We’ve scoured the internet and gathered all the best electric recliner chairs on the market today in one place, evaluated them, and selected an overall winner.
The Takeaway:
Overall
1. Our Pick: Windermere Burton
2. Runner-Up: Catnapper Burns 4847
3. Value Pick: Cozzia MC-520
Under $600
1. Our Pick: Ashley Furniture Ernestine
2. Runner-Up: Ashley Furniture Yandel
3. Value Pick: Coaster Power Lift
Do you suffer from weight or mobility issues? Have you recently had major surgery and can’t move around as well or as quickly as you were once able to? If so, then a power lift chair may be just what the doctor ordered (literally, in some cases!).
The great thing about these chairs is that they give people their freedom and independence. No more calling for help when you need to get in or out of your chair! Even better, depending on what kind of insurance you have, if the chair is deemed medically necessary, you may be able to get some help paying for it.
In the following sections, we’ll closely examine our winner and the other top contenders for the best power lift recliner today. But before we do that, let’s start by taking a high-level view in table form to give you a quick overview.
Best Power Lift Recliner Chair – Overall
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Our Pick
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Primary Rating:
4.6
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Primary Rating:
4.4
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Primary Rating:
4.3
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N/A
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$1,599.00
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N/A
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Overall Dimensions:
40” x 38” x 47"
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Overall Dimensions:
40” x 38” x 47”
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Overall Dimensions:
36” x 30” x 44”
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Chair Weight:
125 pounds
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Chair Weight:
138 pounds
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Chair Weight:
165 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
375 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
400 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
300 pounds
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Extras:
Battery backup system, offers Trendelenburg seating position, lots of pockets and storage, includes a USB port!
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Extras:
Battery backup system, two storage pockets
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Extras:
Lumbar heat, airbag (compression) massage, body stretching
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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- High-quality chair, offered by an outstanding company. The inclusion of the USB port is a nice touch. Footrest extension makes it ideal for taller users.
- A little on the pricey side.
- Steel lift mechanism and seat tray, impressive five-year warranty, smooth, quiet operation, good service and support.
- It’s a high-quality but basic power lift recliner with a limited number of extras.
- The MC-520 is one part power lift recliner and one part massage chair!
- Not great for long term sleeping
Our Pick: Windermere Burton
Recommended For: Anyone, but it’s an especially good fit for taller users.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to tell who the players are in any given market. Windermere is a perfect case in point. The company is a subsidiary of Mega Motion, a subsidiary of Pride Mobility, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobility products. Indirectly, Pride Mobility has two entries on our chart, making them the dominant player in the market.
There’s a good reason for that. The company has been in the business for a long time and produces excellent products.
The Windermere Burton can support most users with a maximum weight capacity of 375 pounds. However, it may not be enough if you need a lift chair because you’re struggling with weight issues. If so, that’s okay; we’ve got other chairs on our list that will better fit you.
It’s plush and comfortable, offered in three colors (cobblestone, nutmeg, and cranapple), and stylish enough to make an attractive addition to almost any home.
In terms of strengths, here are the major ones in our view:
This last feature is perhaps the most interesting, and the Windermere is the only chair on our list with this feature.
It’s quite similar to the Zero-G seating position offered by premium massage chairs. It allows the user to lay back so that the feet are higher than the head by fifteen to thirty degrees, providing incredible comfort. It’s great for both long-duration sitting and napping or sleeping.
The only potential downside is that the chair is a bit pricey, which may be out of reach for some consumers, but this is a case of getting what you pay for. It’s exceptional, and we stand by it as our top pick as the best power recliner chair with a lift function.
Runner-Up: Catnapper Burns 4847
Recommended For: Anyone up to 400 pounds who is looking for a great, basic power lift recliner. If you’re looking for tons of extras, this one’s not a good fit.
Catnapper makes a wide range of power lift recliners and has a reputation for excellence, as reflected in the company’s impressive five-year warranty. It’s no wonder that the company features prominently in the best power lift recliner reviews.
