Merits Vision Sport P326D review

A mid-wheel power chair with a 7.5 inch power seat lift and a 20 inch turning radius, aimed at small homes.

Specifications

Specifications above come from the manufacturer's published feature list for this listing. Treat pricing as approximate, since Amazon pricing moves.

What it does well

• A 20 inch turning radius, which is the specification that decides whether a power chair is usable in a bathroom doorway or only in the living room.
• A swing-away joystick that mounts on either armrest, so a left-dominant user or someone with a weak right arm is not fighting the chair.
• Solid flat-free tyres, which removes the single most annoying maintenance job a power chair otherwise creates.
• Dual 50Ah batteries and a quoted 18 mile range, which is generous for a chair of this size.
• Adjustable suspension, which is worth having if your parent sits in it for most of the day.

Where it falls short

• The lift is 7.5 inches, not 12. It gets you to a shelf and a kitchen counter, not to standing eye level in a conversation. If eye level is the point, the Jazzy Air 2 lifts further.
• A 300 pound rating is a ceiling. Weight capacity covers the frame, the motors and the lift mechanism together, and using a chair at or over its rating is misuse rather than a tight fit.
• Mid-wheel drive turns beautifully and catches on thresholds. Measure every door sill in the house before ordering.
• It does not fold or break down for a car. Transport needs a lift or a ramped vehicle.
• Bought at retail, it is almost certainly not going to be covered by Medicare or private insurance. That route runs through a physician's order, a therapist's evaluation and an enrolled supplier, in that order, before any equipment is bought.

What owners report

Owners of mid-wheel chairs with modest seat lifts consistently describe the lift as a kitchen and bathroom feature rather than a social one. Reaching a wall cabinet, using a sink, and getting level with a counter are what people say they use it for, and several report that the extra height also makes a supervised transfer feel less like a climb. That last point is worth raising with the therapist rather than acting on alone, because transfer height is exactly the sort of thing that should be set by someone watching your parent do it. Transfers are the highest-injury activity in home care for both the person being moved and the person moving them.

The consistent complaints are the ones every mid-wheel chair attracts: thresholds, and the discovery that a quoted range assumes flat ground and a light load. Owners also note that these chairs arrive from a variety of sellers with a variety of after-sales support, so ask who services it before you order rather than after something stops working.

Who it suits

• A person under 300 pounds, already evaluated for powered mobility, living somewhere with tight corners.
• Anyone who needs the joystick on the left, or needs to move it side to side.
• Someone who wants a power chair for long days out as well as indoor use.

Who should skip it

• Anyone who has not been through a seating and mobility evaluation. Ask the doctor for the referral first.
• A person at or near 300 pounds, who needs the 450 pound Jazzy Elite HD or a bariatric chair from a supplier.
• Families needing a chair that goes in a car.
• Houses with high thresholds and no ramping, where a front-wheel drive chair copes better.

Alternatives worth considering

Common questions

Is a 7.5 inch seat lift enough?

For kitchen counters, wall cabinets, bathroom sinks and reaching a light switch, yes. For being at eye level with someone standing, no. Decide which of those is actually the problem before paying for the larger lift, and raise it with the therapist doing the seating evaluation, because seat height also affects transfers and posture.

What turning radius do I need at home?

Measure the narrowest place the chair has to turn, usually a bathroom or a hallway corner, and compare it to the chair's quoted radius with a few inches to spare. An occupational therapist home assessment will measure this properly, along with the door widths and threshold heights that catch people out after delivery.

Merits Vision Sport or a mobility scooter?

A scooter needs the user to stand for transfers, steer a tiller and sit without lateral support, and it will not turn in a bathroom. A power chair asks less of the user and offers real seating. Our mobility scooter versus power wheelchair guide sets out the difference; a therapist should decide it.

Will insurance pay for a power wheelchair?

Possibly, but only through the correct route: a face-to-face physician examination, a therapist evaluation, and an enrolled supplier who accepts assignment. Buying retail first forecloses it. This is the single most expensive thing families get wrong about mobility equipment, which is why we keep saying it. Start with our benefits checker.

Are solid tyres worse than pneumatic?

They ride harder over rough ground and they never go flat. For a chair used mostly indoors and on pavements, flat-free is the better trade. For lawns, gravel and kerbs, pneumatic tyres and suspension are more comfortable.

Keep reading

• Mobility scooter vs power wheelchair
• What an occupational therapy assessment covers
• Care needs assessment
• Pride Jazzy Air 2 review
• Porto Mobility Ranger Discovery review
• Pride Jazzy Elite HD review

This review draws on published specifications, manufacturer figures and the consensus of verified owner reviews. We have not tested this product ourselves, and we say so rather than implying otherwise. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.