If you are a potential massage chair buyer, then finding an unbiased review of a given massage chair can be helpful. Here are 5 important categories to evaluate the total massage chair experience. This system gives equal weight to each of the 5 categories with each category having from 0 to 20. A 100 point score means the chair and the company has achieved total excellence. The 5 categories are Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. The discipline of a systematic approach provides for balance help those seriously considering a massage chair. The Panasonic Real Pro EP-3222 is the subject of this review. This luxury shiatsu massage chair is in the $4,000 to $5,000 range.
Warranty & Customer Service: It is important that the manufacturer stand behind its product. The warranty coverage is always a good benchmark of the manufacturer's confidence in its product. Panasonic has a 1 year labor, 1 year parts and 1 year in-home service as well as 1 year shipping. Panasonic has a machine hour counter and the warranty expires after 1,000 hours of use. Panasonic has average warranty coverage. Customer service is through your retailer or national service centers. Service time and quality is variable and dependent on where service is obtained. Our Rating in this category is 15.
Comfort & Ergonomics: Massage chair recliners should fit the body and be comfortable to site on. The Panasonic Real Pro Elite has soft padded armrests. The EP-3222 has a soft upholstered detachable head pillow to support the head. Overall, the chair is comfortable to sit in. One point of restriction is the footrest. The footrest stays at a fixed length and cannot be adjusted for taller individuals. If you are taller, then you can raise the footrest horizontal and put your legs straight through. You then miss the foot compression massage. Overall Rating for Panasonic comfort and ergonomics and customer service is 17.
Ease of Use: Ease of use is defined as how intuitive the controls and how complicated are they to use without reading the instructions. Panasonic has lead in the development of remote controls using LCDs and other advanced features. The Real Pro Elite EP-3222 has many features and correspondingly many buttons on the control. Most are intuitive, but some take some getting used to, which means lower ease of use. Panasonic tries to compensate for this with its "Voice Guidance" feature. The automatic massage buttons are located across the top of the controls for easy access and they have a "focus" button which allows you to repeat the massage action that occurred. The Real Pro Elite has a side panel with additional manual massage controls for the lower body massages. Overall Rating for the Panasonic Real Pro Elite for ease of use is 17.
Key Features: The most prominent features of the Panasonic Real Pro Elite are the 33 airbags in the lower body air system and the Swede-Atsu massage system. The lower body airsytem has a total of 33 airbags and provides great coverage for the hips, thighs, buttocks, calves and feet. The compression air massage gently, but firmly squeezes the lower body to release tension and soreness. The Swede-Atsu uses rubber massage heads. These rubber massage heads coupled with the software replicate the stoking of the palms of the hand, pressing by the heal of the hand, or the kneading with the thumbs. The massage is solid and does a thorough job of relieving tension and stress. Our rating of the Panasonic EP-3222 in this category is 19.
Massage Therapy: The Panasonic Real Pro Elite comes with One 5-minute Quick Program, Four 14-minute Pre-Programs, 4 full body automatic courses, One 14-minute Self Program, 5 massage speed settings for a total combination of 14 massage courses. Automatic one button massage functions include: Shiatsu, Gentle, Deep and Refresh. The lowerbody massage is powered with 33 airbags for full coverage. The Swede-Atsu massage system has realistic massage therapy techniques similar to a massage therapist. This shiatsu massage recliner provides increased back coverage with rollers that can go wider to cover more of the back. Our rating in this category is 19.
The Panasonic Real Pro Elite was just reviewed in 5 categories ranging from warranty to features to ergonomics. How does the Panasonic Real Pro Elite Score? Based on the 5 categories the total score for the Panasonic Real Pro Elite is an 87/100. The Real Pro Elite massage recliner provides a comprehensive and thorough full body massage. Just be wary of the warranty coverage and consider purchasing an extended warranty for further protection. Also, taller users have to compromise with the footrest which does not extend. Other than that, Panasonic integrates some solid technology with therapeutic massage benefits into this luxury shiatsu massage chair. - 15252
Warranty & Customer Service: It is important that the manufacturer stand behind its product. The warranty coverage is always a good benchmark of the manufacturer's confidence in its product. Panasonic has a 1 year labor, 1 year parts and 1 year in-home service as well as 1 year shipping. Panasonic has a machine hour counter and the warranty expires after 1,000 hours of use. Panasonic has average warranty coverage. Customer service is through your retailer or national service centers. Service time and quality is variable and dependent on where service is obtained. Our Rating in this category is 15.
Comfort & Ergonomics: Massage chair recliners should fit the body and be comfortable to site on. The Panasonic Real Pro Elite has soft padded armrests. The EP-3222 has a soft upholstered detachable head pillow to support the head. Overall, the chair is comfortable to sit in. One point of restriction is the footrest. The footrest stays at a fixed length and cannot be adjusted for taller individuals. If you are taller, then you can raise the footrest horizontal and put your legs straight through. You then miss the foot compression massage. Overall Rating for Panasonic comfort and ergonomics and customer service is 17.
Ease of Use: Ease of use is defined as how intuitive the controls and how complicated are they to use without reading the instructions. Panasonic has lead in the development of remote controls using LCDs and other advanced features. The Real Pro Elite EP-3222 has many features and correspondingly many buttons on the control. Most are intuitive, but some take some getting used to, which means lower ease of use. Panasonic tries to compensate for this with its "Voice Guidance" feature. The automatic massage buttons are located across the top of the controls for easy access and they have a "focus" button which allows you to repeat the massage action that occurred. The Real Pro Elite has a side panel with additional manual massage controls for the lower body massages. Overall Rating for the Panasonic Real Pro Elite for ease of use is 17.
Key Features: The most prominent features of the Panasonic Real Pro Elite are the 33 airbags in the lower body air system and the Swede-Atsu massage system. The lower body airsytem has a total of 33 airbags and provides great coverage for the hips, thighs, buttocks, calves and feet. The compression air massage gently, but firmly squeezes the lower body to release tension and soreness. The Swede-Atsu uses rubber massage heads. These rubber massage heads coupled with the software replicate the stoking of the palms of the hand, pressing by the heal of the hand, or the kneading with the thumbs. The massage is solid and does a thorough job of relieving tension and stress. Our rating of the Panasonic EP-3222 in this category is 19.
Massage Therapy: The Panasonic Real Pro Elite comes with One 5-minute Quick Program, Four 14-minute Pre-Programs, 4 full body automatic courses, One 14-minute Self Program, 5 massage speed settings for a total combination of 14 massage courses. Automatic one button massage functions include: Shiatsu, Gentle, Deep and Refresh. The lowerbody massage is powered with 33 airbags for full coverage. The Swede-Atsu massage system has realistic massage therapy techniques similar to a massage therapist. This shiatsu massage recliner provides increased back coverage with rollers that can go wider to cover more of the back. Our rating in this category is 19.
The Panasonic Real Pro Elite was just reviewed in 5 categories ranging from warranty to features to ergonomics. How does the Panasonic Real Pro Elite Score? Based on the 5 categories the total score for the Panasonic Real Pro Elite is an 87/100. The Real Pro Elite massage recliner provides a comprehensive and thorough full body massage. Just be wary of the warranty coverage and consider purchasing an extended warranty for further protection. Also, taller users have to compromise with the footrest which does not extend. Other than that, Panasonic integrates some solid technology with therapeutic massage benefits into this luxury shiatsu massage chair. - 15252
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