Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair Review

7.7

Back Massage

5.0/10

Foot Massage

8.0/10

Air Compression Massage

8.5/10

User Flexibility (Height/Weight)

7.5/10

Value For Money

9.5/10

Pros

• Incredible Value For Money!
• 50 Airbags Makes This A Compression Intense Massage Chair
• Jam Packed With Cool Features Such As Zero Gravity, Foot Rollers, & Heat Therapy!

Cons

• Static Massage Heads Are Not The Best At Giving A Back Massage

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Who Are “Real Relax” & What Do They Do?

Real Relax are a new player in the world of massage chairs. Even though they only recently released their first massage chair, consumers seem to love their products.

One of the reasons for this is that the chairs they sell are so affordable!

In a market where massage chairs sell for as much as a used car, Real Relax have taken a different approach. They understand what many of the big players don’t: not everyone has $2-3K to splurge on a luxury item! For most, spending that much is impossible to justify, especially considering how the economy has been over the last couple years with the increased unemployment rates.

In that sense, Real Relax have bridged a gap in the market! Because if you were to ask me what kind of massage chair you can get for less than $1-2K, I’d probably tell you your options are limited. It’s refreshingly nice to see a manufacturer that does look at how to make products more cost effective!

All that’s nice and good, but how does the chair perform?

Hold your horses because that’s exactly what we’re gonna look at next!

6 Features That Make The Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair A Popular Choice On Amazon!

#1 Designed To Fit Small/Medium Bodies!

Here’s your massage chair fact of the day:

Did you know that 90% of massage chairs are all manufactured and assembled out of a factory in China? The remaining 10% are made in Japan.

Are Japanese massage chairs more superior than their Chinese counterparts? If you asked this question 10-20 years ago, you’d have gotten a totally different answer than now. Chinese massage chair manufacturers have really upped their game since the last 5 years or so. If you ask me, they are definitely comparable to the Japanese chairs now!

Because pretty much all massage chairs are being manufactured out of Asia, most chairs (obviously with exceptions!) are being built to typically accommodate a smaller/medium body type. The Real Relax Favor 03 design does follow a similar path: the chair is able to effectively accommodate anyone with a maximum height of 6’1 ft. weighing up to 400 lbs. If you’re above 6 foot in height, you may find the chair a little tight or uncomfortable.

#2 It’s Got A Total Of 50 Airbags!

For a chair that costs less than $1K, 50 airbags is definitely an impressive stat! But what are airbags anyways? You hear the term “airbags or air cells” often from people in the massage chair industry, but what are airbags and why are they important?

Simply said, airbags are pouches that fill with compressed air. The pressurized air forces the pouch to push against adjacent muscles and tissue, thereby providing a compression style massage.

That’s the primary function of airbags, but there’s also a secondary one. Airbags are also responsible for holding the body firmly in place, so that the user can get the most effective massage possible.

The Real Relax Favor 03 has airbags located in the following regions: arms, hips, shoulders, calves, leg and feet. The images below show the precise location of these airbags.

As far as air compression or airbag massage is concerned, you can expect a full body massage from this chair!

#3 8 Massage Heads To Provide A Comprehensive Back Massage!

All of the massage chairs I’ve reviewed to this point have all been equipped with roller technology. Rollers are a mechanical contraption with 4 disc-like shaped wheels that move up/down and side to side to provide a back massage.

Based on my experience, rollers are the most effective technology when it comes to massage chairs. They provide the best massage experience compared to anything else!

The Real Relax Favor 03 does not have a roller system, but instead employs a system of 8 identical massage heads located along the length of the back. These 8 massage heads are responsible for delivering a back massage. Each individual head rotates in a circular motion to provide a kneading style massage to adjacent tissue/muscles.

FYI, the Favor 03 is not an S-Track or L-Track massage chair! S-Track & L-Track chairs employ the use of roller systems. As mentioned earlier, this chair does not employ a roller system!

Does that make the Real Relax Favor 03 less effective compared to other chairs on the market? To put it very bluntly, yes the back massage is less effective compared to S or L-Track models. Then again, S or L-Track chairs cost quite a bit more in comparison!

The biggest shortcoming with the massage heads is that they’re a static system. In other words, because they cannot move up/down, left/right/, in/out, they can’t reach all areas of the back as well as an S or L-Track chair can. This one limitation in my opinion is what differentiates an “average to mediocre” massage to an “incredible/highly efficient” one!

However, i’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t buy the Real Relax Favor 03. I’m simply saying be aware of this limitation and know what you’re gonna be getting before you pull the trigger. This way you’ll save yourself from a lot disappointment.

Note: Airbag as well as massage head speed can be adjusted. Remember, the faster the speed the more intense the massage!

#4 Waist & Feet Heat Therapy!

Real Relax have done a fantastic job in ensuring the Favor 03 is equipped with all the popular features you find in the more expensive models out there. There’s a few examples of this: zero gravity, foot rollers, and last but not least….heat therapy.

Heat therapy is the application of heat to help release stress and tension in the muscles. Why is it important to apply heat during massage? Simply because doing so makes the muscle more easier to manipulate and therefore massage! I won’t go into the details, but here’s an interesting article titled “Hot/Cold Applications In Massage Therapy”. Well worth a read!

The Favor 03 model comes with heating elements that provide heat to 2 parts of the body: lower back, and feet.

For chairs that cost as little as this does, it’s uncommon to see any form of heat therapy, let alone heat therapy on both the lower back and feet! Kudos to Real Relax for this!

