When a hot tub needs no special wiring to provide you with therapeutic benefits, then you’ve got potential. If a hot tub can seat up to 5 people at once and includes a locking cover so you can protect the quality of your water when it isn’t in use, then you’ve got temptation. With the Lifesmart 400DX 5 Person Waterfall Package hot tub, the message is clear: you are going to want this hot tub because it will make life better.
Temptation is one thing. Realism is another. Is the Lifesmart 400DX able to provide you with a consistently awesome experience above and beyond what other makes and models provide?
What’s Good About the Lifesmart 400DX?
This hot tub looks fantastic. Like many Lifesmart hot tubs, it offers a false mahogany appearance using thin slats around the outside. This covers the foam insulation around the hot tub that helps to manage the heat distribution for the water. The only place where there isn’t insulation, in fact, is the equipment compartment for the hot tub.
The jet power is a little weaker than some other plug and play hot tubs we’ve looked at, but overall the experience is still pretty good.
We found that it worked best to keep the hot tub at its maximum temperature settings when planning on using the hydrotherapy jets. The heater will still kick in and operate virtually the entire time you use the hot tub, but the temperature loss will only be a couple of degrees, even on a colder day. Not many other plug and play models can maintain that well.
The shell of the hot tub is pretty tough and requires minimal overall maintenance as long as the water quality is maintained. It’s made from coated fiberglass and has a little texture on it, but nothing that feels uncomfortable. Then, as an extra bonus, the LED lighting can change colors.
Here’s Our One Issue with the Lifesmart 400DX
So yes. This hot tub is able to sit 5 people rather comfortably. Maybe you could even fit 6 people in there in a pinch. The problem is that only three people are actually going to benefit from the hydrotherapy jets. 12 of the 19 jets are positioned along the backs of two bucket-style seats. Another 4 jets are given to another seat. The other two seating opportunities have no jets at all.
In fact one of the seating locations for the 5 person configuration puts the person right on top of the waterfall part of the design.
You must also use the cover on this hot tub to keep the heat contained within the unit. If you leave the cover off, you’re going to discover lots of cold water.
So if you’re using the Lifesmart 400DX 5 Person Waterfall Package hot tub as a high capacity unit there are going to be those who will feel disappointed by the experience and rightly so. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for a hot tub that two or three people can enjoy and you want some room to stretch out, then you’re going to love what this model can do.