In a Nutshell:
The Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner is an unobtrusive, surprisingly comfortable lift chair, offered by one of the biggest names in the American furniture industry. Recommended for anyone weighing 350 pounds or less who’s looking for a capable, comfortable lift chair on a budget.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
4.1/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Anyone weighing 350 pounds or less who’s looking for a capable, comfortable lift chair on a budget.
Is your mobility issue cramping your style?
Do you despise that you’ve begun to have increasing difficulty with simple things like getting in and out of your favorite chair?
Whatever the root cause of your mobility issue, what matters is that it’s not fun. It’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and ultimately means losing personal freedom.
The good news is that there’s a simple solution for at least one part of the problem. You can buy a lift chair! No more having to sit and wait for someone to help you to your feet. With one push of a button, you can get up with ease!
The bad news is that the top-end lift chairs tend to be expensive.
Fortunately, several companies have begun offering more modestly priced chairs for sale, and recently, Ashley Furniture, one of the biggest names in furniture in the US, has entered the market, too. In our view, this, the Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner, is the best of the models they offer, and it’s well worth your consideration.
We’ll quickly admit that the Ernestine is not a perfect chair, but it is surprisingly well-appointed for the money and a badly needed addition to chairs offered in its price range. We’re thrilled to see a well-respected company like Ashley Furniture entering this market segment, which smaller, off-brand companies dominate.
The following sections will explain everything this tremendous little chair can do and its limitations. It has them, but you’ll agree that this is a solid power lift chair for the money!
If you’re anxious to learn more, let’s jump right in.
Key Features to Consider
Unobtrusive.
That’s likely the first word that springs to mind when you first see the Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner. That’s interesting because it’s a fairly sizeable piece of furniture, measuring 38.75” x 37” x 43”. Thanks to its styling, even if you put it in a relatively small room, it tends not to dominate. It fades nicely into the background, making fitting into any home décor scheme easy.
Despite its impressive size, it fits easily through a standard 30” doorway and weighs a surprisingly modest 145 pounds. That’s not light, but it’s certainly not excessive, either.
Chair Specifications
Here are some other relevant statistics:
Based on the stats above, the chair will serve you well if you’re between 5’4” and 6’2”. However, if you have long legs, the footrest may be a little short. If possible, we recommend trying one out on a showroom floor before buying.
This model is slate grey and covered in reasonably durable polyester fabric. While we’d prefer to have seen a better-quality fabric here, we understand the decision. After all, Ashley Furniture made every effort to keep the chair price low, which was one way they managed to do so.
Polyester fabric is far superior to bonded leather, which can’t stand up well to heavy daily use and tends to start showing its age quickly. Given that this is a value-priced model, we very much approve!
Of course, there’s more to a power lift chair other than its aesthetic and upholstery, so starting in the next section, we’ll take an even more in-depth look at the model.
Adjustability & Comfort
Recline & Lift Function
The Signature Design by Ashley Ernestine Power Lift Recliner features two motors, one for the recline function and one for controlling the lift function.
Note that the remote allows you to independently recline the seatback and the footrest, which gives you a virtually unlimited number of recline positions. Unfortunately, no preset recline positions are available at the touch of a button, another limitation.
Padding
The Ernestine is padded with conventional block foam, so it doesn’t offer the most luxuriant seating experience on the market. On the other hand, there’s a generous amount of padding, which does enhance the comfort.
It’s above average, but if you’re willing to spend more money, you can find more comfortable chairs on the market.
While the chair does not lay completely flat, it does recline far enough that you can take a nap and perhaps even an extended nap. Having said that, if your mobility issues are severe enough that you have to sleep all night in the chair several nights a week, we recommend spending a little more and getting a chair better suited to that.
Storage & Extras
Side Pockets
The Ashley Furniture Ernestine features a pair of generously sized side pockets, giving you plenty of space to store your favorite books, magazines, and other supplies you’ll want and need if you spend several hours of every day sitting in the chair.
If you’re not big into reading, the pockets will easily accommodate your phone when you’re not using it, snacks, a couple of bottles of water, or pretty much anything else you’d care to keep close at hand.
Battery Backup
The chair also features a battery backup system, which is incredibly handy. It allows you to get out of the chair even if the power fails while you are sitting there. Unfortunately, that’s about all you get in terms of extras.
Some Assembly Required
The company says that some assembly is required, but you don’t have to do much more than figure out where you want it to go and plug it in (Note that plugging it in also includes hooking up the battery backup system). The instructions are clear and well-written, so you’ll have it ready for first use in minutes.
Pros & Cons of Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner
So where does that leave us?
Well, for the money, there’s undeniably a lot to like about Ernestine. In the budget segment of the market, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better chair offered by a better and more respected company.
The padding and upholstery are about what you’d expect from a chair in this price range. There’s nothing inherently wrong with them, but block foam has its limitations, no matter how much of it there is. The polyester fabric is attractive but not as durable as some of the other upholstery options the company could have chosen.
Unfortunately, upgrading either of these would dramatically increase the price of the chair, taking it out of the budget segment of the market. However, we can certainly understand and live with these things.
However, if we could get any feature from our wish list added to the design, we would like to see at least one preset seating position offered on the remote. Ashley would get extra points if that seating position happened to be Zero-G.
Sure, this would add marginally to the cost of the chair, but in our view, it would be an excellent addition and well worth a few extra bucks. Alas, that is not in the cards. Even so, Ernestine’s positives far outweigh its shortcomings.
Final Verdict: Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner Review
We like the Ashley Furniture Ernestine Power Lift Recliner. It’s a well-designed, decent-looking, surprisingly comfortable chair offered at a more than fair price. Sure, it has limitations, but it would be a mistake not to put this on your shortlist if you’re on a budget. We recommend it without reservation but will note that you get what you pay for. The other, more expensive chairs on the market are objectively better, but if they’re simply out of reach, no doubt, this is a great choice.
Recommended Reading
Stellar Comfort UC556 Lift Chair Review
We reviewed the Stellar Comfort UC556 Lift Chair, an American-made lift chair that maximizes value and comfort features.
Ashley Furniture Yandel Power Lift Recliner Review
We assessed the Ashley Yandel Power Lift Recliner, a good option for users up to 350 pounds for occasional use.
References & Resources:
- Ashley Homestore, Official Brand Website.
- Will Medicare Pay for a Lift Chair? Medicare.
- How to Buy a Recliner, Slumberland Furniture.
- Common Questions About Lift Chairs, Lift Chairs 101.
- How to Properly Clean Upholstery, The Creek Line House.