While the Catnapper Burns 4847 doesn’t provide many extras, it is solidly built. It features a steel lift mechanism and seat frame, an extra-wide seating area, and infinite recline positions via the included remote. It also has the second-highest weight capacity of any chair on our list of finalists. Only the Mega Motion (our honorable mention) beats this category.
Of particular interest is that this is one of a minority of power lift recliners that will lay back fully, allowing you to not only sit in it for extended periods but also get a decent night’s sleep if need be. It’s also proudly made in the USA, has a battery backup mechanism that won’t leave you stranded in the chair should the power fail, and is incredibly comfortable. It is covered with durable, stain- and fire-resistant, woven velvet.
The ottoman and the chair are driven by separate motors, allowing for independent operation. This increases the flexibility and number of recline positions available.
It’s offered in four different colors, too:
The spectrum of colors and modern styling means it’ll blend in easily, whatever your home’s décor. It’s an excellent chair offered by a great company.
Value Pick: Cozzia MC-520
Recommended For: People who suffer from both mobility and chronic pain issues.
Recommended for people who suffer from both mobility and chronic pain issues. Its somewhat bland styling won’t win at any beauty contests but can suit a variety of home décor schemes.
Cozzia manufactures massage chairs, which almost gives them an unfair advantage in the power lift recliner market because they can bring their expertise from that market to this one. Only the fact that our top picks in this category have stronger brand reliability kept this one from claiming top honors. From a technical perspective, it’s a masterpiece.
Aesthetically, it looks more like an executive desk chair than a traditional recliner, which may not be for everyone, but from a pure functionality standpoint, it’s got it all.
While it’s true that there are more comfortable chairs on the market and that this one isn’t optimized for sleeping in, it offers smooth, quiet recline and lift actions and a whole lot more, including:
The chair’s most exciting aspects come from its massage chair elements. The airbag massage is surprisingly good, especially when combined with lumbar heat, providing a solid therapeutic benefit. The body stretch function isn’t best-in-class but is also quite good and provides even more therapeutic benefits.
Zero-G seating is a unique addition normally reserved for “proper” massage chairs. It provides amazing comfort and makes you feel weightless. You can recline to a position where your knees are elevated slightly above your heart.
Add that to the primary power lift and recline functions, and it’s hard not to fall in love with this model. In our view, the MC-520 deserves a spot on our list of finalists. Thanks to its built-in massage functionality, it’s possibly the best lift chair for seniors today. You won’t be disappointed.
Also Great
Mega Motion Easy Comfort
Recommended For: Ideal for heavier users (highest supported weight in its class, up to 500 pounds)
While many of the chairs mentioned here are designed and built with seniors in mind, this one takes a different approach. With a maximum weight capacity of 500 pounds, the Easy Comfort is ideal for those who struggle with weight problems.
The lift mechanism is solid steel and incredibly durable, while the frame is built from furniture-grade hardwood and plywood. The motor offers smooth, quiet operation, and the remote can be used to set the chair to three positions: Closed, partial, and full. If the present recline options aren’t enough, the chair can also be used to precisely set the recline’s angle.
The wired remote is easy to use and master, and the chair is remarkably comfortable. It’s chaise lounge-style and overstuffed, designed for extended periods of sitting. While it’s suitable for short naps, one of the drawbacks is that it doesn’t recline quite far enough to make it good for long-term sleeping. It’ll work in a pinch, but it is less than ideal.
The lift mechanism has a lifetime warranty and a one-year in-home service warranty. It even comes with an integrated battery backup, so you won’t have to worry about being stranded with no way to get your feet back under you if the power should fail.
Mega Motion is a subsidiary company of Pride Mobility, one of the leading manufacturers of power scooters, power wheelchairs, and other mobility devices. They have a long reputation and a stellar track record for this product type, and few companies do it better.
The major drivers of the chair’s price are the emphasis on quality (reflected in the lifetime warranty on the steel lift mechanism) and the company’s excellent track record of post-sale service and support. Aside from the twin side pockets, it doesn’t offer many extras, but it is one of the best lift recliners on the market today and is well worth the asking price.
Stellar Comfort UC556 Power Lift Chair
Recommended For: People between 5’ 4” and 6’ 2,” weigh 375 pounds or less, and are looking for an American-made chair that maximizes comfort, this is the model you want.
