The Secretlab Atlas has a lot going for it. It fits snugly into a home office and it's very comfortable for use throughout the day (with regular breaks, of course). It's even good for a spot of gaming in the evening, if you're so inclined, providing you understand that this isn't explicitly a gaming chair. It's a task chair—whatever that means.

Google tells me a task chair is a chair designed for sitting at a desk. One website described a task chair as a chair specifically designed for doing tasks. Fascinating. Nevertheless, Secretlab is using the designation to separate the Atlas from the ever-popular Titan Evo, and in doing so, alluding to its sleeker form and more civilian appearance.

The Atlas looks excellent in situ. It's a smart-looking chair for the discerning gamer. It's halfway to a gaming throne and definitely passable in a modern office without raising eyebrows. Doubly so providing you pay for the premium model. Though this is where things get tricky for the Atlas.

The Atlas is on the expensive side for the features it offers, especially when compared to the Titan Evo. It's not easy to beat the best gaming chair of the past four years, and while the Atlas does serve a slightly different audience, for us gamers, the Titan Evo is yet to meet its match. It's not a whole lot more expensive than the Atlas—at times, I've even seen it going cheaper.

Features

There are a range of options available for the Secretlab Atlas, from basic and premium finishes to a range of colours and materials. I'm testing the Atlas Dune+ model, in a size L. That means it features two of Secretlab's proprietary materials: NanoFoam Composite and SoftWeave Plus fabric. The NanoFoam being softer than cold-cure foam used on the basic model.

The premium version of the Atlas comes with colour-matched parts, from the magnetic head pillow down to the armrests, beneath the seat, wheelbase, and the castors. This is made possible through the use of a reinforced nylon construction, as opposed to the aluminium alloy found on the Titan Evo. My gut tells me that metal is best but I couldn't point to any research to back that up. Just a hunch. The cheaper version is black except for the backrest.

The Secretlab Atlas is noticeably slimmer than the Titan Evo, Noblechairs Hero, and ThunderX3 Solo 360 that my colleagues are sat in close to my desk at PC Gamer Towers. It much more closely resembles the Fractal Design Refine used by our James, in terms of both the backrest and its more professional aesthetic, but the Atlas is a little more reserved. Unlike the Refine, however, the Secretlab has no adjustable lumbar support.

Secretlab claims the fixed backrest, called RE-CURVE, is "sculpted to support your entire back". I find myself agreeing with that statement after a couple of months with the chair as my daily rollabout. That said, it does lack the flexibility that other chairs offer, including the Titan Evo, which offers an excellent 4-way lumbar system called L-ADAPT.

There are a number of possible adjustments on the Atlas. Besides the usual height adjustment—the seat is lower to the floor on the Atlas compared to the Titan Evo—the seat also slides forward and backward on a horizontal axis. I recently spoke with a physician about how to sit (and how I was doing it wrong) and they told me you should be able to get two or three fingers between the seat and the back of your knees for an ideal setup. Secretlab says that's about 5 cm/2-inches in its promotional materials.

The Atlas will recline up to 120° once unlocked, using a lever with a handy visual indicator to show when the leaning mechanism is locked or unlocked. There are four levels to the tilt force, adjusted using a twisting selector on the chair height stalk. These levels range from leaning back with little to no resistance to having to actively push back on the chair to get it to recline even partway. I like to use a higher setting to bob in place a bit—hey, I'm just a bit wild like that. I'm one errant purchase away from a rocking chair, I swear to God.

The armrests offer height adjustment, angle adjustment, and front to back adjustment. That makes them 3D, to the Titan Evo's 4D ones. They will move forwards and backwards when only a moderate amount of pressure is applied, which is a bit of a pain for someone that shifts my chair around a lot while switching between sitting and standing, but otherwise, they're good enough.

The top of the armrest is comfortable for long-term use. Though it does not feature the same CloudSwap Replacement System as the Titan Evo, which means you can't switch these out as easily once worn.

At least my favourite feature from the Titan Evo has made it over to the Atlas. The magnetic head pillow. This can be easily removed, replaced, and moved around without messing with straps. The Atlas actually improves on the design, too, with a more rounded shape that better fits my noggin.

Ergonomics

So far I've very much enjoyed my time with the Atlas. It's a firmer seat than many I've tested, but that's no bad thing. I've been putting it to the test in a range of seating positions: legs crossed, laying back, fully reclined, one leg under the other… you name it. It deals with the cornucopia of weird human sitting positions very well. After a frank meeting with that physician about how I sit, I'm trying to change things up more regularly throughout the day, and the Atlas allows for that variation.

My main points of comparison for the chair are the Herman Miller Embody (Logitech G), which I've used every day for roughly four years; the Razer Fujin Pro, which I've been using in PC Gamer Towers for a couple of years; and, of course, the Secretlab Titan Evo, which I used in the office for years and I still sit in every time I shoot a video for the YouTube channel. We must have eight or so of those around.

First off, the Atlas easily beats out the Razer Fujin Pro. I'm yet to find a mesh chair that I enjoy to rest on as much as any with foam. I used to sit in a Cooler Master mesh chair and felt about that much the same as I do the Fujin Pro: foam is just a little too stiff. Over the course of a day's work, I'm aware of the pressure. That's not true of the Atlas, nor is it the Herman Miller, to be fair.

The Herman Miller is lovely to sit in. Though the backrest is stiffer on the Atlas, which I currently prefer, and I'm finding myself making more use of the recline on the Atlas. That is likely down to breaking out of old habits with a new chair. Though perhaps because I find the recline a touch more supportive on the Atlas. I definitely prefer a stiffer backrest over the flexible one on the Embody.

Looking around, there are anecdotal reports of larger users finding this chair uncomfortable. At 6'1" and 80 kg, I haven't run into any issues, but my thighs and back do sit close to the edge of the part of the backrest and seat where they shoot off at an angle—the racing seat sorta bit. Spare a thought for the sizing as even Secretlab notes the Atlas as more "form-fitted" to the Titan Evo's "spacious" fit.

I'm sitting very comfortably in the Atlas. It's in the Goldilocks zone for me, with firm yet comfortable materials, a stiff backrest, bouncy recline, and squishy head cushion. I'm not in any rush to swap back to the Embody.

Aesthetics

I had feared for the feng shui of my home office by dropping a sand-coloured gaming chair smack-bang in the middle of it. But, to my complete surprise, it makes my office look larger. And it's not just me. My partner walked into the room after I built it, and without me mentioning a thing, said the chair makes the room feel bigger. Weird.

Hey, I'll take it. I think it's some sort of optical illusion with the bright chair, my dark grey walls, and the slim backrest. The chair does look pretty sweet in situ, too. There are other colours to choose from, including grey, black, and white/black leatherette. I've seen pretty much all of them in-person and I'd be happy with any, except perhaps the cheaper two-tone version without colour-matched parts.

Value

The Atlas is a cheaper alternative to the Titan Evo in the US, with prices starting at $499. That's for the basic model in a regular size, specifically the black leatherette model. That is the only basic model I'd actually purchase myself, anyways, as the non-colour matched parts incidentally match the backrest. The Dune SoftWeave Plus model starts at $519.

The premium models look much nicer and the only ones I can recommend on comfort, as they are the only ones I've sat in long-term. These start at $699. The large model I'm using is $719. That's not a low cost gaming chair, by any means, and the Atlas has stiff competition at this price. Not the least bit from Secretlab's own Titan Evo, which starts at $579. The premium NanoGen model costs $799, and a large will set you back $849. That's a $130 difference—not a trivial cost to upgrade from the Atlas to the Titan Evo, like-for-like. But maybe you don't need to go like-for-like?

If I'm honest with myself about what I'd personally buy of the two, it'd be the Titan Evo. And not the NanoGen version. I would happily take the non-NanoGen Titan Evo for $629, which is $90 cheaper than the Atlas. Having sat on the standard leatherette Titan Evo for years in the office without issue, I'd be content with that. It's more fully-featured than the Atlas with adjustable lumbar support, replaceable armrest cushions, and an aluminium wheelbase.

The Atlas does beat the Titan Evo in two key respects: style and size. I won't discount the impact these have on purchasing decisions, as I've already had a friend tell me they're considering buying the Atlas due to its shape alone.

Looking further afield, the Fractal Design Refine is not a chair we rated particularly high but it is a similar sorta thing with an adjustable backrest. That's $600/£475. I think I'd stick with the Titan Evo. Though there is a budget alternative, and that's the ThunderX3 Solo 360. This offers asynchronous tilt, adjustable 3D armrests, decent fabric, and it's half the price of the cheapest Atlas. Except the Atlas doesn't feel like a budget option. The Solo 360 still does: it doesn't include lumbar support or a head pillow.

For larger bodies, we like the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL. It's extremely cushioned and well-provisioned for lumbar support. For $579, it offers a lot compared to the large Atlas, though it loses out on that sleek appearance. It is huge.

So, the Secretlab Atlas does offer a high level of quality and attention to detail that see it clearly rise above many budget offerings. Though, there's been a lot of cuts here compared to the Titan Evo, such as the wheelbase, armrests, recline, and lumbar support.

The Titan Evo often drops to around $529 during yearly sales events, like it did back in May. As I write this, in my native land of Britain, the Titan Evo is cheaper (£419) than the Atlas (£429) in the company's Summer Sale. The Atlas is understandably yet to be discounted, but that's a tough act to follow.

The premium models, especially in the large size, are really pushing the limits of what I'd pay for the Atlas. That's a shame because that's what I'm sitting on and I really like it. The Atlas Dune+ is comfortable, stylish, and I'm happy enough to sit and game in it all-day. It's just the Titan Evo is tough to beat, even the cheaper standard model.

The LiberNovo Omni Pro is what happens when a very good first‑gen idea goes in for a polish rather than a full redesign. If you've read my original LiberNovo Omni review, you know the bar here is high. That chair is still the comfiest thing I've ever sat in for ridiculous work‑and‑gaming days. The Pro turns that same formula up a notch in a few key areas—materials, finish, and a couple of tech tricks—but it doesn't fundamentally change how it feels to sit in.

Day to day, comfort is still excellent. The cushions are plush but supportive, and I can go from writing to gaming without my back complaining. LiberNovo re‑engineered the seat with multi‑density foam, but if I'm honest, I can't say I feel a big difference. The original already nailed it, so the Pro feels more like a refinement than a really tangible upgrade here.

The bigger change is how well that comfort can now fit your body. You can choose a 45 cm or 48 cm seat depth at checkout, which is great if you've ever had a chair either cut into the back of your knees or stop awkwardly short of your thighs. Average‑sized folks will be fine on 45 cm; if you've got longer legs, 48 cm gives you more support under there. And if you're properly tall or need something truly built for bigger frames, LiberNovo's Maxis line is really the one you should be looking at first.

The big change you notice while actually using the chair is the new five‑position recline system: 105°, 115°, 125°, 135°, and 160°. Each angle is pitched as a "mode." Deep Focus at 105° is your upright, camera‑on posture. Nudge it back to 115°—Balance mode—and your spine and shoulders relax a bit without dropping you into lazy‑boy territory.

At 125° (Solo‑Work), you're in that natural lean‑back zone that suits long editing or deep‑work sessions. 135° (Soft Recline) is where I ended up with a controller in hand, still close enough to the desk to reach controls without overextending. Then 160° is Spine Flow, the full lay‑flat angle for power naps and the motorized OmniStretch spinal stretch.

On paper it's a smart, lifestyle‑based ladder of positions. In practice, the tuning isn't perfect. The jump from 105° to 115° feels a little abrupt and less smooth in motion than the original Omni's recline. Once you're actually settled into Solo‑Work or Soft Recline it feels fantastic, but it does give off a bit of "we added more stops for the spec sheet" energy rather than solving a problem I actually had.

Where the Pro does clearly earn its name is build quality and materials. Overall construction feels a notch tighter than the original: cleaner stitching, subtle design flourishes on the wheelbase, and noticeably less creaking from the backrest when you shift around. It feels less like a Kickstarter experiment and more like a polished production chair.

The headline upgrade is that Gabriel Atlantic Danish fabric. Terrible branding, fantastic textile. It looks and feels genuinely premium—more high‑end task chair than shouty gaming throne—and it has the numbers to back it up: abrasion resistance rated for roughly a decade of heavy use, OEKO‑TEX certified, breathable, flame‑retardant, and machine‑washable without shrinking. In the real world, the question is how it handles crumbs, spills and kid‑induced chaos, and that's something only months and years of abuse will reveal. Right now, it feels like the right kind of overkill and looks stunning at my white Secretlab Magnus desk.

Ergonomically, most things are evolutionary. The 4D armrests are a bit less prone to spinning or drifting when you bump them, though they're still not perfect. The headrest has more adjustability and is lovely when you're reclined, but in a true upright focus posture it still doesn't come out far enough for my liking. It feels tuned first for lounging, second for locked‑in work.

The motorized lumbar system has been revised internally and should be more durable. The feel, though, is very similar to the OG Omni: you get depth adjustment but not height. If the default strike point doesn't line up with your lower back, it can still feel more like a mid‑back nudge than that sweet, targeted lumbar hug. In the reclined modes it's more forgiving; in upright, I still wish they'd added vertical adjustment.

Then there's the new party trick: Active Airflow Seat Ventilation. Under the seat is a centrifugal fan pushing air up through perforated foam and mesh, with two levels—Low and High—rated for up to 36 and 9 hours respectively off the built‑in 3000 mAh battery. There's a seat sensor so it automatically pauses when you get up and resumes when you sit back down, plus a memory function so it remembers your last setting.

Here's the thing: it's winter where I am, so I haven't been desperate for a cooled backside. When I did use it, the sensation is more of a gentle coolness than "there's a fan under my bum." I can see this being a genuine quality‑of‑life upgrade in summer or if you work somewhere hot, but right now it feels more like a clever extra than the killer feature that justifies the "Pro" price tag.

The rest of the electronics story is thankfully boring in the good way. Battery life remains excellent; even with mixed use—occasional lumbar tweaks, the odd Omni stretch cycle, some airflow thrown in—I never got close to killing it. Like my Omni, I don't expect to be charging this one very often which is a great convenience.

What hasn't changed is the warranty, and that's the part that continues to bug me. You get five years on the frame and only two on the electronics, even though all the Pro‑specific magic lives in those electronics. LiberNovo promises better long‑term reliability this time around, but until these have been out in the wild for a few years, that's just a promise. And the optional footrest? Still the weak link. I didn't rate it on the original and it's effectively unchanged here: okay for lounging, not something I'd build my daily ergonomics around.

So where does that leave the Omni Pro? It's clearly the flagship of the range. You're paying extra for nicer fabric, cleaner finish, a more articulated recline and the cooling seat. Comfort, however, hasn't really moved on. This is still one of the most comfortable chairs I've used, but it doesn't feel noticeably comfier than the original Omni. The gains are mostly in polish and feel rather than in raw, "my back is changed forever" ergonomics.

Does it really earn the "Pro" badge? Sort of. It's the best, most premium expression of the Omni idea, not a ground‑up reimagining. If you want the nicest version and you're happy to pay for upgraded materials and the tech flourishes, the Omni Pro will absolutely treat you well. If you're more budget‑conscious, or simply less excited about motors and fans in the thing you sit on all day, the Omni SE suddenly looks very smart: you lose the electric lumbar and airflow, keep the core comfort and ergonomics, and save around $400. For a lot of people, that's going to be the real sweet spot.

If the thought of buying an office chair from an AI-focused company is giving you pause for concern, then let me allay those fears now. The Autonomous ErgoChair Ultra 2 is a good chair that's well-built, comfortable, and genuinely fine to use for a full day of work, followed by a night of gaming. It's not perfect, and the price tag doesn't quite match what you're getting, but those are criticisms that can be cast at any gaming chair these days.

I am getting ahead of myself, though, so let me start with the basics. Autonomous has designed its chair with the 'all-day PC enthusiast' very much in mind, and the ErgoChair Ultra 2 (sometimes listed as the Chair Ultra V2) ticks off every box you'd expect for such a product, such as 4D adjustable arms and an expansive seat.

One difficulty with reviewing chairs, office or gaming, is that there is a considerable degree of subjectivity to it all, rather like with keyboards and mice. What's comfortable or convenient for one person can be awkward and annoying for someone else, so it's worth knowing my own specifications before I discuss those of the Autonomous chair.

With a height of 184 cm (72.8 inches) and a weight of 68 kg (149.9 lbs), I'm the human equivalent of a giant stick insect, all arms and legs, and not much in the way of any padding around my posterior, if you catch my drift. I generally avoid mesh chairs, favouring dense foam ones, because they often lack enough support for my bony frame.

The ErgoChair Ultra 2 is the first mesh chair I've used where I've had no problems with back or seat comfort, and in the case of the former, the flexible spine helps by no small degree. Rather than using a rigid steel or aluminium frame, Autonomous designed a polymer structure that looks like alien cartilage.

That holds the seat back in place but also permits it to twist and flex slightly, and along with the polymer back itself, the whole thing does a good job of supporting my frame. There are no dials, knobs, or levers for adjusting anything: You just sit back, and the whole thing effectively moulds to, and fully supports, your shape. By not using metal here, the chair is also quite a bit lighter and easier to move about than your average gaming chair.

A similar approach has been used for the seat, in that underneath the foam pad, there is an array of polymer 'springs', though it's not quite as supportive as I'd like. I can sit all day in the ErgoChair Ultra 2 without too much issue, but I'd prefer a few more centimetres of foam in the pad. As it is, the seat doesn't feel as plush as the back, even though it's very spacious.

One function I do appreciate about the Autonomous design is that the seat depth is adjustable. Simply pull out a handle in the seat base, and the whole thing can easily slide back and forth by a few inches, giving taller people more thigh support. The only thing I don't like about this system is that shuffling the chair around while sitting in it causes the seat to 'clunk' about. That movement is only very small, but it does reduce the overall feeling of sturdiness.

Speaking of which, while the overall build quality is very good, the 4D adjustable armrests let down the package a touch. They're altered for height by pressing a small catch on the underside, but everything else (lateral and horizontal location, rotation) is done by simply pushing or pulling the rest into the desired position.

That's very easy to do, but it's actually too easy, and if you grab or lean on the armrests to move the chair about on a thick carpet, the rests will quickly slide out of position. Conversely, the height adjustment is quite stiff, and the arms tend to stick a little in the housing. A dose of silicone spray helped, though a better design would remove the problem altogether.

If you've just spent a good amount of time setting up the arms to suit your needs, you'd be rather annoyed that you'd have to do this all over again, simply because you needed to move the chair by pushing on the arms. On a smooth floor, tiled or laminated, this doesn't happen, but if your office/gaming den is carpeted like mine, it's something to be aware of with the Autonomous chair.

The armrests can be tightened up, and Autonomous provided me with a guide on how to do it: essentially, you need to fully dismantle them, screw down the respective bolts more firmly, and then reattach everything. Not a convenient solution, but at least there is a solution. They will still be 'light' to reposition, though that's an intended design.

There are a couple of rough edges on parts that have been manufactured using injection moulding, too. Nothing to cause any harm, and unless you look for it, you're unlikely to notice it. But it's just one more thing that takes a little bit of shine off the Autonomous' otherwise high levels of quality.

More so when you consider it costs $499. That's not super expensive for the market sector Autonomous is targeting, but neither does it have the playing field to itself. For example, ThunderX3 and Flexispot both make excellent mesh office chairs and are highly competitive on price and features. Meanwhile, the ErgoChair Ultra 2 doesn't sport footrests, and if you want a headrest, then you'll need to spend $50 more for the Plus model.

With $75 to $100 knocked off the price tag, you'd have no reason at all to complain, and I'd recommend the Autonomous ErgoChair Ultra 2 without hesitation. At a dollar shy of five hundred bucks, however, I'd suggest that you weigh up the chair's strengths—flexible back support, low weight, adjustable seat depth—against your specific needs and what the competition offers first.

There's no shortage of great chairs to choose from these days, after all.

It's not everyday that Secretlab drops a new chair but today is one of those days. It's called the Secretlab Atlas. It's a sleek, slim task chair that might appeal to those of us that spend our time equally between gaming and working from home. I've recently visited Secretlab HQ to chat about it, and I've been sitting in it over the past few days, so here's the rundown.

Compared to the ever-popular Titan Evo, the Atlas is simpler. It offers a high-back design. The backrest has a fixed S-shape position, in what's called a lordotic curvature, and offers synchronous tilt and seat depth adjustments.

