It’s easy to set up, to use, and to pack up for storage or transport. The MCS-845HJ massages the neck and shoulders, as well as the upper and lower back, and it comes with a two-year warranty.
May be out of stock
The HoMedics Shiatsu Elite II Massage Cushion (MCS-845HJ) is in a different league than our top pick: It massages only the neck and back, must be strapped onto an existing chair to function, and lacks an adjustable reclining feature. But it’s your best bet if you want a massage chair that you can fold up and carry with you. Like our stationary pick, this model has a variety of massage styles and intensity settings, but on top of that, it’s designed to be easily packed in a car trunk for an overnight trip or tucked out of sight between uses. Unlike with most of the other portable massage chairs we tested, on the MCS-845HJ you can actually feel the warmth from its heating feature, and we found it to be intuitive to set up and use. It’s comfortable, sturdy, and fairly sleek-looking compared with other portable models, and it’s covered by HoMedics’s two-year warranty.
This massage chair offers good heating and reclining—two must-have features—and our testers gave it top marks for comfort, build quality, and overall experience.
This is by far the best portable massage chair we’ve tested. It’s easy to set up, to use, and to pack up for storage or transport. The MCS-845HJ massages the neck and shoulders, as well as the upper and lower back, and it comes with a two-year warranty.
May be out of stock
I’ve been a science writer for nearly a decade, covering a wide variety of topics from particle physics to satellite meteorology. Since joining Wirecutter in 2017, I’ve written about lap desks, surge protectors, rechargeable batteries, and more.
To write this guide, I spent 26 hours researching massage chairs. I also interviewed Alan Hedge, professor emeritus of human-centered design at Cornell University, and Vickie Bodner, a licensed massage therapist at the Cleveland Clinic. During three rounds of testing conducted in 2020, 2021, and 2022, I spent 15 hours testing portable massage chairs (also called massage cushions, massage pads, or massage pillows, as they aren’t freestanding). In that time, 29 of my colleagues and I collectively spent an additional 39 hours testing stationary massage chairs in our Long Island City, New York, testing space.
Mechanical massage chairs have knobs that move on a track or pockets of air that inflate and deflate to apply pressure, mimicking the kneading motions of a massage therapist’s hands. The most basic models cover a single area, such as the lower back, while others provide a full-body experience. Some are freestanding, roughly the size and weight of a young rhinoceros, and cost a few thousand dollars—or even tens of thousands of dollars on the high end. Others are small enough to fit in a carry-on suitcase and much more affordable (though they usually have fewer features and settings, and need to be strapped onto an existing chair).
Contrary to what you might think, massage chairs aren’t just for nail salons and mall kiosks. Maybe you have a physically taxing job, an intense workout regimen, or a medical condition that takes a toll on your body, but your schedule makes it difficult to find time for regular massage appointments. Maybe you’re looking for a new way to unwind at the end of the day or to alleviate the everyday aches and pains of age, but you live in a sparsely populated area without access to a licensed massage therapist. Perhaps you’d like to be massaged but have an aversion to being touched—for example, many people with autism experience touch sensitivity, and some people find it difficult to be touched after childbirth or a sexual assault—or, like about 3% of the US population, you’re immunocompromised and must limit close contact with other people to stay safe.
There are relatively few large-scale, peer-reviewed studies on the health benefits of massage (see What is massage therapy? below) and even fewer that focus on the efficacy of mechanical massage chairs for treating back pain and other ailments. But there’s no question that sitting in a massage chair feels pleasant and relaxing—at least for some people. For example, a 2017 study of 186 healthy adults found that a majority of the participants reported feeling less anxious and more tranquil after sitting in a full-body massage chair for 20 minutes, and most rated the experience as highly pleasurable.
The Cleveland Clinic’s Vickie Bodner, who has been a licensed massage therapist for more than 20 years, says she knows people who love mechanical massage chairs, but she also says that she personally finds them inadequate.
“A chair can’t regulate itself according to what your body needs,” she explained. “When I give a massage, I’m focused on the muscles and tissues of your body. Sometimes the person I’m massaging might not say anything, but I can watch their body’s response to what I’m doing, and I can ask, ‘Is this a good pressure? Is this hurting?’ You don’t get that with a chair.”