The UC 556 is now on our list. Proudly made in the USA, the chair is a bit pricey, but it is well made, fairly attractive, and designed along traditional lines. It is offered in a modest selection of colors, making it easy to fit into most home décor schemes.
In addition to being able to recline the seat back and footrest independently, which gives you a virtually unlimited number of possible recline angles, one thing you’ll like about the model is the fact that it comes with four different preset seating positions that are available at the touch of a button. These are:
Most chairs with custom seating positions opt for either a Zero-G position or Trendelenburg, but you almost never see both together in the same chair.
That’s because they are quite similar. The Trendelenburg position reclines you back farther (and arguably to a less comfortable position), which provides better circulatory support, while Zero-G reclines to a less severe angle and is generally seen as being more comfortable and relaxing.
In our view, having both isn’t necessary, but if you’re looking for a chair that offers both, the UC 556 automatically moves to the front of the line for you.
Not everyone will like the quilted design of the seat back, but it has the advantage of adding to the overall level of comfort the chair provides, and the chair can recline to a position that’s almost completely flat.
That, coupled with the pocketed coil springs in the seat (like a mattress), makes it one of the best napping chairs in its class. It is also reasonably well-suited to sleeping in the chair overnight, which is especially important for people who have serious mobility issues and wind up spending the better part of each day in their chair and have trouble transferring from chair to bed at night.
The UC-556’s designers did their best to keep the chair’s cost down, so you won’t find much in the way of extras here. However, the chair does offer a pair of generously sized storage pockets and a battery backup system, so you won’t ever have to worry about being stranded in the chair should the power fail.
It’s a solid design and well-deserving of a spot on our list as one of the best lift chair recliners sold today. You’ll be especially interested in this one if you:
Best Electric Lift Recliner Chair Under $600
As great as the chairs we discussed above are, the simple truth is that they might be out of reach for some people. Fortunately, there are some fantastic value-priced options for people on a budget. We’ll take a look at those just below.
As before, though, before we get to the details of each chair, let’s take a high-level view, in chart form, of our top picks.
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Our Pick
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Primary Rating:
4.1
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Primary Rating:
4.1
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Primary Rating:
3.5
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$799.99
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$509.20
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$899.00
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Overall Dimensions:
38.75” x 37” x 43”
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Overall Dimensions:
35” x 40” x 42.5”
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Overall Dimensions:
34” x 34” x 30
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Chair Weight:
145 pounds
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Chair Weight:
121 pounds
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Chair Weight:
126 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
350 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
300 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
330 pounds
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Extras:
Battery Backup system
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Extras:
Battery Backup system
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Extras:
Extremely soft and comfortable.
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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- Dual motors allows for infinite recline positions. Good napping chair. Offered by a great company with exceptional support.
- None to speak of. We would love to have seen some preset seating positions but this may have raised the price sufficiently to move it out of the budget range.
- Dual motors allows for infinite recline positions. Offered by a great company with exceptional support.
- Bonded leather will start showing its age quickly. You’ll get hot sitting in it for extended periods. Not a great napping chair.
- Easily the most comfortable chair in its class. Extra neck support. Emergency backup system.
- Won’t recline completely flat, which means it’s ill suited for overnight sleeping. That’s a shame, given how comfortable it is.
Our Pick: Ashley Furniture Ernestine
Recommended For: Anyone weighing 350 pounds or less who’s looking for a capable, comfortable lift chair on a budget.
Ashley Furniture storms onto our revised product listing, capturing the #1 and #2 spots in the market for value-priced lift chairs, and we’re thrilled to see it.
Normally, this market segment is dominated by off-brands with questionable customer service and support. Ashley Furniture’s entry into this space allows customers on a budget to own a high-quality lift chair made by a company with decades of experience making good quality furniture and the post-sales support reputation to make buying from them a no-brainer.
The Ernestine is part of Ashley’s “Signature Series” of power lift chairs and, in our view, is the best the company currently offers. While it lacks the kinds of “extras” commonly found in more expensive chairs, it covers the basics well.