A magnetic headrest is also provided with the chair, which I'm glad to report, as one of the best features of the Titan Evo. It's been slightly redesigned for the Atlas, however, with a curvier shape to support your neck.

The idea behind it is to support someone between both focus and rest modes, ie working, gaming, and chilling out. It's designed for the Pomodoro Technique, which a handful of Secretlab employees, including founder and CEO, Ian Ang, tell me they are practitioners of. That technique splits work up into 25-minute chunks with 5-minute breaks in between. I'm yet to try it, but I might give it a go.

It's also designed to support what is cited by Secretlab as 'dynamic sitting', which is the idea that a chair can aid in active movement and posture changes rather than holding a stiff, unmoving position for a long period.

I'm told by Secretlab Ergonomics Advisory Board Member and physician, Dr. Lindsey Migliore, that it's the lack of movement that's the real problem with sitting at your desk all day. The Atlas, I'm told, is Secretlab aiming to make a product to respond to this shift in understanding of ergonomics.

"The best posture is your next posture," says leading spine biomechanics professor Dr. Stuart McGill, who is cited by both Migliore and Ang during my time visiting the company and some influence on the Atlas design, as noted by head of product development at Secretlab, Vincent Sin.

"Static posture is the enemy of prolonged focus, yet most chairs still lock you in a single position," Sin said.

There are two versions of the Atlas available:

• Standard, in either leatherette or SoftWeave Plus fabric, using cold-cure foam and black hardware;
• Premium, with NanoFoam Composite and SoftWeave Plus fabric or NanoGen leatherette, and colour-matched hardware.

The Premium version comes in black (SoftWeave or NanoGen Leatherette), white, and beige (known as Dune). The standard version comes in more two-tone colourways, including black/grey (Cookies & Cream) and black/white (Moon).

We've given high praise to the NanoGen Edition of the Titan Evo previously, though it comes at a considerably higher price point, and the same is true for the Atlas.

• Secretlab Atlas will start at US$499 / €499 / £399 / SGD$599
• Secretlab Atlas (Premium Range) will start at US$699 / €699 / £599 / SGD$849

From my time with the chair, it's surprisingly comfortable for its thinner profile. It naturally supports my lower back and holds me in an upright position at the top tilt setting—that's a good thing for preventing slouching, which I'm exceedingly guilty of.

The Atlas will recline by up to 120 degrees, which can be controlled via the levers. These are pretty smart compared to some, including a couple of indicators, one that says whether the seating position is locked, and another that lets you know at a glance what tilt force is set to.

There are four levels to this tilt control, with the lighter resistance option letting you rock back and forth with ease. I gave this a whirl in Secretlab HQ and I'm glad to report I didn't go sneaker over sunglasses—it's pretty stable.

With a marginally lower price tag than the Secretlab Titan Evo, I feel this will prove a more popular option for its lack of bulk compared to the best gaming chair. That slim profile in combination with its grown-up colourways may find more appreciation among home offices than Twitch streams.

As I sit down in a studio made up to look like a swanky apartment, I have to come to an unfortunate realisation. Sitting across from me is someone who was, like me, born in 1992. His name is Ian Ang and he is the CEO of a very successful furniture business, while I just have the pleasure of asking him about it.

We're sat on some of the only chairs in the building not made by Ang's company, Secretlab. Secretlab was set up around 2014 by Ang and Alaric Choo. We're meeting for the first time in their company headquarters in Singapore. I'm here to see the company's new task chair, the Atlas, but our day is as much about meeting the people behind its products as it is the new gaming throne.

Secretlab rose to prominence with the Omega, which we rated as the best gaming chair from 2018 until 2021. The original Titan took its place, and shortly after that, the Titan Evo, which still holds the position today. That's a chair that's easy to spot behind any number of Twitch streamers. So, that's where I start. For the next hour, I'm free to chat with CEO Ang about anything and everything, so I ask how Secretlab managed to get behind so many big names.

"We don't actually have a Twitch strategy," Ang says. "For us, we started with esports."

Ang describes himself and Choo as ex-semi-professional esports players. Their game of choice: Starcraft II.

"When we started the chairs, chairs wasn't a category or product that people even thought about," Ang says. "Companies didn't think about it. People didn't think about it. So for me, back then, I had just basically put together my own gaming setup—that was in 2014 or 2013—and then I realized gaming monitor, gaming mouse, gaming keyboard. And to complete the setup, I wanted a chair that could fit it out with my entire setup and I just couldn't find one.

"Back then, I was young, I was naive, so the thinking was simply as stupid as, since it's not available out there, I'm going to make one."

We're talking at the end of my day at Secretlab's Singaporean office. I've been roaming between showrooms, product demonstrations, testing facilities, video studios filled with fake office set-ups that look better than my real one, and very real offices filled with hushed employees trying their best to ignore the gaggle of strangers in the corner. For the most part, I'm free to snap pictures of the place, with a few exceptions. That includes the labs. One of the reasons why is that Secretlab is wary of copycats and product clones.

"People copy us. Of course it bothers us. I would say decreasingly so over time," Ang admits.

"Think of Vincent [Sin] and his designers. Of course, it affects them. It's like their work is getting plagiarised."

Secretlab is looking to protect its designs more nowadays than it has in the past.

"I'm quite, I would say, a passionate and proud person," Ang says. "So of course, when you build something and then people start making lookalikes and such. And, I mean, we've been on this whole 10-year journey. So at the start, we were small. Of course, we just did what we thought was cool and good. And we didn't even think that we [would] become as big as we are today. We didn't think about people copying us and such.

"So, since five years ago, we realized that, okay, we should be proud of the work that we create. We should go and patent it. We should protect it."

The business has applied for patents for some of its core products and concepts. You can find them today, often filed around 2021 or later, including the design for the Titan Evo, or those filed under Vincent Sin's name, such as monitor arms and a chair-mounted footrest.

Vincent Sin is head of industrial design at Secretlab. He's the person that walks us through the features on the new Atlas and shows me around the labs. He's in his element talking about tools or how the team designed a footrest attachment for the Titan Evo. Perhaps even more than when he's showing us the finished product. He explains the team's struggle to design an armrest with infinite positions due to the availability of gas pistons of a suitable size and strength.

Secretlab eventually made that armrest and called it InfinitePrecision. Sin and his colleague tells us it was only made possible after the company convinced a manufacturer to make a gas piston to its exact specifications. While demonstrating the armrest in a different room, Ang tells us about that struggle and how Secretlab ended up in a position to make this sort of project happen.

"You have to go to the manufacturer and tell them, 'Okay, we will only make 1000'," Ang says as he adjusts the armrest. "They're gonna be like, 'we don't want to do it'."

"How about this?" He continues, as if talking to a unwavering supplier. "You do it for us. We'll pay for it. We pay for everything. All the capital expenditure."

The InfinitePrecision armrest is a passion project for Ang and Choo. They tend to think of famous esports players as the inspiration behind it. One being Starcraft legend Flash. Flash used to be known by 'God' and 'The Greatest Weapon', and, in other similarities to myself, was born in 1992. Coincidence? Totally. But he also used to bring a ruler to esports events to measure the exact distance between his keyboard and mouse. The same goes for Keria, from League of Legends team T1, who was spotted measuring their armrests while setting up for a tournament.

For these pro players, an infinitely adjustable armrest set with precision is actually useful. For everyone else, Ang admits, not so much. I'm grateful for this moment of honesty here, as when Secretlab sent us the armrests last year, we thought they were a bit over-engineered and expensive for the general public.

"We know that this is a loss making venture for us. The resources we call into this can be used by the esports teams, the esports tournaments, but the average consumer will probably not be using this," Ang says.

Ang says it's a good example of the clout that Secretlab can now wield to its competitive advantage.

"The gas piston was an example. But things like our foam, our upholsteries, for example, if we weren't producing millions of meters of upholstery every year, we wouldn't be able to create our own one, which, you know, we were kind of the ones pushing the envelope for this, along with automotive industry.

"It's like no other chair brand is able to have this kind of push when it comes to the supplier level," Ang says.

Secretlab's latest chair is the Atlas, which launches at $499. Unless you buy the NanoGen model that uses Secretlab's proprietary leatherette or foam, starting at $699. It's these sort of materials that sum up Secretlab's approach: proprietary and premium. We see it put to the test in the labs. The leatherette is prodded, pulled, and poked at repeatedly by specially designed machines. I still feel it's a lot of money for fancy leatherette and foam but Dave talked highly of it in our Titan Evo Nanogen review. Perhaps I'm just a cheapskate.

I start to understand the cost when speaking to Ang about it: "We want this exact leatherette and it's not available on market, so we will invest $2 million to set up the manufacturing lines in our factories to get it done," he says.

When I ask Ang whether the company has considered a budget option—beyond the Secretlab Titan Evo Lite that, in my opinion, isn't cheap enough at $449—I'm told it's not built for that.

"We're built for innovation and making great quality products," Ang says.

"If we want to be more of a sell-out cash grab, then we could do something. We could take something a bit more off the shelf and sell it. But that's that's not really playing to Secretlab's strengths as well. We have all these awesome designers and engineers, [we] should let them do great work."

That's a no, then. But Ang does end on a more hopeful note regarding affordable and high-end options:

"To answer your question, we have looked at exploring multiple categories as well. There's always an exploration… we are actively exploring different categories, but we only want to do it when we have something good enough."

But when I'm introduced to the new Atlas chair, I'm left thinking of the NeueChair. This being a task chair created by Secretlab but marketed under a different name. The NeueChair is pretty hard to find nowadays, and when I bring it up, I have to keep repeating the name with both Ang and the chief of staff, Ronald Loh. Though that's not just because they've forgotten about it, it's because I'm saying it wrong. You should say it like a third-wave emo singer. It's not 'New-Chair'.

"Honestly, we haven't heard it mentioned for quite a long time," Ang says, "think it was a bit of experiment for that one."

This is an example of the company trying something different. Built from mesh, the NeueChair seems to go against everything that the company is espousing today. Early in my visit to Secretlab, we were shown a demonstration on the benefits of foam over mesh, using heavy weights and machines to measure the distribution of weight over both materials. It not only took aim at Secretlab's competitors, but the NeueChair, too. The newer task chair from the company, the Atlas, uses foam.

But Ang doesn't seem to mind talking of change. He seems pretty clued up on how ergonomics have changed over the past decade or so, reiterating the advice of experts, including one we spoke to earlier in the day, Dr. Lindsey Migliore.

Migliore, known as Dr. Lindsey to Secretlab employees, is an esports medicine expert and physician. They offered me some scathing but fair judgements of my posture (I asked for it) and are part of the company's Ergonomics Advisory Board. Ang also cites a quote from a Dr. Stuart McGill, a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo in spine biomechanics, who suggests "the best posture is your next posture."

"So that's something that we firmly believe," Ang says.

"Why is the prevailing wisdom sit upright in the 90-90-90 kind of position? I think that this is an area that, right now we are kind of the expert in terms of the making furnitures for. [That] might change with time."

I ask Ang if sitting habits or science were to change, what would they do in response? He says they'd be the first to change things up if it did, but it's impossible to tell the future. That said, he does use this opportunity to unexpectedly rally against the metaverse, which seems partially due to a proposed change in sitting habits that never came, and because, as a gamer, Ang thought the metaverse wasn't very good.

"The metaverse didn't make sense to me at all. It's like, there's already MMOs out there. People go to the virtual world for a purpose. You're in the World of Warcraft town for a reason. You don't go into the virtual world to look at your land or whatnot. Back then, people were saying, 'Oh yeah, it's going to be the next big thing' and whatnot. And then, as a result, maybe the sitting habits, they might change. Yeah, but of course, it didn't."

By this point, I've spent a full day at Secretlab's offices. I've chatted to founders, department heads, designers, testers, and product managers. Until this moment, when I'm chatting with Ang, no one has uttered these two letters together: AI. I get it, we're chatting chairs, but few companies of Secretlab's size and success can escape the pressure to put AI into their product, even if doing so is about as graceful as an elephant on ice skates. So I break the silence.

"If we were owned by outside investors, you can bet that AI will be somehow jammed down our throats," Ang says, citing the fact that he and Choo still own the company they founded 12 years ago.

"Even today, we could probably put some sort of AI inside. But whether it's really beneficial or is it something very marginal that zero, only 0.1% of users, might even use… that's a different question. For us, of course, we have thought about it from a product perspective, but right now, we just don't think it's applicable."

That's two for two: a CEO that doesn't spout the benefits of AI or the metaverse. That's genuinely quite a rare thing to witness these days and I find myself warming to Ang a little more as a result. Ang goes on to further explain how the company not seeking large amounts of outside investment allows it to stick to its guns.

"We are adopting it, of course. But, once again, because we don't have the pressure of outside investments—because outside investments, you always need to sell the company somehow to another buyer—then we are not under pressure to force AI down their throat."

There's another thing that Ang admits he gets asked a lot by prospective investors, and that's how likely people are to become repeat customers when the product, say a gaming chair, lasts a long time.

"You've seen our Atlas, our idea is that people naturally upgrade themselves, when features are good enough to justify, when they trust and love the brand enough. I'm sure you guys have some brands of your own where you love it so much that whenever they release new things, you can't wait to use it. So that's how we kind of approach it."

I suppose it's a good problem to have, even if I'm personally not going to impulse buy a gaming chair on brand recognition alone. And from my time at Secretlab and speaking with Ang and his colleagues, I can see why its products have stayed in our recommendations for so many years. It's playing its own game. Not often looking to competitors for instruction or inspiration, and only more recently with newfound zeal to catch copycats and clones. Moreover, I can see how Ang has ended up running a successful business after the same 30-odd years on this Earth as me.

"In my opinion, the product is the most important thing," Ang says, and despite my usual pessimism to CEO's saying this sorta stuff, I do get the impression he actually means it.

I remember the stigma attached to gaming chairs even 10 years ago. The general consensus among many being they're all style over substance. Browse most major retailers and you're sure to find some specimens even today, many of which leave ergonomics to the imagination. That's gradually changing—as is the science behind sitting.

I recently had a chance to speak to Dr. Lindsey Migliore to find out from someone that knows a thing or two about it.

Dr. Migliore is a physician working in esports medicine. She wrote a book about it and founded a consultancy on esports health, GamerDoc, in 2020. She's also teamed up with Herman Miller and Secretlab, acting as an ergonomic advisor to the gaming chair company. That's where I met Dr. Migliore, at Secretlab's HQ in Singapore—everyone calls her Dr. Lindsey.

I offer to show Dr. Lindsey my own sitting position, which I sheepishly admit is absolutely dreadful. I hunch forward. I don't mean to but I catch myself gradually moving towards the screen throughout the day. Maybe it's my eyesight—that's what I tell the doc, anyways—but it doesn't protect me from the savaging yet to come.

Dr. Lindsey had a lot to say about my sitting position. Little of it good. Even besides my persistent and problematic hunching, my feet aren't always flat to the floor and I don't use my standing desk as often as I should. I'm a great example of what not to do.

Dr. Lindsey judges my posture and quickly—maybe too quickly—suggests I suffer from lower back pain in the morning. It's actually an ongoing issue, and now I'm sat in front of a physician who accurately diagnosed the issue in seconds, I start to wonder if I've entirely created it through my own awful posture.

"Starting to catch up on you a little bit?" Dr. Lindsey says as I hunch over the desk in the Secretlab showroom. "Back pain in the morning? Can't touch your toes?"

Dr. Lindsey is correct about the back pain. Though I can touch my toes because I do yoga, which I quickly interject to try to make it appear that I'm not a complete and utter gremlin.

Thankfully, this isn't merely an exercise in mocking me. The doc goes through some steps to better fit the chair to my body and support me throughout the day, which you may find useful in your own quest for better posture and a longer shelf life behind a desk.

"Feet flat on the floor is the number one most important thing."

"Knees in line with hips, maybe hips a little bit above," Dr Lindsey continues, suggesting I should raise the height of the chair a little.

"When you adjust the seat depth, you want two to three finger breadths behind your knee and the chair."

What Dr. Lindsey means by this is, when sitting upright with your feet flat on the floor, extending two or three fingers together on one hand, slot them between the end of the seat and the inside of your knee. If you can fit your fingers there, but no more, you're in a good position. If not, adjust the seat depth.

"So you want your low back flat against this," Dr Lindsey says, tapping the lumbar section of the backrest. I'm sat in Secretlab's new Atlas chair, which Dr. Lindsey has been brought in to speak about, but this advice works for anything with a reasonable attention to ergonomics.

We move onto armrests, which I'm thankfully no longer required to demonstrate. Dr. Lindsey is surprisingly easygoing when it comes to setting them to a preferred height for personal comfort.

"Some people put their armrest right at desk level, which is great, because then you can sit like this," Dr. Lindsey sits with her arms across the armrests and atop the desk. "I put them a little bit below, and then raise my desk up so I can get more close and use kind of more the desk as my armrests."

"So the arm is usually at about the level of the desk, but it's more personal preference. You just want your wrist to be neutral."

A neutral wrist, which is a focus of ergonomic keyboards and mice, is to reduce the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. With a neutral wrist position—the position they'd take if you loosely hang your hands by your sides—the pressure is relieved from your carpal tunnel, which sits between the two bones extending towards the hand.

"Any extension, or flexion, the pressure on the nerve that runs through there sky rockets, and that's what causes compression over time. So you want to keep your wrists in neutral, and that's really what the armrests do, and kind of offload the weight on the forearms a little bit."

A desk that can be adjusted to your height is a handy thing to have, Dr. Lindsey admits, but suggests you can get by with stacking books under the legs as she once did.

"So when you're thereat the desk, the desk is going to move to you so your elbows are at 90 (degrees), and then the monitors should be an arm's length away, and then the top of the monitor should be at or just below eye level."

A lot of this is the ideal posture, which Dr. Lindsey is keen to point out is only half the battle. Sitting upright is good, but movement is key. I can hunch, if only for a bit, so long as I mix up my sitting position shortly thereafter. I should aim for good posture, but I should also aim for lots of postures throughout the day.

"Ergonomics isn't just physical anymore. It's got to be behavioral. It's got to be something that makes it easy for you to move."

"When I started working, it was like the 90-90-90 rule, which was stiff, upright elbows," Dr. Lindsey says as she demonstrates an upright seating position. "The perfect posture."

"And then we started applying it more to office workers and how we all kind of sit in the early 2000s and that's when adjustability started blowing up. And we got split keyboards, vertical mice, sit-to-stand desks. And adjustability is great. It's essential. But they replaced, like perfect, upright sitting with perfectly supported stillness. You know, there was no movement, there was no intentionality to movement."

Dr. Lindsey explains how the muscles in our body are meant to take load and respond with tension. Otherwise we'd flop over. The issue is that sitting for a long period of time causes strain to muscles holding tension. The symptoms of this strain change with time.

"In the short term, it's pain, it's discomfort, but in the long term, the tissue remodels. The tissue remodels to get used to stillness, to get used to lack of movement.

"So now what we're looking at in modern ergonomics is you've got to get your butts moving," Dr. Lindsey says.

One piece of advice is to actually use the tilt functionality on your chair if it has one. Flip the lever and relax a little—moving the muscle tension elsewhere, if only for a while before moving back. Another piece of advice is for anyone with multiple monitors, especially those with a monitor off to one side. It is, simply, to move the monitor from one side to the other from time to time so that your neck isn't always craning one way. It seems so simple as to be obvious, but I'd never done it before.

Nowadays, I have a single ultrawide monitor, and thankfully the advice is pretty straightforward there: plonk it right in front of you, considering the eye-level and arm's distance away advice mentioned earlier.

Another solid recommendation is for anyone with a standing desk. That is to always stand when you remember you have a standing desk. It's a habit builder—Lord knows I need new habits as someone that infrequently stands throughout the day.

As for me, since my meeting with Dr. Lindsey, I've become acutely aware of my poor posture throughout the day. I'm trying to remember to do something about it. I was told "It's not too late for you," though admittedly I forgot my own age when asked and Dr. Lindsey thinks I'm 32. I'm 34. Maybe it is too late for me.

"You still have time to reverse these changes. You know, life's not a video game where we get to choose another character. We are stuck in this. So, I think you've got some actionables."

"I'm not gonna bully you anymore," she says. But I get it. The message is loud and clear, Doc. Better late than never.

