Product Review Of Panasonic EP30004TU Massage Chair Recliner

Reviews can play an important in the research phase of any product. To be helpful, reviews need to present a variety of facts to aid in the selection process for a consumer. We have developed a five category system to help compare different massage chairs. This system weighs the 5 categories equally allowing each one to earn 20 points. The score of each category is then summed to give a total score for that massage chair. This is by no means a perfect system, but it provides a more systematic approach to the evaluation process. The 5 categories we use for the review include: Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. We hope you find this approach helpful for your research. This review is of the Panasonic Real Ultra EP30004. This shiatsu massage chair is in the $4,000 to $5,000 range.

Warranty & Customer Service: With any electronic equipment or big ticket item, warranty protection is critical. Although, most massage chairs are built well, there are occasional problems. In this case, you want to make sure you have adequate protection. The EP 30004 comes with a 3 year parts and 1 year labor warranty from the manufacturer. We find this as fairly short and recommend you consider purchasing an extended warranty if it is offered. Customer service is dependent on the retailer the chair is purchased and is thus highly variable. Panasonic earns a 15 in this category.

Comfort & Ergonomics: Ergonomics was a hot topic about 10 years ago when everyone started jumping on the bandwagon. However, surprisingly many manufacturers do not pay close attention to this area. The EP-30004 does follow ergonomics very well. It has a detachable head pillow that can easily be adjusted for each user. The armrests come with sufficient padding to support the arms in comfort. The chair back and the seat support the body well and are form fitting. The leg rest can be adjusted an additional five inches. This is really important to fit individual users. Overall we rate this chair an 18 for ergonomics.

East of Use: The massage chair industry increases the functionality of its chairs every year. With the increase in functionality comes increasing complexity of controls to run them. Our ease of use category is for making the controls of the chair as intuitive as possible for the user. Panasonic is one of the premier electronics companies in the world, so we expect them to completely understand this issue. Panasonic has pioneered the use of a ?Voice Guidance? system in their chairs to help consumers with ease of use. This interactive system enables novice users to quickly understand and use the chair to maximum benefit. The remote is very cleanly designed and intuitive. It is not cluttered like many controllers we evaluate. The remote comes with memory functions that can remember the favorite massages of up to 4 different users. Manual controls are located in the side panel of the remote. Overall Rating for the Panasonic EP 30004 for ease of use is 19.

Key Features: The important features of the Panasonic EP-30004 are the Junetsu massage and the shoulder/arm stretch. Panasonic has developed the Junetsu style massage in the Real Pro Ultra. The Junetsu is an ultra fine kneading massage. This uses small circular motions that penetrate deeply through the muscles for a soothing massage therapy. Panasonic has developed a novel shoulder stretch in the EP 30004. The arm rest has padded covers that lift up, where the hands and arms can be placed inside. The airbags then activate to which hold the arms. The chair back then reclines slightly to extend the arms and shoulders. This slow, gradual stretch helps to elongate the muscles of the arms and shoulders. This stretch helps to remove tension from the muscles and increase the range of motion. Overall Rating for the Panasonic Real Pro Ultra for features is 19.

Massage Therapy: This massage chair comes with five automatic courses. It includes a Body Scan which is also customizable. Ultra-fine kneading or Junetsu has been introduced to the full complement of Quad-style massage techniques, including Shiatsu, Swedish, fist kneading, and grasping. Between the automatic and the manual functions there are up to 372 combinations of techniques available in this recliner. There are reflexology pads built into the foot wells that pinpoint areas that will instantly increase blood flow and energy throughout your body. These plates are adjustable and removable. You also have both a lower body stretch and the shoulder stretch. This chair has a virtual arsenal of massage techniques to cater to your every need. We score the massage therapy of this chair a 19.

The Panasonic EP 30004 rates as a 90/100. We really like the new and innovative features of this recliner. The shoulder stretch is another important advance for massage chair technology. The Junetsu massage technique provides good deep penetration for those hard to get at areas in the back. The remote is simple to use and comes with the voice guidance feature. The manufacturer’s warranty is a bit on the light side and should be beefed up with the purchase of an extended warranty. The only point of concern we have is the industrial look of the chair. We do not understand why Panasonic continues to neglect the design aesthetics of their massage chair line. But overall, this is a very solid chair from an important manufacturer. If you are in the market for a luxury massage chair, then this one should be on your short list of choices.