In my own experience, a mechanical massage doesn’t feel as good as a massage from a licensed professional or even a back rub from a partner, but it’s a decent stand-in when you can’t have the real thing. If you do opt for a massage chair, it’s important to look for one that closely mimics an in-person massage. Cornell University’s Alan Hedge, who has studied ergonomics for more than four decades, told us that the two most important features to look for in a massage chair are heat (which helps promote blood flow) and reclining.
“The main point of massage is to relax muscle,” he said. “If you’re sitting upright, your muscles have to contract to support you. Reclining takes the pressure off your muscles. The more your muscles relax, the more benefit you will get.”
Massage chairs and other electronic massagers are Class I medical devices, according to the FDA, which indicates they “present minimal potential for harm to the user.” Devices in this class (which also includes enema kits and elastic bandages) are subject to less regulation than Class II and III devices (such as motorized wheelchairs and pacemakers, respectively). Still, if you have questions or concerns about how using a massage chair might affect any underlying conditions you have, you may want to consult your doctor.
We didn’t consider any models specifically designed for gaming or driving, since we concluded that they fell outside the scope of this guide. You can also find office chairs with built-in massage features, but we didn’t test those because Hedge told us they’re ineffective in most cases (whether you sit upright or hunch forward while working, both positions require you to tense your muscles, defeating the purpose of a massage). However, Hedge said, some workplaces buy reclining massage chairs for their staff to use during screen breaks, which can reduce occupational injuries and increase productivity over time.
A Cochrane Review published in 2015 defines massage therapy as “a treatment in which parts of the body are manipulated, held, moved, and have pressure applied to them.” The authors go on to explain that massage therapy has the ability to increase blood flow to certain areas of the body, improve tissue suppleness, reduce swelling due to an accumulation of fluid, and boost the immune system.
According to the Cochrane Library, the body that oversees such reviews, there is some evidence that massage therapy can provide short-term relief from neck pain, but more research is needed on the long-term effects. There’s also some evidence that massage therapy can provide short-term relief from lower-back pain—which is one of the most common reasons people see a doctor or miss work, and the leading cause of disability worldwide—but there’s little to no evidence that it’s effective in the long term. Massage therapy is used to treat a variety of other conditions, and there is some evidence that it can be an effective treatment in certain instances, such as improving quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS or reducing pain, depression, and anxiety in people with fibromyalgia. But more research is necessary across the board.
Massage therapists must be licensed to practice in most states, and they may also choose to be board certified at the national level. Unlike physicians, massage therapists have not completed medical school and earned either a doctor of medicine (MD) or a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) degree, so they are not qualified to diagnose diseases or prescribe treatments. Likewise, the training required to become a massage therapist is much different from that of a physical therapist or chiropractor (though practitioners in these fields often work in tandem).
As with most self-care products, you can find hundreds—if not thousands—of mechanical massage-chair models for sale, many of questionable quality. To narrow our search, we read numerous editorial and customer reviews online, and we scanned the websites of major retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Walmart to identify the most widely available brands. From there, we further culled our list based on the following criteria:
This process left us with a list of five portable models and seven stationary models to test in our initial round of testing in 2020:
In a second round of testing in 2021, we tested the HoMedics Total Recline Shiatsu Massage Cushion (MCS-1010HJ) against our favorite portable models, and evaluated the BestMassage SL Track Electric Shiatsu Massage Chair (E358), Human Touch WholeBody 7.1 Massage Chair, and Osaki OS-4000 against our favorite stationary models.
And in our latest round of testing, conducted in 2022, the Snailax 233 and Snailax 236 faced off against our existing portable pick, and the Inner Balance Wellness Jin 2.0 Deluxe, iRest A306, Massamax MD321, Osaki OS-4D Escape, and Osaki OS-4D Pro Maestro LE did their best to outdo our existing top pick.
