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First Impressions: It Bears A Hefty Price Tag!

Today on the menu is the Osaki OS Hiro, a chair that came out about 6 months before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. That makes it a couple of years old since it’s a late 2019 release, but still very relevant and therefore worth talking about.

Talking first impressions….it sure does cost a lot of coin!

Currently retailing for $5,699 on Prime Massage Chairs (at the time of writing this review), I am a little shocked to honestly see a 3D chair retail for this much in 2022. There are some nice features on the Hiro which we will touch on later, but no ways do they warrant the Hiro bearing such an exorbitant price tag.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad chair or anything of the sort. It’s decent enough for a 3D chair, but definitely not my best 3D chair, and definitely not something I would spend even remotely close to $6K on!

Okay, before we get in to features and specs…..the OS Hiro comes in 3 different color schemes: taupe, black, and brown.

I’m really starting to grow on the lighter color schemes, but I do err on the side of caution as I know long term maintenance might be a tricky one with something like taupe versus black for instance.

Alright, let’s talk features!

Osaki OS Hiro LT Massage Chair:  Key Features!

Aside from a few notable differences, there’s nothing too special to talk about the OS Hiro. It doesn’t have many auto modes, heat therapy is basic and just on the lumbar area, 14 airbags which is acceptable, foot rollers, and a basic remote controller.

Not downplaying it’s capabilities, simply stating that what you’re getting for this price tag is really quite minimum. If you don’t believe me now, you will as we go through the comparisons!

That all being said, there are a few good things: one are the Japanese brushless motors which essentially makes the Hiro more quiet in operation, more reliable, and definitely more robust in the long term, and two is the ultra long 52” L-Track.

The rest are pretty standard features (space saving recline, Bluetooth speakers, 8 auto modes, foot rollers, and lumbar heating) which I will not be spending too much time talking about. It’s not that these are not important, it’s just that they are what you can expect to find on pretty much 95% of massage chairs today.

#1 Japanese Brushless Motors—Definitely A Good Improvement

A major enhancement on the OS Hiro is something known as brushless motors. With this kind of system, you generally get much better performance compared to your brushed motors.

You get better performance, because friction and heat generation is completely minimized. Because of a reduction in both of these things, you can also expect a longer working life. If you want to read more about brushed versus brushless motors, check out this article!

It’s definitely a positive no question about it, but it still doesn’t warrant costing as much as it does. Also, motors are not the only integral component to a massage chair!

What I would like to see is more and more manufacturers experimenting with new and more advanced technology. Voice operation was making huge waves in 2021 and will continue to do so in 2022, but it would be nice to see newer and better ways of doing things in the massage chair world!

Anyways, that’s my 2 cents for what it’s worth!

#2 Ultra Long 52” L-Track w/ 3D Rollers!

Probably the standout feature of the OS Hiro (aside from the brushless motors) is the ultra long 52” L-Track. There’s a lot to talk about here, so let’s break it all down.

First things first, what in the world are rollers? And why are they given so much importance anyways!?

The roller is to a massage chair as an engine is to a car. In other words, it’s a hugely important component without which there would be no massage chair. Why is it so important? Let’s look at this some more.

The rollers on a massage chair are typically responsible for delivering 70-75% of massage to the body, the rest is delivered by pulsating airbags. This is why rollers are so important. If they do well to provide an effective and relaxing massage, that’s 75% of the job done!

Airbags are in place to makeup for areas that the rollers are unable to reach and therefore massage. While airbags do make up for the gap, they are not the best at delivering massage. A pulsating airbag can only do so much after all!

The OS Hiro comes equipped with 3D rollers. 3D stands for 3-dimensional and this type of roller can move in 3 different ways. It can move in/out of the back, it can move up/down along the length of the back, and finally it can move side to side along the width of the back. The image below depicts exactly this.

Now that you have a basic understanding of massage chair rollers, let’s look at roller track. Roller track is basically an elongated structure which the rollers are mounted on. The purpose of a roller track is to allow the rollers to move from one point to another.

Is it true that the longer the roller track, the better the massage experience? Generally, yes this does hold true.

However, as is the case with everything, there’s a trade off. With ultra long L-Track’s, you do lose out on a proper stretch routine because the elongated structure does prevent how far back a chair can “stretch out”. I do think it’s a small compromise and my preference has always towards chair’s with longer roller tracks.

#3 14 Airbags Located In Different Parts

Unlike the roller track, where we said the longer the better, more airbags in a massage chair does not necessarily make it better!

If anything, more airbags means a requirement for more mechanical equipment (valving, larger compressor etc.) and therefore more strain on the chair in the long term.

Something that Osaki have done really well on some of their newer chairs is reducing the overall number of airbags, while still ensuring the surface coverage remains the same. So you don’t lose out on how much compression massage you’d be receiving.

The OS Hiro has 14 airbags located in different parts of the chair. This would be the shoulders, arms, calves, and feet. See the image below for a clearer depiction.

Osaki OS Hiro LT Massage Chair Specifications

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Osaki OS Hiro LT Massage Chair Pros & Cons!

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Should You Buy The Osaki OS Hiro LT Massage Chair?

By this point I think you probably already know my answer, but in case you don’t….

No, given the current pricing ($5,699 on Prime Massage Chairs), I recommend steering far far away from the OS Hiro at this time!

Unless this thing drops by like half the price or more, it’s just not worth looking into. I know there might be a few of you who disagree with me, so I will back up my recommendation by doing a comparison to 2 other 3D massage chairs – which you should consider. Both are Titan chairs – the Pro Omega and the 3D Quantum.

As you can see from the above table, the Pro Omega and the 3D Quantum are generally more superior than the OS Hiro whether you look at number of auto modes, the inclusion of calf rollers, heat therapy, and even overall operation and control!

The only area where the OS Hiro is superior is with the brushless motors and a slightly longer L-Track (the difference is not significant), but otherwise it stands no chance!

Most importantly, the price is affordable for the Pro Omega and 3D Quantum. This is not the case for the OS Hiro. Based on the comparison above, my final recommendation is simple:

Go with either the Pro Omega or the 3D Quantum, no brainer!

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The Proof Is In The Pudding!

The age old verbiage applies once again! That being said, feel free to drop your comments down below, and I’ll be more than happy to assist in any way I am able.

Alright, that’s all from me folks. I’ll see you next week with another review. If there’s a specific chair you’d like me to check out, let me know! Be safe and be well!

Osaki OS Hiro LT 3D images were used with permission from Osaki Massage Chair