Cozzia MC520 Zero Gravity Massage Lift Chair Review 2024

Do you have trouble getting your feet back under you after you’ve been sitting for a while? 

It’s a more common problem than you might think and can be brought on by any number of things including a recent surgery, arthritis, or merely the relentless march of time.  The years have a way of catching up with us, after all.

Whatever the cause, the loss of independence can be both embarrassing and frustrating.  Having to call for help to do something that used to be a trivial task can be a real blow to your ego and self-esteem.

Fortunately, there’s a solution for that, and it takes the form of a power lift chair.  While it won’t solve all of your mobility troubles by itself, it’s a big step in the right direction.

The problem is that there are so many lift chairs on the market today it can be hard to zero in on the “right” one for you.  We decided to try and help with that.  

Not long ago, we did an extensive tour of the internet, looking for the best power lift recliners being sold today.  The Cozzia MC520 lift chair wound up being our top pick, because as you’ll see in the sections that follow, it not only handles the basics well, it’s a whole lot more than “just” a great lift chair.

If you’re curious to see what it can do, let’s jump right in and get started!

An Overview of the Cozzia MC520 Zero Gravity Massage Lift Chair

Okay, we readily admit it.  The Cozzia MC520 lift chair isn’t much to look at.  It’s not an ugly design, but there probably aren’t many people who would say it’s “pretty” either.  It’s functional.  That’s about the best you can say.

When you place your order, you can opt for either leather or fabric upholstery, available in three neutral colors (Saddle, Cranberry, and Briarwood).  That, when paired with its simplistic, functional design makes it blend in easily with your existing home décor scheme, whatever it might be.

Note though, that it’s a fairly substantial piece of furniture, measuring 35.9” x 30” x 44”, and weighing in at a hulking 165 pounds.  Once you get this beast where you want it, you’re probably going to need help to move it if you change your mind later on.

Also note that its size might make it a bit of a challenge to find a good home for it, especially if you have a smallish living room, to begin with.  That, plus the fact that it can only support a maximum weight of 300 pounds may make it unsuitable for some users.

Features of the Cozzia MC-520

There’s so much to say here in our Cozzia MC520 review that it’s hard even to know where to start, so we’ll start with the basics.

Recline Options

Where lift chairs are concerned, the recline function can be handled one of three ways:  Using preset recline positions, using no presets, which allows the user unlimited recline control and offers an infinite number of possibilities, or a mix of both.

The Cozzia MC-520 uses a mix of both.  On the remote, you’ll find a total of six pre-programmed positions, which are:

Zero-Gravity Recline

Of these, the real head-turning feature is the Zero-G seat.  The chair puts you in a reclined position such that your knees are elevated slightly above your heart and really does leave you with a feeling of weightlessness.

It’s also got powerful therapeutic benefits, including relieving muscle tension and improving circulation, which helps to lower your blood pressure.  We’ll have more to say about this feature in the next section.

Recline Adjustments

In addition to the six presets, you can adjust the angle of recline of both the backrest and the footrest manually (a separate button on the remote for each).  The two operate independently, so you’ll want to experiment with the controls a bit to find your “sweet spot” in terms of reclining.

The motors on the Cozzia MC520 Lift Chair (separate motors for the lift and recline functions) are incredibly powerful and whisper quiet, offering smooth recline and lift action that won’t see you jolting unexpectedly when you want to get up or change your angle of recline.

Cozzia did a great job with all these features, but that should come as no surprise.  They’re a massage chair manufacturer and have a lot of experience with Zero-G seating implementations and chairs that feature electric components in general.  Their expertise serves them well in this model.

Comfortability

Comfort-wise, the chair is above average, but nothing special.  The padding is adequate, but it doesn’t offer a plush, luxuriant seating experience like some of the other models we’ve reviewed.  The reason for that is because, in addition to being a recliner, the Cozzia MC-520 is also a surprisingly robust massage chair.  We’ll cover the massage details in the next section.

Value-Added Extras

There are all sorts of fun things to talk about here, and they’re all interesting.  Let’s start with the least exciting “extra” first and work our way to the most exciting.

Storage

The Cozzia MC520 zero gravity massage lift chair comes with two storage pockets, one on each side of the chair.  These are not huge, but big enough to store most of what you’d want to keep on hand:  The remote for the chair, whatever book or magazine you’re reading, or other small sundries you want to keep close by.

Battery Backup System

The second thing worth drawing attention to is the battery backup system.  This matters more than you might first think. 

Consider this: You purchased this chair because you can’t stand up on your own.  You’re home alone.  While you’re napping, the power goes out.

If the chair you’re sitting in doesn’t have a battery backup system, you’re stuck.  Your only options are to sit there until someone finds you, try to get up on your own and risk a fall, or suffer the embarrassment and loss of independence associated with having to call for a rescue.  None of those are great options.

