In a Nutshell:
The Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner is a surprisingly stylish, comfortable office chair, offered by a great, if less well-known company that offers both massage and heat, in addition to being a good general-use office chair! Recommended for anyone, but especially those who suffer from chronic pain or arthritis.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
3.9/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Anyone, but especially those who suffer from chronic pain or arthritis.
Are you unhappy with your current office chair? Is your chronic pain and/or arthritis pain keeping you from being as productive as you once were? If you answered yes to either of those questions and are in the market for a replacement for your current office chair, you will love what you read in this review.
Dealing with chronic pain is never fun, and depending on its severity, arthritis pain can make you feel as though you’ve been sidelined by life itself. It doesn’t have to be that way, and surprisingly enough, this chair, offered by Flash Furniture, can play an essential role in restoring productivity to your day.
Many chronic pain and arthritis sufferers rely on heat to help ease their pain, but it’s inconvenient to bring a heating pad to work or into your home office because every time you get up, you’ll find yourself tripping over the power cord.
Fortunately, the fine folks at Flash Furniture have a solution like the BT-7672. We’ve featured several of the company’s products in other Flash Furniture massage chair reviews, and of interest, Flash Furniture often winds up beating out products offered by much larger and better-established brands. They make excellent furniture, and this model is no exception.
While it’s true that the Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner falls well short of being a true massage chair, it’s surprisingly full-featured and comfortable. We’ll cover everything this chair offers in the sections below, and even if you ultimately decide that this isn’t the chair you’ve been looking for, we think you’ll agree that the BT-7672 has a lot to offer. Let’s dive in and take a closer look!
Key Features of the BT-7672 Massaging Recliner and Ottoman
The Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner occupies a curious middle ground. While the company advertises and markets the chair as a “heated massage recliner,” its appearance resembles a standard office chair, except it sits on a stationary base rather than rolling casters.
Designed along conventional lines and offered in black, this chair is delightfully unobtrusive and will blend in easily with almost any home or office décor scheme.
Chair Specifications
Here are the core stats that define the model:
When you review these stats, some things jump out at you immediately. First, there is a complete lack of adjustability. This chair’s measurements are what they are and can’t be tweaked to improve your seating experience. It either fits you well as is, or it doesn’t.
The good news on that front is that the seat height, depth, and width are all fairly common measurements that will serve a broad swath of the market well. However, continuing to look down the list of stats, we come to another shortcoming: the weight limit.
Given that the chair can only support a modest 250 pounds of user weight, this chair isn’t for everyone. If you’re heavier than that, even if you love everything about this model, it simply will not work for you.
Padding
Flash Furniture’s massage chair utilizes conventional block foam for padding, and there’s a generous amount of it, so it does provide a comfortable seating experience, but there’s a catch. Bonded leather has some serious limitations.
Bonded Leather Upholstery
Not only is it not as durable as genuine grain leather, but it’s also not breathable. If you plan on spending the better part of each day in your trusty office chair, that will be problematic because you’ll start sweating uncomfortably after just a few hours. That will happen even more quickly if you use the built-in heat function, which, of course, is the major selling point of this chair.
We dearly wish the company had upholstered this chair in a durable, breathable fabric. In our view, the decision to go with bonded leather is the single biggest design flaw in the model. We understand that many people prefer leather, but from a design standpoint, it’s just not a good fit for the problem this chair seeks to solve.
Not Adjustable
Unfortunately, nothing about this chair is adjustable, either, so you’ll want to take careful measurements to be sure it will fit you well. If the seat is too deep, or if the seat height isn’t a good match for the length of your legs, you won’t be comfortable sitting in this chair, massage function, and heat or not.
We’re not knocking on the chair; actually, we like it very much! But we would be remiss if we didn’t point out its limitations. Although comfortable, its upholstery and lack of adjustability must be considered when purchasing.
Ergonomic Features
The chair fares better where ergonomic features are concerned, boasting three:
If you suffer from leg pain, the generous padding and seat design will greatly benefit you, helping to improve blood circulation in your legs. Find our list of office chairs for leg pain here.