First, I spent 15 hours testing portable massage chairs by myself—setting them up in my living room and trying out the various coverage areas, style settings, intensities, and any extra features. I took notes on how easy they were to set up, to use, to pack up for storage, and to carry around. I assessed the look and feel of the materials and the overall sturdiness. Even though a portable massage chair is designed to be folded up and tucked under a bed or put on a shelf, it should still be aesthetically pleasing—not to mention functional, comfortable, and durable.
Additionally, 30 testers (including myself) spent a collective 39 hours testing stationary massage chairs in our Long Island City, New York, office over three rounds of testing in 2020, 2021, and 2022. These testers ranged from 100 to 309 pounds and from 5 feet to 6 feet 3 inches tall. They noted how far each chair reclined and how easy it was to recline, whether the heating feature was adequately warm, whether the intensity settings were easy to adjust and powerful enough, and whether they particularly liked or disliked any of the massage-style settings. If the chairs had extra coverage areas (such as the neck or feet) or features like built-in speakers, the testers took notes on how well these functioned and affected the overall experience. They assessed the materials, build quality, comfort, and style (unlike the portable models, a stationary massage chair occupies a big footprint in your home, so you need to be committed to how it looks). After testing each chair, the testers assigned it an overall score on a scale of 1 to 5.
This massage chair offers good heating and reclining—two must-have features—and our testers gave it top marks for comfort, build quality, and overall experience.
The Osaki OS-Champ is the champion of massage chairs. Our testers gave it an average rating of 4 out of 5 on its overall performance, a score matched by just two other stationary chairs out of the 15 we’ve tested. The OS-Champ swaddles you in buttery-soft upholstery, reclines your body until you can see outer space (or at least the ceiling), and massages you from head to toe—specifically your neck, shoulders, back, arms, thighs, calves, and feet. This massage chair’s heating feature is more effective than that of any other model we tested, and it offers a wide array of massage styles and intensity settings. The OS-Champ is also comfortable, sturdy, and well made—if inelegant to look at. And despite all these plusses, it is one of the least-expensive stationary models we tested. If you’ve decided to go all-in and make a massage chair the centerpiece of your living room, this is the one to get.
The OS-Champ massages muscles with a variety of movements, including kneading, tapping, rolling, compressing, and stretching. Mechanical knobs move on a track to massage the neck, back, thighs, and feet, while airbags inflate and deflate to massage the shoulders, arms, calves, and feet. It has three distinct intensity settings, which most testers said were intuitive to adjust.
“I liked exactly where the variations were. I tend to prefer softer motions, so the lowest setting was perfect,” said deputy editor Jason Chen. On the other end of the spectrum, deputy editor Christine Cyr Clisset (who, incidentally, comes from a family of several professional massage therapists) said it felt “firm and effective.”
If you use a wheelchair, run recreationally, or spend all day on your feet, you might get more out of this chair than models with weaker (or nonexistent) calf- and foot-massaging features. Several testers specifically called out the OS-Champ’s superior abilities in this area. Jason said, “I would actually just sit in [this chair] for a foot massage because it felt so active on my legs and feet. Probably my favorite foot massage of all.” Similarly, Caira Blackwell, a staff writer on our sleep team, reported, “The foot massage is the feature that impressed me most about this chair. It was able to apply a lot of pressure to my calves, and the kneading motion it does on the bottom of my feet actually feels comparable to a massage experience I might have getting a pedicure at a nail salon.” Kalee Thompson, senior editor in charge of health and fitness coverage, agreed, saying, “I really like the nubbly bottom-of-foot sensation.” However, it’s not for everyone, as editor in chief Ben Frumin noted: “I found the ‘foot rolling’ to be less ‘rolling’ and more ‘suffocating and pulverizing.’”
This chair performed the best in our testing in terms of heating. Compared with other stationary massage chairs we tested (which didn’t get quite as warm), the OS-Champ heated to the ideal temperature, according to most testers (though Jason said it got too warm for him at times). “I definitely like how it feels when the heat setting is on,” Caira said, describing it as “warm but not hot-and-sticky or stifling.”