I'm not usually one for raving over chairs, but I reckon Corsair's new TC80 is worth looking out for. That's because the company is stressing two things that are music to my ears: a move away from "gaming chair style", and affordability. The company says:

"Coming in at an accessible price, we've integrated all the most important features from our other gaming chairs, and distilled them down into a more affordable product."

Corsair also says that, "following our popular TC500 Luxe, we have continued the move away from traditional gaming chair style. The TC80 has more subtle branding, a muted color pallet, and a more professional vibe overall."

I reviewed the TC500 Luxe a couple of years ago and liked it, for the most part. The main thing I didn't like was its armrests, which are too far away from the chair. It doesn't look like that will be a problem here, though, as the arms are connected to the chair.

The other Corsair chair to consider when looking at the TC80 is the TC100 Relaxed. This was our favourite budget chair for a very long time, until it was pipped by the ThunderX3 Solo 360. The biggest difference to my eyes, going off the specs, is that you can recline much further with a TC100 Relaxed. But, if you don't lie back fully in your chair—post-game naps, maybe?—then 115 degrees should be more than enough for most people.

The armrests on the TC80 are also "linkage" ones, meaning they should stay nicely aligned with your forearms however much you recline in it.

The back rest is a little shorter and slimmer compared to the TC100 Relaxed, but from the photos it still looks plenty spacious, and the back itself seems to jut out far enough that hopefully none of the padding around the sides will dig in. Corsair describes it as a "firmer, more supportive central section for enhanced lumbar support." There's a detachable neck pillow, too, if that's your jam.

It's personal preference, of course, but I also like the look of the "flatter wider base", and agree with Corsair that flat seats are "ideal for longer workdays that turn into even longer gaming nights." Under the fabric, there are high-density foams that Corsair claims "won’t collapse after a few years of use leading to an uncomfortable chair."

Apparently the TC80 has gone through BIFMA and EN1335 testing, too, which basically means it's been twisted and turned to no end with heavy weight testing: "They really do abuse these chairs to make sure they're safe and long-lasting." Good stuff.

In all, with the fabric-first, wide-and-flat approach combined with supposed affordability, the TC80 is one chair I'm genuinely excited to see more of. Hopefully it delivers on its promises—including when it comes to price.

The Flexispot C7 Morpher is a very comfortable chair, and you'd expect it to be at the whopping price of £800/$800. Born out of Flexispot's earlier C7, the Morpher brings with it a whole suite of ergonomic features to justify that price tag. Most aspects of it can be fiddled with, and there are some really ingenious design decisions. It's just that I cannot get over the enormous, too-close-to-$1000 price tag, despite it being a really good chair.

That high price tag is partially due to the version of the Morpher that was sent. In two massive boxes, the company had sent over the mesh edition (the US can get a cheaper foam backing), along with the footrest. The footrest feels like an add-on as, while comfortable, it's not as cleanly designed as the rest of the chair, and sits just behind the legs, pushing on them. In some way, the not-so-tidiness of how it doesn't fully fold away helps contribute to keeping me in position.

I did fear those boxes, however. When they arrived, all that could run through my head was the various packs of screws and having to find a numbered part. Thankfully, the setup only took around 20 minutes, all told, and that includes not holding the chair's base still enough while my partner tried to screw it together. In the box was a massive safety-in-the-workplace styled poster. If it wasn't clear from its lack of frilly design, logos, and sweaty fake leather or soft felt, the Flexispot C7 Morpher is an office chair first, everything else chair second.

Flexispot has really taken the mundane into deep consideration with the design of the Morpher. The arms swivel 360 degrees, so any arm position or desk size won't take from the ergonomic aspects of the chair's whole ethos. Raising these up and having one at a 180-degree position, leaning forward a tad to the keyboard, while trudging through Diablo 4's latest expansion was a game-changer. Laziness, but my back isn't sore afterwards. Of course, this benefit also goes over to the day job.

I'm quite particular about my chairs, especially after spending around four or five years sitting in them at office jobs, trying to be cooler than they were. During my time in SecretLabs, or DXRacers, and even their knock-off copycats, I found they encouraged bad sitting habits. I'd spy colleagues gargoyling it up, or slouched deep. My back would then remind me that I, too, had gone into "goblin mode".

Since reviewing the Flexispot BS10 in 2022, I've been bolt upright for the majority of my time since then. There's an adjustable lumbar support, which can have air pumped into it like a sneaker, and then moved vertically to suit your needs. The back of the chair can be tilted. This goes pretty far back, and the tension is controlled with a knob across four settings. With a maximum weight capacity of 380 pounds (about 27 stone, or 172 kilograms), this will be crucial so that our heavier compatriots don't fling themselves backwards too quickly. Once in position, this can be locked down with a hit of the flap under the chair.

As to be expected at the eye-watering price tag, almost every facet of the ergonomics can be fiddled with here. The headrest can be contorted to a desired position, as can the seat depth.

The C7 Morpher takes this up a notch, but it might be one for the shorter individuals out there. Rather than rounded legs, the C7 Morpher has flat foot rests, so that no matter your height, you'll always have flat footing. It's just so comfortable.

The mesh is also something that is probably a 'must have', if you're also like me, and fearing the drenching of sweat this summer while cooped up in a home office. Never mind the intermittent heatwaves we've been having here in the UK, the Morpher's mesh has already been a great assistant, letting the air from the fan flow where it was most needed.

So yes, it's an excellent chair from an ergonomics standpoint, but how is it for gaming? What's the benefit here, over one of the many other and possibly cheaper chairs out there? Well, it's hard to recommend. Sure, slouching back with lumbar support that I've pumped to my preference is a luxury, especially with my little legs in the air from the footrest. Controller in hand, blasting that horrid green critter with cards in Vampire Crawlers for a bonus. It is a luxury. It's also an $800 luxury, one that you have to understand is an investment in yourself, over everything.

See, there's no status or anything that owning a gaming chair comes with. It is, again, an all business chair. Gaming in it is certainly comfortable, but it's not the direct, intended function here. What's nice is being able to use all of these adjustments to make gaming as comfortable as possible after that shift. Even being able to change how the chair is positioned at the desk is enough to create a different environment between work and play in a weird way.

If you work from home or are in your computer chair for long stretches, then yes, the C7 Morpher is absolutely a recommendation. It'll help support your back and allow you to adjust the chair to your needs. I've spent a long time talking about the high price of the chair, but it being a Flexispot seat it is prone to a good sale discount. Right now you can get it with a sizeable $150/£250 discount, which is a decent chunk of change off. The point here is that even with such a discount you're still talking about it being the price of an undiscounted Secretlab chair.

The C7 Morpher then isn't for everyone. It's a stupendous sit, but the exorbitant price won't sit well with everyone. Or maybe anyone. I love the chair, received it for free, and still have reservations about actually sitting in it.

I've often wondered why gaming chairs aren't more like luxury car seats. I mean, some are, but they usually end up being "racing" models that are about as comfortable as being poked with a polyurethane-covered stick.

Surely it'd be simple enough to take a comfy car seat design, strap a piston and wheel combo to the bottom of it alongside some armrests, and then charge what you like. Oh look, here comes Toyota with exactly that.

The Crown Seat Desk Chair [PDF] is, as the name suggests, marketed as more of a desk chair than a gaming throne (via Tom's Hardware). Still, I know a good gaming chair when I see one. Look at those lovingly-crafted bolsters, designed to keep you centred on the action when things get hectic. The quality stitching. The headrest that looks ready to be tilted back for an after-game nap. Mmmm.

It's based on the car seat from, you guessed it, a Toyota Crown, and comes with powered adjustability settings, built-in electric heating and cooling, and a USB Type-C charging port hidden in the seatbelt buckle. Oh yes, I nearly forgot—it seems some elements have been retained from the actual car seat itself. A nice touch, but I bet you'd find yourself banging into it constantly if you bought one.

And therein lies two further problems. One, Toyota Boshoku, the company's seating and interior components specialist, is only producing 70 of them. And two, it's a Japan exclusive model, with a price tag that equates to around $3,500.

Ah, it was going so well, wasn't it? I tried looking for pre-owned Toyota Crown car seats and discovered some decent (although fabric-covered) examples starting for around $385, so hope is not lost. You could always make one a project, although good luck creating something as tidy-looking as the real thing.

Damn you, unobtainable gaming chair of my dreams. You elude me once more, but here's hoping this isn't the last we see of comfy car seats converted for desk-based usage. Just work on the pricing for me, would ya?

A reasonable price, something actually comfortable, a range of adjustability options, a small-ish box and an easy build. When it comes to a number of budget gaming chairs, it can feel like a case of 'pick two—and be thankful you got two'. The ThunderX3 Solo 360 is different. Instead it asks, 'why choose?'

With an MSRP of $250/£200/€220, it's hard not to sing the praises of this budget perch. The ThunderX3 Solo 360 enjoys a similar price point to our top pick for the best budget gaming chair, the Corsair TC100 Relaxed—and I'd argue that the TC100 has met its match.

First things first, the ThunderX3 Solo 360 rocked up in a box that was easily half the size of the last chair I built, the DXRacer Martian XL. The purposefully scaled-up size of that chair makes for maybe not the fairest comparison, but the difference between its considerable cardboard cube and the Solo's supersized cereal box was stark.

As for construction, the Solo lived up to its name; I found this chair super easy to construct as a one woman band. Typically, I'll often have to call on a colleague to help mount the backrest onto the seat, or place the fully assembled seat onto the piston, but all parts of the Solo proved lightweight enough to assemble without assistance.

On a construction process side note, I found the visual instructions mostly easy to follow—though unfortunately the drawings of the screws look different to what's in the box. Thankfully, it's all clearly labelled, and you even get a spare of each screw type. Speaking of construction pack-ins, you can pry the included L-bar hex key with a ball end socket from my cold, dead hands.

With the seat pretty quickly built, there was only one thing left to do—well, after quickly dismantling the armrests to attach the plastic joints I'd missed the first time around. After that, I finally pulled up the gaming chair and deposited myself into its firm, car-seat-style embrace.

Despite the small box this gaming chair arrives in, the seat doesn't feel narrow to me. The ThunderX3 Solo 360's bottom cushion and back rest is constructed of very firm foam, keeping the chair reasonably lightweight but also very comfortable.

The headrest attaches via two steel stems, much like a car seat headrest. Unlike many of its competitors, the Solo 360 doesn't offer a separate, removable pillow, so this up-down headrest is all the support your bonce is getting. There's no separate lumbar support cushion, either. It's all still pretty comfortable, with nary a numb bum experienced during my testing, but its car seat-like styling definitely comes with some quirks that definitely won't appeal to everyone. I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather the throne from which I game did not also remind me of the tin can I trundle to work in.

Less quirky are the '3D x 360°' armrests. Essentially, all that means is that the tops of the armrests can rotate around and around, but rather than a smooth, unimpeded rotation, there's a clickyness that should stop you from too easily knocking the armrests out of your preferred position. You can also retract the tops of the armrests, and a little lever underneath each one allows you to adjust its height.

The 3D armrests are definitely a neat inclusion on such an affordable chair—especially considering the Corsair TC100 Relaxed's 2D armrests leave a lot to be desired.

The ThunderX3 Solo 360 also offers a 'synchronous tilt' which "allows the backrest and seat to move together at the optimal ratio, providing ergonomic support for your entire body." Given that the ThunderX3 Flex Pro is our preferred perch when it comes to the best office chair for gaming, the Solo 360's ergonomic edge is hardly surprising. You can also lock your preferred angle in place by pushing the seat height adjustment pedal in, towards the central piston.

Unlocking it can prove perilous though, as the whole pedal slipped completely off when I pulled it out again. This is easily fixed, so long as you take care to thread the not-completely -round plastic tube back onto the not-completely-round metal pole. My clumsiness aside, that synchronous tilt provided a lengthened silhouette that was frankly impractical for the hardware team's corner of PCG Towers, and a level of comfort I was extremely reluctant to extricate myself from. 'Tis a shame to know that I snore.

That aside, it's time to talk looks and, as you might already expect from a budget chair, they are decidedly basic here. Specifically, I reviewed the Loft Air in a Dark Grey colourway. The model I reviewed also came with a thin pocket on the reverse of the back rest. Naturally, this is touted as extra storage but you'll likely struggle to get much more in it than, say, the documentation that came in the box.

The main drawback of this model specifically is its woven fabric seat covering. It's definitely not wipe clean, so good luck to us all come summertime—though I suppose it beats peeling myself away from polyurethane leather.

Though basic, that's not to say there's no attention to aesthetic detailing here. For one thing, I like the subtle logo embroidery on the headrest, and the soft suede accents marking the contours of the chair. I personally prefer to go for hardware that's a lot showier, but I'm not immune to this chair's low-key, subtle charm. For only £200, you can definitely live without a showier gaming chair.

Though the ThunderX3 Solo 360 does without magnetic head rest pillows or a seat wide enough to sit cross-legged upon, it does give the Corsair TC100 Relaxed a run for its similarly reasonable price point. Both are genuinely comfy gaming chairs and both offer a deep recline, but the Solo 360 manages to pack slightly more into its £200 offering.

For one thing, you've got fairly sturdy armrests that are also highly adjustable. While the Corsair TC100 Relaxed offers '2D' armrests, you can't really argue with the ThunderX3 Solo 360's extra dimension of adjustability. On top of that, the Solo 360 is far more straightforward to build, even if you've only got one pair of hands to spare.

Lastly, and certainly not least of all to me, I simply prefer the low-key look of the Solo 360. The Corsair TC100 Relaxed also offers understated colourways (and, I'm literally only just finding this out, also comes in lilac) but I think I enjoy the well-balanced silhouette of the Solo 360 even more.

But could the ThunderX3 Solo 360 roll the Corsair TC100 Relaxed away from the budget pick top spot? I'd certainly go to bat for it.

A moment from 2019's Control that has always stayed with me involves a skeleton in a wig yelling at another still cursed-looking puppet, "EVERYONE WANTS THE BIG CHAIR, MEG." But when it comes to this XL edition from DX Racer, I'm not so sure.

It's not just the fact that, as a generally not small woman, my feet don't touch the ground while sitting in this gaming chair, but also the fact I'm perched atop a 5000 mAh lithium ion battery. Yes, this is a $699/£580 gaming chair offering an array of features that require a considerable amount of juice.

But before we get into all of that, let us ask the most basic question: What is it like as a regular ol' gaming chair? Well, as previously mentioned, the first thing to get out of the way is that this is not really made for me; the XL or Plus edition of the DXRacer Martian Series is intended for folks up to 180 cm tall, and is designed to support a weight of up to 125 kg. But even adjusted to my preferred tilt angle and the lowest possible chair height, my feet don't touch the floor, swinging in the air like a tiny tyrant.

To put it another way, this gaming chair is very much pitched towards someone who could easily reach the top shelf.

As for actually taking a seat, I've caught myself assuming the posture of a prawn more often than I'd like during testing, which just goes to show how important it is to not only properly adjust your gear, but to find the gaming chair that best suits you. My crustacean posture is a shame because I otherwise very much appreciate how the XL's extra wide, 59.5 cm seat ensures my buns don't feel the slightest bit claustrophobic. By most metrics, it's an exceedingly generous seat and, when I actually remember to sit against the back rest properly, it's comfortable even without the motorised lumbar support.

I was also impressed by the magnetic head rest's range of adjustability. To compare, I personally find the Secretlab Titan Evo's headrest lacks a similar amount of magnetic real estate. In other words, our top pick for the best gaming chair overall doesn't support my short-arse as well as it could, and also comes with a magnetic headrest that my clumsy-self finds far too easy to accidentally dislodge.

The DXRacer Martian XL, on the other hand, offers a roomy range of adjustability, allowing for a magnetic headrest that actually has a hope of supporting my head and neck.

Constructed with cold cure foam over a metal frame, the DXRacer Martian XL is also sturdy bit of kit—even after a questionable construction job from yours truly. While I personally prefer the bouncy resistance of a mesh chair (like the AndaSeat X-Air Pro), the cold cure foam here is definitely firm and supportive. There's no sinking feeling here.

Depending on your living space, this chair's roominess can prove a double-edged sword. Actually building the chair is fairly straightforward thanks to easy to follow visual instructions and well-labelled cables, but it's very much a two-person job due to the heft alone. For another thing, rolling this bad boy through PC Gamer towers proved a little touch-and-go, especially when attempting to navigate through a single-width doorway. If you need to shuffle this gaming chair between rooms for whatever reason, be careful you don't scrape your paint work.

The Martian XL also offers '4D' adjustable arm rests. Rather than freely spinning around, you'll need to hold in one of the buttons along the armrest's underside to freely adjust it; the inner button near the arm rests base lets you move it side-to-side, while the one closest to your thumb lets you shift the arm rest forwards and backwards, and a metallic paddle on the arm rest's outer edge controls height. Release the button and the arm rests lock in place. This makes for sturdy arm rests not easily knocked out of position, offering consistent support across a welcomely wide surface area.

Right, it's finally time to talk about what perching atop a lithium ion battery gets you. A number of air bags beneath the backrest offer tuneable lumbar support. You can adjust this pretty finely via four directional buttons within arm's reach, below the arm rest on the right-hand side. Though I'm broadly sceptical of motorised gaming chairs, the option of truly personalised support for my creaky back goes a long way to softening my stance.

Alongside the four directional buttons, a centre button offers a massage mode where air bags all along the spine of the chair inflate to gently poke you in the back—it's perhaps the least impressive of the DXRacer Martian's motorised offerings.

Alongside this gentle prodding, you also have seat cooling and seat heating options. These are definitely a neat addition, with the warmest setting ensuring your buns will be decently toasty—best remember to take that chocolate bar out of your back pocket before you take a seat though.

If testing allowed for it, I would be interested to see whether the internal fan makes sitting in a leatherette gaming chair during the height of summer any less miserable.

This is all possible thanks to a fairly heavy-duty battery, advertised as holding about 360 hours or two weeks of charge. You can recline easily in the knowledge this chair won't need to be constantly plugged in—though I do wish the charging cable was just a little bit longer; depending on the layout of your gamer haven, the limited charging cable length may present a bit of a practical challenge as it did for me.

Last—and perhaps least—you also get LED lighting situated in the seat hinge, though this is pretty underwhelming and ultimately it feels tacked on to make the most out of DXRacer's claim that this is 'The World's First Electric Gaming Chair'.

Beyond the flashily named '4D Electric Lumbar Support,' I'm still not convinced that a lithium ion-powered throne is what was missing from my gaming life. Not everyone wants the big chair after all.

However, if you're broader and taller than I am, our top pick for larger folks is the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL. The DXRacer Martian XL offers just a few precious centimetres more in terms of back and seat width, but the Kaiser 4 XL is still a very spacious chair—you even get adjustable lumbar support.

A low battery won't stop you from adjusting the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL, as its lower back support cushion pops out to offer 4-level adjustment via a dial you can directly noodle with. On top of that, the Kaiser 4 XL enjoys even snazzier adjustable '5D' armrests and, at $580 USD/£480 GBP, this gaming seat also manages to be a good bit cheaper than the DXRacer Martian XL. Perhaps it will be the big chair for you.

As you either already know or otherwise won't be surprised to hear, I'm a sucker for cute gear. While I appreciate colourful kit, that doesn't mean I'm compelled to scoop up every bit of tat with a cute character on it. That said, the Secretlab Pokemon Collection has caught my eye, much to my personal hardware budget's dismay.

That's right, the Secretlab Titan Evo gaming chair is getting a Pokemon makeover, offering three different—and dare I say downright tasteful—designs. You can catch at least one of these premium seats from Secretlab directly right now. Each edition is designed around a heavy hitter critter from the original 151, featuring their Pokedex number and Pokemon type symbol.

First up is obviously the Pikachu edition, sporting a striking yellow-to-black gradient design. The electric mouse is joined by its Pokémon: Let's Go partner, Eevee. Besides the normal-type pup itself splashed across both the front and reverse of the backrest, its eight different evolutions get a look in on the chair's side wings, with this rainbow lineart breaking up the otherwise Clean Girl colourscheme. Finally, there's my personal favourite: a Gengar colourway in purple and black. Where are my fellow ghost-type fiends at?

What's most striking to me about these designs is that they're actually kinda good? Rather than, I don't know, plastering Pikachu's face everywhere and calling it a day—like this Pokemon collection from Razer that I personally don't care for. These seat designs are both well-balanced and tasteful, though importantly still fun.

