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By les scammell, August 6, 2009 7:07 pm

The human touch company makes a broad range of massage chairs. One of their high-end models is the HT 1650. Unlike most massage chairs, the HT 1650 looks more like a traditional recliner. It is quite a large chair and provides full body massage capability. We peel back the layers of the HT 1650 to reveal some of its more important features.

The HT 1650 comes with a functioning to detect your acupoints in your back. This is accomplished by performing a scan of your neck, shoulders and back. This function must be activated by selecting a manual massage function.

The HT 1650 will perform a scan when it is in the manual mode. A remote control comes with the HT 1650 where different functions are located. Once the body scan is activated, then it will send the rollers up menu down your back. Sensors are mounted on the rollers to identify your acupoints.

You may also use the acupoint detection system with other types of massage techniques. It is commonly used in techniques such as shiatsu or acupressure massage. One of the drawbacks of the HT 1650 is that you must set your shoulder height. Many high-end massage chairs perform this automatically.

There are 8 programmed massages in the HT 1650. All of these massage programs provide a whole body massage. There are some specialized programs such as sports therapy and other more general like warming up. Each massage is designed to perform a different therapeutic treatment.

Human touch has also equipped the HT 1650 with four manual massage functions. These manual massage functions perform kneading, compression, rolling and percussion. Select the type of massage based on your needs. Kneading is great for listening up of muscles.

Another feature of the HT 1650 by human touch is being able to target the massage in a particular area. There are manual massage courses which can be selected to provide aid massage in a given area. You can also pinpoint massage in one specific area as well.

In order to make the HT 1650 look like a traditional recliner, the calf massager needed to be hidden. Human touch has an innovative flip design for the calf massager. One side of the massager is flat. The other side of the massager contains leg wells. The cats can be inserted into the leg Wells when a massage for them is desired.

The nice thing about the flipping ottoman designed by human touch is that you can flip it when not in use. The leg rest hides very nicely underneath with this design. This enables you to better match the type of back or in your house.

The HT 1650 also comes with a remote control. This remote control has buttons on two faces of the remote. This enables the remote to be much thinner than other traditional controls. The remote is hardwired to the chair and has a pocket for storage.

You get a wide variety of massage treatments with the HT 1650. Although, I liked the look of the recliner, the massage therapy is not quite as effective as I would like. It seems that it is a little light for a high-end massage chair. This can be a concern as you will build up tolerance to the massage chair through time. You want to make sure that your long-term needs are met.

The HT 1650 massage chair comes with three years warranty on the parts. Human touch also provides you with 90 days of in-home technician service. This means that if you had a problem, a service technician would be dispatched to your home to conduct the repair. This is important as massage chairs typically weigh over 150 pounds.

We liked the bold design of the HT 1650 massage chair by human touch. It is nice to see that many of the massage technologies can be successfully hidden and to a traditional looking recliner. The main concern that we have with the HT 1650 massage chair is the strength of its massage therapy. It has a number of different programs, but most are fairly weak from our therapeutic point of view. However, there are many solid features and the HT 1650 massage chair.

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By les scammell, July 28, 2009 4:21 am

Human Touch offers a diverse range of massage chairs. This product review will focus on the HT 1650 massage recliner. This is a high end, luxury massage chair from by Human Touch. Our review will evaluate the chair in 5 separate categories ranging from warranty coverage to ease of use to massage therapy. We then provide an overall rating, so that it is easy to compare between other massage recliners. Here is our evaluation of the HT-1650 massage chair recliner.

Warranty & Customer Service: Your long term product protection is a function of the length and breadth of the warranty on the product you buy. Big ticket items like a massage chair need to have adequate coverage to offset the money you are paying. The HT 1650 comes with the following warranty coverage: you get 5 years on the structure; you 3 years of parts; you get 1 years of labor (factory service) and in field service is covered for 90 days. The warranty coverage provided by Human Touch for this luxury massage recliner is fairly good. Customer service is through a national call center and they are pretty responsive. We give the HT1650 a 17 in warranty coverage and customer service.

Comfort & Ergonomics: It is particularly important for a massage chair to be comfortable and fit your body. You need to be able to relax. The HT 1650 is both a recliner and a massage chair. When not being used as a massage chair, it looks just like a regular leather recliner chair. It has soft, luxurious leather which is a big plus. The layout of the massage recliner and its functions are well designed and thought out. The controller fits in a side pocket, so there is not remote stand. We rate the comfort and ergonomics of the HT 1650 a 19.

Ease of Use: I don’t know about you, but I have always struggled trying to program my VCR. Thank goodness Tivo has finally saved me. We are critically concerned with the ease of use with massage chairs. These chairs increase in features and functionalities every year. The challenge is to keep it simple. We are happy to announce that the HT1650 has managed this. It has a remote that uses two different faces for buttons. This keeps it small and easy to hide in the side pocket. We give the 1650 19 of the 20 for ease of use.

Key Features: One of the unique features and a patented one at that is the hidden calf and foot massager. When not in use, you cannot see the calf and foot massage. When you want to use it, you simply flip it over and it exposes the calf wells. This is a great feature in that the massage chair looks like a regular leather upholstery recliner. The other interesting feature is the acupoint detection system. This can be used prior to using a manual massage function. When activated, it will scan your back and determine the almost 100 trigger points. It records their location and then prioritizes them when the massage begins. This acupoint detection enables the chair to zero in on these points to provide you full body relaxation. We give the key features of the HT-1650 an 18.

Massage Therapy: The moment of truth with any massage is chair is how effective is the massage therapy. We were very skeptical with this chair because it does not look like your traditional massage chair. In fact, it looks like your traditional leather recliner. However, Human Touch manages to squeeze in 8 automatic pre-programs. These range in intensity and vigor depending on the one selected. There are also manual techniques. Four in all. This give you quite a selection to meet many needs you may have. Do not forget that the hidden calf massager works both for your feet and your calves. The HT 1650 gets a 17 in this category.

The HT-1650 is definitely a one of a kind massage chair or should we say leather recliner? Overall it gets a 90/100 points. This recliner comes with a solid warranty giving you long term protection. It has the unique flipping ottoman which enables you to put the chair in most rooms. The massage therapy is effective and comes with an excellent selection of treatments to choose from. If you do not want the traditional massage chair look, then you can have the traditional leather recliner look and have the best of both worlds.