Martiangear owners are going to be delighted with Martiangear’s latest offering – the Martiangear Massage Pillow. The Martiangear Massage Pillow is an exclusive to Martiangear-only customers at it starts from S$108 for the Regular size and S$138 for the Large size. If you were to order any Martiangear chair together with the massage pillow, it’ll be at a cheaper price of S$88 for Regular and S$118 for Large.
Unboxing
In the box you’ll find the following:
- Martiangear Massage Pillow
- AC charger
- Car charger
Design and build quality
The Martiangear Massage Pillow is designed uniquely for Martiangear gaming chairs, and comes in two different sizes – regular and large, and two different colours – black velvet and grey fabric. The regular size was designed specifically to fit the curved backrest of Astronaut chairs, while the large size will fit the Supernova and Interstellar.
Martiangear Massage Pillow may look like a regular lumbar pillow but underneath its perforated mesh fabric lies massage rollers that will provide shiatsu massage. Martiangear Massage Pillow is made from a smooth to the touch velvet material, that feels great on bare skin. The stitching of the Martiangear logo is so-so, I can still see some loose and thin threads. Personally, I think it would look nicer if Martiangear went with a dark grey or black stitching as it would be consistent with the black-on-black logo on their chairs like Supernova.
The overall build quality of the Martiangear Massage Pillow is pretty good. The massage rollers inside do not feel loose or shaky, even when apply heavy pressure while using it. If you haven’t noticed, the Martiangear Massage Pillow is cordless and can be used without being tethered to a power source. This is really good as you can bring the Martiangear Massage Pillow anywhere without worrying about need to connect it to a power source.
Features
At first glance, the Martiangear Massage Pillow may seem to be meant to use for your lower back but by switching up the placement of the pillow, you can enjoy shiatsu massage on different areas of your body.
The Martiangear Massage Pillow has a heating function which you can visually see from the red lights emitted by the rollers. When you turn on the pillow, the heating function is turned on by default. When the Martiangear Massage Pillow is turned on, one massage roller will spin clockwise while the other will spin anti-clockwise. The dual-directional button will manually change the direction of both rollers.
You can also adjust the speed at which the rollers are spinning. There are three speeds, and by default, the rollers will be on speed 2. Lastly, there is a button to adjust the way the rollers spin via the preset button. Martiangear Massage Pillow comes with three presets of massage. The default mode when it is first turned on is simply a continuous spin. As follows is what happens after each tap of the preset button:
- Spin 1.8 rounds then pause, and continue spinning 1.75 rounds in the same direction
- Spin 1.8 rounds then pause, and continue spinning 1.75 rounds in the opposite direction
- Spin 0.9 rounds then pause, continue spinning 0.9 rounds in the same direction
Check out the video below for a better understanding:
Massage experience and usage
As aforementioned, the Martiangear Massage Pillow can be used on different areas of your body. In fact, the really isn’t a fixed way to use it. It is pretty fun experimenting with the placements of the Martiangear Massage Pillow to see what kind of shaitsu massage I will experience.
Personally, I mainly use the Martiangear Massage Pillow for my back, shoulders, and neck. My shoulders aches regularly and the Martiangear Massage Pillow was really able to hit the right spots and provide instant relief. I used to rely on a massage gun like HYDRAGUN to apply pressure on my knots but holding up the massage gun can get tiring. But with the Martiangear Massage Pillow, I can simply lay back and relax. I never knew I needed such an accessory for my chair until now.
The massage rollers perform the kneading really well. The rollers have two large knobs, accompanied by six smaller knobs at varying heights. The large knobs does a great job pressing deep into my knots while and smaller knobs provide a natural follow through. The shoulder massage is my favourite as it really is able to provide relief at my tight knots after a long day of work.
The presets are also pretty useful. When I am getting a lower back massage, I enjoy the continuous kneading so I usually do not toggle any preset. But when I am getting a shoulder massage, I like to use Preset 1 as the slight pause in between the spinning rollers just feels more comfortable for extended use. The heat expelled if you turn it on is very slightly noticeable. I only start to feel the warmth after a few minutes of using it. Personally, I do not really find this to be a key feature for comfort, but it is there if you want it.
I believe a large part of why the massage of the Martiangear Massage Pillow felt good was also because of the way the pillow was designed. As it has a long contoured lumbar pillow shape, be it putting it upright or upside down, it fits well along the contours of our back so we don’t feel like we’re lying against something random that is jutting out. It would be been nice if the Martiangear Massage Pillow had a strap at the back so that I could lock it place after I found a perfect position for my massage.
One thing to note when using the Martiangear Massage Pillow for a lower back massage on the Supernova chair is that you are likely forced to sit further out quite a fair bit as the massage pillow takes up some space. This may not be present on chairs like the Interstellar due to a flatter backrest. When using it for neck or shoulder massage, then I don’t think this wouldn’t be much of an issue. Of course you’re not limited to use the Martiangear Massage Pillow on your Martiangear chair. You can use it on you bed or on the sofa – I found that the massage you get is still as good.
Another note on usability is the sound or noise it produces. When using it you can hear the motors or the movement of the rollers. It isn’t a deal-breaker for me, but just a thing to note. It is likely more apparent when you’re using it for neck and shoulder massage.
Battery life
Martiangear Massage Pillow is rated to last 1 hours of continuous usage from a full charge, which is good enough in my opinion. It’s probably not good to use it for too long. To charge the Martiangear Massage Pillow, there is an extendable wire outlet which is connected to the AC charger provided.
As the Martiangear Massage Pillow is designed for you take it anywhere with you for a massage. Martiangear is also thoughtful enough to supply a car charger. So if you want to get a quick massage in the car but the Martiangear Massage Pillow runs out of battery, do so with the car charger.
Conclusion
The Martiangear Massage Pillow is something I never knew I needed until I’ve tried it. The way it is designed allows you to use it on a variety of sitting surfaces. The Martiangear Massage Pillow also offers good flexibility in terms of the areas you can get massaged on and the kneading I experienced generally feels natural and effective in relieving my knots. From S$108, the Martiangear Massage Pillow is a compelling product to take the comfort on your Martiangear chairs to the next level.