Patches of microsuede and velour add a fresh textural dimension too—I personally can't wait to rub my greasy little mitts all over that great big fuzzy Gengar. Otherwise, the chair remains the same Secretlab Titan Evo that we've consistently rated as the best overall gaming chair for years now.

All three designs are available in the US, EU, and Australia, though the UK will only get the Eevee edition (Alas, no ghost-type gamer throne for me). Each one costs $684 USD / £549 GBP / €644 EUR, too. Anyone got a spare nugget they're willing to part with? No? Ah well, time to go challenge some posh toffs at Hotel Richissime.

A big pair of wobbling buttocks is a prerequisite for this peculiarly human thing called ‘sitting', but even more than that, if you want to sit, you need a chair. And if that chair is comfortable and adjustable, then all the better. PC gaming is unique among all the different kinds of interactive entertainment (with the exception of building an arcade in your garage, barn or other outbuilding) in the way its core demographic requires actual furniture to do it, and that's why PC Gamer maintains a list of the best gaming chairs.

AndaSeat's Kaiser 3E XL comes in at a lower price than Secretlab's Titan Evo XL, and if you are less than 5' 11” (180 cm) tall you can save a further sliver of cash by getting the merely ‘large' version. The overall look of the chair—with its striking cutouts and a logo-emblazoned backrest that wishes it could appear on camera illuminated by some streamer's ringlight—is definitely gamer-centric. And definitely more so than the modern office style embraced by the Herman Miller/Logitech partnership or even Ikea. This is not a criticism, however, because the AndaSeat is a damn comfy chair to sit in.

The first thing you'll notice, while building the chair, is just how thick the seat is. No gaming chair comes in a particularly small box, and the Kaiser 3E XL's packaging is as XL as you might imagine. It's all packed in very efficiently, though, with extra padding to make sure nothing is damaged in transit, and once you remove this there is still plenty of upholstery on offer.

If you've sat in an ergonomic gaming chair before there's much here that will be familiar: a bucket-style seat that wraps around and supports your lower back, an optional magnetic headrest cushion (something that always feels more premium than the kind that attaches with an elastic loop) and the ability to shift bits of it up and down using a baffling array of levers so that it fits you better.

It's a simple enough thing to build, just a case of undoing four screws and doing eight up again using the included hex key. There are magnetic covers that slip over the parts where the seat back attaches to the base, and a safety screw that prevents the back from reclining until you remove it—you can keep it in place to prevent problems with trapped fingers.

The seat is rather heavy—the reinforced steel frame underneath the foam and grey fabric finish takes care of that—and the hardest part of building it is placing the assembled top part onto the gas piston. The target area is small, but this is the case with most chairs and isn't AndaSeat's fault. On the XL version the wheelbase is made from aluminium (it's iron for the L) and it's light and stiff, with the plastic casters clunking in easily enough.

The 3E differs slightly from the Kaiser 3, which PCG has reviewed before. It's a slightly cheaper model, so the head pillow is optional and the lumbar support adjustment knob that sticks out of the Kaiser 3's backrest is missing. The armrests keep their ‘4D' adjustability, which means you can move them up and down, forward and back, and twist them a bit, but don't have replaceable magnetic tops so you can switch out the colour at a whim and don't move as far in any direction than the Kaiser 3's.

The lumbar support is therefore fixed, with a 4.8 cm curve that, supposedly, matches the natural curve of the spine. There's still plenty of adjustability in the seat back, and you can lay it nearly flat if that's your thing. The levers underneath adjust the height and allow you to recline the seat by up to 15 degrees, making for reasonably simple customisation that you won't feel the need to keep fiddling with.

It's a comfortable enough chair for long periods, however. The fabric finish can actually be superior to a leatherette option (though this is available) as it's cooler and less likely to stick to you if you're wearing shorts. The foam seat's raised edges and the lower-back support wrap around you nicely, and there's enough stiffness in the gas piston that it doesn't feel like you're sitting on a space hopper.

If you're a taller gamer, or perhaps a wider one, and you want to sit in comfort at your desk for some PC gaming (or even if you're forced to look at spreadsheets all day) then this is absolutely a comfortable choice.

The only problem it faces is the amount of competition at its price point. The Boulies Master Max, for example, is almost exactly the same price. You can get a Secretlab Omega for just a little more, or a multitude of budget chairs, including the Corsair TC100 Relaxed for a little less.

It's important—though increasingly difficult—to be able to try out gaming chairs before you commit to a purchase, but if you find the Kaiser 3E suits your sitting position then you'll be getting a hefty piece of gaming furniture. And a seat.

Do you remember the Razer Iskur V2? That pretty good follow-up to the V1, which was a bit more expensive and came with some extra nifty features? Well, Razer is following that follow-up with a chair it calls the Iskur V2 Newgen, and Razer tells me, "We didn't just build a breathable chair, we built a breathable performance engine."

Yeah, that all sounds very Razer so far. But, cutting through the bravado, the Newgen is reportedly more breathable than the V2, using Razer's own Gen 2 EPU leather with "cooltouch" technology. It comes with a dual-density cold-cure foam seat, which Razer says goes "without that trapped heat feeling."

The Newgen comes with Razer's own 'Hyperflex lumbar support'. No, that's not the same as the Razer Hyperflux, which is its wireless charging mousepad. This chair instead comes with a 360-degree swivel, so you can spin all the way around, plus a memory foam head cushion, plus a 152-degree recline—which is the same as the V2. Razer says the reason the recline stayed the same is "because it's perfect".

Ultimately, from the look and many of the specs, calling this chair the V2 Newgen makes a lot of sense. It's not an overhaul (and probably wouldn't deserve the V3 name). It also doesn't seem a million miles away from the current Iskure V2. Still, if it's reasonably priced, and you haven't yet got the V2, it could make for a decent pick instead.

This is similar to what Razer did with the BlackShark V2 Pro in 2023. It offered a better microphone and stronger battery life than the previous V2 Pro, but kept the name, so potential buyers still had a good idea of what it would offer.

This is not Razer's first time bragging about its ability to keep you cool while you game, either. Project Arielle was unveiled at last year's CES, which was a version of the Razer Fujin Pro that Razer called the "world's first heating and cooling integrated mesh gaming chair". It has a bladeless fan system that could alternate between cooling and heating, though it was just a prototype and seemingly hasn't yet made it to market. That's not particularly unique for CES prototypes, but that's not going to stop us from asking Alienware when it's going to launch a UFO handheld.

The standard Iskur V2 NewGen is available to preorder for $650, whereas the more value-oriented V2 X NewGen is available for $350.

The Iskur V2 Newgen is part of Razer's broader suite of announcements as part of CES 2026. As well as the Newgen, we got a tease for a new chair that Razer calls the Project Madison. It appears to be a Razer chair with something like the Razer Clio speakers and maybe the rumbly bum-shaker Freyja haptic seat built in.

As well as this, we saw the introduction of Project Motoko, a smart headset with AI built in, plus a Bluetooth Wolverine V3, and a *brace yourself* desktop AI assistant. Yeah, it's a bit of a mixed bag this year. Still, the Newgen looks alright.

It's the last day of Cyber Week. Who named it that, nobody knows. All it means is that there are still some gaming chair deals leftover from Cyber Monday and Black Friday to pick up before the big holiday season.

👉 The best Cyber Week deals right here 👈

While gaming PCs, laptops, and components are very susceptible to market forces and supply chains affecting prices, gaming chairs are generally a lot more stable. That means there should be no shortage of great deals on all the best brands.

It doesn't really matter what style of chair you pick, either, as a good one is always worth the price. A great gaming chair will ensure that you have an ideal ergonomic gaming setup that not only looks cool but will also take care of your body.

Where are the best Cyber week gaming chair deals?

• Amazon: Lots of discounts on known and unknown brands—be cautious
• Newegg: Great discounts on known brands
• Secretlab: Savings across bundle discounts
• Best Buy: Lots of options. Too many options
• Walmart: Some absurdly cheap chairs (read: too cheap)
• B&H: Fractal Design's fancy new chair down to $400

• Best gaming chair - Secretlab Titan Evo | $499 @ Secretlab
• Affordable pick - AndaSeat Phantom 3 | $299 @ AndaSeat
• Luxury pick - Herman Miller Vantum | $698 @ Herman Miller

Cyber Week gaming chair deals

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Cyber Week office chair deals

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Cyber Week sim racing chair deals

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Cyber Week gaming chair deals in the UK

Where are the best Cyber Week gaming deails in the UK?

• Best gaming chair - Secretlab Titan Evo | £419 @ Secretlab

• John Lewis: AndaSeat Luna for £140
• Scan: Big brand names with frequent discounts
• Very: Lots of AndaSeat chairs for sale
• Amazon: Heaps of deals, some good, some bad

Cyber Week office chair deals in the UK

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Cyber Week sim racing chair deals in the UK

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FAQ

Stable, comfy, and earns you serious gamer cred. That's the dream for any gaming chair purchase. I can't promise you'll necessarily earn the respect of your peers for sitting on a gilded racing-style seat to play The Finals or Stardew Valley, but I can at least help you pick a comfy and stable throne using my years of experience.

I've been testing gaming chairs for over eight years. Everything from noted gaming brands such as Secretlab and Noblechairs, to office maestros such as Herman Miller. In that time, gaming chairs have gone from the butt of the joke to the de facto furniture for people to play PC games on. There's a good reason for that. The quality of gaming chairs has, generally, increased. Though not every manufacturer got the memo. There's still a lot of junk out there.

If you simply want to know which gaming chair is no.1 right now, I keep a carefully curated list of the best gaming chairs. However, for this article I'm going to run down what I look out for in a gaming chair when judging its worthiness, and the advice I wish I'd had before I ever started sitting my butt on these things professionally.

So, those five things I need to tell you before you buy your first gaming chair:

1. If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is
2. Adjustable armrests are handy, mega-reclining chairs aren't
3. You don't need a headrest but lumbar support is a must
4. Quality pays, in the long run
5. The best chair for you isn't necessarily a gaming chair

1. Big deals

If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is

We're headed into a major deals event with Black Friday on November 28, 2025. That means we will see a heap of deals on gaming chairs around that time. In fact, we're already on the lookout for the best early Black Friday gaming chair deals right now. And yes, that's a shameless plug. My point is not to devalue these deals as anything but solid—we only recommend genuinely good products—but make sure you know what not to buy.

If a gaming chair seems massively cheaper than ones we recommend, it's probably for good reason.

Over the years, I've had the misfortune of sitting in a few extremely cheap gaming chairs. From the images shown online, they look as much a gaming chair as any other. Yet my first impressions are usually the same:

"This is small."

"This is uncomfortable."

"Ouch."

The backrests on the cheapest are usually thin, hard and not well padded. The armrests are usually non-adjustable, which means you won't ever be able to get yourself into the most comfortable position for your desk setup. The materials are... less than comfortable.

The good news is, you can still buy a cheap gaming chair and get something decent for your money. Our best budget gaming chair pick is the Corsair TC100 Relaxed. Often discounted below $200, the TC100 comes with a head pillow, 2D armrests, and a sensible size. It's still clearly on the more budget end of the spectrum, and the lack of 4D armrests is a miss, but it just goes to show you can buy great comfort and quality for less.

2. Armrests and recliners

Adjustable armrests are handy, mega-reclining chairs aren't

Building on my last point, you want a chair with adjustable armrests at the very least. That's not just me being picky, it's an important consideration if you intend to set up your desk correctly for good posture. I know it sounds silly, but we have a guide on how to sit at a desk, which outlines exactly what angles your elbows and arms should sit at for the best posture.

You don't necessarily need armrests at all for good posture. Your arms can naturally float just above where they need to be. However, cheap gaming chairs with fixed, sloped armrests that are inadequately positioned for you are asking for trouble here. Too high and you're restricting where your arms sit in relation to your desk. Too low and they might be no use to you at all for resting on.

Admittedly, armrests that fold halfway like those pictured above on the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL might be a bit too over-the-top.

What's not so practical is a chair that bends all the way back. Recline is an often championed spec on most gaming chairs, but I have to say after the immediate comedic whoosh backwards the first time I lift my chair's recline lever, I rarely ever touch it again. A small amount of adjustment to the backrest angle makes a nice change between upright work time and a more leisurely, reclined gaming time. Though I never bother going very far back—however much Secretlab might want me to start sleeping in my chair.

Recline might be a feature more sought after by those playing with a controller for the majority of their games, but I find sitting at a gaming desk with a keyboard and mouse means there's only so much recline my body can take before I'm slouching with my back in absolutely the wrong position. It's not ergonomic, and to be honest I don't find it very comfortable. Some chairs might brag about how far back they can go, but I'd rather focus on other things.

3. Lumbar support

You don't need a headrest but lumbar support is a must

You might be surprised to hear that some of the comfiest chairs I've ever used lack a headrest. The Herman Miller Embody I've been a big fan of, a very expensive chair indeed, lacks a headrest. The Razer Fujin Pro I reviewed more recently and still use in PC Gamer's office is arguably comfier without its included headrest.

However, every decent gaming chair I've tested has done one thing well: lumbar support.

Some more premium chairs will offer adjustable lumbar support embedded into the backrest of the chair. This is the solution you'll find on our best gaming chair overall, the Secretlab Titan Evo, or the Fujin Pro. Others go for the cheaper option, a pillow, such as the Corsair TC100. Some cleverly combine the two. Some even offer naturally adjusting lumbar back support, such as the aforementioned Embody. The cheapest chairs offer nothing at all.

Some form of lumbar support is better than none, as we've been repeatedly told by ergonomists. Even if it's just a pillow. I don't have a firm favourite (ho ho) for back support in gaming chairs, as there are a few ways to do it well and various chairs I use regularly and rate highly do things differently. Though I'd definitely recommend looking out for a chair that makes some effort to support your lower back.

As a side note: it's often suggested that no chair can offer you the perfect ergonomic position, and the answer to a healthy posture is just shaking things up often: Get up, move about, take a break.

4. Chair quality

Quality pays, in the long run

This isn't advice for everyone. I understand budgets are budgets and sometimes you just can't make money stretch any further. But I wanted to call out how a quality gaming chair can last a long time, versus a cheaper one that doesn't.

We sit in gaming chairs all day long in the PC Gamer office. We have a lot of them, and there are a few that have stood the test of time better than others. Take the original Secretlab Titan Evo, for example. Our review unit has been sat in our office since early 2021, which is getting on for six years of near-constant usage. The black neo-hybrid leatherette finish is almost as good as the day we got it, and while the chair has a few creaks here and there, we've never found one that doesn't after significant use.

The benefit of some more premium chairs is the added security of a long warranty period, too. Take the Herman Miller Embody, for example. Sure it costs an arm and a leg, but it's backed by a 12-year warranty. I've had to replace one of the armrest levers on mine. To do so, I emailed Herman Miller support to request the part and a couple days later it showed up. Then it was a simple swap to the new one and Bob's your uncle.

Again, I get this isn't an option for everyone, and my advice is not just to buy a better chair in every circumstance. There are loads of great budget options that should last a while—the Corsair TC100 Relaxed has been used in our office for over a year now and is still going strong. But if you're debating how much you might want to spend on a gaming chair, maybe think on the hours of use you're expecting to get out of it and that might help justify the extra spend. If only to make yourself feel a little better spending the dosh.

5. 'Gaming' chairs

The best chair for you isn't necessarily a gaming chair

Sacrilege! Surely no one who works for PC gamer would suggest anything other than a gaming chair… but no, I don't think gaming chairs are for everyone. Just among the people of varied backgrounds, ages, and sitting styles on the PC Gamer staff, there's an even wider range of opinions on gaming chairs. Some think they're great, others think they're fine, and some think they're downright demonic. To be fair, one chair actually was.

If you're not feeling the gaming chair aesthetic, there are other options. Those that are better than a bolt-upright wooden chair from your dining room table, and not just a bean bag, too. The best office chairs for gaming make for tried and tested alternatives that are as good to sit in throughout a Google Meet call on company values as they are to play round after round of Balatro in the background. Thanks, Google Meet's picture-in-picture mode.

There are also new mesh-design chairs from many gaming chair companies. Razer, for example, makes the Fujin Pro, which is much more an office chair than a gaming one in how it looks, and we've seen AndaSeat launch a line of mesh chairs in recent years. Personally, I'm not as much of a fan of these sorts of mesh chairs due to their firm support, though they are good in hot climates. No one wants to peel themselves off sweaty leatherette after a long night of gaming. Or maybe you do, I won't judge.

Best gaming chair 2025

All our current recommendations

Pick a category Best overallCore ComponentsChairs & DesksSystems & LaptopsScreensPeripheralsCases, Cooling & Storage

Choose a list Best gaming chair 2025Best gaming desk 2025

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BEST OVERALL

1. Secretlab Titan Evo

Check Price

BEST BUDGET

2. Corsair TC100 Relaxed

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BEST LUXURY

3. Herman Miller Embody

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BEST SUPPORT

4. ThunderX3 Core

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BEST BIG BOI

5. AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL

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BEST OFFICE

6. Neuechair

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BEST BUDGET OFFICE

7. ThunderX3 Flex Pro

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Read the full guide: Best gaming chair 2025

POWERED BY

It's all over for Black Friday, but not so for the Cyber Monday gaming chair deals. The dark days of Black Friday may be done, but this weekend is all about running headlong at Cyber Monday and the week of deals to follow it. This is my final update on this here page for the year, but if you want to keep abreast of all the latest seating discounts, then come and follow me over to our regularly updated Cyber Monday gaming chair deals page 👇

👉All the best Cyber Monday gaming chair deals will be right here👈

The things we look for in a gaming chair are comfort, ergonomics, durability, value and looks. Mostly in that order. We review gaming chairs throughout the year, which informs the deals we highlight. That experience really matters with gaming chairs. There is a lot of trash out there—many super-cheap chairs to sift through at some retailers. If a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is. And while it's tempting to pump all your money into a more powerful GPU for your rig, a good chair really matters. Don't sacrifice your back for the sake of a few frames.

Where are the best Black Friday gaming chair deals in the US?

• Amazon: Lots of discounts on known and unknown brands—be cautious
• Newegg: Great discounts on known brands
• Secretlab: Savings across bundle discounts
• Best Buy: Lots of options. Too many options
• Walmart: Some absurdly cheap chairs (read: too cheap)
• B&H: Fractal Design's fancy new chair down to $400

• Best gaming chair - Secretlab Titan Evo | $499 @ Secretlab
• Budget gaming chair - Corsair TC100 | $215 @ Amazon
• Luxury pick - Herman Miller Vantum | $698 @ Herman Miller

Black Friday gaming chair deals

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Black Friday office chair deals

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Black Friday sim racing chair deals

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Black Friday gaming chair deals in the UK

Where are the best Black Friday gaming chair deals in the UK?

• Best gaming chair - Secretlab Titan Evo | £419 @ Secretlab
• Budget gaming chair - Corsair TC100 | £150 @ Amazon

• John Lewis: AndaSeat Luna for £180
• Scan: Big brand names with frequent discounts
• Very: Lots of AndaSeat chairs for sale
• Amazon: Heaps of deals, some good, some bad

Black Friday office chair deals in the UK

• Back to top ^

Black Friday sim racing chair deals in the UK

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Buying advice: gaming chairs

Like many folks, I spend a lot of my time plonked on my posterior. Sure, I regularly get up and move around, but with an office-based job and PC gaming as a major hobby, there's no escaping the fact that much of my daily life revolves around a humble chair.

That also means a lot of my daily well-being, both physical and mental, is influenced by what chair I choose to use. Being tall and slim (184 cm and 70 kg), finding one that suits my needs has been quite the challenge over the years, but in general, I've always picked a quality office chair.

I don't have anything against gaming chairs, as there are some really great ones you can buy, but I'm not a big fan of how they look and how bulky some of them are. Given that I sit up straight all the time (raised in an anti-slouching household), massive headrests with 'side wings' like a racing car's seat are wasted on me.

So all my work and gaming is done from the comfort of a great office chair, one that I've had so long that I can't remember what brand it is, let alone where I bought it from. If you're tempted to follow suit, then you might want to know that we have new recommendations for the best overall and best budget office chairs on the market right now.

Taking the top spot is the ThunderX3 Flex Pro because it's big, comfortable, and packed with adjustability, making it a cinch to get your seating possible just right. It's very affordable for what it is, though not what you'd call cheap. Enter stage left, Ikea's Matchspel, the best budget office chair for gaming. Now that one is cheap, and it's also very comfy, with lots of adjustment for height, tilt, and arm position.

