Product Review of Panasonic EP3222 Massage Chair Recliner
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 an important consideration with the advance of electronics. The average massage remote has an average of 15 buttons. This can just be overwhelming without an engineering degree unless it is designed right. The remote control of the Panasonic Real Pro Elite is fairly intuitive to use. Additionally, Panasonic has added Voice Guidance. Of course, voice guidance is a mixed blessing. It is good when you need something and annoying when you do not. The 4 automatic programs are easy to use where one can select and just sit back and relax. The side panel contains more manual controls for the manual massage techniques and the lower body air system. The Focus button is a nice option which allows the user to repeat a massage that it just performed. Our rating in this category is 17.
Key Features: The important features of the Panasonic EP-3222 are the Swede-Atsu which is designed to replicate the techniques of a massage therapist, 33 airbags in the lower body air massage system and the back rollers cover 185 square inches. The Swede-Atsu uses rubber massage heads to replicate the stoking of the palms of the hand, pressing by the heal of the hand, and kneading with the thumbs. The expanded back coverage to 185 square inches is impressive to cover your back thoroughly. Panasonic packs a whooping 33 airbags into the Real Pro Elite. There are 3 lower body massages including Grasp, Auto and Squeeze. There are a number of impressive features included in the EP-3222. Overall Rating for the Panasonic Real Pro Elite for features 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.
How does Panasonic Real Pro Elite EP-3222 rate? Overall, our rating of the Panasonic Ep-3222 is an 87/100. The remote control is easy to use, intuitive and comes with the Voice Guidance. The back and lower body massages are pretty comprehensive and effective. The warranty is a bit of a concern, since the direct factory warranty is rather short. It is possible to purchase an extended warranty, but this impacts the delivered price. If you are tall, then the footrest is an issue, since it cannot be adjusted. However, the technology used seems reliable and delivers a thorough massage. If you are looking for a shiatsu massage recliner in this category, this is definately one to seriously consider.
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