The OS-Champ reclines all the way to a supine position, unlike other chairs such as the RelaxOnChair Rio, which only partially reclines. It’s a “zero-gravity” recliner, designed to give your body a feeling of weightlessness while you’re suspended in a supine position. “I felt like it definitely reclined in a way that mimicked zero gravity,” Jason said of the OS-Champ.
In addition to heating and zero-gravity reclining, the OS-Champ has several other useful features. Bluetooth connectivity allows you to play music, a podcast or audiobook, or other soothing sounds from a phone or other nearby device through the chair’s built-in speakers. The chair also offers a body-scanning feature, which is designed to automatically sense your height and width and adjust the massage rollers accordingly (though, as with every other chair we tested possessing this feature, we still had to do some manual tweaks to feel completely comfortable).
Once properly adjusted, all of our testers found the OS-Champ to be highly comfortable to sit in and easy to use. “I like the instructions better than the other chairs I’ve tested,” Justin said. “They do a better job of explaining to me what it is that the chair is going to do in each mode.”
No massage chair we’ve seen is especially elegant, but our testers thought the OS-Champ’s materials seemed durable, of high quality, well constructed, and luxurious compared with those of others we’ve tested.
“It has the feel of an expensive car. It’s Lexus-like leather,” said Jason, though the OS-Champ is upholstered in faux leather. “It seemed like it was extremely sturdy and could last years.” He also noted that it felt roomier and more comfortable than other chairs, adding, “I’m not a huge person, but even the Osaki Titan Prime felt a bit narrow in comparison.” For reference, Jason is 5 feet 9 inches and weighs about 155 pounds.
Christine said that she was “less concerned about the interior fabric pilling” with the OS-Champ compared with the other stationary options she tested, and that the materials felt high-quality overall. Supervising editor Ingrid Skjong of our appliances team added that the chair had a “higher-end feel” overall, and she and style team updates writer Sri Rain Stewart noted that it seemed sturdy and well-made.
The OS-Champ is backed by a three-year warranty, which should be more than enough time for you to gauge whether the chair has any flaws or is working improperly. And depending on the color you choose, at this writing the OS-Champ is one of the least expensive stationary massage chairs we’ve tested.
There’s no getting around it—as far as furniture goes, the OS-Champ is no great beauty. It’s not minimalist like the HoMedics MCS-845HJ, and it’s not based on a mid-century modern classic, as the Riverstone seems to be. And, unlike its luxuriously leather-esque fabric, its faux-wood stylistic accents are less adept at mimicking an organic material (hobby and games staff writer James Austin described the mock-mahogany plastic pieces as “meh”). But compared with other massage chairs out there—like this insult to interior design, which we didn’t test—the OS-Champ is surprisingly sleek.
As Wirecutter’s Justin Krajeski put it, “Although all of these chairs are heinous-looking, I don’t hate this one all that much.”
Also, while the OS-Champ meets our set weight requirement—all the chairs in our testing pool were required to support at least 250 pounds, and the OS-Champ is designed to hold up to 260 pounds—you still might want to consider other options we recommend before buying if you weigh 220 pounds or more. The OS-Champ’s manual warns that, for users above that weight threshold, the chair “may make more noise and the fabric cover may wear out faster.” However, we don’t think either eventuality is enough to discount the OS-Champ outright. In general, more weight will put more strain on the internal mechanisms and exterior surfaces of most massage chairs (as will long periods of disuse, exposure to direct sunlight, and a variety of other factors).
This is by far the best portable massage chair we’ve tested. It’s easy to set up, to use, and to pack up for storage or transport. The MCS-845HJ massages the neck and shoulders, as well as the upper and lower back, and it comes with a two-year warranty.
May be out of stock
The HoMedics Shiatsu Elite II Massage Cushion (MCS-845HJ) is a great option if you want to stow your massage chair out of sight in between uses or take it with you—say, on vacation or for an overnight hospital visit (hospital rules permitting). It offers plenty of massage styles and settings, and it excels in key areas like heating and reclining. This model is also comfortable, easy to use, and well made. The MCS-845HJ is the best portable massage chair we’ve tested, by far. It has a more involved setup process because you have to strap it onto an existing chair to use it, whereas a stationary massage chair simply requires you to sit down. And it lacks an adjustable reclining feature and covers fewer areas of the body than our top pick—just the head and neck, versus the entire body. But we think these are fair trade-offs considering the MCS-845HJ’s compact size and lower price.
