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I’ve always been fond of Human Touch products, be it the super elegant like the Super Novo or the compact, minimalist iJoy 4.0. I find that the chairs are well designed, well built, and everything functions together seamlessly.
This why it’s so important to only opt for reputable brands when looking at massage chairs. I’m talking the Osaki/Titan/Human Touch/Ogawa and Panasonic’s of the world. Nothing against the cheaper chairs you see being advertised online, it’s just that we don’t know how well everything is programmed and put together.
Coming back to the iJoy Total, currently priced at $1,299 (on Wish Rock Relaxation), is this something you should consider? Let’s do a deep dive to investigate some more!
Gone are the days where only a select privileged few could own a massage chair. For one, massage chair manufacturers have become more conscious about space saving and space constraints, and we see this in the designs and builds. Two, massage chairs have become much more affordable than what we were previously accustomed to.
The iJoy Total is very much a minimalists massage chair. As such, there’s nothing fancy about what it can do when we compare it to other chairs, but it does the simple things right and is able to do so without much fuss or need for space.
If you’re looking for an ultra compact massage chair, the iJoy might just be up your alley.
Quite a bit to talk about here, so let’s break it down piece by piece.
Starting with the rollers on the iJoy, these are your typical 2D quad rollers (quad meaning 4) that can move up and down along the vertical and side to side along the horizontal. This 2-dimensional movement is illustrated best in the image below.
Now that you know what 2D rollers are and how they function, let’s quickly touch on S-Track. S-Track is essentially a type of roller track where the rollers are able to tightly follow the characteristic “S” shape of the spine.
Below is an image which shows this type of roller track.
FlexGlide is a Human Touch patented technology (and Human Touch have many) which reduces the friction between the rollers and the user. This reduction in friction translates to a more comforting, relaxing massage.
This is what FlexGlide attempts to resolve, and it does it pretty well!
The more auto modes, the better. However, more important than this is the quality of the auto modes. When talking quality, I’m really talking about how everything functions together as a single unit.
3 auto modes is quite a few to be entirely honest. I guess it’s what you might expect for a budget chair such as the iJoy, however. The 3 auto modes are full body, shoulder, and lower back. Good to see that there’s at least a full body routine as one of the 3 auto modes!
Coming to the massage techniques….there’s a total of 4 which is decent for a minimalist chair such as this one. These are kneading, percussion, rolling (or gliding), and a combo of kneading and percussion. These techniques can be individually activated directly from the remote control.
In conclusion I do think that Human Touch does a decent job with the choreography of the auto modes, so I definitely don’t have a problem with that. It would’ve been nice to see a few more auto modes though!
Some other noteworthy features are that the chair comes equipped with air cells (for the arms, calves, feet etc.), an extendable foot rest, and a body scan. These are all pretty standard features that one would come to expect for pretty much any massage chair.
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Hmmm…moment of truth of time! Is the iJoy worth $1,299 (current price on Wish Rock Relaxation) for all that it offers, or should you consider an alternative? And if so, what are the alternatives anyways?
That being said, there is one other options I’d like to bring forth to your attention. We will be seeing how this one chair compares with the iJoy total in all areas, including pricing. Specifically we will be comparing the iJoy to the Synca CirC.
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There’s a lot to discuss from the above, so let’s get right to it!
To get started, let’s talk auto modes. 5 on the CirC and 3 on the iJoy Total. A win for the Circ! Next is price, just about $1K for the CirC (also on Wish Rock Relaxation at the time of writing this review) and $1,299 for the iJoy. 2 for the Synca CirC!
Concerning roller track, the CirC has an extended L-Track capable of reaching the glutes, whereas the iJoy Total has a smaller, more traditional S-Track. Another win for the CirC, as I definitely prefer L-Track over S-Track chairs!
Given that it’s a compact chair, this is something Synca didn’t feel too important to add. However, if you ask me, it is a definite shortcoming. The iJoy Total is able to recline, and this feature can be activated directly from the remote control.
In all honesty, both are great options for a compact massage chair. The iJoy is a bigger chair overall that does offer slightly more for lower body massage. For one the calf and foot airbags, and two, it’s ability to recline.
While the Circ doesn’t offer too much of a lower body massage, it does make up for this by having more auto modes, an L-Track, and a cheaper price (approximately $300 cheaper than the iJoy Total at the time of writing this post).
It’s a tough choice but it really boils down to what you feel is important to have in a massage chair. I personally like an all encompassing massage, so having lower body massage is important to me. Again, both chairs are fantastic and neither will disappoint. Pick what makes most sense to you!
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And that concludes this review post. I do hope it helped you out a bit, and if you still have some questions/doubts, be sure to drop a comment down below so I can find you the answer. If it’s something I don’t know, I’ll be sure to find out from somebody who does!
Anyways, hope you guys have an awesome start to 2022! I also hope this will be the year where we can finally put this pandemic behind us, fingers crossed! Take care, be safe, and be well!
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