But what makes them best for me is the fact that they're not hulking, heavy 'gamer' chairs. Just perfect perches for one's precious posteriors. Forget spending money on a new CPU that'll just give you 5 fps more in games: grab a great office chair instead. It'll last you a lot longer and your body will be far more grateful.

The best office chairs for gaming

I should probably preface this piece by saying, for the record, that I am not a pro-gamer. I'm not even close. I'm certainly no twitch gamer, either, not by a long shot. No level of PC gaming hardware will be enough to change the fact that I absolutely suck at competitive first-person shooters. Even when I actually had a 23-year-old's reaction time, I was still almost the worst Quake IV player in the entire office.

Okay, I still slay at FIFA, sorry, FC26, but even so, I don't really want to play online let alone in a tournament.

So, maybe I'm not the right person to be checking out the new On-Stage Standard arm rests for the Titan Evo, even so, I was kinda expecting more. More accuracy and more, well, technology. After all, flipping open the box with the new twin chair arms staring up at me with their translucent sides, covering circuit boards, sitting beneath twin LCD panels, they immediately give off a real techie vibe.

These are the Secretlab InfinitePrecision Armrests in all their ultra precise glory. A set of chair arms designed to deliver the "most precise setup ever designed for pro players." And if that doesn't strike you as faintly ridiculous then you probably are the target audience for Secretlab's latest mission to make the lives of professional gamers that little bit more bearable.

The notion is that millimetres matter when it comes to a pro-gaming setup, and when professionals have maybe just five minutes ahead of a match to configure their entire setup it's important for them to be able to quickly and accurately get to their positional sweet spot well inside that timeframe.

So, Secretlab has developed a suite of products to help facilitate this. The suite includes these InfinitePrecision Armrests and a MAGPAD Desk Mat designed to sit atop the Secretlab Magnus Pro sitting/standing desks. There is also a Titan Evo Worlds 2025 Edition of the best gaming chair, which has yet to be unveiled. But, presumably, it will have these fancy new armrests at the very least.

The desktop pad is lined up with ever smaller squares, like some technical graph-paper-based fractal patterning system. The idea being you can remember your ideal setup from home/the practice room and be able to replicate the precise positioning of your monitor, keyboard, and mouse upon any desktop, based on lining them up along the same axes.

That's maybe surprisingly manual, but the InfinitePrecision Armrests are designed to be more technical, delivering sub-millimetre precision in the height of your gaming chair's arms. Though, actually, despite the buttons, and screen readouts, and printed circuit boards built into each arm, it's all rather manual here, too.

At the heart of it, what we're really talking about are a pair of armrests that utilise hydraulics (of course that has a name, too: InfiniteLift) to offer the ability to set the height of the arms at any sub-millimetre level up to a maximum height of 79 mm from the base, rather than the traditional modestly stepped adjustments. The extra granularity is the key here, where otherwise you get maybe four or five stepped heights, you can now perfectly tailor the armrest to sit exactly where you want it.

The obvious issue for this is that if you just went ahead and did that without any kind of precise mapping of what height you'd chosen you'd never be able to replicate it again should you (or some nefarious opponent) shift the chair arm from its previously perfected position. Thankfully Secretlab has stuck LCDs and precise measuring into each armrest so you can map out your ideal setup and replicate it in a tournament setting. So long as it's using the On-Stage Standard, of course. And your AAA batteries don't run out.

And so long as the desk you're using at home/in your team practice area is the same as the one on that tournament stage.

One of the issues I have is that the calibration process uses the underside of your desk to zero the height of the armrest, and it's then the unit measurement on the individual armrest readouts which you need to remember once you've manually adjusted them into your preferred position.

But that's also predicated on both being able to get your chair at the exact same height (there's no precise measurement on my Titan Evo Nanogen to tell me how high off the floor it is to any precision, sub-millimetre or no) and then have the desk being at the same height on stage and have an identical, sub-millimetre thickness to the desktop itself.

Any slight variation in any of those things will instantly throw out the precise setup you've created and are relying upon in a tense tournament situation. This is almost something Secretlab notes itself in the user guide for the armrests. It states the height of both armrests might not be an exact match "this can be due to uneven floors or table heights." Indeed, my own preferred setup at home reads 3.8 units on the left side and 4.0 units on the right side. Given that each 0.1 Secretlab InfinitePrecision unit corresponds to 0.6 mm, that's a difference of 1.2 mm between them.

If there are such slight tolerances to all this between a home On-Stage Standard setup and one a pro is attempting to replicate actually on-stage, then what's the benefit?

Secretlab and the pro-gamers themselves will tell you it's sub-millimetre precision which allows them to perform at their best, and that any differences between their home setup and a tournament environment can throw them off their game to such an extent it will negatively affect their overall performance, costing them wins, and therefore tournament winnings.

Presumably, despite the inevitable variations between chairs and desks and floors meaning such infinitely precise setups are all but impossible to completely replicate, the On-Stage Standard gets so close that a millimetre difference here or there doesn't really matter. Though that does kinda fly in the face of the marketing materials…

Either that, or it's all a bit of a placebo.

I completely accept the idea of Lee 'Faker' Sang-Hyeok wanting to feel like they've replicated the same setup that enables them to perform so brilliantly in the practice room, giving them the confidence to bring that to the pressurised tournament setting. "When I feel the most comfortable, stronger gameplay naturally follows," says Faker.

But if they feel comfortable, does it really matter if their setup is ever-so-slightly different? The confidence gained from having a readout that tells them their armrests are identically positioned to home is arguably more important than whatever the reality is. "I need to remove uncertainties and be as precise as I can," Faker notes in the Secretlab documentary short about the new kit. And at their level of professional esports the winning is less about physicality and arguably more in the mind, so an LCD readout telling you, for certain, that your armrest is at the right height definitely takes away some of that uncertainty.

Hey, if that works—and all the player testimony Secretlab offers suggests it does—then placebo or not, it's an effective feature. I'm just not at all convinced that bringing the same precision gear from the biggest stages to us at home is all that necessary.

Scratch that, I know it's not necessary, but gaming brands have been trading on what's good for the pros being good for the proles for aeons. Anyone remember all the Fatal1ty-branded tech of the long, long ago?

We don't know how much these InfinitePrecision Armrests are going to cost yet, despite having them strapped to my chair right now. But, given the PlushCell Memory Foam Armrest Tops are $89 a pair you can bet we're looking at $200-300+ for the hydraulic armrests themselves. Worth noting they don't come with the plush armrest tops, just standard PU leather, but it's an interesting barometer of what Secretlab will charge for accessories.

And remember when I said at the top I was expecting more? Yeah, just that. When Secretlab first told me about the product I had envisioned an armrest where you programmed in your ideal position—height, angle, depth, etc—and then at the press of a button it would always come back to that precise position. Kind of like when your motorised desk adjusts itself back to your chosen preset height. But the reality is not nearly so automated, nor so all-encompassing.

The InfinitePrecision Armrests are purely about the height. You still have the same unmeasured movement in the other dimensions of these 4D armrests. That includes a stepless side-to-side motion of up to 24 mm, stepless front-to-back motion of up to 50 mm, and five-step pivot of 60°. You might be able to more or less accurately replicate the height between different chairs, but the rest of your setup (including chair height) is still going to largely be a guessing game.

So, I'm left impressed by what Secretlab has created from a notional perspective, understanding what the professionals need to feel comfortable, whatever the reality is. But I remain resolutely unconvinced as to their worth away from that on-stage positioning.

Office chairs can be pricey things. Professional furniture gets that way. You might look at a $500 Secretlab and think it's a bit hard on the wallet, but that's just peanuts when it comes to the sort of ergo-inspired gear you might find arrayed around the swankiest of offices.

'Proper' office furniture can easily cost double that of the best gaming chair, and sometimes even more than that. Right here I have my bottom parked on a Humanscale Freedom Headrest task chair, and it's a serious grown up chair. And it's also $2000.

I guess, in the sort of office where you've spent at least that much on your pink iMac and the same again on some beautifully engineered 'executive toy', that sort of outlay to support your spine and sooth your buttocks makes sense. But can we justify that as a PC gamer?

Honestly, this PC gamer cannot. But this isn't a chair that was really designed for me, though it certainly feels like it from the way it cradles my body as I'm sat at my desk right now. I've been using this chair for months, and have been loving it. But this is a chair for serious people who are serious about ergonomics, and serious enough to want to spend the same amount of money on a chair as we might dream about spending on a gaming PC.

But ergonomics and comfort are not the same thing, and when it comes to the difference between a gaming chair and an office or task chair, then usually that's it: Where most gaming chairs are designed more for kicking back and gaming in comfort, a task chair is primarily created to keep you focused, and ensure that when you're in the office you don't snap your spine on the company's dime.

This is where a chair, such as the NeueChair, differs from its Secretlab stable mates. I have both NeueChair and Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen seats in my home office—not one for each cheek, thank you; multiple people share the space—and there is a clearly defined difference between them.

The NeueChair is fantastic when you're sat in the active position, angled slightly forward, engaged with the task you're doing. But it's not a seat that encourages lounging by any metric. The Titan Evo, however, our pick as the best gaming chair, will largely cater for both positions, but is arguably at its most comfortable when you're leaning back with a controller in your paws.

But surely there's got to be a chair that will do both? Well, there is, you've just got to pay an inordinate amount of cash for the privilege. In fairness, that's where we've been for a little while with the Herman Miller X Logitech Embody chair—that's a $1,995 place to park your posterior that is sold to offer comfort for gaming and ergonomics. And it is a great gaming chair, to the point where we're almost comfortable justifying the price for this gaming-focused Herman Miller seat.

The Humanscale Freedom chair, however, has not been designed nor marketed for anything gaming related, and yet I've been thoroughly enjoying its support on all counts. It's my current office chair of choice, and I can be supported as I lean forward tapping away on my keyboard and when I want to make a show of leaning back in my chair in what I hope comes across as a brooding and/or thoughtful way.

The advanced mechanism behind the Dynamic Headrest really is something else. The standard movement of the chairback is impressive, too, in that it maintains the same level of support around the curvature of your spine whether you're sat forward or reclining. Other chairs can do this, maybe not quite so well, but they manage it. Nothing else I've ever tested has been able to shift in such a way as to support my neck and head in every position.

The only physical issue with the chair for me, however—aside from that eye-watering end price—is that I cannot comfortably sit in the worst position: one leg folded under the other in a way that will give any ergonomist a minor stroke. But that's on me. I'm a masochist and I like to switch things up and give myself pins and needles on the regular. But because the seat pan is relatively small, there's no real opportunity for me to sit cross-legged at all.

The other thing I find impressive about the Freedom chair is the distinct lack of knobs and levers. There is a single lever under the seat pan to adjust the height of the chair, and another in the backrest to adjust where you want it to sit in the small of your back. And that's it. No messing around trying to push lumbar support around to try and find a position that actually works, no toying with pushing the seat forward or backwards, it's incredibly simple and kinda just gets the job done without you having to get involved.

You don't even have to fuss about with the arms. There is a synchronous design to them, where they have a levered adjustment that means you just have to lift one of them up to adjust both of them. There will be some chair brands that suggest gamers need more arm adjustments, and there is maybe something to be said for being able to give your elbows more tight support when you're using a controller, but the default positioning already feels good in the reclined position.

But the Freedom chair is nothing if not customisable. For another ~$200 you can pick the advanced armrests which do come with lateral movement.

Then there's the look. When chasing this review sample I asked for something bright, and, what I believe is Hallingdal 65 colour 0840, is certainly that. The blue fabric certainly brightens up the office, as does the polished chrome of the mechanical bits. Though that side of the customisation dance adds another near $400 onto the pricetag. Pretty, but ouch.

But is any of that enough to convince me I ought to be saving my pennies to drop on a hugely expensive office chair? Honestly... no. I do really like the Freedom chair, and the Dynamic Headrest really works for me. But my rear is regularly, and happily ensconced in a Secretlab chair that is almost a quarter of the price, and it's yet to come close to making me feel like my spine is in danger. So, for most people I would say just pocket the difference.

But if you are not most people, and yearn for some expensive office furniture to write off against tax, Humanscale has sure got the chair for you.

I'd never heard of LiberNovo until I started seeing a flood of ads on my Instagram for its new chair blowing up on Kickstarter: over $7 million raised and counting. As a gamer, I'm used to seeing flashy chairs from the usual suspects, but this was something different enough to grab my attention. And honestly, as someone who's getting on in years and feeling the toll of endless hours at a desk, I'm always on the hunt for anything that might make those marathon computer sessions a little less punishing on my back.

Enter the LiberNovo Omni: apparently the world's first dynamic ergonomic chair that promises real-time spine support, motorized lumbar adjustment, four distinct recline positions, and even a built-in spinal stretch massage. The idea of a chair that could actually adapt to how I sit—rather than forcing me into its own mold—was enough to make me take a closer look. But is it the revelation we've been waiting for, or just a flashy Kickstarter moonshot with a few too many moving parts?

Unboxing the Omni, I immediately notice its sci-fi vibe. The back support bar looks like it belongs in a spaceship cockpit, and the seat cushion is plush but breathable—think memory foam with a technical twist. Assembly is surprisingly painless. Everything slots together with satisfying clicks, and the instructions are clear, printed on large boards rather than a fiddly booklet. The only snag was a tricky screw that demanded an extra pair of hands, but otherwise, it was all smooth sailing. Charging the battery (yes, this chair needs juice) was as simple as plugging in a USB-C cable. Once powered up, the chair's motorized lumbar support comes to life. It's an odd feeling at first—your seat adapting to your posture in real time—but it quickly becomes second nature.

Comfort is where the Omni really sets itself apart. I've reviewed dozens of chairs, and I'm picky. Most get donated after a few weeks because they simply don't cut it for eight-hour stretches.

The LiberNovo Omni, though, is the first chair I've actually wanted to keep. The seat and back cushions are soft yet supportive, and almost every part is adjustable. The headrest pivots and slides, the armrests move in every direction, and the lumbar support responds as you shift.

Now, this is where the dynamic lumbar system's limitations become clear. The mechanism only adjusts in one direction, so all you get is depth. You can't change the height where it hits your spine which often leaves me feeling like I'm being jabbed in my mid back rather than supported in my lower back. Dialing in the perfect fit is tricky, and I found myself wishing for a greater range of adjustment or a higher placement to truly hit that sweet spot of ergonomic support. It's only in the reclined positions that I felt truly comfortable but the upright focus position wasn't so great. There's no manual override if the motor fails, either—a real concern given the relatively small two-year warranty on electronics.

Speaking of the recline positions, they are a standout feature, and they're thoughtfully designed for real-world use. Deep Focus at 105° is your upright, “get-things-done” mode, perfect for video calls or any time you need to look sharp and stay engaged. Solo Work at 120° is where I spent most of my design and writing sessions. It's relaxed enough to reduce fatigue but keeps your posture locked in, ideal for long stretches at the desk.

Soft Recline at 135° is perfect for reviewing work, casual gaming, or just leaning back to think. The pressure on your lower back eases up, and you can kick up your feet—if the footrest cooperates. I also like how the seat and arm rests glide counter to the back rest so that they stay in the right position.

Spine Flow at 160° is the full lay-flat mode, ideal for power naps or decompressing after a long day. This is also where the OmniStretch spinal massage comes into play: a five-minute, motorized stretch that gently elongates your spine and relieves tension. It's like a mini yoga session built into your chair, and as someone who often feels the strain after long gaming or editing marathons, I found it genuinely effective.

The 4D armrests, though, are a double-edged sword. I love the flexibility—they slide, pivot, and angle with ease. But sometimes, they move too easily. More than once, I found myself accidentally nudging them out of position mid-game or while typing. A firmer locking mechanism would make a world of difference. The footrest, unlocked as a stretch goal thanks to the Kickstarter's runaway success, is a nice touch for lounging or napping during long sessions. However, it's not as adjustable as I'd like. The footrest only offers two settings—one aimed at shorter users and one for taller folks—but neither really worked for me. I found myself using it only when reclining to relax or game, rather than as a true ergonomic support throughout the day.

Comparing the LiberNovo Omni directly with other ergonomic gaming chairs, including the Razer Iskur V2, it's easily the more comfortable option. While the Iskur V2 and similar models offer decent ergonomics, toughness, and customization, I find the LiberNovo Omni to be far more comfortable and compliant. The dynamic support and overall plushness of the Omni simply outclassed every gaming chair I've tried, making long sessions at my desk feel genuinely more enjoyable in comparison.

Now, let's talk about the campaign: Over $7 million raised and nearly 10,000 backers is no small feat. The buzz is real, and the demand is proof that people are hungry for innovation. The Kickstarter purchase price for the LiberNovo Omni started at around $698, £550, and AUD $1,072 for the basic bundle, with options including the footrest and accessories available at higher tiers. These prices are a significant discount compared to the expected retail price, but buying through Kickstarter isn't like ordering from Amazon. There's risk involved, and while LiberNovo is shipping units, questions about warranty, repairability, and long-term support persist. The frame gets a five-year warranty, but the electronics—arguably the heart of the chair—only get two. If the motor or battery dies after that, you're left with a static seat.

The LiberNovo Omni is easily the most comfortable chair I've ever sat in, and it's packed with genuinely innovative features. If you're a tech enthusiast or someone who spends 10+ hours a day at your desk, the Omni is worth serious consideration. But it's not without flaws. The dynamic lumbar is clever but limited, the armrests need refinement, and the footrest feels a bit tacked on.

Most importantly, the chair's longevity and repairability remain unanswered questions. Would I recommend it? If you're willing to bet on innovation and accept the risks of Kickstarter, absolutely. The comfort and adjustability are top-tier, and it's clear why the campaign smashed records. But if you're after a chair that will last a decade or more, with bulletproof support and proven reliability, the established players still have the edge. LiberNovo's Omni is a bold leap forward—a chair that tries to adapt to you, not the other way around. Whether it's the future of seating or a brilliant one-off remains to be seen. For now, I'm happy to sit on the edge of that future.

A great look, easy setup process and even a hanger to pop your coat on. What can't the Flexispot OC3 do? Well, I'm sorry to say the answer is: leave my posterior without pain after a long day of work.

The kind of pain that popped up isn't something I spotted immediately. In fact, it's not even the type of pain I spotted after an hour. If you'd asked me what I thought of the chair at this point, I would have said it was comfortable. That's because it is, or at least, initially feels like it.

The soft foam in the seat of my model really lets me sink in, until I hit the hard plastic underneath. What initially felt rather comforting started to hurt after a few hours. And by the end of the day, I didn't want to sit down anymore.

This is a bit of a rarity for me. It's not wholly out of the question for me to finish off a day of looking at my screen for work, and then start the night by looking at my screen while playing games. Aside from maybe a brisk walk or momentary pit stop to make dinner, I could go uninterrupted from one activity to the other.

Curse you, Flexispot, for causing me enough pain to pause my video games.

I should note that the version I've been sampling is technically the Flexispot BS3, which is the Flexispot OC3 but for the UK region. They are the same basic chair, except my chair came in a rather dashing all black theme, where the US version comes in a more muted grey.

Annoyingly, the price in the UK is much better than the US price. $260 works out to just shy of £200 (£193.36 as of time of writing). The Office Star ProGrid, our current choice for the best budget office chair, regularly hovers around the $200 mark, so being able to undercut that would have been a boon for the OC3.

Once at my front door, the OC3/BS3 was a super-easy build. The instructions are well laid out and easy to understand. As is the case with all chairs, it takes a second to know which way is the right way around when building, but that was solved with no more than a few moments of thought.

With just a handful of bolts and screws, plus two included hex keys, the entire chair took around twenty minutes to build from start to finish. You might want to grab a buddy as it's not a small chair, but I didn't need one.

The BS3 model I've been sitting on looks great. It's a very classic office chair with the back support being made up of a mesh material. The seat of my model is made of a soft foam, but there's a more expensive mesh cushion available too. The cushion itself isn't where the pain comes from, but instead the lack of cushioning it provides. Underneath is a hard plastic base, and this is what ends up supporting you as you sink in. Initially, this level of support was pretty nice, but it became painful rather quickly.

It is worth noting that comfort is not only itself rather subjective, but also that the ways different chairs interact with your body will be reliant on your body type.