Suppose you suffer from head and/or neck pain. In that case, you’ll appreciate the double-padded headrest, especially when you recline back in the chair to take a short break. The lumbar support is a nice touch, useful to just about everyone, whether you suffer from chronic pain or not.
Unfortunately, none of the chair’s ergonomic features are adjustable, but the fact that they’re present at all is a boon. Also note: This chair comes with a padded ottoman. If you plan to use the chair in your home office, you can store the Ottoman beside your desk when you don’t need it, then pull it out when you’re ready to take a break and relax.
The Massage Function
The Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massaging Recliner and Ottoman offers a basic massage function rendered through stationary massage heads that vibrate when the feature is activated via the wired remote. You don’t get any actual massage techniques, which is a limitation, but the overall massage quality is better than expected. The remote offers nine massage presets and five different intensity levels, allowing you to customize your massage experience.
These presets are mostly variations on a theme. Still, the BT-7672 does offer the advantage of providing a spot/partial massage function, where you can selectively activate only certain massage heads and leave the remainder off.
If you only want to activate some of the massage heads, you can choose from:
It’s a nice touch that allows you to zero in on the parts of your body that hurt and focus the massage on those areas. The remote also features a simple massage timer, with the duration remaining on your current massage shown on a simple LED display.
It Comes with Heat, Too!
This chair’s best feature is its heat function so that most people will choose it over another model. Few chairs offer heat with temperature control; this model is no exception. The heating elements warm quickly and provide soothing relief, especially if you suffer from chronic lower back pain or arthritis.
Flash Furniture did a great job on this front. While the heat is limited in its range (lumbar heat only), the elements heat quickly and are at a pleasant temperature, providing soothing relief anytime needed. Best of all, you can activate the heating element independently from the massage heads to enjoy a heated massage or just the heat, at your preference.
Does Not Come Assembled
Although the BT-7672 does not come assembled, you won’t find many pieces to contend with, simplifying the process. It will probably take longer to unbox the chair and Ottoman completely than to prepare it for first use. Once that’s out of the way, plug it into the nearest outlet, have a seat, and get ready to be impressed!
Pros and Cons of the Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner
So, where does that leave us? While there’s a lot to like about the BT-7672, it’s not a chair for everyone. However, in our view, the pros outweigh the cons, and by a significant margin. Here’s our take on the chair’s plusses and minuses:
PROS
CONS
Again, in our view, this chair’s advantages far outweigh its negatives, but it would be a mistake to gloss over those negatives or pretend they don’t exist. If you’re looking for a new office chair, you’ve got to consider this model’s limitations, or you’re almost sure to be disappointed by it.
Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner Review Conclusion
We think the Flash Furniture BT-7672 Massage Recliner is a great chair, but it’s admittedly something of a niche product. If you’re not a chronic pain sufferer, then the heat and massage functions will be helpful “extras” but not really essential. As such, you’d probably be better served by an office chair with casters to increase mobility and offer a high degree of adjustability so you can customize it to fit you like a glove. Unfortunately, this chair doesn’t provide any of that.
For the right user, it can be a lifesaver. It can take you from being in so much pain that you can’t get anything done to managing and mitigating your pain so you can stay productive. On that basis, we provisionally recommend it.
Recommended Reading
Ergohuman High Back Swivel Chair ME7ERG Review
We evaluated the Ergohuman ME7ERG, a fantastic chair with a lifetime warranty and amazingly adjustable.
Mecor Heated Office Massage Chair Review
We examined the Mecor Heated Office Massage Chair to find out how it relieves arthritis and chronic pain.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
- Flash Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Keep Ergonomics in Mind at Work, Safety+Health Magazine.
- Working at Your Desk All Day Could Be Killing You, Entrepreneur.
- Long Sitting Periods May Be Just as Harmful as Daily Total, Science Daily.
- Workplace Ergonomics: How To Improve Your Posture At Work, Relax The Back.