Ernestine has an attractive design, but it has an understated look, which makes it blend in well with whatever room you put it in, regardless of your home’s décor scheme.
While there are no preset seating positions on offer here, the dual motor system utilized by the Ernestine allows you infinite recline positions since you can control the recline angle of the seatback and the footrest independently.
In addition to that, the Ernestine boasts a battery backup system, so you’ll never get stranded in the chair if you’re sitting in it when the power fails. With luck, you’ll never need that functionality, but if and when you do need it, you’ll be happy it’s there!
There are no other extras to discuss besides that and the two roomy storage pockets, but that’s not terribly surprising in the value segment of the market.
What you’re getting is a good lift chair with basic functionality, offered by one of the biggest names in the American furniture industry, and that’s a very good thing.
Another feature worth discussing is the upholstery. While we’d prefer to have seen something other than polyester fabric, its heads and shoulders are better than bonded leather, especially if you plan on using the chair for extended periods every day.
The reason comes down to breathability. Spend any time sitting in a leather chair, and it’s going to get hot, making leather-clad chairs a poor choice if you are looking for something you can take a nap in.
The design decision to use fabric instead of bonded leather is an excellent one, in our view. That, combined with generous block foam padding, makes it a comfortable chair that will stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use.
Ashley Furniture did a great job threading the needle here, offering a superb mix of form and function while keeping the price relatively low. We stand by this as our top pick in the budget segment of the market. You’ll be proud to own this model.
Runner-Up: Ashley Furniture Yandel
Recommended for: Anyone weighing 350 pounds or less, provided the chair isn’t for heavy daily use.
The Yandel is Ashley Furniture’s second entry in the sub-$600 market segment. While the two chairs are functionally similar, a couple of essential details should be noted, and these explain why the Yandel ultimately ranks slightly lower than the Ernestine.
For starters, check out the dimensions of the chair and the weight limit. It’s slightly smaller than the Ernestine and supports less weight. Even so, the 300-pound weight limit makes it a decent choice for a broad swath of the market.
The second difference, though, may give you pause. The Yandel is upholstered with bonded leather.
Bonded leather is real leather, but it’s made using leather scraps fused. As such, it’s not as strong, durable, or supple as genuine grain leather, and it will begin to show its age much sooner than you’d like. That’s especially true if you plan on using the chair for several hours each day, which is, in practice, how most people with mobility issues use their lift chairs.
The other issue is that the Yandel’s leather upholstery makes it a poor choice for napping. As we mentioned in the last section, the fabric is superior here because if you spend more than a couple of hours at a time in a leather-upholstered chair, it’s going to get hot, and you’re going to get sweaty.
While the Yandel is an attractive chair, and the leather looks great, it just doesn’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use. It’s too hot to use as a napping chair, much less to consider sleeping in it overnight.
Even so, this is an excellent option if your mobility issue isn’t severe and you only need a lift chair for occasional use.
Everything else about the chair is identical to the Ernestine we just mentioned. It utilizes two motors, and the seatback and footrest recline independently, giving you an infinite number of possible recline settings. However, it lacks preset seating options programmed into the remote.
In terms of extras, like the Ernestine, aside from the battery backup system (which is an admittedly lovely touch!), the only other extra on offer are the two roomy storage pockets on the sides of the chair.
While it’s not as versatile as the Ernestine, it’s still a great little chair, and for the right user, it could be absolutely perfect.
Value Pick: Coaster Power Lift
Recommended For: Anyone who puts a premium on comfort and is on a budget.
This is frankly a fantastic chair, given the price at which it’s offered.
True, it has only bare-bones functionality, but at the price it’s being offered, that’s to be expected. What comes as a pleasant surprise, though, is just how comfortable it is. Honestly, you could sit in chairs priced four or five times more than this; that wouldn’t match it for sheer comfort.
It’s plush, over-stuffed, and covered in soft fabric rather than leather or pleather, so you won’t get hot and sweaty sitting in it, and your exposed skin won’t stick to it after sitting for long periods, as can happen when you sit in leather or pleather-bound chairs.
