In a Nutshell:
A very limited vibrating chair, stylish, and useful in some circumstances. The T&D (Flash Furniture) massage chair is recommended for very casual users.
Overall Massage Quality
Customization options
Ease of Use
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Overall Rating
3.3/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Update: T&D Enterprises is now under the Flash Furniture brand.
Are you on a budget? But looking for an office chair that’s good for more than just keeping you upright?
If so, then the T&D leather massage chair might be of interest.
Understand that this is not a massage chair in the fullest sense of the word. It would more properly be described as a vibrating chair.
For some people, that’s enough. So if you’re one of them, you’ll be intrigued by this model because it’s well-priced (under 500 bucks) and attractive.
Clearly, this model isn’t going to be for everyone. But, in the sections that follow, we’ll outline everything it can do, and let you know what its limitations are so you can make an informed decision.
T&D Massage Chair Features
Track Design
As mentioned earlier, this isn’t a massage chair in the formal sense of the word. It doesn’t utilize a track or massage rollers to deliver a massage experience like most massage chairs do.
In their place, the chair features a fixed-frame design, with stationary vibrating massage heads.
This has some pretty bad limitations you should be aware of.
For starters, there’s no body scan here and no way to manually adjust the position of the massage heads. They’re in fixed positions beneath the cushion of the backrest. So depending on your height and body shape, they may or may not hit your back where you want them to.
Unfortunately, if they don’t, there’s nothing you can do except to wiggle around in the chair and try to make it work.
The chair doesn’t rock, but it does recline and swivel like an office chair. To use it as such, simply move the ottoman out of the way, and it’s the perfect height to pull desk duty. When you’re ready to relax, roll the ottoman into position and put your feet up!
No Options To Speak of
As mentioned above, the only kind of massage this chair is capable of is vibration-style, and at fixed points. The vibrating heads are located in the following regions:
While you can adjust speed and intensity, it’s not fair to say that there are any true options on offer here. At the end of the day, you’re still getting a very basic vibration-style massage rendered by stationary massage heads. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, just extremely limited.
One thing it does allow for, however, is the ability to selectively activate the vibration heads by the body regions listed above, which is nice if you only want a massage in a given area or custom-combination of regions.
Would You Believe, Heat?!
Believe it or not, this chair does offer heat! That comes as a pleasant surprise and is without a doubt the standout feature of this model.
We were stunned to find heat offered in such a modestly priced chair. While it’s impossible to say that this provides any real therapeutic value, it does feel nice and offers a pleasant way to relax after a long day.
The Remote Is Pure Simplicity
As you might expect of a value-priced chair, since there aren’t many options, the remote is super easy to use. It will take you about fifteen minutes to unpack the chair and set it up, and less than sixty seconds after that, you can be enjoying your first massage.
Pros & Cons of the T&D Massage Chair
Okay, so there’s no two ways around it. The T&D is a really basic chair, like other Flash Furniture massage chairs. It lacks most of the features that people take for granted in “proper” massage chairs, including a proper massage track, rollers that move, and body scanning tech for starters.
Even bearing those limitations in mind, you’re still getting a pretty solid value for your money here.
Anything we could think to add to this design would raise the price of the chair sufficiently to put it in a different pricing bracket, which would destroy the point and purpose of this model, so we can’t say we’d change anything.
T&D Massage Chair Conclusion
Budget-priced chairs are always difficult to rate because if you are willing to spend just a little more money, you can get a chair with a much broader feature set.
Nonetheless, we have to admit that for what it is and for its affordable price (just under $200), we couldn’t help but be impressed.
Obviously, it’s not for everyone. If you have any interest in therapeutic features, then this isn’t the chair for you. On the other hand, if all you’re looking for is an office chair on steroids that can help you relax throughout the day, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better value for the money.
Recommended Reading
Windaze Massage Recliner Chair Review
We’ve analyzed the Windaze Massage Recliner, a chair ideal for casual users seeking basic massage functionality.
Murtisol Massage Chair Review
Our analysis focuses on the Murtisol massage chair, which is ideal for budget-conscious users with limited space.
References & Resources
- Flash Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- The Benefits of a Heated Massage, Claremont.
- Whole Body Vibration Therapy, Science Based Medicine.
- ‘Vibration chair’ may help Parkinson’s sufferers, Public Radio International.
- 4 potential benefits of vibration therapy, BrownMed.
- Update on vibration therapy for bone health, Harvard Health Publishing.
