Real Relax MM650 Massage Chair Review 2024

Is money tight at your house? Do you have to miss work on a semi-regular or regular basis so you can schedule trips to your local chiropractor’s office because of the pain in your back, legs, or feet?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you’re almost certain to be intrigued by what you read here in our Real Relax MM650 review.

Real Relax is a smaller company in the massage chair industry. They don’t have a huge footprint in the market, and their support staff is limited. But they do make consistently good, low-priced products, and this chair is an excellent example of their work, as are other Real Relax chairs.

As you’ll see as you read this review, this model is also a good example of a company whose ambition sometimes exceeds its ability. None of the features implemented in this chair are bad, but some of them proved to be a bit too tricky to do well, which led to imperfect feature implementation.

That’s not a bad thing. It is, after all, how companies grow and learn, but if you expect perfection (or close to it) from products you buy, then this chair may leave you wanting.

On the other hand, if you can live with a few curious limitations, then you’ll probably find this chair very much to your liking, especially for the money. You really are getting a lot of bang for your buck here, which is outstanding.

Are you curious to know more? If so, read on, and let’s take a closer look!

Key Features of the Favor-MM650

The first thing you’ll notice about the MM650 is that it looks exactly like a massage chair, which is to say it has a vaguely futuristic aesthetic. The design team behind the model made no effort to disguise the chair’s true function.

Some companies make models like that. Human Touch, for example, makes a variety of massage chairs that hide their leg massage ports when you’re not using them, so at first glance, those chairs look pretty much like a standard recliner.

If that is important to you, you can find massage chairs that will blend in more easily with your existing living room furniture.

This isn’t one of those chairs, so just be aware of that going in.

It’s not an ugly design, but it is pretty functional. And unless you’ve got a sci-fi theme at your house, the chair will probably clash with the rest of your furniture. On the other hand, you’ll have a massage chair in your living room and reap the benefits of that any time you want, which is pretty cool.

It’s worth mentioning that this is a fairly big piece of furniture, too, with a footprint that measures 31” W x 51” L x 45” H (you’ll see different values listed on different sites, but this comes straight from the manufacturer and should be seen as the final word on the topic).

Similarly, different places list the maximum supported weight as either 280 pounds or 400 pounds. Per the manufacturer, the right answer is 400 pounds, which is superb.

The chair weighs 210 pounds, so you’ll probably want to find a permanent home as soon as it arrives. It’s too heavy to move around without assistance realistically.

The chair is listed as a space saver, but again, there was a lot of contradictory information out there about exactly what that meant. Some materials indicated that only 4” of clearance was needed between the seatback and whatever wall you placed it near, and other materials indicated that 8” was needed.

We confirmed this with the manufacturer as well. You need 8” of clearance.

That makes sense. Although Real Relax tries hard, they’re not as good at feature implementation as some of the bigger companies, which can implement wall-hugging that requires as little as 2” of clearance. Even so though, a standard recliner without such technology usually requires a couple of feet of clearance, so 8” is still pretty good.

3D SL-track and Quad Rollers

The MM650 massage chair has good bones, meaning that it was built around the current industry standard of an SL track paired with quad rollers.

The track is delightfully long, measuring 57” (the average is about 45”). Note that it is a 3D track that enables the rollers to move along the X, Y, and Z Axes. Here, though, we run into another limitation of the design because although a 3D massage track could allow for a deep tissue massage, this one isn’t quite powerful enough to pull that off.

Granted, the massage you get from this chair feels good (great, even!) because the rollers do an admirable job of replicating the feel of human hands. But even on its maximum intensity setting, it still doesn’t qualify as a true deep tissue massage.

For most people, that won’t be a deal-breaker. But if you suffer from chronic pain, you’re probably going to want a more powerful, robust massage chair.

Body Scanning Tech Incorporated Into the Design

As with most chairs sold today, this one comes with body scanning technology. This convenience feature simply makes chairs like this easier to use. When you sit down, the chair scans your body and quietly adjusts the position of the rollers. Then, when your massage begins, the rollers hit all the right spots on your back.

If the chair didn’t have this tech, you’d have to spend a few minutes fiddling with the controls to get the rollers where you wanted them, which isn’t hard, but it can get annoying and tiresome, especially when you’re already tired and want to flop down in the chair and get a quick massage. Body scanning tech makes that possible.

In practice, the scan gets it right about 95% of the time, and on those occasions where something’s a little off, you’ll find controls on the built-in remote touchpad that allow you to adjust the position of the rollers manually.

Speaking of a touchpad, this is another thing we confirmed with the manufacturer. The user manual still shows a standard handheld remote, but the latest photos show a built-in touchpad on a swivel on one of the chair arms.

The older version of this model came with the handheld remote (and only a 2D massage track). The most recent version got an upgrade to the 3D track and switched from a handheld remote to a built-in touchpad—so that you know!

Strange Massage Options Available (But That’s Mostly a Good Thing!)

This section of our Real Relax MM650 review is a little strange because, for some reason, Real Relax opted to use different terminology to describe their basic massage techniques. Here’s what this chair has to offer:

Despite the unusual naming convention, this is a pretty good array of techniques for a chair offered in this price bracket.

In addition to that, the Real Relax MM650 comes with six different pre-programmed massage options, which are:

“Sleep” is the lightest and most relaxing of the bunch, with “Relax” coming in just a half step stronger. The “Chinese” style is technically a second advanced massage technique. Still, in practice, it doesn’t feel markedly different than the “Rolling to Push” technique mentioned above (slightly stronger and with a slight variation in the push motion).

The Thai massage is the strongest option, with “Strong” just a half-step behind it. 

Again, we run into one of the design’s limitations because the motors that drive the rollers just aren’t strong enough to produce truly intense deep tissue massages. However, you can increase the intensity, which we’ll discuss later.

