Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner Review 2024

Do you suffer from limited mobility?  Do you struggle now to do things that you once considered easy, like, for example, getting your feet back under you after you’ve been sitting for a while? 

It’s an awful feeling, isn’t it?  It makes you feel as though you’re trapped in your uncooperative body.  It robs you of your independence, which can deal a big blow to your self-esteem.

Fortunately, you can do something about it! 

While a good power lift chair won’t solve all of your mobility issues, it will help make you less reliant on others, and that will give you at least some of your independence back.

There are tons of power lift recliners on the market and finding the right one for you can be a daunting challenge.  Not long ago, we went on a quest to find the best lift chairs being sold today to help make your search easier.  The Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner wound up being our top pick in the budget segment of the market.

While it’s not a perfect chair, it has a lot going for it, and in the sections that follow, we’ll give you complete details and our recommendation. Even if you ultimately decide this isn’t the chair for you, we think you’ll agree, for the money, it’s pretty amazing.  We think you’ll like it.

An Overview of the Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner

The first thing you’ll notice about the Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner is that it’s not going to win any awards for its striking good looks.  We wouldn’t say it’s an ugly chair, it’s just…functional.  It’s got an older design that makes it look a bit like a chair from the forties.  It’s just not a very fun or exciting design. 

That’s unfortunate, because as the saying goes, “you seldom get a second chance to make a first impression.”

On the flip side though, it’s small and unobtrusive and should blend in seamlessly with your home’s existing décor scheme without difficulty.

Chair Dimensions

Here are the relevant stats for the chair:

As you’ll see in the following sections though here in our Seven Oaks power lift recliner review, lurking beneath its unassuming exterior is a fantastic product!

Features of the Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner

There’s some good news in this section and some not so good news.

Very User Friendly

Starting with the good, Seven Oaks power lift recliner is very easy to use.  The wired remote is simple and intuitive.  It might take you a couple of minutes to figure out things like how to activate the massage function and heat(!), or how to set the massage timer (all of which we’ll talk more about later), but that’s trivial.  You’ll have it mastered in no time.

Recline and Lift Function

The motors that handle the recline and lift functions are both powerful and quiet, offering smooth lift and a gentle recline. 

Although the leg rest and back operate in tandem, in practice, the leg rest rises first, and reaches approximately 90% elevation before the backrest begins to recline, so you can adopt “reading position” (leg rest extended, minimal recline) even though they’re not controlled separately, which is honestly a nice touch and a simple, but ingenious implementation of the feature.

Note:  There are no “preset” recline positions on offer.  That can either be seen as a positive or a negative.

On the one hand, having a preset means one-touch convenience.  On the other, everyone’s comfort preferences are different, and if yours don’t happen to align with the preset, then you’re not going to be impressed.

Overall then, we view their absence as a positive.  Sure, it means you have to spend a bit of time fiddling with the controls to find your personal “sweet spot” but that’s not a big deal, really, and once you do, you’ll be that much more comfortable.  We like it.

Now for the not-so-good…

Seat Padding

The chair is a bit lacking in the padding department.  It’s not uncomfortable by any means, but it doesn’t offer the same kind of plus, luxuriant seating we’ve seen in other models, like the Coaster.  If maximum comfort is your goal, this one will leave you unimpressed.

Having said that, there’s a very good reason that the company went a bit light where padding is concerned, and we’ll get to that in the next section.

Extra Features

There are four things to talk about here, all of them good.  

Storage

Starting with the basics, the Seven Oaks power lift recliner for seniors comes with two wide storage pockets, one on either side of the chair.

They’re not especially deep, but they’re more than big enough to hold the remote, your favorite books and magazines, and any other sundries you might want to have close at hand while you’re enjoying time in your new favorite chair.

Massage Function

The second big thing is far and away the most significant.  The chair offers a basic massage function.

Granted, the massage you get from this chair won’t hold a candle to the one you’d get from a “proper” massage chair, but then, a decent massage chair will set you back at least a thousand bucks. The fact that massage is offered in any form on a little chair like this is awesome.

Vibration-style Massage

As to the particulars, it’s a bare-bones vibration-style massage, rendered by eight stationary nodes in the back of the chair.  The presence of those nodes is the reason the chair isn’t padded as well as some of the other models we’ve reviewed. Too much padding would interfere with the massage function, weakening it to the point that it wouldn’t be very beneficial. 

It’s a trade-off then.  Somewhat less padding, in exchange for a more robust massage.

Note, however, that not everyone is a fan of vibration-style massage.  Those who like it cite the fact that it’s a simple, quick way to relieve minor muscle tension and improve blood flow and circulation, which has a small beneficial effect in terms of lowering your blood pressure.

