In a Nutshell:
The iComfort IC1121 massage chair is an average model with some serious shortcomings and oddities. We don’t recommend this model unless you’re just desperate for a massage chair right now.
Overall Massage Quality
Customization options
Ease of Use
Quality
Overall Rating
3.5/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
We don’t recommend this model unless you’re just desperate for a massage chair right now.
Are you on a budget?
Looking for modestly-priced therapeutic massage chair?
If you are, you should consider reading our iComfort IC1121 massage chair review. As much as we’d like to recommend this model, we can’t, but in good conscience.
In the sections that follow, we’re going to outline everything this chair does, and explain why it doesn’t make the cut, in our view. If you decide to buy it anyway, we want you to have complete information, so you know what you’re getting, and what its limitations are.
An Overview of the iComfort IC1121 Massage Chair
S-Track Design & Quad Rollers
The IC 1121 gets off to a strong start, utilizing an industry-standard S-Track and quad rollers.
This is excellent, and the basic massage is very high quality, however there are some limitations right off the bat.
While the quad rollers closely mimic the feel of human hands, the massage track is only 29” long. If you’re taller than 6’1”, the odds are that the rollers won’t even reach the bottom of your tailbone.
This is one of the shortest tracks in the industry, so while the core technology is good, its usefulness is limited by the shortness of the track.
Manual Roller Positioning
Many chairs in the 1121’s price range feature 3D Body Scanning Technology which automatically adjusts the position of the rollers before your massage begins.
The IC 1121 doesn’t have that. Instead, it offers a manual way to position the rollers and adjust the width of the massage field. That’s good, if slightly less convenient. In any case, it ensures that the rollers always hit the sore spots on your back, so we have to count this as a positive.
Basic Massage Options Available
If you’d read other iComfort IC1121 massage chair reviews, you’d find broad agreement on this point. This model just doesn’t have as many massage options as most of its competitors.
Massage Techniques
As you can see, it’s got the basics covered, but there are no advanced techniques offered at all.
The company tries to make it seem like there are more options by listing “Reverse Kneading” as a separate technique, but this is just kneading with the rollers moving the opposite direction.
The music sync function is interesting, but not a proper massage technique. Still, it’s the closest thing the 1121 has to an advanced technique. Depending on the type of music you enjoy, it could give you a gentle, soothing massage, or you may feel like the chair is trying to beat you to death.
Your best bet is to experiment and see if it’s to your liking.
Pre-Programmed Massage Options
We’ll talk about the stretch function a bit later in this review. But as you can see, the others are merely subsets of the full-body massage.
All of these options default to a 15-minute duration. While the time cannot be modified, you can change the roller speed and intensity via the remote, through three different levels each.
Seat Vibration
This is a feature with minor therapeutic value. A vibration plate in the seat gently shakes the user, improving blood flow and circulation in the hips and thighs. This feature may be activated to further modify any of the massage programs you’re running (either roller or airbag-based).
Most users have a love/hate relationship with vibration massage. Those who like it swear by it. Those who dislike it say that it feels as though the chair is trying to shake them out of it, and never use it, so this is another feature you’ll want to experiment with to see if it’s for you.
Body Stretch
Our iComfort IC1121 massage chair review would not be complete if we didn’t call particular attention to the body stretch function. If the model can be said to have a standout feature, this would be it, and to be fair, the body stretch is quite good.
The chair uses airbags located in the leg massage ports to hold you in place as the chair reclines to an ever-increasing angle. As it does, it produces the same effect as a chiropractic adjustment and provides almost immediate pain relief by taking pressure off compressed discs in your spine.
If you suffer from chronic back pain, this is almost guaranteed to be your favorite aspect of the chair.
Air Massage Mode
We didn’t like the way this feature was implemented. In our view, it is the weakest element in the entire design.
It features 15 Second-Generation Airbags,which is relatively low compared to other chairs it competes with.
These airbags are located in the following body regions, and can be selectively activated if you don’t want a full body air massage:
Note the asterisks next to arm and head. The three airbags involved with those features aren’t counted in the fifteen. That’s because the arm and head airbags are separate from the chair!
Yes, you read that correctly. If you want an arm or head air massage, you have to stop what you’re going and strap the arm/head airbags onto yourself, hook up the air hoses, then activate the feature.
This is, in our view, an unacceptable implementation. For the same money, you can buy a chair that includes arm and head air massage without requiring you to strap airbags onto yourself. It’s just not something we’d ever have expected to see and is the primary reason we cannot recommend this model.
It’s true that you can modify the intensity of the air massage via the remote through three levels. That’s nice. But it’s not enough to overcome the huge negative imposed by having to strap things to the body to get an arm or head massage.
MP3 Support
This is an excellent feature, and always in demand, so it’s a plus to see it in the iComfort IC1121 massage chair. The implementation is about average, as the manufacturer provides a USB port, allowing you to load your favorite music onto a jump drive, and play them through the built-in speakers.
It’s a nice touch that gives the model a bit of polish, which it badly needs, given how poorly the air massage feature was implemented.
Easy to Use Remote
While other massage chairs by iComfort have come up short where the design and layout of the remote is concerned, the 1022 gets it right. All the buttons are logically positioned. You won’t have any trouble accessing any of the features the chair offers.
The remote is no more complicated than the one you use for your television, so this is a solid feature implementation.
Pros & Cons of the iComfort IC1121 Massage Chair
We wanted to like this iComfort IC1121 massage chair model, but there are just too many issues with it for us to make a recommendation.
If the company were to make the following modifications, our view would change:
iComfort IC1121 Massage Chair Reviews Conclusion
In the final analysis, we simply can’t recommend this model with a clear conscience. Some of its core features are poorly implemented, and in our view, it doesn’t offer a sufficient number of therapeutic features to make it beneficial to chronic pain sufferers.
If you decide to buy it anyway, you should be aware of these limitations going in, so you’re not disappointed when it arrives at your house.
References & Resources
- iComfort, Official Brand Website.
- Blood, Heart and Circulation, Medline Plus.
- Massage Therapy for Health Purposes, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
- Low Back Pain Fact Sheet, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
- Chronic Pain, NeuRA.
