We present a review of the Panasonic EP 30003 TU. Our goal is to present a potential massage chair purchaser with an unbiased, thorough and comprehensive review of the Panasonic Real Pro Ultra. We have developed a 5 category system to evaluate a massage chair. We give equal weight to each category and give 0 to 20 points rating and then add them up to present an overall score. Our categories include Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. We hope this disciplined method of evaluating a massage chair will help to guide anyone looking at massage chairs. The Panasonic Real Pro Ultra EP 30003 TU shiatsu massage chair price is in the mid range of $2,000 to $3,000.

Warranty & Customer Service: After sale support and service is important for your longer term peace of mind. Each manufacturer is different. Panasonic has 3 year parts and 1 year labor. Panasonic has integrated an hour counter mechanism. This hour counter tracks how long the chair is used. Panasonic gives 1,000 hours of warranty coverage with this counter. The warranty coverage ends after 1,000 hours of usage. You may need to consider an extended warranty with this chair to match some of the other chair brands. We rate it a 16 for this category.

Comfort & Ergonomics: The comfort and fit of any chair is important for the use. Panasonic usually makes it chairs pretty ergonomic. The Real Pro Ultra is no exception. The back pad is comfortable and plush. The head pillow can be adjusted to fit different heights of users. The arm rests are padded and are fairly wide. The footrest does not extend, so this can be problematic for taller users. Taller users would have to bend their knees to get a foot massage or extend the footrest horizontal to and put their legs through. Our rating in this category is 17.

Ease of Use: As technology advances, it is easy to include everything including the kitchen sink for functions. Although it is nice to have many features, they cannot be a burden on the user to become familiar with them. Panasonic has loads of experience with electronics and this fact is not lost on them or their massage chairs. Just to be sure Panasonic includes a voice guidance system to assist the user. The remote is intuitive and the descriptions are accurate. Even the individual programming is not too hard to learn for the average user. One nice feature is the 5 minute quick refresher function. This gives you the option to just hit one button and get a quick refresher massage. Our rating in this category is 18.

Key Features: 2 of the best features of the Real Pro Ultra is the reflexology foot massage and the Junetsu massage. Most people do not yet understand the importance of the feet in massage therapy. When stress is put on the body, the body activates the hands and feet for action. The major organs then gear up to for support. Reflexology foot massage helps to reverse this process. The Panasonic EP 30003 comes with reflexology foot massage that helps relax the whole body. The other important feature is an ultra fine kneading called Junetsu. Small circles are made with firm pressure. This provides a penetrating and deep tissue relief. We rate this an 18.

Massage Therapy: The lower body air massage has 14 strategically placed air bags. These air bags cover the calves and feet. It also includes the foot reflexology massage. The really fine kneading is a new feature by Panasonic called Junetsu. This massage penetrates deeply providing effective relief. At the top of the control there are 5 automatic programs which include: Refresh, Shiatsu, Deep, Swedish and Stretch. You can also select from 4 manual massage techniques and choose 4 manual massage courses. Manual controls include tapping, kneading, rolling and combination. This midrange model scores a 19 rating.

How does the Real Pro Ultra stack up? We give an overall rating for the Panasonic EP 30003 an 88/100. This is a solid chair for the midrange market. The fact Panasonic included the Junetsu massage in this model is great. It is offered in their higher end models as well. The remote also comes with a voice guidance for those unwilling to read. The warranty is one area that most likely needs an extended warranty. Taller users need to see how well they fit, since the footrest does not extend out. Otherwise, Panasonic has done a good job for this massage chair recliner.