People who aren’t fans wave that away and point out that sometimes it feels as though the massage heads are trying to shake them out of the chair completely.

If you’re on the fence about it, a few minutes’ experimentation will tell the tale.  It’ll either wind up being your favorite feature of the chair or be something you won’t use at all, beyond the initial experiments.

Massage Options

Although there are no massage programs on offer, and nothing in the way of advanced functionality, there are two supporting features worth mentioning here.

The first is that you can time-adjust your massage via the remote, choosing either a fifteen minute, or thirty-minute massage, which is nice (and in fact, something that many “proper” massage chairs don’t allow you to do). 

Heated Massage

Second, and of even greater significance is the fact that the chair is heated!  Even better, the heat isn’t limited to just your lumbar region but spans the entire backrest.

Massage by itself is nice, but massage plus heat is amazing, and the addition of heat magnifies the therapeutic benefits of the massage.  For us, as fans of massage chairs, this is perhaps the single biggest selling point of the chair.  The only way it could be improved upon would be to give the user the ability to adjust the temperature of the offered heat, but that’s rare, even in the massage chair world, so we can’t find fault with the manufacturer for not including it.

As good as that is, it gets even better, and we honestly can’t fathom why this isn’t front and center in terms of marketing the chair.

Zero-Gravity Recline

When you recline back as far as you can go, your knees are elevated slightly above your heart, which is the hallmark of Zero-G seating!  Yep, you read that correctly – this little chair offers a Zero-G seating position.

Not only does it leave you feeling weightless, but it also has tremendous therapeutic benefits in its own right, further working to improve your circulation and relax tight muscles.  Combine that with the basic massage and heat functions, and even though it’s not the most luxuriously padded chair on the market, you may never want to get out of it.  In our mind, this is the feature to buy it for.  Well done, Seven Oaks!

Backup Battery

Last but not least, this chair comes with a battery backup system.  It’s a small point, but important because if the power goes out while you’re sitting in the chair, without a battery backup, you’d be stuck in the position of having to call for help to get up.  This handy feature takes care of that problem for you and is a very nice addition.

Minimal Assembly Required

While the Seven Oaks Power Lift Chair doesn’t come ready to use when it arrives at your door, assembly is super simple and requires no tools.  The company prides itself on its “Five-Minute Setup,” which is accurate. It will probably take you longer to get the two pieces out of their respective boxes than it will be to get the chair ready for its “maiden voyage,” and that’s quite an achievement.  Well done, Seven Oaks!

Pros & Cons of the Seven Oaks Power Lift Chair

The only thing we don’t like about this little chair is its aesthetic, and we readily admit that’s a matter of personal taste.  If, after looking it over, you decide it would be a good fit in your home, then that’s what matters most.

Offering a reasonable level of comfort, a basic massage function, and a “hidden” feature in the form of Zero-G seating, it’s a remarkable little chair that won’t disappoint, and best of all, Seven Oaks has a good reputation for customer service and taking care of their customers, which is also something of a rarity among off-brands.

The only other potential drawback to note is that the chair might be somewhat difficult to find.  

Seven Oaks has recently announced that once they sell their current stock, they’re going to quit ordering it from their overseas manufacturer.  If you want one after that point, you’ll have to buy direct or find another vendor, but for the moment, at least, it can still be found at various places around the web.

If you’re on a budget and looking for a quality lift chair, this one is certainly worthy of your time and attention.  So, in summary:

Things You’ll Love About the Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner

Things That May Cause You to Look Elsewhere

Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner Reviews Conclusion

We love this little chair, even though we’re not a fan of its aesthetic.  Of our finalists in the budget section of our recent roundup review, this one, more than any of the others, hit the best overall combination of feature-set, manufacturing quality, price, and performance.

While it would be overselling it to call it a great power lift recliner, it’s certainly best in class.  Simple, powerful, and convenient, it’s got all the basics covered, and even better, it’s of high enough quality that it will age well, which is something you seldom see in value-priced furniture.

In addition to that, the Seven Oaks Power Lift Recliner offers a basic massage with heat and a Zero-G seating position, which for us, nails it, and secured its place as our top pick in the roundup review.  On that basis, we give it a strong recommendation.  It’s well worth the modest asking price and offers tremendous value for the money spent.

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Official Manufacturer Support

References & Resources

• The Benefits of Chair Massage at Work, Zeel.
• A Guide to Correct Leg Positions When Seated, Recliners.
• Can Recliners Help in Relieving Back Pain & Tips to Choose Best Recliners for Back Pain, ePain Assist.
• Sit Back, It’s Better for Your Back, WebMD.
• Choosing A Power Lift Chair, Hometown Medical Supplies.