Benefits of massage are undisputable. It helps to relax your muscles and improve your blood circulation in massaged parts of your body.
While high-end massage chairs (zero gravity chairs), certainly is the closest imitation to what a real hand massage feels like, they are pretty pricy.
For information on the best zero gravity massage chair and reviews on other zero gravity massaging chairs, check this article.
The cheapest zero gravity massage chair will cost you at list 3,000$ (not counting Chinese massage chairs, which brakes often and have terrible return and repair policy). And good quality zero gravity chair can cost you up to 15,000$.
What to do if you want and need a decent massage chair but you don’t want to spend a fortune on it?
In this case you can go with budget massage chairs, which still offer a quality massage, with fewer features, but with more attractive price, ranging from 500$ to 2,000$.
And if you look for something even less expensive and more portable massage cushion (also called massaging chair pad) could be a good option for you.
We put the most interesting models of massage chairs in the price range in to the table, which is easy to understand and compare different models of massage chairs.
You can find more detailed information about each model and our picks after the table.
Contents
Panasonic: Urban Collection Massage Chair with Chiro Mode (EP1285KL)
Features:
- 4 Pre-set Programs: Chiro (new massage technique for better muscle relaxation and promoting good posture by helping eliminate fatigued muscles), Swedish, Shiatsu, and Quick
- 8 Manual Modes: Kneading, Hawaiian (gentle rubbing motion across the back), Compression (firmer rubbing motion across the back), Tapping, Soft Shiatsu, Full/Regional Roll, and Swedish.
- Number of rollers: 4
- 14 airbags for lower body massage
- Kneading calf massage
- Leg stretch (very mild stretch)
- “Tsubo point” neck/shoulder massage (“Tsuba points” are acupressure points)
- Massaging recliner, up to 170°
Panasonic massage chairs are good quality massaging chairs, but they very often lack the variety of features. Panasonic EP1285KL for the 2,000$+ price could have at list heat and rollers adjustment features. Though, it’s still a good massage chair with lots of massage options from intense, like kneading, to gentle, like Hawaiian.
Osaki OS-1000 Deluxe Massage Chair, Black
If you’re looking for comparable to Panasonic quality, but lower price, consider Osaki OS-1000. Osaki is a reputable brand, so you can be sure that your massaging chair will serve you for years.
Features:
- 5 Pre-set programs: Health Care, Full Body Relax, Therapy, Neck/Shoulder, Back/Lumber
- 4 Massage Types: Kneading & Tapping, Kneading, Tapping, and Rolling
- 20 airbags for lower body massage
- Number of rollers: 4
- “Tsubo point” neck/shoulder
- Back rollers reach tailbone area
- Adjustable speed of massage
- Adjustable massage strength (6 levels)
- Adjustable width of rollers (3 different width settings)
- Vibration massage in the seat
- Recliner, up to 170°
As you see Osaki OS-1000 has a nice collection of features. They will satisfy any massage taste. You will get everything you want either it’s slow and gentle massage or fast and intense. It will accommodate any back shape with adjustable roller width and extra-long roller range (that makes it the best chair for back pain).
Osaki OS-1000 is a perfect massaging chair for the tight budget in the opinion of our experts. The only cons of this chair are that it’s bulky and can stand out from other furniture in the room. However, this could be applied to most of reclining massage chairs.
OSIM uStyle2 Massage Chair
If you care about style of your home as much as about a good at-home massage, Osim uStyle2 is a perfect massage chair for you. It has very stylish look available in different colors, and transform in the regular comfort chair with a touch of a button.
This massage chair has everything to give you personalized massage adjusted to your preferences and physic. With Osim uStyle2 you can adjust length and width of roller’s work area (aka your back), intensity and choose from 5 pre-set and 9 manual programs.
Features:
- 5 Pre-set programs: Relax, Energize, Neck & Shoulder, De-Stress and Lumbar
- 9 Manual programs: Tapping, Rolling, Kneading, Vibration and combination massages
- Adjustable shoulder position (5 settings)
- Adjustable width of rollers (3 settings)
- Adjustable massage intensity (3 settings)
- Foot vibration and kneading massage
The bottom line for this model is that Osim uStyle2 can be named the best massage chair transformer on the market.
Human Touch iJoy-2580 Robotic Massage Chair
Human Touch iJoy-2580 is an inexpensive stylish looking massage chair. It’s not bulky and easily can be moved from one place to another. iJoy-2580 has 4 types of massage technics, which help to relieve or invigorate neck, shoulder and lower back combined in 3 pre-set programs.
You can refresh your entire back with rolling technic, relieve neck and shoulders with kneading, and release lower back with compression and percussion (rapid-tapping strokes).
Human Touch iJoy-2580 massage quality is pretty decent and an over-all rating of the massage chair by customers is high. But it has very limited amount of features and can be compared with massage cushion in functionality. It has a stylish look and could be used as a chair while not in use. But you can feel its rollers when it’s off, what makes iJoy-2580 uncomfortable for sitting in.
Bottom line, Human Touch iJoy-2580 is a good massage chair for the price, but has its drawbacks, which you should know before consider buying. This applies to most iJoy chairs.
Electric Full Body Shiatsu Massage Chair Recliner w/Heat Stretched Foot Rest 06C
BestMassage EC-06C offers you a great number of features for the fraction of the price of other comparable massage chairs.
Features:
- 3 Pre-set programs: Recovery, Relax, Refresh
- 6 Massage Types: Kneading, Rolling, Tapping, Flapping, Compression, Percussion
- 20 airbags for lower body massage
- “Tsubo point” neck/shoulder massage
- Back rollers reach tailbone area
- Vibration and airbags’ massage for the buttocks
- Heat
At first it seems like a great massage chair, with all features available and price 3 times lower than similar chair by reputable brand. But there is one huge drawback.
The biggest concern about this BestMassage chair as well as other massage chairs by this brand is unreliability and it has terrible customer service. Around 10% of people who bought this chair complain that it didn’t work out-of-box or broke within one month. That happens with reputable brands too, but you have warranty for that. Unfortunately, people have big trouble with customer service of BestMassage, when they were trying to return or repair product.
Though, the majority who tried this chair are satisfied with its performance.
Vibrating chair is another budget option for massage chair, but it is worth a separate discussion. In short, vibration is over-all relaxing but can’t be compared with kneading and rolling massage.
Hope, you were able to find enough information here to be able to buy the best massage chair on a budget. And at the end a chair buying tip, you can try a massage chair in a real store (if you will be able to find model you want), but buy on-line, in order to get the best price on massage chair.