In a Nutshell:
An extremely well-designed, feature-rich chair that both hobbyists and chronic pain sufferers will enjoy. The Fujita SMK82 massage chair is recommended for anyone, up to 6’5” in height.
Overall Massage Quality
Customization options
Ease of Use
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Overall Rating
4.3/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Are you looking for a full-featured massage chair, priced in the mid-range that offer both convenience and therapeutic capabilities?
If so, then you’re going to love our detailed Fujita SMK82 review.
In the sections below, we’ll outline every feature this robust massage chair brings to the table, and describe a few things the chair can’t do – as you’ll see, there aren’t many of those!
We think you’ll agree, this is an outstanding model and well worth your consideration. Let’s dive right in and get to it!
Fujita SMK82 Massage Chair Color Variants
Fujita SMK82 Massage Chair Features
S-Track Design & Quad Rollers
The SMK82 is built on a solid foundation, utilizing an industry standard S-Track, paired with quad rollers.
The quad rollers are excellent because of how closely they mimic the feel of human hands on your back, while the S-Track provides them the means to follow the natural curvature of your body’s spine. Taken together, these provide the essential ingredients needed to deliver an exceptional massage experience.
3D Body Scan
This is the first of three technologies the SMK82 utilizes to enhance the core massage experience.
Before your massage begins, the chair takes a scan of your body so it can align its rollers with your body’s pressure points, and make subtle adjustments to the width of the massage field.
If this technology fails, there’s a backup. Buttons on the included remote allow you to make manual adjustments to these elements as needed, ensuring a perfect experience, every time.
Don’t miss or review in search for the best massage chair for tall and big users: chairinstitute.com/massage-chair-for-tall-person
3D/4D Technology
The second of three technologies used to enhance the basic experience is the 4D technology. Fujita refers to this as 3D tech, but this is a bit of a misnomer, and sells itself short.
In a standard S-Track, the rollers already move along the X-, Y-, and Z-axis, so they’re already moving in three dimensions.
This is an enhancement, achieved by placing the rollers on extension arms that allow them to move about 3” farther away from the track than they would be able to otherwise. The result is a deeper, more penetrating massage.
Zero-Gravity Seating
Offering two Zero-G seating positions, this is the third of three technologies the SMK82 utilizes to enhance the basic massage experience.
Inspired by NASA, this technology sees you recline to a point where your knees are positioned slightly above your heart. This presses you down more firmly into the chair, allowing the rollers to provide a deeper massage.
This technology, along with the 4D tech, the SMK82, can render a deep tissue massage at maximum intensity settings, which has tremendous therapeutic value. This is a superb set of features and one of the things that makes it such a robust design.
A Generous Number of Options
There are comparably priced full-back massage recliners that offer more massage options, but not many. To view more reviews, click on this link.
In terms of techniques, the SMK82 offers:
In addition to having the basics covered, the chair makes two advanced techniques available, which is excellent. Also, the SMK82 provides six different pre-programmed massage routines, which are:
On top of that, you can modify any of these via the remote through six different intensity levels, and again, the most intense of these is a deep tissue massage, which is almost certain to be too strong for casual or hobbyist users, but provides tremendous value to people who suffer from chronic pain.
Air Massage Mode
While the company has not published the exact number of airbags, after a careful count of the offered schematics, we estimate the number at 48. This is comparable to other chairs in its price range and superior to many.
Additionally, the provided remote allows you to selectively activate airbags by the following body regions if you’re not interested in a full-body experience:
As with the roller-based massage, air massage can be further modified through six intensity levels. In total, this is an exceptionally strong feature implementation.
Whole Back Heat
Our Fujita SMK82 review would not be complete without calling special attention to this feature because unlike many chairs that offer heat only in the lumbar region, the SMK82’s heating elements are quite large and encompass the whole of the back.
Heat plus massage provides greater therapeutic benefit than massage alone, and if you suffer from chronic pain, you will be hard-pressed to decide whether this or body stretching (discussed below) is your favorite feature.
The only quibble we have with its implementation is that there’s no means of precisely controlling the temperature, but even without that, this is an outstanding implementation.
Body Stretch (Thai Massage)
This is the single most powerful therapeutic feature offered by the design, and it is excellent.
Body stretching provides almost immediate pain relief by taking pressure off compressed discs in your spine in much the same way that a chiropractic adjustment does.
In the case of the SMK82, the body stretch is quite robust and may be too intense for some chronic pain sufferers. If that proves to be the case, a viable alternative would be to enjoy a heated massage before attempting the stretch to loosen your muscles a bit.
Another excellent implementation and a job well done by Fujita!
Calf & Foot Massage
The calf massage is rendered entirely by airbags, while the foot massage sees a combination of airbags and rollers in play.
This is another exceptional feature implementation. The only way it could be improved upon would be to add heat to the leg massage ports or possibly allow the foot roller intensity to be adjusted.
Even in the absence of these things, though, if you spend several hours a day on your feet, this is almost certain to be your favorite feature.
Extendable Ottoman
The design team of the SMK82 seem to have thought of just about everything, even including an extension module on the Ottoman, which allows the chair to accommodate users up to a maximum height of 6’5”. This is yet another exceptional addition.
Surprisingly Simple Remote
Despite the fact that this model offers a broad range of features and lots of different massage combinations, it is surprisingly easy to use and master. You will have no trouble navigating your way to any feature you want to make use of, and can be enjoying your first massage in a matter of minutes.
There is a bit of a learning curve in order to gain mastery, but it is slight and will present no special challenge, even for people who aren’t especially tech-savvy.
Pros & Cons of the Fujita SMK82 Massage Chair
As you can see, this model gets a lot right. It’s easy to use and has a good combination of convenience and therapeutic features that make it well worth considering.
Having said that, there’s always room for improvement, and here are a few things we’d love to see in future upgrades of the model:
Fujita SMK82 Review Conclusion
Even without the improvements listed above, there’s no denying that the SMK82 is an excellent design. We recommend this model for anyone from casual and hobbyist users to chronic pain sufferers. Fujita has developed an impressive chair, and it will serve you well.
Recommended Reading
Infinity IT 8100 Massage Chair Review
We’ve evaluated the Infinity IT 8100, a good-priced massage chair ideal for users up to 6’4” tall.
Infinity Iyashi Review – Massage Chair Ratings
Our assessment focuses on the Infinity Iyashi, a massage chair that is suitable for a wide range of users, including taller individuals.
References & Resources
- Fujita Massage Chair, Official Brand Website.
- The Benefits of Swedish Massage Therapy For Athletes, Bodybuilding.
- 3 Reasons Why Every Home Should Have A Massage Chair, Healthy Back.
- Massage for low-back pain, Cochrane.