The MCS-845HJ has internal rollers that massage the upper and lower back, and it’s one of the few models we tested that also massage the neck and shoulders. It’s also one of the only portable models we tested from which we could actually feel the warmth of the heating feature. The MCS-845HJ has two massage styles (kneading and rolling) and three preset programs (“soothe,” “revitalize,” and “unwind”) to give you a variety of experiences. This massage chair shifts fairly gradually between its three intensity settings, and it also has a “spot” setting, if you want the rollers to linger over a certain area for a while.
Since the MCS-845HJ is more of a pad or cushion than an actual chair, you need to strap this model to an existing chair for it to sit upright. For my testing, I chose a chair that was low to the ground and had a slight recline to allow for maximum relaxation. I especially appreciate the fact that the MCS-845HJ has a back strap as well as a head strap to ensure that it stays securely fastened to the chair, even at an angle (the other portable models we tested have only a back strap). This model also has a pocket to hold the remote when you aren’t using it, as well as a Velcro strap for the cord—both small features that disproportionately enhance the overall experience.
The MCS-845HJ is on the larger side—at 17.5 pounds, it’s one of the heaviest portable massage chairs we tested. But its compact shape makes it easy to stow in a car trunk or closet, or beneath a bed. The MCS-845HJ doesn’t fit in our favorite carry-on suitcase—at 29 inches, it’s too tall—but it would fit in most full-size suitcases or duffle bags. It also comes in a sturdy cardboard box with a handle on top, which you may want to keep for storage and transit.
Of the portable massage chairs we tested, the MCS-845HJ is one of the most comfortable to sit in, and the materials seem relatively luxurious and durable—ours remains in pristine condition after more than a year of weekly use. It’s not terrible to look at, either. We appreciate that even though the brand name is printed in large letters on the front of the chair, it’s in a more neutral color scheme than those on other models (like the Sharper Image) and so less of an eyesore.
This model’s remote is intuitive, offering a combination of words and easy-to-understand icons. It doesn’t have a timer function (as the Relaxzen does), which we would have liked to see. But the MCS-845HJ does have a demo mode to showcase a few different motions (which only a few of the portable models have), making it easy to plop yourself down and get an instantaneous massage.
The MCS-845HJ is one of the only portable models we tested that lets you adjust the height and width of the massage programs to your body—something that Cornell University’s Alan Hedge told us is important for ergonomics.
“Office chairs have a lot of adjustability. The downside with massage chairs is that, for the most part, they’re fixed in size. If you fit the chair, great. If you don’t, that’s tough. You can be too short or tall, or too small or big in terms of girth,” he explained.
HoMedics backs this model with a two-year warranty, coverage that’s as long as the warranty for any portable massage chair we tested. That should give you plenty of time to try it out and make sure it’s working well for you.
Aside from requiring more assembly before each use (strapping it to a chair) compared with our stationary picks—along with the fact that it massages fewer body parts—this model has two main drawbacks. First, it’s on the heavier side for a portable massage chair, weighing 17.5 pounds, or about as much as a small dachshund. And second, it’s one of the most expensive portable models we tested. But we think those are fair trade-offs for its wide range of features and great overall performance in our testing.
If the OS-Champ is unavailable, and you can stand to sacrifice some cosmetic comforts: Consider the Osaki OS-4000. It costs $1,800 at this writing, $100 less than the OS-Champ. It’s on a par with our top pick in overall performance, too, garnering an average score of 4 out of 5 in our 2021 round of testing. However, most of our testers didn’t like the look and feel of its materials as much as those of the OS-Champ and RelaxOnChair models, which is why we didn’t make it a pick.
