Solid Budget Chair
03/03/2023I work from home, and spend more than half of my waking hours sitting in my office chair, so I did a lot of research before buying this chair. I went in person to a used office furniture reseller and sat in chairs from Haworth, Herman Miller, and Steelcase. I read and watched numerous reviews. I ultimately narrowed it down to this chair or the Ticova, and made the decision to purchase this chair because of the fabric back instead of the mesh, as well as the more aggressive lumbar support.
After several days of use, having adjusted to the chair, I'm ready to say this chair has more than met expectations, and delivers good value for the money. Some callouts include:
- Great adjustability for this price range, including tilt resistance, seat depth, 3-way arm-rest adjustment and more. That being said, the armrests could use a bit more adjustment range in the horizontal direction, and the armrest material is a tad too firm. If they were of a slightly more cushioning material, that would go a long way to increasing their comfort.
- The seat itself is firm, supportive, and comfortable. You will sit on the chair, not in it, and I don't see this bottoming out quickly, as the foam seems to be of very good density.
- While some people have bad-mouthed the lumbar on this model, I appreciate it. If you are sitting in an ergonomic position, it provides extra support without the need for a lumber pillow. It only has height adjustment and not depth, but the depth is great as is.
- Overall build quality is good for the price. This is where the differentiation from a Steelcase, for instance, becomes clear. The fit, finish, and overall quality of the build materials is lower, but it is also 20% of the price of a new Leap, for instance. While it doesn't come assembled, assembly was easy -- it was together in 15 mins. Also, the headrest was included in the package, rather than being shipped separately.
At the end of the day, I'm happy with the chair. It's not the best chair I've encountered, but it definitely wins in terms of relative cost and performance against numerous other chairs I've tried. To be safe, I bought a 5 year extended warranty for a nominal additional cost, as the Costway warranty is only 1 year, and if the chair only lasts the full five years of all-day use, it will still have been a great investment.