Ergotec ET-100 Mercury: A Simple Budget Massage Chair & Nothing More!

Happy holidays to all of you! With 2020 coming to a close, I hope you and your family are staying safe and maintaining social distance protocols amid the pandemic. It’s been a crazy year with tons of challenges and obstacles, but all that matters in the end is that we do our best to ensure everyone has a chance to live.

To me this is the best Christmas present we can ever give anyone. That is, the gift to live!

That being said, you can still do your Christmas and boxing day shopping as there’s tons of awesome deals online. Massage chairs are no different, lots of good deals this time of the year. Also, lots of new chairs being released as well. I’ve never reviewed Ergotech massage chairs before so this would be the first time.

What stands out to me about the ET-100 Mercury is 2 things: one the attractive price point, and two the simplicity in operation.

If you’re on a tight budget, then the ET-100 Mercury might just be up your alley. More on this later though, as I plan on doing a side by side comparison of the ET-100 Mercury to other similar chairs. For now however, let’s look at some interesting features of the ET-100 Mercury!

4 Key Features: Ergotec ET-100 Mercury Massage Chair

#1 2D S-Track Back Rollers

There are 3 types of rollers you can typically expect to find on a massage chair: 2D, 3D, and 4D. 4D is the most advanced, 2D is the least advanced, 3D is in between.

Least advanced does not mean useless, outdated, or ineffective! It’s very important to understand this before buying a massage chair!

I’ve seen many people flock to 3D/4D chairs because someone told them they should never ever look at a 2D chair. This is wrong. Yes 2D rollers are less advanced than the other 2, but they’re still incredibly effective, and more importantly, massage chair manufacturers have tons of experience designing and integrating 2D rollers effectively. This should not be forgotten.

Okay, ranting aside, the Ergotec ET-100 Mercury comes equipped with 2D (AKA 2-dimensional) rollers mounted on an S-Track. 2D rollers move in 2-dimensions: up/down along the vertical and side to side along the horizontal.

The biggest shortcoming with 2D rollers is that the intensity they offer is capped. That is, they cannot perform massage at deep tissue intensities. However, all things considered, 2D rollers can still perform a solid massage!

A little bit about roller track….we talk about S-Track and L-Track but what’s the difference? L-Track offers extended massage coverage because of the longer track distance. However, S-Track offers a better stretch routine than L-Tracks because they are shorter and therefore able to fully stretch out during recline.

So which one should you pick, S-Track or L-Track?

Truth be told, it depends. If you want more massage coverage, definitely an L-Track. If coverage is not as important to you, and emphasis is on back massage, then an S-Track would be more suitable.

Note: The S-Track on the Ergotec ET-100 Mercury massage chair is 30” starting from the neck spanning all the way right down to the lower back, tailbone area.

#2 4 Auto Modes To Pick From

Auto modes equate to user experience. The more the auto modes, the better. More importantly, how well designed the auto modes are makes a world of difference. 4 auto modes are definitely on the lower side, but considering the price of this chair, I can’t really complain. You can’t have everything!

The 4 auto modes are:

In my opinion the “Demo” mode isn’t really an auto mode per say. It’s more a demonstration, so really the ET-100 Mercury has 3 auto modes if you ask me. All the auto modes can be activated directly from the remote control.

#3 10 Airbags Facilitate Lower Body Massage!

Since the rollers can only extend so far, airbags are needed to massage the lower extremities of the body.

Airbags are inflatable pouches that inflate/deflate with compressed air thereby resulting in a compression, squeeze style massage on adjacent muscle and tissue.

The ET-100 Mercury comes loaded with a total of 10 airbags. As mentioned earlier, the 10 airbags are located on the lower parts of the chair to provide massage to the calves, feet, hips, and buttocks.

Airbag intensity can be altered from weak to strong with 3 levels of intensity.

Note: The ET-100 Mercury also comes equipped with spinning foot rollers. The rollers work in tandem with the airbags to provide a relaxing, effective foot massage.

#4 It Can Perform A Total Of 5 Massage Techniques!

These are kneading, tapping, rolling, clapping, and a combo of kneading and tapping. All things considered, not too shabby for a chair of this price!

It’s important to understand the distinction between massage techniques and auto massage modes. Massage modes are pre-programmed routines that a user can select and enjoy. Massage techniques are the actual massage strokes a chair’s rollers and airbags are able to perform. Many massage techniques may be employed in an auto massage mode.

The number of massage techniques, as well as massage modes are incredibly important considerations when buying a massage chair!

Ergotec ET-100 Mercury Massage Chair Specifications

Ergotec ET-100 Mercury Massage Chair Pros & Cons!

How Does The Ergotec ET-100 Mercury Compare To Other Massage Chairs?

Since the Ergotec ET-100 Mercury is very much an entry level massage chair, we’ll be comparing it against other entry level units. While they may be entry level, the Synca Wellness CirC and the Infinity Riage CS are absolute beasts! Don’t believe me? Check out the reviews on them and see what people have to say. So we will be comparing the ET-100 to these 2 chairs…

What do you figure? It’s a hard one to call right? There’s a few ways to look at it. Let me try to make it simple:

In the end, all 3 are decent chairs and none will leave you disappointed. It boils down to what you personally feel is important. If foot massage is a must, then your decision should be to go with the ET-100 Mercury. If portability, maybe the Riage CS or the CirC, and so on so forth. Don’t pull the trigger but actually spend some time thinking this all through!

Leave Your Burning Questions Down Below!

I hope you enjoyed reading and got some value out of today’s review. If you did, please consider sharing this post on the social channels, as it really does go a long way in helping support our site. Last but not least, please get in touch by dropping a comment below should you have any queries about this or any other massage chair.

2020 has come to a swift close after what has been a tumultuous, challenging year for all! Will 2021 be different? Time will certainly tell, but we can only hope so. With that I bid you farewell! Stay healthy, stay happy, and most importantly stay safe! See you in 2021!