If the OS-Champ is unavailable, and your budget allows you to spend a few hundred dollars more on a similar-performing chair: Get the RelaxOnChair MK-Classic (our erstwhile runner-up pick). Like Osaki’s OS-4000 and OS-Champ models, the MK-Classic received an average score of 4 out of 5 from our testers on overall performance when we tested it in 2020. Most of our testers said it had an upscale look and a luxurious feel, and it offers a wide range of features and settings. But its hefty price tag, coupled with its lack of any significant benefits over the OS-Champ—and only meager benefits over cheaper chairs like the OS-4000—caused us to remove it as a pick in our latest round of testing.
If you don’t want to splurge on one of the larger stationary options, but you still want something more substantial than our portable pick: The RelaxOnChair Rio is a good bet. The Rio, which we tested in 2020, performed fairly well overall, garnering an average score of 3.5 out of 5 from our testers. It’s much more compact than the OS-Champ, measuring 4 feet 8 inches along its longest edge, compared with the OS-Champ’s 6 feet 6 inches. And while the OS-Champ can accommodate users weighing up to 260 pounds, the Rio is not far behind with a 250-pound weight limit. It has a phone pocket, USB charging, and built-in control buttons, as well as more common features like heating, zero-gravity reclining, and Bluetooth connectivity. We decided not to make it a pick because most of our testers said its heating feature was inadequate, and it doesn’t fully recline (two of our most important criteria). But it’s a good value if you can overlook those drawbacks.
If you want a more immersive sensory experience than any other chair we’ve tested: Opt for the Osaki OS-4D Escape. Despite having a price tag that’s nearly quadruple that of our top pick, and though it garnered slightly lower scores across the board than the OS-Champ in our 2022 round of testing, the Escape offers a slew of unique features that may be worth the price jump to some people. More specifically, it’s the only model we tested that offers a privacy hood, chromotherapy (colored lights on a screen inside the hood), and aromatherapy (a built-in essential oil diffuser). To be clear, there’s no scientific evidence showing that chromotherapy or aromatherapy have any kind of therapeutic effect. But if you’re looking for a multisensorial massage experience—rather than supplying your own diffuser, scented candle, or colored lighting, say—you might enjoy having these built-in features. In our testing, we especially liked the enshrouded, womblike feeling that the privacy hood gave to the entire experience. Like our top pick, this chair has heating, zero-gravity reclining, Bluetooth connectivity, and body-scanning customization. It also adds USB charging (handy for charging a phone while lounging) and convenient controls built into the armrests. Testers gave it an average score of 3.9 out of 5 in terms of heat, 3.6 out of 5 in terms of comfort, 4.6 out of 5 in terms of build quality, and 3.3 out of 5 on its overall performance. Like the OS-Champ, it has a weight limit of 260 pounds and a three-year warranty. The $8,000 price tag is probably a dealbreaker for most people, but if you’re willing and able to shell out for it, this chair offers an enveloping experience you won’t get with other models.
If you need a chair with a higher weight limit than that of the OS-Champ: Get the iRest A306. In our 2022 round of testing, our panel of testers gave it an average score of 3.4 out of 5 on its overall performance. It also earned an average score of 4.1 out of 5 in terms of heat, 3.9 out of 5 in terms of comfort, and 4.6 out of 5 in terms of build quality. Its weight limit of 330 pounds is higher than most, including the OS-Champ. And like our top pick, it’s backed by a three-year warranty, costs $2,200, and offers zero-gravity reclining, Bluetooth connectivity, and body scanning. It also adds USB charging, convenient controls built into the armrests, and voice-activated controls (though none of our testers found the latter feature to be useful).
If our portable pick is unavailable, and you can live with a heavier, pricier chair with a shorter warranty in exchange for some useful extra features: Get the Snailax 236. In our 2022 testing, it performed about as well as the HoMedics Shiatsu Elite II in terms of heat delivery, comfort, and build quality. It’s heavier (20.9 pounds compared with 17.5 pounds), has a shorter warranty (one year versus two), and costs $10 more than the Elite II at this writing, but it has many of the same desirable features as that model: namely, height adjustment and a remote-control pocket. It also adds a removable back flap to help you further adjust the massage intensity, a machine-washable neck cover, and airbags that gently inflate and deflate against the sides of the body. The latter feature is commonly found in stationary massage chairs, but this is the first portable model we’ve seen with it: Effectively mimicking the feeling of a massage therapist’s hands squeezing and releasing sections of tissue, the airbags apply pressure and then gradually release it to help encourage blood flow.