Overall, there’s a decent amount of variety here, and we expect that as the company continues to improve, these feature implementations will improve. As things stand now, there’s still a lot to like here, and you won’t be disappointed in the massage you get from this model.

Before we leave this section, it’s worth mentioning that massage isn’t simply about picking a technique or a pre-programmed routine. This chair offers three different speed and intensity settings, so you get a fair customization.

Note, however, that no memory slots are built into the unit. So if your preferred settings wind up being Shiatsu on the second speed and highest intensity setting, you’ll have to fiddle with the controls to order that up every time. You can’t “set and save.” That’s not the end of the world, but it is something to be mindful of.

Zero-G Seating Options Too

Here, we come to the first of two therapeutic features that the MM650 offers: Zero-G seating. As the name indicates, it is a superb addition to this design. Inspired by NASA, it really does leave you feeling weightless when you put the chair in “Zero-G mode.”

Some chairs offer multiple Zero-G seating positions, but this model only offers one. That’s not a huge surprise given its modest price tag; honestly, its inclusion in any form was a pleasant surprise. Kudos to Real Relax for its inclusion!

Earlier, we mentioned that you could come pretty close to getting a deep-tissue massage. Now, we get to describe exactly how.

First, select either the “Thai” or “Strong” massage options from the menu. Set the intensity level to max, and put the chair in its Zero-G position so that your body weight will press you back more firmly against the seat and, thus, against the rollers.

Doing all three will give you something that comes fairly close to rendering a deep-tissue massage. It still doesn’t quite get there, so we’re not counting this as one of the chair’s therapeutic features, but it feels amazing and may even help some chronic pain sufferers find relief.

Make no mistake, you’d still be better served by spending a little more and getting a more robust chair. But if money is tight, the workaround we just described will get you most of the way there and maybe close enough to do some good—depending on your specific situation.

A Surprisingly Good Air Massage

We have to admit, we weren’t expecting much from this section, but the MM650 surprised us, and this wound up being a fairly strong component of our Real Relax MM650 review.

Sporting 20 airbags positioned to massage your shoulders, arms, hips, and calves, you can order a full body massage or select specific body regions (shoulders, arms, seat, or calf) to massage only the body parts that currently ache.

As with the rollers, the touchpad allows you to adjust the intensity of your air massage to your taste.

Most value-priced chairs don’t do a great job with air massage, but the MM650 is a happy exception to that rule. While we don’t regard it as one of the design’s hallmark features, we love it, and we think you will, too.

Heat Is Included as Well

Now, we come to the second of this chair’s two therapeutic features. Massage almost always feels pretty good, but adding heat to the equation just takes things to the next level. In our view, this is the best part of our Real Relax MM650 review and the chair’s strongest feature.

Ostensibly, it offers lumbar heat, but the coils are big enough that the heat extends through to cover most of your back, encompassing essentially everything but your neck and shoulders.

In a perfect world, there would be a way to control the temperature, and the offered heat would also be included in the footwells. But both of those are incredibly rare, and we certainly can’t hold their absence against Real Relax, especially given the low price of this model.

In any case, if you suffer from chronic pain, the fact that this chair offers a heated massage will probably be your favorite aspect of the design. 

A Surprisingly Good Calf and Foot Massage

We love this aspect of the MM650’s design almost as much as we love the heat function. Low-end chairs tend to skimp on this area, but Real Relax went out of their way to do a great job here, and they succeeded.

Airbags provide calf massage, and rollers located at the bottoms of the footwells provide foot massage. The combination of the two is sublime, and the only real way the company can improve on the implementation is to offer heat in a later upgrade to the model. Unfortunately, doing so would invariably increase the price, so we may never see that.

Even without it, though, this is one of the strongest features of the design.

Two Noteworthy Extras to Talk About

This is another surprisingly strong component of our review. Most smaller brands don’t offer much, if anything, extras or finishing touches. But here, you’ll find two—both of them high-value additions to the chair.

First, there’s the built-in massage timer. All of the massages you can order from the chair default to a fifteen-minute duration, but this can be extended via the touchpad to an absolute maximum of 30 minutes or reduced to as little as 5 minutes (in five-minute increments, both directions).

Second, the chair sports a pair of Bluetooth speakers that you can wirelessly sync to your phone, allowing you to enjoy your favorite music or podcast while getting a massage.

The only thing missing from the equation is a USB port to help keep your phone charged, but this is a minor thing we can easily overlook.

Pros & Cons of Real Relax MM650

In no particular order, here’s what we think you’ll like best about the MM650:

Overall, we regard the pros as outweighing the cons handily, but we understand that opinions will vary on that point.

Real Relax MM650 Massage Chair Review Conclusion

We like this chair and recommend it to any casual user. As long as you don’t specifically need a chair capable of rendering a true deep-tissue massage, we (provisionally) recommend it for those with therapeutic needs. It’s a very solid addition to the Real Relax lineup.

Other Options to Consider

If you’ve reached the end of this review and have decided that the MM650 isn’t a good fit for you, whatever the reason, here are a couple of other options to consider:

Comparably priced and also offered by a smaller, respected company, this is a good option to consider. It offers a slightly different feature set that may better meet your specific needs.

Although more expensive than the chair we just reviewed, this model is, in our view, the best value in the massage chair world today. Brimming with therapeutic features and design flourishes, it will absolutely dazzle you.

Official Manufacturer Support

References & Resources

• Real Relax Massage Chair, Official Brand Website.
• Chiropractic Care for Pain Relief, Harvard Health Publishing. 
• Health Benefits of a Deep Tissue Massage, Find A Top Doc. 
• Thai Massage vs Swedish Massage: Which Is Better?, Asia Highlights.