In a Nutshell:
Packed with features and beautifully designed, the Human Touch Novo massage chair has just about everything you could ever want or ask for in a massage chair. Recommended for all as long as you have space for it!
Overall Massage Quality
Customization options
Ease of Use
Performance
Overall Rating
4.5/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: ALL as long as you have space for it!
Wouldn’t it be awesome if some company made a sleek, powerful massage chair that was so good, sitting in it felt like you were sitting on a cloud that also happened to be a world-class masseuse?
Would you believe that there’s already a company making exactly that?
It’s true! In our Human Touch Novo massage chair review that follows, we’ll outline all the features of the company’s new flagship offering, and we think you’ll agree. While there are a lot of chairs to choose from on the market today, this one’s something special.
Human Touch Novo Chair Overview
While the “look” of a chair isn’t a feature per se, it’s something we have to bring up first in any comprehensive review of any Human Touch model.
Human Touch Novo Massage Chair Variants
For years now, every time the company introduces a new massage chair, they win ADEX awards for their stunning, comfortable designs. In 2016 alone, continuing its six-year winning streak, Human Touch won four ADEX Awards for Design Excellence, and the trend doesn’t look like it will be changing anytime soon.
The reason why Human Touch puts so much time and effort to create award-winning designs is simple: people don’t want their living rooms looking like a chiropractor’s office. They want a chair that blends seamlessly with the décor they already have. Unfortunately, only few massage chairs can do that.
Sure, the Human Touch Novo chair won’t fit into just any living room. That’s true of every chair since people’s tastes and preferences are different.
In this particular case though, if your style runs in the direction of sleek and futuristic, you’re most likely going to love the look of the Novo. At first glance, it appears to be the fusion of a big, comfy, overstuffed egg and the Captain’s chair on a luxury star-liner. All that to say that design matters, and the Novo carries on the trend by winning awards for its artistic design and comfort.
A massage chair can’t get by on its looks alone, however. It has to be feature-rich and functional to win high marks in this Human Touch Novo review—and with the public in general. To that end, let’s take a look at those features.
Features of the Human Touch Novo Massage Chair
Track Design
Any Human Touch Novo massage chair review should begin with this, and right off the bat, we see that the feature set and design style mesh perfectly because Human Touch has chosen to use bleeding edge technology to good effect.
The chair is built around a hybrid L/S Track giving you the best of both worlds. It follows the natural curvature of your spine, ensuring a world-class massage, just like a standard S-Track. But where the former stops, the Novo’s track keeps going, wrapping under the seat so the quad rollers can massage your glutes and the backs of your thighs.
Given that most chairs designed around S-Tracks stop at the lower back, and with the sheer size of the Novo, the chair not only provides a massage further down, but the dimensions of the chair make it possible for the rollers to reach 60% more of your back than conventional massage chairs. That’s huge.
The end result? A better, deeper, whole body massage than you can ever imagine.
Pivoting Base
Considering the enormity of this chair, you may be worried that it simply won’t fit into the room you want to put it in.
That need not be cause for alarm, however. The Human Touch Massage Chair Novo only requires 9” between the back of the chair and the wall when it is upright. It does need 32” of clearance in front of the chair to reach full extension. But you can set the chair quite close to your wall without worry. Thanks to its pivoting base.
Zero-Gravity
Human Touch is the company that brought the zero-gravity feature into the mainstream of massage chair industry. So, it’s no surprise that it is featured in their flagship model.
The two zero-G seating positions help take the overall massage experience to the next level by using own body weight to work with the rollers and press more firmly against the body, resulting in a deeper, more therapeutic experience.
Cloud Touch Massage Mode
Cloud Touch is Human Touch’s take on the standard Air Massage Mode offered by other massage chairs.
Using an integrated system of 36 airbags that compress and release, the massage you get from Cloud Touch is unlike most air massages—just pure relaxation and bliss. If we had to pick a single feature and call it the “best” feature of the Novo, this would probably be it. Mind-blowingly, Human Touch has perfected the art of air massage.
Full Body Stretch
This feature is part of the Cloud Touch massage technology, providing most of the same therapeutic benefits that a chiropractic adjustment gives you, but from the comfort of your home.
If you suffer from chronic back or joint pain, this feature will not only leave you smiling and coming back for more, but will also make you feel better as it takes the pressure off of compressed discs and joints.
