u/oopallsoup

So many people are being sponsored to say good things about these chairs so I thought I’d speak as someone who bought one with my money and am not being swayed by the company in any way
Preface: I was so hesitant to get a power chair from this company. I get really suspicious about medical equipment that becomes “trendy” like this one. I am a full time wheelchair user and have been using my manual chair 24/7 for the last year and had a Pride Jazzy power chair that is actually a great chair, just was too big to be as versatile as I wanted.
I got the Q5 with the intention of returning it if it wasn’t better than my Jazzy. I got it because I thought if it does hold up to what’s being said about it, it will give me so much more independence.

About me/my needs in a wheelchair: as I said, I use a chair all the time. I have complex hereditary spastic paraplegia and a lot of pain, so I can stand for transfers, but nothing more. I use Lyft/Uber to get places independently, and often have friends and family drive me around. I don’t have transportation with reliably large amounts of free space in them for a chair. And the rigid chair I have is difficult to get help from a Lyft driver to put in back. I was really drawn to the Q5 because it seems really straight forward to get in and out of cars. I also was interested in it because of the safety features and the apparent “zippiness” of it, if that makes sense.

Okay here’s my actual thoughts:
I have had it for about a month now. In general, there are so many wonderful things this chair has to offer.
When it comes to usability, it handles really nicely. Can be a little jerky, but I love that it stops so quickly. That it doesn’t take as long to come to a complete stop and has a quick response time for turning and everything is really worth the fact that it is a bit more of a learning curve to make it move smoother.
The slow down on turns feature is really lovely, really helpful, and well programmed.
It was easy to change the sound settings when i first got it - some of these things are much more difficult to figure out
Customer service was a bit choppy, but they worked quickly to get me a replacement arm rest when one of mine came with a crack in it - it was within 2 weeks of receiving the chair and reporting the problem that I got the armrest replacement. Everyone I spoke with was really happy to help and easy to talk to, the “choppy” part of it was only that they seemed to lack some communication with each other and a few people asked me the same things on different days, but I did not mind as they made the process really easy for me anyways.
The cushions are not great, but not terrible. I have degenerative discs, so this is what I was most nervous about. But for the first few outings I used the accompanying cushions, which were fine but after an hour or two, my back started hurting a lot (that’s really not bad for my back tho, a lot better than I was expecting). But then I tried an old wheelchair seat cushion I had lying around (a jay) and I put a lumbar pillow on the back instead of the ones it comes with and yall it made a huge difference. I was able to go to a long appointment and sit at a restaurant afterwards and still feel okay when I got home. It was wild. So this is easily customizable in that way, don’t let the lack of cushioning stop you from getting this chair.
When it comes to transportation, it has been ridiculously easy to get in and out of the smallest of cars. Lyft and uber drivers have not had any problems with it. It is bounds easier than any other chair I’ve had for this reason alone.
I don’t have much negative to say other than some jerky movements and the fact that something so lightweight is probably more prone to tip backwards. That in mind, I wouldn’t take this chair on difficult terrains, but it has worked well for me in dirt lots and some bumpier roads.
I have sold my jazzy because this is truly everything I need it to be. I am really pleased with it and I am happy I have what is now a simple alternative to my manual for when I need it.