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Winner
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Primary Rating:
4.4
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Primary Rating:
4.2
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Our Verdict:
Known as the best massage chair on the market today. Packed with the most advanced massage technologies that knock out its competitors without question.
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Our Verdict:
One of the hottest selling massage chairs in Asia. Features a long massage track and an array of features not found in most massage chairs in its price range.
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- Has more than twice the number of airbags. Adds a vibration massage function and better heat function. Offers 900+ more possible massage combinations.
- Does not have MP3 support and chromotherapy features. Has only 1 zero-gravity seating position.
- Longer massage track. Slightly superior roller-based massage. Two zero-G seating positions. Features space-saving technology. Added features such as MP3 support and chromotherapy.
- Add-ons like MP3 support and chromotherapy are non-essential. Does not offer much fine-grained control to massage functions.
This is a question we get a lot from our readers: In a head-to-head competition, Infinity Iyashi vs Inada Dreamwave, which chair would come out on top?
If you’ve been looking for a top-quality massage chair and are in the process of weighing your options, then you’re going to love this head to head comparison review!
We’ll step through every feature these two excellent massage chairs have to offer, and assign a running total of point to each model, for every feature. By the end, we’ll have a winner.
Bear in mind that this is an asymmetrical contest. The Dreamwave, widely regarded as the best massage chair in the world is significantly more expensive than its competition in this case.
Nonetheless, we’ll put the two in the ring together to see how the Iyashi fares. It should be an interesting battle, so let’s get right to it!
Infinity Iyashi vs Inada Dreamwave Feature Comparison
Massage Track & Rollers
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★★
The Iyashi scores an early point against its more expensive competitor because it just delivers a superior roller-based massage. It accomplishes this by using a Hybrid L/S Track system that extends the rollers beneath the seat, allowing for a glute and thigh massage.
With an overall track length of 49”, the Iyashi’s quad rollers can reach more of your body than the Dreamwave. Not to say you’ll be disappointed by the Dreamwave’s roller massage. It’s excellent by any reckoning, but since it utilizes a shorter S-Track, it just doesn’t travel as far down your body. Point for Infinity.
3D Body Scanning Technology
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
Both models utilize a two-pronged approach to optimize the position of the rollers and the width of the massage field.
3D scanning allows the computer to position them automatically, and if the computer gets it wrong, both models also provide buttons on the remote that Chromotherapy allow for manual fine-tuning.
While the methods are slightly different, the result is the same, and we regard this as a tie, so no change in points.
Zero-Gravity Seating Positions
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★★
Inspired by NASA, Zero-G seating offers a fantastic enhancement to the overall massage experience. By reclining you to a position where your knees are elevated slightly above your heart, most of your body’s weight is pressing down and against the rollers, which allows for a deeper and more penetrating massage.
Curiously, the Dreamwave only offers a single Zero-G seating position, where the Iyashi offers two, so again, we award an early point to the chair by Infinity.
Space-Saving Technology
Inada Dreamwave: ★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★★
This is yet another area where the Iyashi shines. As it reclines, it pivots on its base, minimizing the space required to use the chair. It only requires five inches of clearance between the back of the chair and the wall you set it near.
Contrast that with the Dreamwave, which is a monster of a chair, and takes significantly more room. Once again, point to the Iyashi.
Massage Options
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
While both chairs offer the basic massage techniques (kneading, tapping, rolling, etc.), and both offer a single advanced technique (Shiatsu), this is one of the areas where the Dreamwave truly excels.
Iyashi offers a lot of customization options, but it doesn’t come close to the Dreamwave, which has more auto-programs, and more than a thousand different massage combinations available. This is a huge win for the Dreamwave!
Air Massage Mode
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★
Again, the Dreamwave scores a big win here. While there’s certainly nothing to complain about with the Iyashi’s 38 Second Generation Airbags, the Dreamwave features 101, and delivers a far superior massage experience. This is definitely a case of getting what you pay for. Another point in the Dreamwave’s favor.
Body Stretch Function
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★★
While both chairs offer a body stretch, Iyashi scores another point here, because, in addition to providing the basic stretch feature, it also provides an innovative waist twist, which provides the same basic benefits, but in a milder form.
Both are tremendously powerful therapeutic functions that provide almost immediate pain relief in the same way that a chiropractic adjustment does – by taking pressure off compressed discs in your spine.
Since the Iyashi offers two variants, we award the point to Infinity.