If you want a portable massage chair that lies flat and has a machine-washable cover: The HoMedics Total Recline Shiatsu Massage Cushion (MCS-1010HJ) is the one to get. Like the company’s Elite II, it’s sturdy and well built, and it massages the neck, shoulders, upper back, and lower back. Its remote is easy to use, and it offers a variety of massage styles and intensity settings. It has a pleasant look, encased in a soft, light-gray fabric that wouldn’t seem out of place in most homes, offices, or hospital rooms (plus, its removable cover is machine-washable, whereas the Elite II’s exterior requires spot-cleaning by hand). Unlike the Elite II, this model can lie flat for a supine massage, and you can slide the headrest up or down to further adjust the height. It’s also more compact and portable, weighing just 14 pounds (the Elite II weighs 17.5 pounds). However, it failed to make our list of picks because it doesn’t offer as robust of a massage as the Elite II, it costs $100 more at this writing, and although we could actually feel the heat feature—unlike on most portable models we tested—it didn’t get quite as warm.
A massage from a massage therapist is undoubtedly better for the environment than any mechanical massage chair, which are primarily made of metal, plastic, and other petroleum-based materials that can sit in a landfill for years and leach harmful substances into local ecosystems. Also, like with most household products, the process of manufacturing and shipping mechanical massage chairs emits greenhouse gasses, trapping heat in the atmosphere and warming the planet.
But if you already have a massage chair or are planning to buy one, you can take a few extra steps to prolong its usefulness:
Several companies announced new massage chairs at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2023. We’ll consider the following models for our next round of testing:
The BestMassage SL Track Electric Shiatsu Massage Chair (E358) (formerly called the BestMassage Daydreamer) is more like a nightmare than a daydream. In overall performance, it was the only model in our 2021 round of testing to score a 1 out of 5 (two people gave it a 1, four people gave it a 2). And none of our testers felt any warmth from the heating feature.
Although the HoMedics 3D Shiatsu Massaging Lounger had a clean, minimalist aesthetic that appealed to us initially, it didn’t measure up in person. Our testers said its heating feature wasn’t warm enough, and they gave it a low overall score (2.25 out of 5) on average.
The Human Touch WholeBody 7.1 Massage Chair got an average score of 3 out of 5 from our testers, most of whom said the chair didn’t envelop the body (especially in the neck and calf areas) like our favorite massage chairs did. Also, while the ottoman rotates for a calf massage, there’s not really a foot-massage option—unless you’re short enough to rest your feet on the calf massager. Notably, editor in chief Ben Frumin said, “More than perhaps any other chair I tested, this one did not feel like a massage. It felt like a mechanical simulacrum of a massage—like what a highly intelligent robot studying human behavior would think a massage is, but is actually not really close.” We like its compact size and shape, but we think you’re better off saving money and space by getting our portable pick.
The Inner Balance Wellness Jin 2.0 Deluxe was slightly favored by our testers who preferred a gentler massage, but it otherwise fared poorly in testing. On average, it earned scores of 3.3 out of 5 in terms of overall performance, 2.8 out of 5 in terms of heating, 3.9 out of 5 in terms of comfort, and 4.3 out of 5 in terms of build quality (by comparison, our top pick garnered average scores of 4.0, 4.3, 4.2, and 4.7 out of 5 in these respective categories). The Jin 2.0 Deluxe’s upper weight limit (300 pounds) is superior to that of our top pick, and its warranty (one year of parts and labor coverage, and two years of parts only) is comparable to the OS-Champ’s (one year of parts and labor, and three years of parts only). But neither is enough to make up for its middling scores or to justify its higher price tag, which is $3,500 at this writing.
