Table of Contents
Brookstone Mach IX Massage Chair Review
Pros
- 54'' 4D L-Track Rollers Make For A Phenomenal Massage Experience!
- Voice Activation Allows Users To Seamlessly Make Changes On The Fly!
- 1'' of Clearance Means Placement Is A Breeze!
Cons
- Way Too Pricey For All That It Offers!
Beautifully Designed & Oozing Elegance!
Welcome back to yet another review post! Today we’ll be reviewing the pride of Brookstone, the Brookstone Mach IX massage chair. Packing the latest in roller technology, the Mach IX is a chair to contend with.
And in many ways, it’s a beast among beasts!
If you’re in search for the “best of the best” of massage chairs, the Mach IX is definitely a chair worth considering. 4D rollers coupled with a 54 inch L-Track, 44 airbags, and a plethora of auto modes make this a phenomenal piece of technology. And if that wasn’t enough, how about the way it looks!?
Available in 3 different colour schemes (brown & espresso, blue & black, or silver & grey), the Mach IX looks absolutely stunning.
Before we get into the nitty gritty details of the Mach IX, who are Brookstone? I don’t have much experience with them and this is my very first review of a Brookstone massage chair.
Who are these guys anyways and what’s their speil? How do they rank alongside the big boys?
Not much is known about Brookstone other than that massage chairs is not the only thing they do. Aside from massage products, they have tons of home, personal care, technology, outdoor, travel, and entertainment products. Everything ranging from air purifiers to luggage based on what I can tell from their website.
Go check it out as there’s plenty of stuff there, however not all of it carries the Brookstone brand!
In terms of reputation and credibility, I can’t say I’ve heard too many negative things about these guys. Then again, I haven’t heard to many awesome things either. They’re definitely not as big as the Osaki’s/Human Touch’s or OHCO’s of the world. While all of this is important and does impact your buying decision, it’s more important to evaluate the chair for functionality.
5 Features That Make The Brookstone Mach IX A Massage Chair To Fall In Love It!
There’s a lot more to the Mach IX than these 5 features, but these to me are what makes the chair standout. I’m not gonna spend much time talking about the standard features, as you can always review these later.
#1 4D Rollers Mounted On A 54” L-Track!
Probably the standout feature of the Mach IX is that it comes equipped with 4D rollers mounted on a 54” L-Track. 4D rollers are impressive by themselves, but what’s more is that Brookstone were able to incorporate such a massive L-Track!
54” means you have coverage from the neck right down to the back of the knees. Pretty solid!
Let’s talk a bit about 4D rollers and how they function. To get an appreciation of 4D rollers, you really gotta see the whole evolution staring from 2D!
The most simplest in operation, and very much the starting point of roller technology. 2D rollers move up/down along the vertical and side to side along the horizontal. They’re great in that they’re relatively cheap, give an awesome massage, and manufacturers have found it easy to incorporate and design to. The obvious limitation with 2D is massage intensity. You can never have deep tissue massage for example, on a 2D chair. However, 2D chairs are still awesome!
3D is basically one step up from 2D. The only one difference with 3D rollers is you get the additional inward/outward dimension. Think of this as the rollers protruding in and out of your back. This inward/outward motion is what allows the massage chair to perform deep tissue, high intensity massage. Because 3D rollers are more advanced than 2D, 3D chairs are also typically more expensive than their 2D counterparts. Lots of 3D chairs are available in the market!
If you guessed that 4D is one step up from 3D, you’d be exactly right! 4D rollers have all the capabilities of 3D rollers in addition to also having automatic speed control. Automatic speed control basically means that the rollers have the ability to automatically adjust speed depending on massage technique and mode. This is huge because it makes massage that much more effective, and that much more realistic to massage being delivered by a trained therapist!Now that you’re well versed on roller technology, you should also know that the rollers are mounted on a track. This track is what allows the rollers to traverse from one part of the body to another. There are 2 main types of roller tracks you can find on any given massage chair: S-Track and L-Track.
S-Track are shorter and offer less coverage than L-Tracks, but S-Tracks have better stretch routines. L-Tracks offer significantly more massage coverage, but the stretch routines are not as effective as their “S” counterparts.
With the Mach IX, you get one of the longest L-Tracks I’ve yet to see on a 4D massage chair!
#2 Wall Saver Design Makes Placement A Breeze!
What Brookstone are referring to as wall saver design is the same thing as space saving technology. It’s a common feature in most massage chairs, especially Osaki.
So why am I talking about it for the Mach IX if it’s a standard feature?
I decided to bring it to your attention because for an advanced 4D massage chair, the Mach IX does phenomenally well! It only requires 1 inch of clearance from backrest to wall. Many times the issue with bigger more expensive chairs is that placement becomes a nightmare. It’s refreshing to see this change!
#3 12 Auto Massage Routines, 6 Massage Techniques, & 3 Memory Slots!
There’s a ton to talk about here, so let’s go bit by bit.
Auto routines are pre-programmed massage modes that can be activated by the push of a button. The Mach IX has a total of 12 auto modes!
These are joint care, relax, vigorous, Japanese, Swedish, Balinese, Thai, Chinese, spine care, stretch, demo, and gentle. All 12 give a good mix of low/medium and high intense massage strokes.
If 12 auto modes have you wanting more, you can always customise your own massage in manual mode and save that to one of the 3 memory slots. The Mach IX gives you the ability to save your very own customised massages into the chair’s built in memory.