The headrest offers extra neck support and a simple wired remote to control the recline and power lift functions.
Suppose you suffer from mobility issues and must remain seated for long periods. In that case, comfort matters, so if that describes your situation, this one deserves a second look.
Granted, if you have more money to spend, you’ll probably want something with more advanced functionality, but this is an excellent option for people on a budget.
Note that the chair features an emergency backup system, so if you’re reclining and your power goes out, you’re not stuck until someone comes to help. You can use the backup system to get help getting back on your feet, which is nice.
Also Great
Madison Home Classic
Recommended For: Anyone, but it’s especially well-suited for smaller individuals.
This chair is about as basic as it gets. It features a simple, classic design, reasonable comfort, and a wired remote that allows you to control both the recline and lift functions.
While Madison Home Classic does not allow you to lay completely flat, it reclines sufficiently so that people with limited mobility can sleep comfortably as needed, and it has enough padding to ensure a fairly restful sleep.
Perhaps the best thing about this model is that it’s perfect for smaller people, which describes a large percentage of older people. That, combined with its modest price, makes it an excellent match for people with fixed incomes whose insurance won’t cover a lift chair and it has to be purchased out of pocket.
The Madison Home Classic is available in black, brown, or grey—neutral colors that should easily fit into any home décor scheme. It is a solid, basic chair offered for a song.
Magic Union Wall Hugger
Recommended For: Anyone. An incredibly capable and well-rounded chair for the money.
The Magic Union Wall Hugger honestly blew us away. Given its modest price, this chair offers a lot of functionality.
First and foremost, it covers the basics. The wired remote allows you to recline into various positions, and the same remote controls the power lift function. That’s about all you’d expect from a chair offered at this price, which makes everything that follows a pleasant surprise.
While the Wall Hugger can’t compare to a “proper” massage chair, it does offer eight fixed-point massage nodes, which give a decent vibration-style massage. The chair also provides heat, which, while fairly modest, can be highly therapeutic for people who suffer from chronic back pain. Both are very good things!
In addition, the remote allows you to access five different preset massage routines. While there’s not much difference between them, the one-touch access is nice, especially for seniors who may not be tech-savvy.
It also has the highest weight capacity of any chair on the value-priced list and will support users who weigh up to 330 pounds. Combine that with the generously sized storage pockets and the included cup holders, and you’ve got a chair that meets various needs, offered for an almost shocking price.
There are two drawbacks to consider, though.
First, the Wall Hugger is made in China, and with all the extra moving parts, something will inevitably break. When it does, getting service and support may prove to be a challenge.
Second, it’s not quite as plush or comfortable as the other chairs on our list. The major reason is that for the massage function to be strong enough to be effective, some padding has to be sacrificed. More than anything else, this is why it didn’t wind up being our top choice. While we love the basic massage function, we feel that most people in the market for this type of chair would place more of a premium on comfort.
Best Rated Recliner Lift Chairs Conclusion
So, what is the best power lift recliner chair? Ultimately, that will depend on your tastes, preferences, and desires. We stand by our top picks, both overall and for people on a budget, but we completely understand that everyone’s needs are different, and one of the others on our list of finalists might be a better fit for you.
Here’s a quick summary of when and how some of our other top contenders might be a better fit for you:
Any of the chairs we’ve discussed in this review would serve you well, so the real question is, which is right for you?
Changelog
March 2019 – We updated this article as the market has changed. The Serta Perfect Lift Chair, Seven Oaks Power Lift Chair, and Frivity Power Lift Chair have been removed from our lists. The Stellar Comfort UC556 Power Lift Chair entered our overall top list, while the Ashley Furniture Ernestine and Yandel took the top two spots for our under $600 picks.
References & Resources:
- Ultimate Power Recliner, Official Brand Website.
- Jackson Catnapper, Official Brand Website.
- Cozzia Massage Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Ultra Comfort, Official Brand Website.
- Ashley Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Coaster Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- What Is Shiatsu Massage Therapy?, Acupuncture and Massage College.
- Massage for Calf Strains, Sports Injury Clinic.
- How Can Massage Help My Health and Wellbeing?, University of Minnesota.