In a Nutshell:
The La-Z-Boy Niagara Recliner is an expertly designed chair with a couple of pleasant surprises on offer. Recommended for anyone up to 6’4” in height, weighing 300 pounds or less.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
4.5/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Anyone up to 6’4” in height, weighing 300 pounds or less.
Are you in the market for a great, well-priced rocking recliner? If so, you’re certainly not alone. In addition to being a fantastic piece of furniture for any home living room, they’re also valuable to people who:
Whatever your reasons for shopping for a new recliner, you’re going to love what you see in this review. La-Z-Boy is one of the Titans of the American furniture industry. Their reputation for excellence and post-sales service and support is well-known and even better, this model is made right here in the US of A. You may not have your heart set on an American made piece of furniture, but if you do, the La Z Boy Niagara Recliner belongs on your shortlist.
In the sections that follow, we’ll go over everything this awesome rocking recliner can do, and let you know about its (very few) shortcomings so you’ll be able to decide for yourself if this is the model you’ve been searching for. That said, let’s dive in and take a closer look!
An Overview of the La Z Boy Niagara Reclina Rocker Recliner
Before we get to the specific features the La Z Boy Niagara Recliner has to offer, let’s start by reviewing its basic stats:
As you can see, this is a sizeable piece of furniture that will appeal to most of the market. Unfortunately, its maximum supported weight limit causes it to fall short of being a Big and Tall recliner, but for people up to about 6’4” weighing 300 pounds or less, it’s a good fit, so overall, more than 90% of the market should find this chair of use.
Note that this chair does not incorporate “Wall Hugger” technology into its design. In light of that, you’ll need to place it at least fifteen inches from whatever wall you set it near in order to ensure it can recline fully. That could be problematic if you have a smaller home or if space is limited, so it’s definitely something to be mindful of!
Options & Upgrades
If you decide to order one, you’ll be able to select from either Fossil or Platinum colored fabric. Other colors and upholstery options are available, but to get them, you’ll need to special order this model from La-Z-Boy’s website. You can also get this model with a swivel base, but again, to do so, you’ll need to head to La-Z-Boy’s site to place your order.
It’s a handsome piece of furniture, and the two default colors are both neutral, which should make the chair blend easily and seamlessly into your home’s décor scheme, but if you’d like the Niagara in some other color, you can certainly get it. Just be aware that ordering customizations from the company’s website will increase your time to delivery.
Powered Variant
For this review, we focused on the manual version of the Niagara rocking recliner. But if you’d prefer a powered version, La-Z-Boy has that, too. The Niagara power rocking recliner has the same dimensions and rocking function, but it offers more recline positions at the touch of a button and has a USB port for charging your devices.
The powered version cannot be upgraded to have a swivel base, but you can upgrade its cushion to Airform™, which is a 2-inch layer that provides responsive cushioning and contoured support.
Adjustability
The La Z Boy Niagara Reclina Rocker Recliner has a couple of interesting surprises on offer, the first of which is that this is one of the few recliners that allows you to adjust the recline tension.
If you find that it takes too much effort to get the chair to go back into a reclined position, you can tweak the setting, so it requires less effort on your part.
That’s an especially valuable feature for elderly folks or anyone with mobility issues, and it’s just what you’d expect from a company with such a long history in the American furniture market.
Rocking & Reclining
Although La-Z-Boy makes recliners that can rock while in a reclined position, this isn’t one of them. With the Niagara, it’s an either/or proposition. You can rock, or you can recline, but you can’t rock while reclined.
Turning to the recline function, the Niagara offers three different recline positions, allowing you to choose from the standard “Sitting,” “TV,” or “Sleeping” positions. Even better, the Niagara features a proprietary position locking system for added safety, support, and reliability.
Note that the seatback can recline without engaging the footrest if you like, which gives you a few “custom” recline options to choose from.
The final thing to be aware of is the fact that the Niagara does not recline so far back that it lays perfectly flat. It will take you about 80% of the distance, which is more than enough for most people. After all, if you’re looking for a recliner to sleep in, then the odds are good that you have trouble sleeping comfortably when you’re laying perfectly flat in any case.
Normally, it’s not a deal-breaker, but if you are specifically in the market for a chair that lays almost completely flat, then this one is sadly not the chair you want.
Comfort
On the comfort front, the Niagara utilizes a mix of block foam, polyfill, and supporting springs which work together to provide a delightful seating experience, even if you spend several hours a day in the chair. Granted, it’s not as comfortable as memory foam, but it is pretty amazing.
Ergonomic Features
Even better, the Niagara offers another surprise, this time in the form of ergonomic support! The sad truth is that most of the home furnishings on the market today don’t have any type of ergonomic support at all, which is another mark of distinction for this model. It features exceptional lumbar and decent whole back support, both of which serve to enhance the chair’s comfort further.
Storage & Extras
Unfortunately, the chair doesn’t offer any sort of onboard storage. That’s a pity because as a rocking recliner, this chair would make a great addition to a home nursery and a handy storage pocket would be great to keep a few essential baby supplies in. Sadly, it’s something La-Z-Boy chose to leave out of the design.
In terms of extras, as we mentioned in the previous section here in our La Z Boy Niagara Recliner review, if you go to the La-Z-Boy site, you can choose from a much broader array of fabrics and colors, and you can order the Niagara with a swiveling base if you prefer. Aside from that though, there are no other extras on offer.
Minimal Assembly Required
The La Z Boy Niagara Rocker Recliner does not come assembled, and White Glove service is unavailable, so you’ll probably want to have an assistant standing by for when the chair arrives at your door. The only thing you’ll have to do to get the chair ready for first use is to attach the seatback to the rest of the chair and put it where you want it.
Given the rather modest weight of the chair, the process isn’t difficult, but if you suffer from some type of mobility issue, or if you just don’t want to be bothered with the assembly process, having a friend handy to assist will certainly make it go more quickly.
Pros & Cons of the La Z Boy Niagara Recliner
There’s a lot to like about this chair. It’s a rocking chair. It’s a recliner. Although it doesn’t lay completely flat, it’s certainly good enough for sleeping, and it’s delightfully comfortable, so you’ll actually get a decent night’s sleep.
Even better, it offers a couple of surprise features in the form of adjustable recline tension control and ergonomic supports, which makes it an amazing value for its surprisingly modest price. And it’s an American-made piece of furniture, to boot!
We don’t really have anything negative to say about it. Sure, we’d have loved it if the chair offered a storage pocket, but that’s honestly the worst thing we can find to say about the design, and that’s hardly a deal-breaker.
La Z Boy Niagara Recliner Review Conclusion
Provided the La Z Boy Niagara Recliner’s measurements are a good fit for you and provided that you don’t exceed its 300-pound weight limit, this recliner belongs on your shortlist. For the price, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value. We recommend it.
Recommended Reading
Simmons Jaguar Cuddler Recliner Review
Our evaluation focuses on the Simmons Jaguar Cuddler Recliner, a comfortable chair ideal for couples or larger individuals.
Ashley Ludden Rocker Recliner Review
Our analysis focuses on the Ashley Ludden Rocker Recliner, a handsome, versatile piece of furniture for any home.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- La-Z-Boy Niagara Recliner User Manual.
- La-Z-Boy, Official Brand Website.
- Recliners Get a Makeover, Lifestyle.
- Troubleshooting Recliner Issues, Hunker.
- 5 Benefits to Owning a Reclining Chair, My Decorative.