I'm a bigger gentleman, both in height and stature, so I will naturally sink into the cushion more than someone a tad more petite. My partner, for instance, has not noted the same level of pain that I have, though they also find the chair to have a rather hard plastic bottom.

It's an easy-to-adjust chair, with a single lever on the bottom being used to both push the chair up and down, but also adjust the recline. Everything is very smooth here, and the recline is comfortable in use. I did notice that the recline tends to catch in specific sections, so instead of being able to set a specific recline on the chair, you put it into a position.

This means if you are comfortable in a very specific angle, chances are it will let you hover a bit below or a bit above that. This isn't a particularly unique way for reclining chairs to work, but worth noting if you like a very specific angle.

The armrests are smart, if a little behind their competition. They don't have the 4D elements you may want, with them only going up and down. To move them, you have to fully press in a button, then pull them up or down, which means I've never accidentally moved them around.

With included lumbar support for better posture, you can adjust it up and down to better accommodate your back. This works as intended, and is both easy to move and comfortable to lean into. Above this is a 2D headrest that, for lack of a better word, snaps onto the top of the seat. I very much felt like I was doing something wrong installing it, as you have to pry it onto a clip, but once attached, it all feels rather sturdy.

With this headrest comes the most unique element of this office/gaming chair hybrid: a built-in coat hanger. With my location constantly flitting from sunny to rainy, I've used the coat hanger far more than I was expecting to.

I've never liked hanging a slightly damp coat on the back of my chair because I could feel the hood on my neck. This attachment is a neat accessory, though not one I predict the rest of the chair industry learning from.

I like almost everything about the OC3, except the feel. And, unfortunately, feel is almost everything with a chair. If it was comfortable enough to sit on (and didn't ruin my posture), I'd take a particularly comfy box over a painful chair. Given that I will spend long days working and long nights playing games, my chair needs to be comfortable enough not to get in the way.

The price point is very solid (though better in the UK), it looks tidy, the armrests are very stable, and the coat hanger is a neat addition that helps it stand out. An hour or so after setting it up and sitting down, I was convinced my review would be very positive. Boy, was I wrong. A few weeks after my testing, I swapped back to the Flexispot BS9 I'd been using prior, and I haven't looked back since. I do miss the coat hanger, though.

It may be 2026, but the best gaming chair recommendation remains a very familiar proposition. As a collective of enthusiastic sitters, he PC Gamer team has spent many a long day parking our posteriors upon the finest seats around—and have also twisted our spines in many of the worst—to bring you the definitive list of the best gaming chairs you can buy right now. We've also spoken to a team of experts to help guide us in what to look for in terms of proper ergonomics, too, so we're covering all bases.

The best gaming chair, based on hundreds of human hours of testing myriad different chairs, remains one that we've been recommending for years: the Secretlab Titan Evo. And there's good reason for that. It isn't a cheap chair, for sure, but it is more affordable than the best office chairs, and still delivers a great level of comfort and support. And, almost as important, it's incredibly durable, too. If you're on a more limited budget, however, the ThunderX Solo 360 offers a nice mix of comfort and features for a relatively light monetary buttprint- sorry, footprint.

We regularly test a range of different chairs, including the best office chairs. And we've put them all through rigorous testing to make sure we can thoroughly recommend all the picks that we have on this page and can honestly stand by each and every one of them. So, invest in something that'll last and give your butt and back the comfort and support they deserve.

The quick list

The best gaming chair overall

The Secretlab Titan Evo is the best gaming chair. That's it, recommendation over. Oh alright then, let's get into the reasons why—and there are a lot of them.

We loved Secretlab's previous chairs, and two of them used to rule the top spots in this very guide. Though nowadays we heartily recommend just the one model, the Titan Evo, as it does everything well.

There's a slightly bigger curve to the seat base to keep you in a good sitting position all day long compared to previous models, and while we couldn't quite tell if it was making a big difference, what we can say is this: the Titan Evo is extremely comfortable, even over very long periods of time. There are three models available, S, R, and XL, and while those looking for something extra-large would do well to check out the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL, for the rest of you, the Titan Evo should do very nicely.

Our initial review model came in a coating Secretlab called Neo Hybrid leatherette, which feels airy and cool over the course of a long day, and really looks the part. We have also recently reviewed the Titan Evo NanoGen edition, which is the latest addition to Secretlab's lineup, and features a new approach to the materials it uses. Aiming to match two presumably mutually exclusive goals—namely being supportive and soft.

And it does that mighty well, creating a chair that ends up feeling even more comfortable than the standard Titan Evo. But with Secretlab asking another $200 for the privilege, it's a fair bit extra to pay over the standard model.

The upholstery of both, however, is immaculate, and the overall quality of the fit and finish is pin-sharp perfect. Something as big and as dominating as a gaming chair should look good on all levels, and the Titan Evo certainly ticks the right boxes, no matter which finish you pick.

What's more, the original chair has been in constant use in our office since we first reviewed it in 2021—gosh, has it really been that long? Since then, it's been rolled around, bumped into, and carelessly caressed by many staff members, yet it's still in excellent condition. That Neo Hybrid Leatherette is really holding up great. The chair's not squeaky, either, which is a plus.

The detachable head cushion is magnetic and very supportive. For that matter, so are the armrests, which deliver 4D movement (up, down, forwards, backwards, side-to-side, and rotation) and should fit into most desks—and most arms, for that matter, as these are about as adjustable as they come.

Mechanically, the cavalcade of quality continues. The hydraulics are superbly smooth, as is the recline. You can also adjust the lean tension, which means finding a comfortable seating position is no problem at all. Everything here is customisable, good-looking, well-built and confidence-inspiring.

Prices start at $449/£379, which, if you've been looking at no-name gaming chairs on some of the bigger retailers' sites, might seem like a lot for a throne. Let me say this with absolute confidence: If you're ever going to spend up on a piece of equipment, make it the chair you sit in all day long. Compared to many of its rivals, it's still well-priced, and the Secretlab Titan Evo really is worth the money.

It's the best gaming chair we've ever tested, and believe me, we've tried the top contenders. The Titan Evo? Well, it beats them all.

Read our full Secretlab Titan Evo review.

The best budget gaming chair

Great budget gaming chairs are pretty hard to come by. Usually you're sacrificing something major, whether that's build quality, comfort, or features. Occasionally, though, something comes along that delivers pretty well on all these fronts while keeping the cost low. The ThunderX3 Solo 360 is one such chair, and it does so well enough to be crowned the absolute best budget gaming chair on the market right now.

The Solo 360 is great, in particular, if you're keen on getting the best bang for your buck when it comes to things that actually matter: not a flashy design or pointless 180-degree recline, but comfort, adjustability, and an easy build process. Admittedly it's not the absolute best in any one of these respects when compared to more expensive chairs, but it's great for its price bracket.

On the adjustability front, you're getting 360-degree adjustable armrests (thus the '360' moniker), plus a car seat-style headrest that you can slide up or down. Admittedly you're not getting an additional pillow or anything like that, but the headrest itself is plenty comfy. Ditto the lack of additional lumbar support: the chair shape itself is comfy enough.

You're also getting a generous recline, and this comes with 'syncrhonous tilt.' This means the seat adjusts along with the backrest when you recline, as opposed to keeping the seat static while the back reclines. This should keep things optimally comfy whatever level of recline you're going for, and you can lock it into place, too.

The chair comes in a choice of a few different kinds of materials: multi-layer breathable fabric, breathable mesh, or leatherette. The one our Jess tried was the first of these, the fabric, which for some reason goes by 'Loft Air.' She found this to be comfy, especially given it's sitting on on top of firm foam, but difficult to wipe clean. Though I suppose that's true for most fabric—mesh or leatherette patiently awaits, if such a dealbreaker for you.

The icing on the cake, depending on your taste, is that the ThunderX3 Solo 360 looks rather suave, in a subtle and minimal kind of way. It certainly doesn't look out of place in an office, which will be a bonus for many but might be a drawback for some.

Read our full ThunderX3 Solo 360 review.

The best high-end gaming chair

What is it about a chair that shouts 'luxury' and 'high-end'? I'd wager for most people it's comfort and ergonomics that are the key barometers, and if so, the LiberNovo Omni has something genuinely game-changing to offer. There are plenty of other luxury seats—from Steelcase, Herman Miller, and the likes—but none that offer exactly what this one does.

The company calls it "the world's first dynamic ergonomic chair", meaning as you shift and shimmy around in your chair, it, too, shifts and shimmies to keep you comfy. If you recline, for instance, the armrests gently follow and slide back. If you move your head left and right, the headrest should move along with you, too.

It also comes with (rechargeable) motorised lumbar support moves in/up and forward/out. This can be controlled by buttons on the armrest, so no need to get up and out the chair to adjust things, you can adjust easily, as often as you please. The motor also allows for what the company calls a 'massage', which lets you lie back and have the lumbar support move in and out for a few minutes to stretch your spine.

Apart from the single directionality for the lumbar support, everything else is very adjustable. The armrests, for instance, are 4D adjustable and can be nudged in every direction until you get it just right. Although in his review, Kizito found these to be a little loose and too easy to nudge out of place.

Overall, though, he found this to be "the first chair I've actually wanted to keep" out of the many he's reviewed: "The dynamic support and overall plushness of the Omni simply outclassed every gaming chair I've tried, making long sessions at my desk feel genuinely more enjoyable in comparison."

It's no surprise, though, really. The LiberNovo Omni is clearly focused on long-term comfort, as it's incredibly adjustable, and adjustability is probably the key factor for good ergonomics. It also uses a ton of different kinds of foams and fabrics to really nail that comfortable and tailored sitting experience.

The only real caveat to all this is that it's still a new product and hasn't been given the true test of time. The chair itself has a few years of warranty, which is great, but the electronics get just two years, so bear that in mind. The benefit of something like a popular Steelcase or Herman Miller is they're tried and tested over the long haul, but here you're taking a little more of a risk for the revolution in dynamic ergonomics. Still, that aside and as far as high-end luxury goes, the LiberNovo Omni really can't be beaten right now.

Read our full LiberNovo Omni review.

The best gaming chair for back support

While some chairs take a rigid approach to supporting your back, if you're looking for something that's supremely comfortable while also looking after your spine, you should really hunt down a ThunderX3 Core. It manages to be not only the best chair for back support but also one of the most plush and good-looking chairs we've tested, too.

That adjustability really is key. We all shift around in our chairs, and while some models try their hardest to push you into the correct shape, the ThunderX3 Core takes a different approach. It's ready for your odd seating positions, choosing instead to employ a variety of mechanisms that allow it to conform itself to your particular seating styles for ultimate support.

The Lumbar 360° tech backrest is designed to move around with you as you shift your weight, meaning that it's always ready to support your lower back when needed. 4D armrests are an increasingly common feature on modern gaming chairs, but they're usually covered in a "soft-touch-esque" kind of material that's less rigid than hard plastic but not what you'd call cushy. Not so here, as the ThunderX3 Core adds proper cushioning into the mix for arm leaners and forearm resters.

All of this adds to the feeling and look of a chair that invites you to sit down. The aesthetic is refreshingly sleek yet comfy-looking, and while it's got stick-out "wings" that won't be for everyone, it doesn't look particularly gamer bling—meaning it's unlikely to look out of place no matter where you put it. Some gamer chairs scream "I have hobbies" to the rest of the world, but this one is much more Scandinavian cool.

Back to back support. The clever Sync6 box underneath has synchronous tilt, which allows you to lean back while still keeping your feet flat on the floor. You can also tilt it forward to lean in, although the armrests will end up staying where they are. Speaking of leaning back, the backrest locks at four different angles, although you can't lean it back all the way like some other chairs. Still, there should be a position there that suits most leaning styles.

Fabric and leatherette versions are available in various colors, all for an MSRP of $399. That's a fair bit cheaper than a lot of other competing chairs, and since the ThunderX3 Core is up there for affordable back support, it gets a big thumbs up from us. A well-looked-after spine doesn't have to come with an overly firm cost, and this chair proves it.

Read our full ThunderX3 Core review.

The best gaming chair for a larger frame

If regular gaming chairs are a bit tight, or you're the sort of person who likes to spread all over a seat, then the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL is the gaming throne for you. Available in L and XL configurations, we were very impressed by our XL model—so much so that it had to go in this guide as the best chair for a larger frame.

First off, this is a good-looking seat. Lots of color options are available, but all of them will have wide shoulders, proper side bolstering and good attention to detail in the fit and finish. It's very USS Enterprise, and despite its large dimensions for sittin,g it's not too dominant in your average gaming setup.

Be warned, however: construction is not an easy task. That's nothing to do with a lack of tools or bad design, but more that this chair is large, wide, and heavy, so we'd highly recommend bringing a friend. Or, if you want one of these because you're covered in muscle, enjoy the free workout.

That being said, once you do have the Kaiser 4 XL together, you'll find plenty of room. The wide seat cushion and flared shoulder sections mean most should fit very well, and even if you're not a giant, you won't feel too swallowed up. It's very nicely judged in its dimensions. Larger than just about everything else, not so large that it looks cartoonish.

There's lots of adjustability here, including a side-mounted lever for backrest adjustment that makes a whole lot of sense. Why some chairs choose to mount the tilt mechanism underneath is beyond us, but here you can lean and use the handle at the same time to find the perfect amount of recline.

The best bit, though, is the pop-out adjustable lumbar cushion. It's very comfortable to lean against, but firm enough to provide proper, robust support, and it's adjustable in a multitude of different ways. Combine that with a magnetic head pillow that can be adjusted easily, yet stays anchored in place once you've found the ideal spot, and this is a chair that's easy to set up just the way you like.

It does have a couple of drawbacks. Firstly, the branding isn't particularly subtle, so you'll find the word "Kaiser" emblazoned all over it in big letters. And second, the rear backing material is a lovely textured plush material that looks great.

Doesn't sound like a drawback? Well, as nice as it looks and feels, it's prone to damage. You'll be fine if you treat it gently, but if you bang the rear of the chair into your furniture, it's likely to rip or leave a mark. And, if we're being picky, the (otherwise huge and very comfortable) armrests do wobble rotationally a little more than we'd like.

Other than that, the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL is a bit of a winner all around. If what you really want is size and comfort combined in a chair, this is the one we reckon you should go for. Big, bold, and brilliant.

Read our full AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL review.

The best office chair for gaming

Okay, maybe the ThunderX3 Flex Pro can't quite make up its mind exactly what sort of chair it is, but honestly that actually plays right into a PC gamer's hands. Or buttocks, even. With a dizzying total of 19 different "dimensions of adjustment" the chair is certainly playing to our choir of experts, offering consistent support as you move around in the Flex Pro.

With so many different moving parts you can really feeling it shifting around to accommodate you as you fidget around in the ergonomically recommended way every half hour or so.

And with lumbar and head/neck support, shifting seatpan, and continuous recline mechanism, the Flex Pro comes with a lot of different features you will generally find in serious office-based task chairs. Though, in reality, we found that it didn't quite work as well as the Neuechair in terms of providing a true active posture for working at a desk, which would normlly earn it a black mark, and a place in the 'Also tested' section.

That's not to say it isn't supportive when you are in work mode, the back and lumbar support sections capably prop you up while you might be typing away, but, because of that incredible flexibility and the stellar lumbar support, as soon as you kick back and relax in it, the ThunderX3 Flex Pro becomes an excellent tasky gaming chair.

It's an incredibly comfortable chair to sit back with a gamepad and play on, and still retains enough support to remain a decent option for the work day.

And even though there are myriad moving parts that doesn't make it a nightmare to build. It doesn't come fully realised, with fully six major components to put together, but it only took us around 30 minutes solo work to get it up, rolling, and reclining.

If you're after the range of task chair features without paying Neuechair or Steelcase money, then the Flex Pro gets you most of the way there on a bit of a budget. Okay, it's not cheap, but it is around half the price of those other brands. But where it stands out is that it can really compete with other primarily gaming chairs when it comes to reclined comfort, and not all office chairs are able to do that.

Read our full ThunderX3 Flex Pro review.

Also tested

How we test gaming chairs

Let's face it, we spend a lot of time here at PC Gamer sitting on our butts. And that makes us perfect candidates for testing gaming chairs. We will dedicate a significant amount of time to parking our posteriors in a variety of gaming and office chairs when it comes to testing them out, because it's only really by using a chair over an extended period that you get to know where it supports you and where it might be lacking.

Of course, the first step is about building your chair; most gaming chairs come in various stages of disassembly and you'll have to put them together yourself. This process can already tell an experienced reviewer a lot about both the quality of the materials being used in the chair, and about the finished article's overall quality, too. If it's stripping thread when you're screwing in bolts, or parts are loose when they should be tight, then you can already tell something might be missing.

We also use each of the gaming chairs we test as our main working seat for the time that we are testing a chair. That way, we can get a feel for what it would be like to actually live with a particular piece of gaming furniture, as we would if we'd purchased it ourselves.

It also means that we can test the longevity of things like the different levers and controls over time, too. We've had issues where some cheaper brands had plastic levers that just wouldn't last, and where seat materials fail when used for extended periods of time.

And it means we can tell how it makes us feel after using a particular chair for a while. Now, that's not about some emotional connection with a seat, but with ergonomics being such a vital part of gaming chairs when it comes to your overall physical health, this long-term testing is important for us to tell when something doesn't feel right in our own bodies while we're using a chair. Conversely, when something fits you as though it's been made especially for you, then you know you've found a genuinely quality gaming chair.

And value is key to us as well. A chair doesn't have to be cheap, but so long as it feels like it's worth the money you're being expected to pay, then it has value.

Our panel of ergonomics experts

Collectively, here on PC Gamer, we've spent hundreds of human hours testing a host of different gaming chairs. We have a lot of experience and have built up a whole lot of expertise on the subject. That puts us in a great position to be able to let you know why some chairs are better than others, and to be able to pick out the absolute best options in the different categories.

But we can't just rely on our own expertise when it comes to putting your body on the line when you're spending hours sat in a seat. So we've recently got in touch with several trained and certified ergonomists, and interviewed them on what makes a great gaming chair, what you should be looking out for, and how to spend time at your desk without putting your body in peril.

Three of our experts are from companies that specialise in manufacturing ergonomically fit chairs, and one independent physical and occupational therapist.

What you should look for in a chair according to the experts

We can provide advice on what gaming chair to buy based on our experience, comparative pricing, comfort, and build quality, but when it comes to the science of ergonomics there are clear, objective things that you should always be looking for in a new gaming chair purchase. Our ergonomic experts are unified on the main thing that you need to consider, though.

"Look for a chair that keeps you supported and moving," says Kevin Butler. "Long gaming sessions demand a seat that adapts to your body, not the other way around."

And that's what Secretlab's advisor, Dr. Tsai notes, too. "You want a chair that gives you room to naturally move about and able to provide support for your body at the same time. Because when you’re able to shift and change your sitting position regularly, you will naturally adopt comfortable positions as needed."

Jonathan Puleio, global VP at Humanscale agrees, stating that: "Movement and postural variation are critical for maintaining long-term comfort and health. Consider chairs that have self-adjusting features such as weight sensitive recline mechanisms and form-sensing mesh."

Dr. Gallucci, however, is more concerned with adjustability. "The most important thing to look for in a chair is ergonomic adjustability. A good chair should support your posture for long periods without causing discomfort or fatigue. That means it should allow you to adjust the seat height, seat pan depth, armrests, lumbar support and backrest tilt."

"Because we’re all built differently," agrees Dr.Tsai, "adjustments are key to tailoring the chair to best match your needs. That’s why it’s not just about whether they have certain features, but to what degree of adjustments said features actually give us."

The advice has previously been that there is an ideal posture, but as Dr. Stuart McGill, Professor Emeritus of Waterloo and expert in back pain, notes in the study Secretlab links from its site: The science of stress: How to reduce back pain while sitting (.pdf warning), "this may be the ideal sitting posture, but for no longer than 10minutes!"

"Tissue loads must be migrated from tissue to tissue to minimize the risk of any single tissue accumulating microtrauma," Dr. McGill continues. "This is accomplished by changing posture. Thus, an ergonomic chair is one that facilitates easy posture changes over a variety of joint angles."

Therefore, you need to be looking for a chair that can accommodate a range of movement and a range of different seating positions. For years, I assumed that my favourite sitting posture, with one leg crossed beneath me, was dreadful. And yes, it would be if I stuck to it, but so long as you are changing positions regularly, sitting cross-legged can be an effective posture, too.

