Frivity Power Lift Recliner Review 2023

Do you have trouble getting out of your living room chair, or standing without assistance? Do you have arthritis?  Have you recently had major surgery? 

Mobility issues can be caused by lots of different things, and let’s face it, sometimes it’s as simple as the passage of time itself.  Getting older isn’t for the faint of heart!

Whatever the reason, if you’re suddenly finding yourself having trouble standing up, especially after you’ve been sitting for a while, a power lift recliner might be the answer.  It’s embarrassing to have to call someone to help with something that should be so simple, and a lift chair can give you the extra bit of help you need, restoring your confidence and increasing your mobility.

There are many decent power lift recliners on the market, so ultimately it comes down to finding the “right” chair for you that fits your budget.  If you don’t have a ton of money to spend, the Frivity power lift recliner could be just what you’re looking for.

While we can’t say this is a perfect chair, it offers solid value for the money, and even better, it can frequently be found on sale, which only magnifies its value.

About Frivity Brand

Haven’t heard of Frivity?  We’d be surprised if you had.  It’s an “off-brand” and manufactured overseas, and as such, the company doesn’t have a huge market presence in the US.  Don’t let that put you off though; it’s actually a solid little chair that will serve you well.

In the sections that follow, we’ll go over everything it can do, and give you full details on the things it doesn’t do so well so you’ll have all the information you need to decide for yourself if this is the model you’ve been looking for. If that sounds good to you, let’s jump right in and see what Frivity recliners are all about!

Overview of the Frivity Power Lift Recliner

At first glance, the Frivity Power Lift recliner looks a lot like a small, conventional recliner with a few noticeable extras.  It’s got fairly conventional (unexciting) styling, which makes it unobtrusive.

Some recliners are as fun to look at as they are to sit in.  This isn’t one of those. You can tell that the designers who built the thing put most of their emphasis on function over form.  It’s not ugly by any means; it’s just…functional.  If that’s what you care most about, then you’ll like the look of it just fine.

It measures 37” x 34.5” x 42.3,” weighs in at 102 pounds and is capable of supporting up to 300 pounds of user weight.  To borrow a line from Henry Ford, you can have the Frivity in any color you want, as long as its black.  Fortunately, black tends to go well with most home décor schemes, so its color, paired with its unobtrusive design means that you’re not likely to have much trouble getting it to blend seamlessly with your existing furniture or decorating style.

Upholstery

Although the Frivity recliner uses standard block foam for its padding, it is overstuffed and surprisingly comfortable.  Even better, it’s not covered with “pleather,” but with actual leather, which is a nice touch. 

Note that the upholstery is bonded leather, which is the lowest quality genuine leather you can get. That’s not a huge surprise, given the price at which the chair is offered.  Corners will inevitably be cut to keep the price low.  Honestly, we were pleasantly surprised to see genuine leather upholstery in any form.

Recline and Lift Functions

The Frivity Power lift recliner comes with a simply designed, intuitive remote that allows you to control both the recline and lift function at the touch of a button.  You can select from five different preset positions:

The motor on the chair isn’t as quiet as some models, but it would be a stretch to call it loud, and the recline action is smooth, so when you change from one setting to another, you won’t get jolted unceremoniously. 

Overall, we were impressed with the comfort and the adjustability options available, but the chair has a lot more to offer than just those things.

Storage and Extras

Given the modest price of the chair, we were surprised to find so many extras on offer.  You get not one, but two cup holders built into the arms of the chair, and there is a total of three storage pockets, giving you plenty of room to stash your favorite books or magazines, snacks, or whatever else you want to keep within easy reach.

While we love the generous storage space, we were less impressed with the cup holders.  Sure, they’re useful and valuable, but it’s all too easy to forget you’ve got a cup brimming with your favorite drink sitting in one of the holders, then activate the lift mechanism, which of course, tilts the chair forward, and spills your drink all over everything.

It’s a good idea, and undeniably handy, but might not be the best “fit” with a power lift recliner.  Anyway, there are two of them, and you’ll almost certainly use them, so just be mindful when you activate the lift function.

As nice as those extras are though, there’s one more to talk about that will probably make you smile.  The chair comes with a massage function!

Massage Function

Granted, it’s a basic massage function, utilizing eight stationary massage heads that render a simple vibration-style massage. But the fact that it offers any sort of massage at all is amazing, given the price of the chair.

People tend to either love or hate vibration-style massages.  Fans will say that it helps work out knots in their muscles and improve their circulation.  People who aren’t fans will say that it feels like the chair is trying to shake the teeth right out of their heads.

If you’re a fan, then the massage feature is almost certain to be your favorite aspect of the chair.  If you’re not a fan, it’s probably something you’ll never even use.

We do wish that the chair also offered heat, because heat paired with massage is more therapeutic. Then again, given the modest price tag the chair carries, we can’t very well fault the company for not including it. And while we’re not huge fans of vibration massage, this one is surprisingly well implemented.

Some Assembly Required

Unfortunately, when the chair arrives at your door, it won’t be ready to sit in.  It comes in a box, in pieces, and you’ll have to spend some time putting it together.

The instructions aren’t great, but the assembly process is straightforward.  It’ll go faster if you’ve got a helper who can provide an extra pair of hands, but even if help’s not available, it won’t be long before you’re ready to curl up in your new chair and relax.

We’d rate the assembly to be average.  It’s not horrible, but it’s not ideal either (and unfortunately, you cannot order “White Glove” service, so you’ll have no choice but to put it together yourself or rally your friends to do it for you.

Pros & Cons of the Frivity Recliners

If you buy the Frivity power lift recliner, and especially if you can catch it on sale, you’ll be getting a lot of chair for your money.  We love this model’s feature set and don’t have anything bad to say about it, but there are two things you should be aware of before you buy:

First, it’s manufactured in China.  While that’s not necessarily the kiss of death, it does mean that the manufacturing quality is somewhat lower than other models we’ve reviewed on this site. 

That, combined with the fact that the materials used in construction aren’t top-quality,to begin with, means that it’s probably not going to stand up well to the test of time. The bonded leather will show its age quickly.  The block foam padding will start to sag after a few years, and so on. That’s not unusual for furniture in this price range, but it is something to be mindful of.

Second, this is an off-brand, and the company has had customer service complaints in the past, which has given the brand a bit of a black eye.

Those issues seem to have been resolved, and customer service is much improved compared to what it was, but again, you’re buying from an overseas company, so if something goes wrong with the chair, getting a live human being on the phone could prove to be a bit of a challenge.

Neither of those is outright deal breakers for most people, but they are things to keep in mind when evaluating your options.

Frivity Power Lift Recliner Review Conclusion

Overall, we like the Frivity Power Lift Recliner. It’s a good chair, but it falls short of greatness.  Still, if you’re on a budget and you want to get the most bang for your buck, you could do a lot worse than waiting for this one to go on sale and snapping it up. On that basis, we provisionally recommend it.

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Official Manufacturer Support

References & Resources

• ​How to Increase Circulation While Sitting, Jennifer Ledford.
• Prediction of elderly seating comfort from physical condition, chair type and gender, Science Direct.
• The Rise of the Recliner as a Male Social Space, Scientific American.
• Does Medicare Cover Lift Chairs?, Medicare.com.