This review will take a look at one of the Panasonic Real Pro Ultra series of massage chairs. The Real Pro Ultra is the current massage recliner series rolled out by Panasonic. We will look at the EP 30004 model. This chair will be reviewed in 5 key categories. Each category can earn up to 20 points for a total possible score of 100 points. We will evaluate the recliner in each of the following categories: Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. Let us see how this massage chair rates..

Warranty & Customer Service: The first category is warranty and customer service. The warranty is the protection given to the consumer for the product. The shorter the warranty, the more risk the customer has to take in the transaction. With the EP30004, Panasonic gives a 1 year labor, 3 year. This is the warranty directly from the manufacturer. This is a rather short warranty period for the dollar value of the transaction. In most cases, the consumer can purchase an extended warranty for this massage recliner, but then that drives the total cost of the product. If you require customer service, then you must contact your original retailer. This certainly means that customer service and turn around times are variable and depend on the retailer. Overall Rating for Panasonic warranty and customer service is 15.

Comfort & Ergonomics: To provide relaxation, a massage chair needs to be comfortable to sit in. Also, the design of the chair must be ergonomic, so you do not have to struggle to make adjustments with the chair. The Real Pro Ultra has soft padded armrests. The head pillow can be adjusted for each user and is also detachable. The chair back and seat are plush when seated. The leg ottoman can be adjusted up to 5 inches of additional extension. The controls are located in easy and accessible areas. The EP-30004 is well designed for comfort and ergonomics. We rate this recliner an 18 in this category.

East of Use: The massage chair industry increases the functionality of its chairs every year. With the increase in functionality comes increasing complexity of controls to run them. Our ease of use category is for making the controls of the chair as intuitive as possible for the user. Panasonic is one of the premier electronics companies in the world, so we expect them to completely understand this issue. Panasonic has pioneered the use of a ?Voice Guidance? system in their chairs to help consumers with ease of use. This interactive system enables novice users to quickly understand and use the chair to maximum benefit. The remote is very cleanly designed and intuitive. It is not cluttered like many controllers we evaluate. The remote comes with memory functions that can remember the favorite massages of up to 4 different users. Manual controls are located in the side panel of the remote. Overall Rating for the Panasonic EP 30004 for ease of use is 19.

Key Features: The Real Pro Ultra series of chairs comes with a new massage technique developed by Panasonic. This massage technique is called Junetsu or ultra fine kneading. This Junetsu massage provides targets the muscles with one-second circular thumb movements like that of a professional massage therapist. Junetsu quickly loosens up tight muscles. The spiral circular motion reverberates down through the muscles to invigorate you down to the surface of your bones. This function is a very effective and quick way to get the muscles to release. The other important new feature in the EP 30004 is the shoulder and arm stretch. This function actually provides traction for the arm and shoulder. The stretch is accomplished by the airbags holding the arm and then the chair back moves back slightly to stretch out the arm and shoulder area. This helps to remove tension and to increase your flexibility and joint mobility. The EP 30004 earns a 19 in key features.

Massage Therapy: This massage chair comes with five automatic courses. It includes a Body Scan which is also customizable. Ultra-fine kneading or Junetsu has been introduced to the full complement of Quad-style massage techniques, including Shiatsu, Swedish, fist kneading, and grasping. Between the automatic and the manual functions there are up to 372 combinations of techniques available in this recliner. There are reflexology pads built into the foot wells that pinpoint areas that will instantly increase blood flow and energy throughout your body. These plates are adjustable and removable. You also have both a lower body stretch and the shoulder stretch. This chair has a virtual arsenal of massage techniques to cater to your every need. We score the massage therapy of this chair a 19.

The Panasonic EP 30004 rates as a 90/100. We really like the new and innovative features of this recliner. The shoulder stretch is another important advance for massage chair technology. The Junetsu massage technique provides good deep penetration for those hard to get at areas in the back. The remote is simple to use and comes with the voice guidance feature. The manufacturer’s warranty is a bit on the light side and should be beefed up with the purchase of an extended warranty. The only point of concern we have is the industrial look of the chair. We do not understand why Panasonic continues to neglect the design aesthetics of their massage chair line. But overall, this is a very solid chair from an important manufacturer. If you are in the market for a luxury massage chair, then this one should be on your short list of choices.