Lumbar Heat
While lumbar heat is a somewhat common feature in massage chairs today, Human Touch once again takes it to the next level.
Where most chairs provide what amounts to a pair of heating pads in the lumbar region, the Novo utilizes two hollow columns that, when heat mode is activated, are filled with a current of heated air, providing deeper and more effective heat therapy.
Auto Adjusting Ottoman
Given how important aesthetics and convenience are to Human Touch designs, in general, this is no surprise. When you sit on the chair with your legs rested in the massage ports, the chair automatically adjusts the length of the ottoman to accommodate specific leg length. This allows the chair to be used by people up to 6’4” in height.
This matters very much, because when the chair is in Cloud Touch Mode, without proper ottoman adjustment, the calves wouldn’t get maximum benefit from the air massage.
Dual Foot Rollers
Another great feature that offers tremendous therapeutic benefit for people who spend a lot of time on their feet are the dual foot rollers for additional reflexology massage. There’s just nothing better than a soothing massage to the soles of the feet after a long day’s work!
Loaded with Options
Most of the Human Touch Novo massage chair reviews you find online use the same wording you see on the company’s website, “More than thirty automatic programs!”, but they never get around to telling you what those programs are. So, we dug a little deeper to find out.
While it’s true that there are more than thirty automatic programs (32, to be precise), many of them are just subtle variations on a few different themes. Here’s the scoop. The chair offers the following massage techniques:
It also provides various pre-programmed routines that you can select to work using any of the styles mentioned above. These are:
So four different techniques and seven programs give you twenty-eight options initially. However, on the remote, some of the massage selections offer additional options that you can choose from on the menu as you’re setting the parameters of your massage. That’s what rounds out the final figure to 34.
When you combine that with the three different roller intensity settings and the five different air massage intensity settings, you have a truly staggering number of options available to you!
One more thing to note here: you can also control every zone in the chair, such as shoulders, back, legs and feet independently, giving you even more customization options!
LCD Remote
Given the plethora of customization options the chair provides, it’s probably no surprise that the remote can be a little overwhelming at first. Although the remote is not really difficult to use, a lot of information and functionality are packed into a minuscule space, so there’s a bit of a learning curve.
Even so, with a little practice, you won’t have any difficulty programming the perfect massage for you.
Bluetooth Speakers
This makes it a snap to sync your smartphone to the chair and enjoy your favorite music while you lie back and enjoy your massage. It’s a fairly standard feature, so again, not terribly surprising to see it here, but it’s a very nice touch.
Pros & Cons of the Human Touch Novo Chair
As you can see, the number of things the Human Touch Novo massage chair gets right is just staggering. Lots of great options that anyone wanting a massage chair is sure to love, plenty of therapeutic benefits on offer, and a striking design aesthetic that sets it apart from every other chair out there.
Having said that, no Human Touch Novo chair review would be complete without talking about the few things the chair gets wrong or is lacking.
First thing is simply that the chair design, while undeniably beautiful, just isn’t going to appeal to everyone. Unless your home is decorated in a sleek, futuristic style, this chair is going to stand out like a sore thumb. A very pretty sore thumb, sure, but if you’re looking for something that will blend in easily with your existing décor, and your home isn’t all that futuristic looking, then this probably isn’t the chair for you.
The other thing that must be pointed out is that in a chair with so many bells and whistles, it is completely mystifying why heating elements for the calves weren’t included. Adding this feature seems like a natural fit, given that the designers go to great lengths to provide therapeutic benefit to people who suffer from chronic lower back and leg pain.
Otherwise, the Human Touch Novo Chair is perfect just the way it is. The only thing missing is you!
Human Touch Novo Chair Review Conclusion
Wrapping up our Human Touch Novo review, we have to say that its remarkable, one of a kind design is part of the reason why it didn’t get a perfect five-star rating from us.
It’s just got such a different look that’s not going to appeal to everyone. Combine that with the fact that the chair has so many options that the remote has a bit of a learning curve, we reluctantly deducted half a point from its final rating.
All in all, though, the Human Touch Novo massage chair is a splendid option worth every penny.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Human Touch Massage Chairs, Official Brand Website.
- Thai Massage Effective in Relieving Chronic Pain, Massage Today.
- Massage, Chiropractic Top Medical Alternatives, WebMD.
- Human Touch Novo Massage Chair, ADEX Awards.
- When to Worry About Low Back Pain, Pain Science.
