This review covers the SA 5000 massage chair by Sanyo. We will evaluate the features, options and warranty of this mid range chair. There are many chairs on the market and many from small factories in China at very low prices. It is important to find good brands with strong warranties so you can have many years of peaceful and relaxing massage therapy. Let us take a look at this Sanyo massage chair.

We start with the unexciting topic of warranty coverage. The warranty coverage is to help balance out the risk of problems in the future. This is especially important on more expensive items to protect against defects. The better the warranty, the more peace of mind for the consumer. Sanyo covers the roller mechanism for 3 years, 1 year on the rest of the parts and 1 year on labor. Sanyo has finally introduced in-home technician service and is giving 1 year. Sanyo has a national call center to handle warranty items which gives them better control over service levels.

The SA 5000 comes with a full remote control and also comes with wired sub remote. The main remote control has 4 automatic programs. You can turn the chair on and then select the automatic program. Additionally, you can select a particular area of focus for your back. For example, lower back and then the massage therapy will be confined to just this area. It also operates the rest of the chair regardless of the area of focus on your back. Manual massages involve a few more steps that take some getting used to until it is more intuitive. The remote is pretty intuitive to use, but again some investment of time is required to manage the manual massages effectively.

One of the features rolled down from the higher end Sanyo is the perspiration and pulse sensor. This sensor is built into the wired sub remote. It detects areas of stress in the body. The sensor then feeds this information to the computer and the software will adjust the massage to target areas based on these readings. In order for this to function, the user must grip the sensor throughout the massage. Also, the sub remote allows you to change the position of the chair back and the leg rest. It also has a repeat function. The repeat function will command the chair to repeat the massage just given in the place it was given. This is convenient when it hits one of the key places and you need it to stay there a little longer.

This mid range massage chair has four massage treatments. You can choose from Stiffness, Recovery, Relax and Fine. Stiffness is a Shiatsu style massage for the back, neck, shoulders and legs. Recovery targets stiff and tight muscles. Relax is more tranquil and is focused on full body relaxation. Fine helps to increase circulation of blood and lymph. Each of these massages can be used in conjunction with the 3 stretching functions. These stretching functions work in conjunction with the full body massages.

This Sanyo mid range model delivers 5 manual massage treatments. The five manual massage treatments are Grip, Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Combination. Grip is a unique massage function from Sanyo. The Grip uses what Sanyo calls its GK rollers. The GK rollers are specially designed to reach out around the shoulder and neck areas. This brings the gripping sensation that provides effective relief in this area. The other manual massages include Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Combination. Shiatsu is for loosening tight muscles. The kneading massage is great for getting knots out of your back. Tapping targets loosening up tight muscles with a rapid target blows. The Combination massage consists of both the kneading and tapping.

The Sanyo SA-5000 also has an effective lower body massage. The lower body massage is an air compression system which utilizes airbags to give a compression massage. The airbags are located to target the thighs, calves and feet. There are specially designed shiatsu pressure point nodes in some of the airbags to hit your trigger points. These trigger points are based on acupressure massage and help induce full body relaxation. The air bags provide an effective squeeze to loosen and invigorate tight muscles of the thighs, calves and feet. Sanyo has also included a heater element in the foot wells to warm the soles of your feet.

The Sanyo SA 5000 is a solid massage chair. It has a very modern and somewhat industrial looking design. There are minor designer accents with wood grain inserts on the side panels. The massage therapy is fairly effective and comprehensive. The GK rollers provide a unique Grip massage which literally reaches out over the shoulders. This is perhaps the most effective technique in the chair. The pulse and perspiration sensor is novel, but requires the user to hold it throughout the massage making it less convenient. The warranty is great on the in home technician service with one year, but less coverage is given on the chair with the exception of the rollers which are covered for one year. If you are looking at a good mid range massage chair recliner, then you should definitely put this one on your short list.