Heat
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★
Inada’s Dreamwave wins in this category. While the Iyashi offers standard lumbar heat, the Dreamwave offers back heat that covers a larger area and seat heat, and even better, these can be activated independently.
Neither chair offers precise temperature control, but Inada’s chair is the clear winner in this category.
Vibration Massage
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★
This is a relatively minor feature with some therapeutic value, in that it helps facilitate better blood flow. The Dreamwave has it, and the Iyashi does not, so another point for Inada’s chair.
Extendable Ottoman
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
Both models have an extension module on the ottoman, and both can accommodate users up to 6’5” in height. We’re rating this one as a tie, so no change in point totals.
Calf & Foot Massage
Inada Dreamwave: ★★★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★
While both chairs offer this feature, Inada has the superior offering, mostly owing to the tremendous number of airbags the chair has, which renders a calf massage that is just unparalleled in the industry.
Both chairs offer a combination airbag and roller-based foot massage, and the roller portion is slightly superior in the Iyashi, but it isn’t enough to overcome the Dreamwave’s advantage. Another point to Inada.
MP3 Support
Inada Dreamwave: ★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
The Iyashi is Bluetooth compatible, allowing you to wirelessly connect your smartphone to the speakers built into the headrest of the chair. The Dreamwave does not offer this feature at all, so point to Infinity on this front.
Adjustable Timer
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★
While both chairs offer the ability to adjust the duration of the massage programs on offer, the Dreamwave allows for more fine-grained control here, so again, the point goes to Inada.
Chromotherapy
Inada Dreamwave: ★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
This is another minor feature that helps with relaxation, which some people say enhances the overall experience.
The Iyashi features softly glowing blue LED lights on the sides of the chair. If you’re sitting in a darkened room, the effect can be soothing, especially when combined with music. Inada’s Dreamwave does not offer this feature at all, so point to Infinity here.
Ease of Use
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★★
Hands down, Iyashi wins this category. Their remote and the optional app control make it a significantly easier chair to use and master. Point to Infinity.
Support
Inada Dreamwave: ★★ | Infinity Iyashi: ★★
Inada’s support (including their exquisitely well-written user manual) is far superior to Infinity’s. That would not typically matter until and unless something goes wrong with the chair, and then, it will matter very much indeed. Point to Inada.
Inada Dreamwave vs Infinity Iyashi Conclusion
Inada Dreamwavevs Infinity Iyashi |  Inada Dreamwave |  Infinity Iyashi |
| Massage Track & Rollers | ★★★ | ★★★★ |
| 3D Body Scanning Technology | ★★ | ★★ |
| Zero-Gravity Seating Positions | ★★ | ★★★★ |
| Space Saving Technology | ★ | ★★★★ |
| Massage Options | ★★★★ | ★★ |
| Air Massage Mode | ★★★★ | ★★★ |
| Body Stretch Function | ★★★ | ★★★★ |
| Heat | ★★★★ | ★ |
| Vibration Massage | ★★★ | ★ |
| Extendable Ottoman | ★★ | ★★ |
| Calf and Foot Massage | ★★★★ | ★★★ |
| MP3 Support | ★ | ★★ |
| Adjustable Timer | ★★ | ★ |
| Chromotherapy | ★ | ★★ |
| Ease of Use | ★★ | ★★★ |
| Support | ★★ | ★★ |
In terms of raw points, when we compare the Inada Dreamwave vs Infinity Iyashi, it comes out to a tie, but we’re not satisfied to leave it at that because that doesn’t tell the whole story.
Even though the points are identical, we have to give the victory to Dreamwave for this reason: In the areas where the Dreamwave beats the Iyashi, it does so by massive amounts.
For instance, when you compare the Iyashi’s 38 airbags to the Dreamwave’s 101, the two chairs aren’t even in the same ballpark. In a similar vein, when you compare the Iyashi’s ~100 massage combinations to the Dreamwave’s 1000+, you’re just talking about an entirely different scale.
On the other hand, the areas where the Iyashi beats the Dreamwave tend to be ancillary or supporting features like MP3 support and Chromotherapy.
Even though we’ve weighed all of these features equally, when it comes to breaking the tie, we have to put more emphasis on the core elements that are the reasons people buy massage chairs in the first place.
Infinity Official Support │Inada Official Support
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Inada Massage Chairs, Official Brand Website.
- Infinity Massage Chairs, Official Brand Website.
- Relaxation Techniques for Health, National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).
- Full Body Massage … and it’s benefits for our bodies!, Massage Education.
- Massage Therapy Can Relieve Stress, American Massage Therapy Association.