#5 Foot Roller Massage!

Foot rollers are somewhat of a rarity as far as budget massage chairs are concerned. I can tell you from experience that you’d be hard pressed to find foot rollers on chairs that cost less than $2K!

And so it blew my mind a little when I went through the stats of the Favor 03 and noticed all these features it has!

The Favor 03 comes with dual foot rollers on either side of the foot rest. These rollers provide a kneading/rolling style massage to the soles of the feet, while the foot airbags provide a compression massage to the sides and top of the feet.

#6 Comes With 4 Preset Massage Modes To Choose From!

The Real Relax Favor 03 comes equipped with 4 preset massage modes to choose from. These are:

If you don’t want to select one of these 4 modes, you also have the option to customize a massage through the chair’s manual options. This chair gives you the flexibility to massage individual areas, toggle on/off heat and vibration, as well as adjust roller and airbags intensities. You can also adjust the massage duration, up to a maximum of 30 minutes at any given time.

Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair Specifications

• Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair Specs
• Massage Mechanism: Rotating Massage Heads
• Number Of Massage Heads: 8
• Total Airbags: 50
• Chair Material: Synthetic Leather
• Maximum Height: 6’1 ft.
• Maximum Recommended Weight: 400 lbs

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Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair Pros & Cons

Pros—The Good Stuff!

Cons—The Not So Good Stuff!

Real Relax Favor 03 Massage Chair Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q1: How can I get in touch with Real Relax if I have product specific questions that need to be answered?

I’ve done some research and based on what I could find, it doesn’t seem like Real Relax have a working website (which did immediately raise a few red flags!).

However, when I dug deeper I noticed they only seem to be selling their chairs exclusively on Amazon.

Based on the reviews, buyers seem to be more than pleased! That being said, if you need to contact them, I would suggest doing so directly on Amazon.

Q2: How long is the warranty period and what does it cover?

The warranty period for this chair is 3 years (well not really!). The coverage during those 3 years varies. Year 1 includes free maintenance and repair to any workmanship defect. Years 2 & 3 includes only free shipment of replacement parts. The actual cost of parts along with the installation/replacement costs are not covered.

That being said, it’s not really a 3 year warranty. More so a 1 year if anything!

Q3: How easy is it to operate?

It’s pretty simple. The remote control is nicely laid out with only a few buttons. It’s also got a pretty large display screen. When you’re not controlling the chair using the remote control, you can place the control in a handy pouch located on the outside armrest area.

Q4: How do I know I will fit in the chair comfortably?

The best way you to find out is to actually try the chair before you buy. Unfortunately, that’s not possible when you’re buying online.

Which raises the question: should you buy a massage chair in-store or online?

There’s no right or wrong to this. In store you get to try the chair before you buy, so that in itself is a massive benefit. Online you have a lot more options to choose from, and the prices online are generally more competitive.

Give it some thought and decide what works best for you. If you’re concerned with size and comfort, I recommend you try before you buy!

Q5: Does it give deep tissue massage?

No it doesn’t. Deep tissue therapy is an intensity achievable only by chairs that come equipped with rollers.

To be specific, it’s usually chairs with 3D or 4D rollers that are capable of providing a deep tissue massage, as the rollers are able to protrude in/out.

The massage heads on the Real Relax Favor 03 do not protrude in or out. They simply rotate in a circular motion while staying fixed in one place.

Q6: Is this a 2D/3D/4D chair?

Neither. It’s certainly not 3D/4D and it’s also not 2D. The Real Relax Favor 03 doesn’t belong to any of these categories, because it doesn’t come equipped with rollers. In that sense, it’s a unique “one of a kind” design!

Q7: What massage techniques is this chair able to perform?

The 8 massage heads located along the axis of the back can perform kneading massage i.e. a circular massage technique. The 50 airbags located pretty much everywhere in the chair perform an air compression massage. Finally, the foot rollers located on the bottom of the foot rest perform a kneading/rolling style massage to the soles of the feet.

How Does The Real Relax Favor 03 Stack Up Against Other Massage Chairs?

It’s probably unfair to do a side by side comparison of the Favor 03 with anything else I’ve reviewed simply because the Favor 03 is a little unique. One of the biggest component in any massage chair is the back massage system. All of the chairs I’ve reviewed to this point come equipped with roller technology. The uniqueness of the Favor 03 stems from the fact that it doesn’t have rollers, but instead has static massage heads.

Rather than comparing the Real Relax Favor 03 to any other massage chair, a more telling question would be: what’s the better technology, roller track or massage heads?

Based on my experience and I’ve touched on this several times in the post as well, roller technology is far superior to massage heads. Rollers give you a much more dynamic massage than a static massage head ever could!

Look at it like this: imagine you were laying flat just about to get a massage from a trained therapist. Would you rather have them place their 2 hands in 1 place on your back and massage continuously or would you rather a dynamic massage with the therapist’s hands flowing and massaging the entirety of your back? The latter sounds much more appealing to me!

Final Recommendation: Should You Buy The Real Relax Favor 03?

Even though I’m no fan of the massage head system, I think you’d be hard pressed to find another massage chair in the market that’s as cost effective as the Favor 03. For all the features it’s got and for how much (or how little!) it costs, it’s just too hard to pass up on! This is especially true if you’re one of those who happen to be on a tight budget.

Final Recommendation: The Real Relax Favor 03 is an impressive chair with an even more impressive price tag. Bang for your buck has never been so good!

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