The Massamax MD321 looks nearly identical to the iRest, and like that chair it has a 330-pound weight limit and a three-year warranty—but the similarities end there. It earned mostly poor average scores from our testing panel: 2.6 out of 5 in overall performance, 2.6 out of 5 in heating, 3.4 out of 5 in comfort, and 4.0 out of 5 in build quality. It also costs $100 more than our top pick at this writing ($2,300 compared with $2,200).
The Osaki OS-4D Pro Maestro LE has a slightly more luxurious look and feel than our top pick, as well as more features: In addition to heating, zero-gravity reclining, Bluetooth connectivity, and body scanning, it has control buttons built into the armrest, USB charging, wireless charging, and an easy-to-use touchscreen display. It garnered good average scores from our testers, with a 3.9 out of 5 for overall performance, 3.2 out of 5 for heating, 4.6 out of 5 for comfort, and 4.6 out of 5 for build quality. However, it’s the priciest massage chair we’ve tested, costing $10,000 at this writing, and we don’t think it’s much better than chairs costing thousands less.
The Osaki Titan Prime 3D performed worse than our top pick overall, earning an average score of 3.5 out of 5 from our testers, and we don’t think it offers any extra features that could redeem its ho-hum performance. Unless it drops in price significantly, or you find a great deal, we don’t recommend it.
The RelaxOnChair MK-II Plus got a low average overall score (2.25 out of 5) in our testing. Although it was about as luxurious, in look and feel, as the other RelaxOnChair models we tested, testers found it difficult to use, and its heating feature wasn’t warm enough.
The Riverstone Furniture Collection 2pc Massaging Multi Position Recliner Set is nice and compact, but we gave it a low average overall score (2.25 out of 5) in our testing. For the price ($440 at this writing), we think you’re better off choosing our portable pick or splurging on a smaller stationary option like the RelaxOnChair Rio.
The HoMedics Thera-P Shiatsu Massage Cushion with Heat performed poorly in our testing in pretty much every way. It’s made of a light-colored, insubstantial material that seems like it would tear or soil easily. The remote is attached to the seat, making it more difficult to use, and the chair has only one style of massage. Also, the heating feature is virtually nonexistent—we couldn’t feel the heat through a thin layer of clothing. Even though it’s one of the lightest (weighing just 8.6 pounds in our testing) and one of the least expensive models we’ve tested, we don’t recommend it.
The Relaxzen 60-2970 (discontinued) has a flimsy foam seat cushion, and we thought the light color might get dirty easily. We found it hard to know which intensity setting we were on, we couldn’t feel the heating feature at all, and in our testing we found it to be just as heavy as our favorite HoMedics model.
The Sharper Image Shiatsu Massage Seat Cushion seems fairly sturdy and durable, it’s easy to use, and it offers a wide variety of massage styles and intensity settings. But it’s more expensive than comparable models, and in our tests its heating feature wasn’t warm enough for us to feel anything.
The Snailax 233 costs less than our portable pick ($160 compared with $210, as of this writing), and it weighed in at 16.1 pounds in our testing, making it one of the lightest models we’ve tested. Like the Elite II it has a height-adjustment feature and remote-control pocket, as well as a machine-washable neck cover and a removable back flap to further customize the massage intensity. However, its one-year warranty is half as long as the Elite II’s, and we found it to be just so-so in terms of heat, comfort, and build quality.
The Snailax 269 has plenty of massage styles and intensity settings, and at this writing it costs less than the Elite II ($120 compared with $210). We like that it has an extra flap of fabric you can add on to lessen the massage intensity, as well as a removable headrest to further allow you to customize the fit and comfort of the chair. Also, at 9.8 pounds, it’s one of the more lightweight models we tested, making it easy to transport. However, we couldn’t feel any warmth from its heating feature, and the materials look and feel flimsier than those of the Elite II.
This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.
Sarah Witman has researched, tested, and reviewed all manner of products—from massage chairs and mousetraps to pencils and power banks—since joining Wirecutter in 2017. Before that, she worked as a science writer and fact checker for numerous publications, and she studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin. In her spare time, she eats as much cheese as her body will tolerate.
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Cheap Massage Chair Full Body Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).