How you should sit at a desk

We have spoken with ergonomists in the past about the 'right' way to sit at a desk, and the general guidelines remain largely the same, except with more emphasis now on movement being key to continued physical health.

Dr. John Gallucci Jr. CEO of JAG Physical Therapy, told me recently that "a good rule of thumb is to stand or move every 30–60 minutes. Even just a quick stretch, short walk or posture reset can reduce the strain on your back, hips and neck. During the workday, even on your busiest days, it’s good to get up for a micro-break—motion is medicine!"

Recommendations of these micro-breaks can be as simple as standing from the chair and maintaining a relaxed standing posture for 10 to 20 seconds. During this break if you perform some neck rolls and arm windmills you can help relieve neck and shoulder discomfort from sitting at your desk desk.

Secretlab's advisor and founder of Respawn Therapy, Dr. Jordan Tsai, had similar advice on that point. "You want to create “micro-breaks” for your body by introducing movement, and switching between sitting positions is an incredibly effective way to do this. I usually recommend my patients to:

• Vary their sitting positions every hour at a minimum. Listening to your own body is also key. If you feel like you need to raise a leg for a bit, then you should!
• A simple exercise to do while sitting would be to move your trunk in each direction: forward, backward, and side to side—to the limit of their range of motion, ideally once every hour.
• Stand up and walk around for a few minutes every 2-3 hours as well."

But when you are sat down, there are some key things to consider to ensure that you are at least starting out with the 'correct' posture. Even if it is advisable to be constantly shifting around in your chair—fidgeting is good for you—considering these initial pointers is a great starting position for your seated posture.

• Your knees should be bent at 90 degrees, and your feet flat on the floor.
• Your elbows should be level with your desk and close to your body (meaning that you shouldn't have to extend your arms to reach your mouse and keyboard).
• Your shoulders should be relaxed.
• Your lower back should be supported. If your chair doesn't have built-in lumbar support, a small pillow can do the job.
• Your monitor should be positioned such that you don't have to tilt your head up, with the top monitor bezel level with your eyes.
• Unlock the backrest of the chair and adjust the tension to allow for movement.
• Adjust the seatpan such that there is at least two inches of clearance behind the back of the knee.
• Stay in motion: Even small shifts throughout your session make a big difference.
• A great gaming chair should support every move, from clutch plays to mid-match breaks.

One other bit of advice for the dudes out there is that if you still carry a wallet, and it resides in your back pocket, you should remove it before you sit down. We've been told that some experiments have even used a wallet in the back pocket to intentionally create back pain in a subject.

And finally, if you're trying to avoid back pain from long hours of sitting at your desk, you ought to do some sort of physical exercise in the middle of the day, even if that's just a short walk. Go walk the dog, for example.

Best gaming chairs FAQ

Razer is always incredibly on-brand, and the gloves it includes in the packaging for its chairs are no exception. They’re black, edged with the company’s somewhat distinctive bright green around the wrist-hole, and it would have been so easy for the company to just throw a plain black pair in there, or even not to bother at all.

It turns out they’re pretty cheap gloves, and a bit tight too, but their presence speaks to the level of thought and attention to detail that’s been put into this chair despite its budget nature.

You also get a tool. Just one. And it’s all you’ll need. Like every other gaming chair the Iskur V2 X comes in a big box as a kit of parts, and you’ll need to do up a few bolts to get it together. Unlike some other gaming chairs, however, every bolt here uses the same size hex key, so Razer only needs to supply one. It has a plastic grip at the top so you can get the bolts done up nice and tight, and you’ll only need to do up about six of them as things like the armrests are preassembled. It’s one of the easier chairs I’ve ever built, and comes with a hilariously worded welcome card—“It’s time to take your throne ... posture perfect hardcore gaming”—that flips over to become a clearly illustrated assembly guide.

It is Razer’s budget option, and is aimed at challenging Corsair for a spot on the affordable end of our best gaming chair guide. Though it is still quite a lot of money compared to a really cheap office chair (it’s a little more expensive than the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, for example, though the non-X Iskur V2 is a lot pricier), and as a result it’s quite light. This makes the assembly simpler, as you’re not having to lift heavy parts—the most difficult bit is placing the seat of the chair onto the riser stem, and that’s only because you can’t see what you’re doing. It can help to have a second person laying on the floor acting as a spotter. It clunks home nicely once you’ve got it in the right place, however, and from then on setup is a breeze.

And what you’ve built is a solid, if rather basic, gaming chair. It comes in black or grey, with a fabric finish (no premium leather or other customisation options here, though it’s the kind of multi-layer breathable fabric that’s meant to keep your ass cool), and the colours both cost the same. Though it’s worth noting that the head pillow, which attaches with elastic, is an optional addon you’ll pay extra for.

The Razer website, amusingly, suggests the chair is ‘similar’ to a Blade 16 laptop with an RTX 5090 on board. I am happy to verify that it is not. What it is, in the black version at least, is the same colour as a lot of gaming laptops, keyboards, that sort of thing. It won’t be hard to colour-coordinate your setup around the chair, but if you have specific colour requirements for your avant garde gaming room vision, you might want to look elsewhere. If, like the rest of us, you just put something together based on what looks ok for the price, then you’ll be just fine.

The chair has a bit of lumbar support, adjustability for people up to 190 cm tall (though Razer isn’t consistent here, and says both 190 cm and 200 cm—at 187 cm myself I felt I was teetering on the edge of what it could accommodate: a few extra cm, especially in the legs, would have put my knees up too high even with the chair base in its highest position) and the ability to recline the back 152° so you can use it to have a nice lay down.

There's the inevitable Razer branding, of course—the wibbly snake logo behind your head and the word written across the back in that resplendent verdant hue—but while the fabric finish and moderate armrest adjustability point to it being a budget chair, the materials it’s made from don’t. The fabric it’s covered with is nicely textured, the base is aluminium (into which the wheels clunk satisfyingly) and while the padding is definitely slimmer than you’d expect from a chair that sits further up the expense hierarchy, it’s not uncomfortable.

Actually, it’s really nice to sit in. If you are of the broader persuasion, then you might want to fiddle with the bolts underneath to increase the distance between the arms, but once you’ve used the integrated lever to adjust the angle of the backrest to your liking, changed the height and rotation of the armrests and raised the seat itself so that your feet are in the ergonomically approved position on the floor, then decided whether you want to seat to tilt back or not, you’ve exhausted the adjustability options. There's a dial underneath which loosens or tightens the tilt mechanism, but it’s kind of hard to reach from a seated position.

This sort of simplicity is to be applauded when it results in a chair that’s comfortable, and the Iskur V2 X is just that. The lumbar support is integrated into the backrest rather than coming in the form of a cushion (you can buy one separately, if you want), and can’t be adjusted. I found it fine, and sat in it all day while doing my very important job, but if you have specific requirements here it might be worth sitting in one before you commit. Something easier said than done with chairs you order online. Getting hold of one might also be an issue, as while the chair is ready to order in the US at the time of writing, the UK product page says it’s not available in the region.

The Razer Iskur V2 X is a tempting proposition. You get a big-name gaming chair with a decent level of comfort for a budget price. You can see where the axe has fallen on the Iskur V2 X—it doesn’t have the finish options or thick padding of premium models, but neither does it have their price tag. The chair looks good, is easy to build, is nice to sit in and has just enough adjustability to tailor it to the demands of your hindquarters.

General comfort, physical disabilities, health problems, airconditioner proximity, chance of dog love, potential snuggles, and ability to snack. This is the list of excuses that comes to mind whenever I realise I am once again gaming on the couch, rather than parking myself at my desk in one of the best gaming chairs. For controller based games, this isn't such an issue, but for keyboard and mouse based action it's really difficult to get comfy. In the past I've tried to fix this with all sorts of solutions, including building my own coffee table desk raiser, and so I'm both exhilarated and annoyed by how solid the Couchmaster Cycon3 is.

The Cycon3 (Cycon Cubed?) consists of two sturdy rectangle cushions, which hold up a plastic desktop. There are heaps of features like charging, lights, pockets, and power, which help justify the $200 price tag, but they're just icing. The cake here is a stonehenge style assembly of simplicity, and it's enraging how well it works.

The two rectangle cushion slabs sit either side of you, acting as raisers for the desktop space. They're full of memory foam, but you're not supposed to snuggle into them. Instead they make a sturdy yet slightly plush base for both your elbows while gaming, and the rest of your game setup. The flexibility suits a couch much better than something harder. It's a far more solid foundation than I expected. It doesn't shift when you need stability, while still being light enough to move easily.

The cushions are covered in a dark soft fabric that hasn't set off any sensory icks. It also has several pockets sewn into it, which are perfect for holding drinks, snacks, remote controls, vapes, and everything else you need for couch gaming. It's also been handy to stop me from losing that one audio remote down into the couch folds. There's also an additional dedicated mouse pocket that sticks onto the desk portion and overhangs these sturdy pillars. If you need more, Nerdytech also makes accessories like tablet holders, which I wouldn't have trusted before experiencing the robust construction on display here, but now kinda want.

With the desk portion sitting across both slabs, and me in between them all, this is the bulk of the setup done. Without even bothering to plug anything in, I was quite comfortably able to play games on my couch. A simple wireless mouse and keyboard plonked on top was all it took to get what the Couchmaster is going for: comfortable mouse and keyboard couch gaming with minimal compromises.

Though for nearly $200 USD you'd want a bit more than a couple of well positioned cushions.

Thankfully, the desktop portion of the Couchmaster Cycon3 also has a few tricks up its sleeve. On the underside are four large flat screw points that'll grant you access to two cabling sections. One of the ports here is for power and to connect the desk to your PC. All the others are all USB 3.2 Type-A that you can run sneaky cables from to your various peripherals. To add to it, there's an additional one on top of the desk, alongside a USB Type-C fast charging port.

When plugged into your PC you get some pretty impeccable passthrough on devices. I've run a few different keyboards and feel no difference between couchboarding and plugging them straight into my computer. If you've got the desk plugged into power as well then you'll be able to use the full gamut of ports, as well as play with the coloured lightbar. I've been running a wired keyboard, mouse, and a set of headphones while also charging my phone all from the comfort of my little couch fort.

Being enclosed in this gaming fortress is a surprisingly comfortable way to play games. I got through all of the first lot of DLC for Doom Eternal using it without feeling any discomfort or fatigue. I've forced a few other gamers to sit at it too, and they've reported surprising comfort from the setup. The hardest part is when you're all loaded up with gamer gear and you have to sort of awkwardly boomgate yourself out of your cube. No solution is ever perfect, I suppose.

I've also used it with my laptop and iPad and it's been quite a comfortable little couch table. While testing the AverMedia GC30 Elite Go capture card I had both of them on my desktop setup for streaming. I was able to draw on my iPad at a comfy angle and still monitor my stream on the laptop. And yeah, I've eaten a few meals on it now too and haven't had any stains. No matter what awkward activity I want to do on my couch, it seems the Cycon3 wants to help. And it's quite comforting about it the way it's always barricading me up in this activities-couch cubical.

The thing is, couch PC gaming is going to happen, whether we like to admit it or not. Often at the cost of your back, especially with mouse and keyboard setups. The Couchmaster Cycon3 fixes that quite nicely. At $200 it's not cheap, but with how sturdy and well thought out it all is, It doesn't seem unfair. But I can see it's a tough sell. It's the most comfortable I've been while playing mouse and keyboard style on my couch, and I'm still balking at the cost.

I don't know how a pair of cushions and some plastic with passthrough could be worth this much, but when I'm using it I completely forget the numbers. It's almost like sitting in a fancy car; nothing could be worth that money but damn, it sure is nice and comfy, and no I am not comfortable discussing how I got financing. It feels solid, and even a touch bulker than I'd like, but its construction also makes it super simple, easy to setup, and only a little difficult to crawl out from. Add to this all the ports and pockets, and this setup gives you everything you need to do real PC gaming at your couch.

As PC gamers, we spend a lot of our time sitting on our collective bottoms. That's just the way it's always been. With the traditional keyboard and mouse control system (obviously the best control system) demanding some sort of desktop upon which to perch, it's natural that we need to be sat at a desk.

And with the ever increasing amount of time we spend sitting at those desks—especially with the rise of working from home—it's important that gamers have a comfortable and ergonomic place to park their derriere. And, because we're special, that standard swivel chair you might have picked out of a skip, or at Ikea for a pittance, just doesn't cut it, and so the gaming chair was born.

But is a gaming chair the right place to park it? The best gaming chairs offer a wealth of adjustable features and space-age materials all designed to keep you comfortable and keep your spine intact for a long gaming session. Yet outside of that you will find a ton of brightly coloured seats filled with cheap materials, that deliver almost no ergonomic benefits, all aiming to copy the style of Secretlab, Corsair, and AndaSeat.

I recently spoke to four ergonomists about gaming chairs, desks, and the 'right' posture (apparently there kinda isn't such a thing) and specifically asked them whether there were features or design quirks that frustrated them about modern chairs, and especially gaming chairs.

"Yes, definitely!" Says Dr. John Gallucci Jr. "A few things stand out. Overbuilt 'racing style' designs: They look cool but often force your spine into unnatural positions with rigid side bolsters or bucket seats that don’t promote good posture.

"Fixed or exaggerated lumbar pillows," he continues. "Not everyone’s spine is shaped the same! A giant pillow can push your lower back too far forward, causing discomfort instead of relief."

Most of the experts I spoke to also said the same thing about form over function, with Dr. Gallucci noting that "RGB lights, flashy colors, or 'wings' on the headrest don’t make up for poor adjustability or lack of ergonomic support."

As you might expect from an office/task chair manufacturer, Humanscale's ergonomic expert, Jonathan Puleio, is more scathing. "Most chairs labeled as 'gaming' chairs are simply budget task chairs with colorful accent stripes.

"The backrest and seat pan are typically attached and non adjustable. If you are lucky enough to find a gaming chair that has a recline mechanism, it will likely have a back lock and a tension control knob. Most gaming chairs are severely lacking from an ergonomics standpoint. We recommend not falling for the marketing hype surrounding them."

Kevin Butler, a professional ergonomist and senior wellbeing consultant at Steelcase, another of the best office chair manufactures, is more measured, though: "Many gaming chairs prioritize style over function—super stiff seats, fixed armrests, or exaggerated racing-style shapes that don’t actually support how people sit. Looking good means nothing if your back’s paying the price."

Slightly countering that point about 'stiff seats', however, is Secretlab's ergonomics advisor and esports physical therapist, Dr. Jordan Tsai: "There’s a common misconception that 'soft' translates to 'comfortable'. But there are glaring issues with prolonged sitting on too-soft surfaces. For one, it increases the demand on the stabilizer muscles in your trunk area, which can lead to discomfort, and subsequently, fatigue.

"You can liken this to how your body has to work harder to balance on a soft foam surface (such as a bean bag) versus stable, hard ground. The uneven weight distribution on soft surfaces also increases the focal pressure at the point of contact. A reasonably firm surface is key to distributing the pressure exerted."

This is the reason you'll find the best gaming chair, the Secretlab Titan Evo, coming with a relatively hard seat. But as well as being ergonomically beneficial, Dr. Tsai also suggests that a stiffer seat material can actually be a benefit to competitive gamers.

"Another thing I really like about firmer seat bases is that you can sit on the front half of the chair and not feel like you’re falling off from it. This is a position I call 'Active Posture'—I often recommend this to competitive gamers, which allows them to lean forward without compromising their lower back posture.

"I’d also personally always choose a strong foam-based seat over a mesh-based one. Foam gives more uniform support and allows for better weight distribution, even when sitting on a smaller surface area."

What SHOULD you look for in a gaming chair?

These are the things that really get to the expert ergonomists in the industry, so what should you be looking for in your next gaming chair? Well, all of the people I spoke to said the same thing: You need a chair that supports movement.

"Look for a chair that keeps you supported and moving," says Kevin Butler. "Long gaming sessions demand a seat that adapts to your body, not the other way around."

And that's what Secretlab's advisor, Dr. Tsai notes, too. "You want a chair that gives you room to naturally move about and able to provide support for your body at the same time. Because when you’re able to shift and change your sitting position regularly, you will naturally adopt comfortable positions as needed."

Puleio agrees, stating that: "Movement and postural variation are critical for maintaining long-term comfort and health. Consider chairs that have self-adjusting features such as weight sensitive recline mechanisms and form-sensing mesh."

Dr. Gallucci, however, is more concerned with adjustability. "The most important thing to look for in a chair is ergonomic adjustability. A good chair should support your posture for long periods without causing discomfort or fatigue. That means it should allow you to adjust the seat height, seat pan depth, armrests, lumbar support and backrest tilt."

"Because we’re all built differently," agrees Dr.Tsai, "adjustments are key to tailoring the chair to best match your needs. That’s why it’s not just about whether they have certain features, but to what degree of adjustments said features actually give us."

That's what the experts recommend, and we've spent a lot of time testing different places to park our butts for a concerted gaming session to allow us deliver a definitive verdict on what the best gaming chairs are for your spine and your budget.

Gaming chairs are a dime a dozen, and AndaSeat is striving to establish itself as a leading brand in the market, indeed the brand has held a spot on our list of the best gaming chairs for a good while now. I’ve been maining an AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL which sets a high standard but its hefty price tag of nearly $579 USD (£550 GBP / $1,050 AUD) makes it a little too premium of a choice for most of us. So when AndaSeat reached out to test its newer, cheaper AndaSeat Novis chair—which comes at a $249 USD (£235 GBP / $450 AUD)—I was more than curious to see how it fairs. Suffice to say, there’s a significant trade-off in features and comfort that explain why this is quite literally, half the chair of its sibling.

Out of the box it strikes a sharp silhouette—angular panels, clean stitching, and an integrated headrest hinting at "ergonomic" without delivering padding. But while its design language suggests premium comfort, the reality of sitting on it is an exercise in frustration: it occupies that lonely slice between "good value" and "usable terror".

Assembly is refreshingly painless: the gas-lift cylinder slides into the sturdy five-star base, the backrest bolts neatly to the seat pan, and the dual-stage armrests snap into place without protest. The tilt-tension knob is set so tight that it takes several revolutions to find a usable resistance. I tested the gas lift through various heights; it’s smoother than many budget models, and the chair’s center of gravity feels stable even at full recline.

Yet the first clue that AndaSeat cut corners on comfort emerges immediately: the box is devoid of support extras. No head pillow, no lumbar cushion, not even a fabric-wrapped sachet to soften the impact. Settling into the seat reveals the core issue: a slab of dense, "high-density cold cure" foam that practically dares you to test its limits. The seat’s slight forward pitch might encourage alert posture, but without softness under your sit bones, it feels like resting on a sculpted rock ledge. At least the back can tilt through a generous 90°–165° range, lockable in any position but there’s no rocking mode.

Fifteen minutes in, my pelvis cried uncle; an hour later, my thighs were singing an aria of discomfort. By comparison, the Kaiser 4 cushions contours with memory foam, creating an oasis of softness, and even the Razer Iskur X—cheaper at around $350 USD (£275 GBP / $525 AUD)—uses a firmer foam that embraces rather than repels your shape.

That design choice carries into the chair’s spine support—or absence thereof. The backrest’s built-in headrest is handsome in its minimalism, but without a head pillow, it does little more than press cold plastic against your neck. Lower down, the back panel is comparatively flat, lacking the basic s-curve that even cheap office chairs do. AndaSeat markets a $40 USD (£30 GBP / $60 AUD) memory-foam lumbar pillow, but paying extra for basic support feels like buying seat belts a la carte. If you’ve ever experienced the Kaiser 4’s dial-driven lumbar system, which lets you tweak spine-hugging pressure mid-session, or Razer’s 5D lumbar in the Iskur V2, the Novis’s inert slab will feel like a deliberate insult.

Armrests on the Novis only offer up-down movement. That’s as basic as it gets but if you’ve ever experienced the joy of 4D arm rests, this will smart. I could never find a right position for these arm rests in relation to my desk—there just wasn’t enough motion to get things right. Meanwhile, the Kaiser 4’s four-axis rests allow you to swivel and pivot at will and without those degrees of freedom, the Novis’ arm rests feel like a tacked-on apology rather than an intentional ergonomic feature.

