About the World's Best Massage Chair's Curated Massage Chair Brands

How We Chose Our Best Brands

Our site offers only trusted massage chair brands that offer great performance and have a reputation for great service and post-sale care. We endeavor to be a credible and accurate source for massage chair information.

We take great pride in what we do. We see our site as a service to all who are searching for their ideal massage chair. We’ll teach basic tips and hints that, if followed, will keep you from being trapped into buying a chair that may not meet your needs, may not last for very long, and may provide a low-grade massage.

Whether you buy from us or not – and we hope you do – we believe that the background we provide will make you a smarter shopper and a happier massage chair owner.

From us, you’ll find only the finest massage chair options available in North America. Our product selection team engages in a careful, rational effort to verify the integrity of the brands and the specific models we choose to represent.

Basic Qualifications to Pass Muster with Us

If you see a massage chair on our site, you can be certain that it meets all the following criteria:

The brand supporting after-sale service is credible, stable, and operates with integrity. Should you ever need to service your chair, the company behind the chair is committed to helping you.
The manufacturer warranty meets all the following requirements:
- No portion of their warranty is prorated.
  Prorating warranties is a way for companies to pull the wool over your eyes. If you’re unclear about what we mean by a prorated warranty, contact us today to learn about this common industry practice, and we’ll provide you with some real-life examples of it in use.
- The warranty coverage extends for a minimum of three (3) full years from the date of your purchase.
  This kind of coverage reflects a vote of confidence on the part of the manufacturer that THEY believe in THEIR product. If a manufacturer can’t demonstrate this, their product does not make the cut for us.
- The company has a proven track record of being able to provide warranty service (and after-warranty service) in all cities of the United States and Canada.
The brand is represented in stores across the U.S. or Canada (or both). We feel that this is an essential measure of brand credibility. Stores are tough environments for massage chairs. In busier retail locations, chairs are subject to constant use and frequent abuse by shoppers – think raucous teens jumping into massage chairs with shoes on and pressing button after button on the remote. This is a great environment for testing the endurance and durability of a model. Because of this, you will not find any brands here that focus their distribution exclusively through Internet merchants, and we do not think that you should trust a brand or a model that isn’t displayed in brick-and-mortar stores.
The distribution company for the brand has at least ten years in business. This gives us (and you) the reassurance that you are not dealing with a new, unpredictable organization. We see many new fly-by-night entries into the massage chair industry, but you will never see them on our site.
We find out who actually owns and operates the factory where each model is produced. There are hundreds of factories in China capable of building a massage chair, and only a few do it well.

Scouring the Globe

We look everywhere for the best that the massage chair industry has to offer. At present, we feature chairs from companies meeting the following criteria:

Japanese models that are made by Japanese companies and are made in Japan. D.Core Cloud is an example of this.
Japanese models are made by Japanese companies in China but in factories owned and operated by a Japanese company. All the Panasonic chairs fit this category.
American models designed by American companies and made in the USA. Stay tuned as this is coming soon!
American models designed by American companies and made in China. The Positive Posture Brio is an example of this.

Why Japan When it Comes to Massage Chairs?

Japanese “get” massage: the population has had an abiding interest in massage and a tradition of the practice dating back to around the year 700. This fact, combined with the intense stress of modern Japanese life, has combined to create a deep interest in the practice of massage for purposes of improving health and for providing escape through relaxation from the rigors of work.
The massage chair industry got its start in Japan; until China had a vibrant manufacturing base, Japan was it when it came to massage chairs. In fact, all the legacy brands in the world (essentially Panasonic, OHCO) built the Japanese market and developed reach into overseas markets. Simply put, Japan has had the longest exposure to massage chairs of any country in the world, and this has likely contributed a great deal to their popularity in Japan.
Massage chairs are featured prominently in the largest retailers in Japan – those who have traveled to Japan will be quite familiar with the “electric store” concept. There’s no analogous retail concept here in the States. Imagine the biggest Best Buy you possibly can, double or triple the image that you have in your mind, and maybe – just maybe – you’re getting a sense of what a Japanese electric store feels like. They operate under names like Yodobashi Camera, Bic Camera, and Yamada Denki, and they all commit significant space to massage chairs, frequently showing 10 to 20 models for consumers to try. It’s not unusual at all to see a number of shoppers exploring (or just snoozing) in the massage chair department of these stores.
In Japan, massage chairs are viewed as medical devices that provide real health benefits, and while this is something that’s definitely taking hold here in the US, it has been common sense in Japan for a long, long time. Japan’s Ministry of Health is deeply involved in the approval process for massage chairs, and it approved certain models as bonafide medical devices. (Examples include the Panasonic MA-73.) Beware! Don’t be confused by the brands out there that say “FDA Approved.” It’s a meaningless designation and is, in fact, a lie to say that a device is “approved” by the FDA. The FDA does not “approve” any massage chairs in the US. Companies may REGISTER their products with the FDA as an FDA Type 1 device. Read carefully now: THIS MEANS NOTHING other than the fact that the company registered the product. Unlike Japan’s Ministry of Health, there’s NO TESTING involved, NO QUALITY STANDARDS, and NO STUDIES that are done – nothing other than a government form has been completed that simply registers that a product exists.

Real Value vs. Just Being Cheap

We’re confident that any chair you choose from our selection offers excellent value for the dollar. You’ll notice that we do not endorse any cheap chairs.

We’re very clear that the value equation that matters is a function of all the following elements:

Functions
Performance
Reliability
Price
Warranty and Service

Regardless of the chair, you choose to buy, you’re making a significant investment that can change your life.

A low-quality “budget” product can seem like an excellent choice on the day of your purchase. It’s likely to come back and haunt you soon after you start using your chair.

Massage Chair Testing & Standards

We are the only site that sets high standards, filtering and rejecting the majority of massage chairs in the market. When you buy here, you’re encouraging the whole industry to provide real quality and value to consumers. And you’re making a very smart choice for yourself too.

What makes a massage chair “The Best” in our eyes? It’s these four simple attributes:

Massage quality – the reason you want a massage chair to begin with – is excellent compared to the similarly priced competition;
We believe that the product is of exceptionally high quality when compared to other models or brands in the market;
The manufacturer brand is committed to after-sale service;
The warranty is simple, straightforward, and more comprehensive than the competition.