Myth Buster Challenge: More Massage Chair Motors are Better

Every industry has its myth about products, technology or features. The massage chair industry is no different and many myths have been put forward. One paticularly persistent one is about the number of motors. This myth claims that the more motors the better. There were claims of shiatsu massage chairs having 6, 10 or even 18 motors. Of course, having more motors can be advantegeous, but also has tradeoffs. Are these claims sustainable in reality. This myth is put to the test.

This myth is going to be challenged in this article to reveal the real truth about the more motors the better the chair myth. First, one should examine the tradeoff of quantity versus quality. If a massage chair has 3 motors versus 18 motors, what is the quality level of the motors in the massage chair? Obviously, motors, not being cheap, mean that as the number of motors is increased, the cost of the chair must increase assuming the quality level is equal. However, as more motors are added, the lower priced motors (i.e. lower quality motors) will be used.

The motors used in a massage chair must be allocated space within the chair. If more motors are used, then more mechanism must be installed around each motor to drive whatever massage function. More and more real estate in the massage chair is used to accommodate additional motors. Motors are fairly heavy, weighing 2 lbs to 5 lbs each. If the massage chair has 18 motors at 5 lbs each, that is 90 lbs just in motors. Adding additional motors increases the weight of the chair and takes up valuable real estate within the chair.

How are high end luxury massage chairs designed with motors? Most manufacturers use 3 high quality motors. One for the kneading massage, one for the tapping massage and the third motor for moving the roller unit up and down. Software synchronizes the movements of the motors and running the tapping and kneading motors together produces the shiatsu massage.

Sometimes, 2 motors are used for the kneading by having them run the left and right side independently, but synchronized. The same can be done with the tapping. This can increase the number of motors to 5 in the roller system, but does the quality of massage increase? In our experience, we have not felt a noticeable difference in massage. Again, the tradeoff is to use cheaper motors since you need to have 2 rather than one or significantly increase the price, which puts the chair at a competitive disadvantage. So are more motors better?

Some massage chair companies started this fad and some how it caught on and became perpertuated into myth. We still see massage chair companies hyping that they have 12 or 15 motors. It is obvious that these motors cannot all drive the massage mechanisms. These companies think that if it moves, we can count it as a motor. Having motors is not enough, what do they actually do? This is a myth built on hype and unsubstantiated facts. Why would someone want an overly complex chair with low quality motors? Simple is the elegant solution.