Product Review: HT-7120 Massage Chair by Human Touch
Sep 12th, 2008 | By James Knolan | Category: HomeHuman Touch has a wide variety of massage chairs for virtually any need and budget. This review will focus on the HT-7120 massage recliner by Human Touch. This recliner is in the $2,000 to $3,000 price level. This review is in 5 main parts which include warranty coverage and customer service, comfort and ergonomics, ease of use, key features and massage therapy. Each of these areas can earn up to 20 points each. An overall rating is given by summing up the areas for a total possible rating of 100. Let us see how the HT 7120 rates in this review.
Warranty Coverage and Customer Service: Warranty is at the company level, but nonetheless, warranties vary significantly with massage chairs. You want to make sure you have sufficient long term protection for this key investment. The HT 7120 warranty coverage is as follows: structure is covered 3 years, parts are covered 1 year and labor is covered 90 days. Human Touch also covers shipping expenses for parts for the first 90 days. The warranty coverage is on the low end for the industry and this price level. Customer service is provided by Human Touch and is effective. The HT 7120 earns a 12 in warranty and customer service.
Comfort and Ergonomics: Ergonomics is the science of designing products to fit your body and its associated movements. This is particularly important with massage chairs where you need to relax. The HT 7120 has a good ergonomic design and construction. It fits the body well and the adjustments are well positioned. Interestingly, you can adjust the width of the leg ottoman but it cannot be extended. We give this massage recliner an 18 for comfort and ergonomics.
Ease of Use: We are always concerned how the controls of the massage chairs are going to be with so many new features being added to these chairs. Regardless, the controls need to simple and easy to use for the users of the recliner. Human Touch has come out with a very well designed remote for the HT 7120 with a slim design. It has control buttons on two sides of the remote which is unique. The remote goes into a pocket on the chair, so there is not remote stand. The leg ottoman is flipped manually and takes some coordination. We give it a 19 in this category.
Key Features: The features that stand out in the HT 7120 are the compression massage and the width adjustment in the leg ottoman. The compression massage is similar to a sports therapy massage. Sports therapy massages use deep tissue and firm pressure to stimulate the muscles. The HT-7120 uses a rocking motion and stroking. The rocking motion loosens the spinal joints and the stroking elongates and applies pressure to the muscles. The width adjustment of the leg ottoman is a novel function. The channel can be set to different widths to better fit your calves or feet. The channel has airbags, so the compression can be increased or decreased by changing the channel width. The 7120 gets an 18 in this category.
Massage Therapy: The HT-7120 comes equipped with 3 pre-set programs, 5 manual massage programs and 3 level height controls for your back. The 3 pre-set programs are sore muscle relief, energy rejuvenate and auto-demo. The 5 manual programs are rolling, kneading, compression, percussion and vibration. There are heating elements built into the lower back or lumbar area to soothe lower back pain. There is a full body stretch mode which decompresses your spine. The feet and calves are massaged with the rotating leg ottoman. This is a therapeutic massage chair with effective massage therapy. We give the HT 7120 a 19 in massage therapy.
Overall, we rate the HT-7120 an 86/100. This is a sleek and contemporary design for a massage chair. We are concerned with the really short warranty compared to others in the industry. These chairs are well built and designed, but warranty is your long term protection and this warranty is one of the shortest. The massage therapy is very effective and the controls are simple and easy to use. This is certainly a massage chair recliner that deserves your attention if you are looking for a solid mid range model.