The battery backup sidesteps the whole issue.  If the power fails, the backup kicks in, and you just use the lift feature to get up as you usually would.  Problem solved.  In our view, the presence of a battery backup system should be an industry standard and built into every lift chair made, but some chairs don’t offer them (especially at the low end of the market).

Additional Adjustment Options

On top of that, the arms are height adjustable.  Just press the appropriate buttons on the remote and adjust to taste.  Note that you have to adjust each arm separately.  Each has its own button and are operated entirely independently.

This is a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, you can customize your seating experience to taste.  On the other, the overwhelming majority of people will probably want both arms at the same height, and this does take extra time and some fiddling with the controls.  On the whole, though, we like it.

Want more?  You got it!  The headrest is adjustable, too!  You can adjust both the height and you can change its shape so that the ends “bend inward” cradling your head, controlled via the remote.

Then there’s the adjustable lumbar support feature.  You’ll find a “lumbar” button on the remote.  Pressing it will inflate a small airbag in the lumbar region of the chair.  Just press the button until you’ve got the level of support you’re looking for, then grab your magazine and enjoy.

Massage Function

And then there’s the massage function we mentioned earlier.  This is the reason that the chair isn’t as well-padded as some of the others we’ve reviewed.  Too much padding would reduce the quality of the massage, and massage is, after all, what Cozzia is known for.

There are two pre-programmed massage options on offer, available with one-touch convenience from the remote.  These are:

Both massage programs have a thirty-minute duration that cannot be modified by the user.

The relaxation massage is exactly what it sounds like.  While you’re sitting in the chair, the airbags will gently inflate and deflate in rhythmic fashion kneading the tension out of the muscles in your thighs, back and neck.

The body stretch feature uses the airbags to hold you in place as the chair reclines.  It’s functionally similar to the “adjustment” you get when you visit the chiropractor’s office.  It’s not a world-class body stretch, but it’s surprisingly good.  We were impressed.

Both of these feel great and are fantastic feature additions to the chair, but it gets even better because the Cozzia MC-520 also comes with heat in both the seat and the lumbar region of the seat back.

Heat Function

Unfortunately, there’s no option to adjust the temperature of the offered heat, but the combination of heat plus massage only serves to magnify its therapeutic benefits.  For the optimal massage experience, we recommend activating the following features together:

Do that, and you’ll be sound asleep before you know it.  This, more than anything else, is the reason that we gave the Cozzia MC520 top honors on the recent roundup review.  No other chair we’ve found can come close to matching this experience.

Some Assembly Required

Now for the bad news.  The chair won’t come to your door ready to be enjoyed, so expect to spend the better part of an hour getting it unboxed and ready for first use.  It’ll go faster with a helper, or, if you’d rather not be bothered with all of that, the company does offer “White Glove” service for an additional fee.

If you decide to proceed on your own, you’ll find the instructions reasonably clear, and you won’t get bogged down in the process.  If something goes wrong, or if there’s a question, Cozzia has excellent post-sales support, and you won’t have any trouble speaking to a human, and getting the help, you require.

Pros & Cons of the Cozzia MC520 Lift Chair

We love almost everything about this chair, and the improvements we’d like to see exist mostly at the margins.  For instance:

None of these are deal breakers, but in our view, they would make a great chair even better.

Concerning drawbacks, there are only three worth mentioning.

First, it’s not the prettiest chair on the market.  If aesthetics matter to you, that may be off-putting, though it’s not likely to be a deal breaker.

Second, the presence of the airbag massage means that the company had to sacrifice a bit where padding and comfort were concerned.  It’s not an uncomfortable chair by any means, but if you’re looking for a plush seating experience that leaves you feeling like you’re being wrapped up in a hug, this isn’t the chair for that.

Third, and related to the second point is the fact that although this chair reclines fully to allow users to sleep in it, the modest padding makes it relatively poorly suited for long naps or overnight sleeping.  Short naps are fine, but if they go much beyond a couple of hours in duration, you’re going to be wishing the chair had more padding on offer.

Cozzia MC520 Review Conclusion

We absolutely stand by our decision to give the Cozzia MC520 top honors as the best power lift recliner on the market today.  It can simply do things no other power lift recliner can, and it does them surprisingly well.

In many ways though, this is a self-selecting chair.  If you don’t want to pay for features you have no intention of using, then you won’t be interested in a chair with this many bells and whistles (our second-place winner, the Serta Perfect Lift would probably be a better choice for you).

In a similar vein, if comfort or aesthetics matter a lot to you, then this chair isn’t optimal.  There are better-looking models on the market that come with more luxuriant padding.

If, however, you’ve been searching for a great power lift chair that’s reasonably comfortable and can render a good massage, nothing else even comes close.  Highly recommended.

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Official Manufacturer Support

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

• Cozzia MC-520 User Manual.
• Cozzia, Official Brand Site.
• Recliner Chair Beds, This Caring Home.
• Lift Chair Buying Guide, Lift Chair Guide.
• How to Buy the Best Riser Recliner Chair, Which?