This can be a huge thing if you’re the type of person who enjoys exploring all technology in manual mode. Most people don’t like messing around with manual settings, so for them this might not be as important.
Last but not least, the Mach IX can perform a total of 6 massage techniques. These are tapping, Swedish, rolling, shiatsu, clapping, and kneading. These 6 techniques are employed and choreographed into the auto massage routines. Let’s also not forget that air compression (thanks to the 44 airbags) is also an additional massage technique.
#4 You Can Speak To It Thanks To Amazon Alexa Voice Control!
Another revolutionary feature we’re starting to see more of in massage chair is voice control. We saw this previously on the recently released Human Touch Super Novo, and now we’re seeing Alexa on the Mach IX as well!
Amongst everything that voice control can offer, there’s one thing to me that makes it a game-changer: you can command the chair on the fly without having to move from your current position!
This is not so with conventional remote operation where you need to move from your current position, grab the remote, punch on a few buttons and then a change is made. As far as massage chairs are concerned, this is massive!
#5 Heat Therapy Keeps Your Lowe Back, Calves, & Feet Warmed Up!
As you’d expect for a chair of this price, there are several heating elements located in the lower back, feet, and calf areas of the chair.
While it’s great that the Mach IX offers heat therapy on multiple parts of the body, I am still a little disappointed because most competing chairs (not all!) offer heated rollers as well. We’ll see this in the comparison section down below!
However, I am at least pleased to see heat therapy on more than just the lower back like 90% of massage chairs. Good on Brookstone for this!
Brookstone Mach IX Massage Chair Specifications
- Brookstone Mach IX Massage Chair Specs
- Roller Type: 4D L-Track
- Roller Length: 54 Inches
- Total Airbags: 44
- Upright Dimensions: 62.6"L x 31.9"W x 46.2"H
- Recline Dimensions: 70.9"L x 31.9"W x 43.5"H
- Chair Material: Synthetic Leather
- Height Range: 5’0” to 6’2” ft
- Maximum Recommended Weight: 320 lbs
Brookstone Mach IX Massage Chair Pros & Cons!
- The Extraordinarily Long L-Track!—If you’re in the market for a 4D chair with a super long track, the Mach IX won’t disappoint. With 54” of coverage, you can expect massage all the way right down to the back of the knees!
- 1” of Clearance Is Pretty Rad!—As much as the Mach IX packs in terms of features and functionality, it does really really well to only require 1” clearance from backrest to wall. Pretty impressive!
- Voice Activation Takes Massage To A Whole New Level!—Massage chairs are great for many things: they offer convenience, flexibility, and tons of options. However, they also struggle when it comes down to operation and control. Having to lean up to make changes gets me out of the “massage mood” and disrupts the flow of my sessions. Voice control goes a massive way at resolving this!
- Heated Rollers Would’ve Been Nice!—But beggars can’t be choosers I guess, but wait a minute….if I’m paying almost $10K for this chair, I guess it does give me the right to be picky, does it no!? What do you think? Leave a comment and let us know!
Brookstone Mach IX Massage Chair: Is This A Chair You Should Consider Buying?
Consider it costs about as much as a decent used car, it’s in your best interest to weigh out the options before pulling the trigger. If we forget about pricing for just one moment, the Brookstone Mach IX is a phenomenal massage chair! It packs a ton of features and most importantly can deliver one heck of a massage!
When price comes into the picture, it’s difficult to justify paying $10K for this! Looking at the OHCO M.8 and the Pro Paragon as competing chairs with 4D rollers, one can easily see that the Mach IX falls short!
- OHCO M.8
- $$$$$
Price - 49'' L-Track w/ MaxTrack Technology
Roller Track - 14
Auto Modes - Heated Rollers & Conventional Heating Pads
Heating System - Yes
Calf Rollers - 48
Airbags - 5’1-6’4 ft & 265 lbs
User Flexibility
- Brookstone Mach IX
- $$$$$
Price - 54'' L-Track
Roller Track - 12
Auto Modes - Conventional Heating Pads (Lumbar, Calves, & Feet)
Heating System - No
Calf Rollers - 44
Airbags - 5’0 – 6’2 ft & 320 lbs
User Flexibility
- Osaki OS Pro Paragon
- $$$
Price - 49'' L-Track
Roller Track - 13
Auto Modes - Heated Back & Foot Rollers
Heating System - Yes
Calf Rollers - 42
Airbags - 5’0 – 6’2 ft & 280 lbs
User Flexibility
Here’s how it works: if I’m gonna be spending approximately $10K on a massage chair, it better be something truly special. OHCO M.8 needs to be accepted as a synonym to special because that’s what this chair is!
For those of you wondering , the MaxTrack on the M.8 is far more superior than the L-Track. The MaxTrack gives you the best of both an “S” and an “L” track. This feature alone makes it more superior than the Mach IX. Let alone the fact that it has heated rollers, calf rollers etc.
All that being said, my final recommendation is to with the OHCO M.8 if you’re willing to spend close to $10K, otherwise the Pro Paragon is another fantastic option for a 4D chair that’s much cheaper!
Before I conclude this post and bid you farewell, I think it’s important for me to reiterate that the above recommendation is based on comparing all 3 chairs at their current pricing. Of course pricing is subject to change in the future, and so you should think about that before you decide what to buy. That being said, all 3 are fantastic chairs and when it comes down to massage, all 3 will perform magnificently!
I do hope you enjoyed reading and got some value out of this review. If there are any unanswered questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Be well, be safe, and be happy!