In terms of looks and materials, the Novis fabric deserves genuine applause. The Ash Gray weave fabric version I got is breathable—particularly welcome in Brisbane’s sticky heat. After weeks of use, there’s nary a sign of pilling or wear; the texture still feels fresh against bare skin. Aesthetically, it’s versatile enough to blend into a home office or living room without shouting "gaming rig!". But I can’t speak for how easy this fabric is to clean as the Novis doesn’t seem to be machine washable like some Secretlab chairs.

Pricing is the final clincher. At $249 USD (£375 GBP / $720 AUD), AndaSeat pitches the Novis squarely at people wanting that premium feel without the full premium price—and they almost get away with it. Yet for $350 USD (£275 GBP / $525 AUD) you can snag the Iskur X, which delivers core comfort and integrated lumbar support. If your budget is truly fixed, the Iskur X is a shrewd compromise; if you can stretch, the Kaiser 3 is worth the splurge.

Ultimately, the AndaSeat Novis chair nails aesthetics, sturdy build, and some functional adjustments but trips at the finish line. The foam comfort, limited arm rests and lacking lumbar support contribute to a chair that looks far better than it feels. A gaming chair’s promise is to vanish under your body, letting you lose yourself in play or work without distraction. The Novis refuses to disappear—it’s a constant reminder of itself, in the form of aching pressure points and an unyielding backrest. This is definitely far from the best AndaSeat has to offer but I guess the adage is true; you get what you pay for.

The ThunderX3 Flex Pro is a strange chair, mostly because I'm not entirely sure it knows what it wants to be. Is it aiming for a spot on our best gaming chair guide, or the best office chair? A professional-looking chair with few frills, it's at its best not when you're sitting bolt upright concentrating on a meeting or working diligently at your keyboard, but when you're almost dangerously reclined, gamepad in hand as you relax at your desk.

The flexibility to allow you to switch between those two approaches is one of the Thunder X3 Flex Pro's biggest selling points. Boasting 19 different "dimensions of adjustment," you can feel it working to accommodate you no matter what orientation you're sitting in. Across its seat, lumbar, back, and head rests, a combination of mesh material and a dizzying number of moving parts means that you've got plenty of support.

Perhaps most outlandish are the two separate lumbar support panels. Moving independently of one another, they're the stars of the show whether you're sitting up or leaning back. If that sounds a little more 'massage chair' than 'office chair' to you, the good news is that all of this chair's various moving parts can be locked in place, often with nothing more than the simple twist of a lever. The extent of all that adjustability does mean that you might have to struggle through some confused pushing and pulling at the start, but that should be a short-term problem.

With all those moving parts, I was worried that the ThunderX3 Flex Pro would be a building nightmare, but thankfully I was wrong. The entire build took me 30 minutes on my own, and while the hardest part was getting its enormous, heavy box up the stairs to my office, actually pulling the whole thing together was pretty easy. I thought I'd be in for a nightmare of complex moving pieces, but 12 screws and just six major components brought the entire chair together.

Unfortunately, not all of those components are great. The mesh seat is quite hard, which feels a little out of place with the gentle give that the rest of the chair clearly prides itself on. It's also pretty small, and while you don't really notice that while leaning back, while sitting up I'm not dealing with a lot of extra room, despite fitting firmly within the size and weight descriptions.

And for how solid some of the rest of the build feels, I was a little disappointed by the simple plastic rollers I got for wheels. Thankfully, my initial uncertainty about the armrests' 360-degree adjustability seems to have been mostly unfounded, but even for all the movement I do have access to, I've struggled to get them exactly where I wanted them.

It's a slightly similar story with the headrest. It's massive, and you can move it around a fair bit, but I wanted to move it forward to give me some help while I'm sitting up as well as leaning back. Whether that's by design or my issue interpreting the slightly hieroglyphic instruction manual I'm not sure, but it's another slight miss.

I was initially sceptical about the value of all that adjustability, especially when it didn't always seem to work as intended. The first time I sat down, it was easy to feel where the chair was moving with me, but only after I stopped sitting up straight. Almost immediately, it felt as though the ThunderX3 Flex Pro would be great for lazily leaning back with a gamepad, but would offer much less value in meetings or for keyboard + mouse games. Given how much more time I spend dealing with the latter than the former, that was a concern.

Happily, I appear to have been wrong on that front. The combination of the hard seat and a bit of clever post-sitting adjustment around the lumbar support meant that I could feel nicely held up, even when sitting up straight. Obviously, it falls away if I lean forward, but an adjustable seat does offer a partial means of addressing that particular issue.

Nevertheless, it does leave me slightly torn on the ThunderX3 Flex Pro. For the price point, I think it's excellent—you're definitely getting more support and flexibility than most of its gaming chair competitors at the same price (and often at higher prices too).

The problem is, some of this chair's biggest selling points feel a little like they're aiming in the wrong place. Much of its best supportive and flexible features fall away when you use it as an actual office chair. Sat forward at a desk, you're simply not feeling several of those 19 points of adjustment. Thankfully though, I do have to admit that when it comes to arguably its most important spot—the lumbar support—it does great work no matter how you sit.

As a gaming chair, I think this is much better. Lean back, and you can feel the ThunderX3 Flex Pro moving with you, and the mesh material means it's breathable and has some decent give.

The lumbar supports feel amazing here too, almost as though they're holding you up on their own. For longer sessions where you've using a gamepad and leaning back to drink in an hours-long open-world session, this chair does a really good job. It might require a little getting used to, and a little fine-tuning to make sure it's working at peak performance, but if you can get past that initial admin stage, this is a solid hybrid chair at a price that leaves its biggest gaming rivals pretty far behind, without compromising on anything more than a few small details.

Audio in videogames doesn't get enough credit for the amount of heavy lifting it does for the medium. Whether it's atmospheric creepiness like floorboards creaking, satisfyingly responsive like a perfect reload, or just there to vibe to like a great soundtrack, sounds can really add to the gaming experience. For these reasons a good headset or set of speakers are essential to any gaming setup, but what about something in between, like the Razer's new headrest speaker the Clio.

Headsets—even open backed ones—have a tendency to lock me out of my environment. Having that immersive focus in-game is great, but it isolates me from the goings on in my house. A set of PC gaming speakers, of course, are great for this but also involve sharing my game noises with everyone around me, regardless of how they feel about it. The Clio looks like a great middleground, allowing the joy and freedom of speakers without bothering the whole house, though it might bother your gaming chair...

The other potential bonus with the Clio is it outsources wearing a headset to your chair, so it's even more freeing than a good wireless headset. Rather than have the potential discomfort from headset wear, the Clio attaches to the back of the headrest using adjustable straps which Razer says should fit most high-backed chairs. The plush memory foam is designed to be leaned into while still being comfortable, and has THX spacial audio piped into direction specific speakers angled to be heard by the person sitting in the chair.

I'm a big fan of near-field directional sound when it's used well. I've been rocking it in the RayBan Meta smart glasses I have, and it's really easy to listen to music and take calls without anyone else being able to hear a thing. I assume the headrest will have to be a bit louder being further away from the ears, but the tech can be really effective, so I'm keen to see how it works here.

The speakers in the Clio can also be used in conjunction with others already in your setup. Here the Clio can act as specific speakers in a surround sound setup to help enhance that experience. Having the speakers directly behind the head should really make the sounds feel like they're coming from right behind you. The speakers are touted as delivering good immersive sound whether they're stand alone or a part of a bigger unit, and apparently can do so even for those not directly in the chair at the time.

With MSRP sitting at $229.99 USD or €199.99, you can hopefully expect some quality speakers and comfort to match the price tag. You could get a pretty fabulous gaming headset for that price, so you'd want to see at least the same value proposition here from the Clio.

If it delivers, I'm really into the idea of speakers for my chair as opposed to my head. It's not only nice to see a slightly different product now and then and this is one I could actually see myself using. The idea of just sitting at my desk in my chair and being basically game ready is actually a pretty liberating one. I guess what I'm saying is I'm ready to rest my head and hope Clio cradles it gently while whispering sweet sweet videogame nothings to me.

Last year, Razer launched two products with haptic feedback being the front and centre of attention: the Freyja seat pad and the Kraken V4 Pro headset. We tested and reviewed both products, designed to improve the experience in even the best gaming chairs and, while the latter is very good, its steep price tag is a bit of a barrier. In the case of the Freyja, though, it's really about usage. After all, how many games are going to be better just because you can feel vibrations through your legs and back? Well, now that I've tried them together at GDC 2025, I know exactly what kind of gamer is going to love them.

To cut to the chase, it's sim racing. I sat on the Freyja and wore the Kraken V4 Pro headset while playing Assetto Corsa Competizione using a Razer/Fanatec direct-drive setup. After a few sighting laps in a Lambo, I set about trying to throw down some hot lap times, all while ignoring Razer's haptic gear rumbling away.

At first, I found it somewhat distracting but after five minutes or so, it all clicked into place. Coupled with the force feedback through the steering wheel, I could sense braking points more accurately, where the front was understeering, and the lap times began to tumble. Rather than having to use my ears to judge traction out of corners, listening to the engine's revs climbing too fast or too slow, I could feel it instead.

Or rather, I got a sense of the changes because no vibrating haptic system can replace actual forces on your body, as you accelerate and brake. But hell's bells if it isn't damn impressive.

I asked Razer if it had plans to bring a full racing seat with Freyja fully integrated into it and got a wry smile and a "We can't comment on unannounced products" reply, but I'd bet my last penny that Razer is certainly considering it. The current version of Freyja has nothing around your sides but built into a racing bucket seat, you could certainly do an even better job of simulating cornering forces on your body.

But even if Razer has made such a product and is currently testing it out, it doesn't mean it'll ever see the light of day at retail. Sim racing is hugely popular but in the grand scheme of all things gaming, it's a very niche market and introducing a super-duper Freyja system into such a sector will likely only result in relatively small sales.

That would require it to have a high price tag to offset the low volumes but given how expensive the current Freyja system is, it could easily be priced out of consideration. That said, a full motion-capable sim rig is many thousands of dollars, and a proper racing Freyja chair could slot in between a static wheel setup and an all-bells-and-whistles rig, in terms of price.

Something else that Razer announced at GDC is that it's combining all of its software SDKs into one, called Wyvrn, and it will be fully integrated into Unreal Engine 5.5—that means any future racing games developed on that engine should be able to easily get the most out of any Freyja, Kraken, and wheel setup.

The only bad thing I noticed with the whole Freyja racing setup is that I don't have one at home and now I'm a bit sad. Mind you, I'm not sure how well my cats would respond to my office vibrating like a jackhammer while I'm hooning around in Assetto Corsa.

The Asus ROG Destrier Core is one of the latest products to hit the premium gaming chair market, with the company offering a core and premium version of the gaming chair. For review purposes, the company sent me the core version of the chair to test.

Retailing at $630/£500, the Asus ROG Destrier Core is a little on the expensive side, but does the improved comfort and posture make it worth the additional cost?

Firstly, let's take a look at the design. The Asus ROG Destrier Core is marketed as being a futuristic gaming chair with a cyborg design. While it is undeniable that the chair has a certain aesthetic appeal to it when compared to the likes of the best gaming chairs, such as the Secretlab Titan Evo, I couldn’t help but be a little disappointed by its design.

However, for gamers who prefer a more minimalistic design the Asus ROG Destrier could be perfect, whereas for gamers who prefer a flashy RGB gaming chair, Asus’s previous entry the ROG Chariot RGB looks much more the part.

Sure, the head cushion is unique, the gaming chair sports the signature ROG logo, and the back rocks a pretty unique frame, but truth be told, if it wasn’t for the headrest I would have trouble picking it out from a line-up of standard office chairs.

While the design may have left me a little underwhelmed, I simply can’t knock the build quality of the Asus ROG Destrier. With its non-specific 'metal', cyborg-inspired frame, breathable mesh, and wide range of adjustable positions to help your posture it certainly performs better than it looks.

Considering Asus is a relatively new name when it comes to gaming chairs, it’s a solid chair that feels high-quality and durable. There is, however, one exception, the 3D armrests which have been designed to rotate 360 degrees and are height adjustable.

With 14 cm of adjustment available, Asus has stated that the Destrier is designed with mobile gaming in mind, as it allows for your elbows to be higher, making it easier to comfortably play on a mobile device. However, it is quickly noticeable that having additional flexibility comes at the cost of stability, with the armrests flinging all over the place while gaming, and in some cases would even dislodge themselves and move to the next indent.

Asus recommends reclining the seat back and putting the armrests in their highest position for mobile gaming. While this seemed like an odd way to play games to me at first, I must admit, apart from being annoyed at the wobbling armrests, playing on my mobile device in that position was somehow far more relaxing and comfortable.

Mobile gaming might not be the Asus ROG Destrier’s main selling point, but it’s certainly one of them, and with that in mind I would have expected a much more solid locking system in place for the armrests, allowing mobile gamers to enjoy gaming without their arms wobbling, or worrying about applying too much pressure and moving them.

So far, the Asus ROG Destrier has been a mixed bag for me, it’s a (mostly) solid gaming chair, with what I personally consider to be a boring design. But, if like me you’re a slightly older gamer in need of an ergonomically sound gaming chair, this is one area where Asus have definitely got it right.

The seat doesn’t have any padding as we’ve come to expect in most of the best gaming chairs, instead, it uses a breathable mesh suspension system, which admittedly can take some getting used to. But, while I did find it more uncomfortable at first, it grew on me, leaving me to enjoy long sessions on my favourite PC games without needing to worry about aches and pains once I was done.

The breathable mesh is something I’m looking forward to in the summer, while I’ve generally leaned towards padded chairs, I can only imagine how nice it would be to have a comfortable mesh chair in the blistering heat, without getting too hot and sticky.

Being a gamer, and also suffering from ADHD, I tend to sit in the most unusual positions while gaming, and while that might feel comfortable to me, my physio likes to frequently remind me that working or gaming while sitting cross-legged like a Buddhist monk isn’t the best for my back.

Not only has the Asus ROG Destrier helped me with my back during long gaming sessions, but it has also helped to improve my posture. Due to its ergonomic design, I found it awkward to sit in those weird and not-so-wonderful positions, forcing me into a more upright stance, and ultimately saving me from groaning in agony later.

It might seem like a negative to choose a chair that makes it awkward to sit in the way that you want to, but when it comes to spending hours sat down gaming, protecting your back is important, and a solid ergonomic gaming chair like the Asus ROG Destrier can save you from a lot of pain in the future.

Asus also included adjustable lumbar support on the ROG Destrier, which I did find annoyingly difficult to adjust while I was playing, but once I had finally found the right alignment for my back, it made the world of difference, and hopefully won't need adjusting again.

Much like the lumbar support, the gaming chair also has adjustable height, tilt and depth, but these were also a little awkward to reach while sitting, due to them facing towards the back of the chair. Again, once you’ve adjusted these settings, it shouldn’t be something you need to do too often, but it would be nice to be able to make minor adjustments without needing to get up, or lean around to the back.

One of the Asus ROG Destrier’s most unique features is its headrest, something I usually just ignore in most gaming chairs, however, the Destrier has managed to convert me with a truly unique and adjustable design that helps make it one of the most comfortable gaming chairs around.

Unlike most headrests on gaming chairs, which often can be intrusive, the ROG Destrier lets you move its headrest up or down, tilt it to the correct position, and find the fit that really suits your shape, size and posture. Until now, there had been a special graveyard in my cupboard for headrests, yet thanks to the flexibility offered by the Destrier’s headrest, this one has managed to remain on the chair.

As a gamer pushing 40, long gaming sessions have started taking their toll on my back, which is why a gaming chair that helps promote positive posture and has decent lumbar support is a must have. But, the question is, should that come at the cost of quality, and does ergonomic have to mean boring?

The Asus ROG Destrier ticks most of the right boxes when it comes to supporting my posture, and providing comfort no matter what I’m playing on, and for however long I play. But there are simply a number of issues that are hard to ignore, including the fact that I don’t want to splash out on a gaming chair that frankly looks like it could have been designed and sold by Ikea. Don’t get me wrong, the chair isn’t outright ugly, it just lacks that gaming appeal that I’m used to seeing in modern gaming chairs, which is something I would expect from a core range costing $630/£500.

Sadly, there are far more comfortable gaming chairs out there which offer just as good, if not better support for your back and posture at a fraction of the cost, like the ThunderX3 Core. That being said, the Asus ROG Destrier is a valiant attempt to hit the ergonomic gaming chair market from a company that’s extremely new to creating gaming chairs, leaving me hopeful that the company will learn from its mistakes and create the ultimate ergonomic gaming chair sometime in the near future.

Just last year, Secretlab put out a Monster Hunter 20th anniversary edition set of Titan Evo chairs for the legendary action game, and to celebrate the upcoming launch of Monster Hunter Wilds, one more is on the way. Luckily, it's the nicest of the three.

The Arkveld edition of the Secretlab Titan Evo is available to buy right now for $624 and is inspired by Arkveld from the game, a large white extinct monster which is all scary looks and claws. Luckily, the chair is not. With flecks of white, grey, and blue, the Arkveld edition is very clean-looking, with a small logo of the Arkveld on the front and a more menacing interpretation of Arkveld on the back.

The inlays and detailing of the chair play into the dragon-like aesthetic of Arkveld with scales and talons. The Fatalis and Rathalos Monster Hunter chairs from Secretlab last year don't make as big an impression, mostly because the detailing didn't feel quite as bespoke. Secretlab has really nailed it for me here.

However, this chair isn't all about looks. Even after a few years now, the Secretlab Titan Evo sits at the top of our choices for the best gaming chair. It's comfortable, accommodates a wide range of sizes, and is super durable. The standard Evo is also reasonably priced for the quality, even though the 2022 model is more expensive than the previous one.

The Secretlab Titan Evo Monster collaboration chairs are more expensive than the traditional chairs, selling for an MSRP of $624. This pricing scheme is true of other collaboration chairs too This works out $75 more than the $549 of an equivalent standard Titan Evo chair. That price difference fluctuates with sales but you really need to like the aesthetic to fork out the extra cash for collaboration chairs.

Though I think it looks rather lovely, I've never been the biggest Monster Hunter fan so I took it to some Monster Hunter experts on the team who said:

• "It's really darn nice, ey."
• "I need it."
• "I would gladly beat it to death with a hammer and wear its pelt as pants."

I'm assured that last one was a positive reaction, so 10's across the board from the PC Gamer team. If you're on the hunt (sorry, had to) for a new chair and Secretlab is on your radar, this feels like the perfect way to complement the experience when you get your hands on Monster Hunter Wilds later this month. As a self-admitted Monster Hunter agnostic, even I'm interested.

Is it a robot? Is it a butterfly? No, it's a chair. Arguably, the best design goes unnoticed, but the X-Air Pro from AndaSeat refuses to sit without fanfare in its attempt to find a place on our best gaming chair list. While AndaSeat does offer a selection of more straight-shot office chairs, the X-Air Pro is a decidedly more 'gamer-inflected' offering with its hefty chunk of head-turning plastic partying in the back.

Though a tasteful all-over black version is also available, the celeste colourway of the unit I've reviewed proves just the right side of trashy for me. The back frame case is apparently swappable too, though I'm not sure who has the space to store multiple, chunky back frames like this in different colours.

While the plastic back frame is, let us say, ostentatious, there's more to the X-Air Pro than the fact the back of the headrest looks a little bit like a Transformer. For a start, the wee little ears of the legally distinct robot face are unexpectedly sturdy, making for the perfect perch for your coat; if you hook your hoodie over the back of this seat, it's not going anywhere. Though the back frame proves a surprisingly stylish boon in this respect, we'll return to how it's a bane in a bit.

In the meantime, the all-important question: Is this a worthy throne? As a woman who has occasionally shouldered the nickname 'Gimli' on account of my being both short and broad, I don't feel fenced in by this seat. Though the X-Air Pro is currently only available in an 'L' size—as opposed to the 'XL' size also available for the Kaiser 4 and 3—it's hardly a snug perch.

The mesh seat material offers a strong, springy foundation to begin with. I tend to find that more plush seating offering comparably less bouncy resistance tends to sap my focus, as I frequently readjust throughout seated sessions to get comfortable. The mesh seat construction not only comfortably cradles, but it's also far from the only part of the chair that adapts to you.

The X-Air Pro enjoys a robust suite of adjustable features. For one thing, the armrests boast 5D 360° rotation. This means that not only is the height of the armrests adjustable in the way you'd expect, but the armrests themselves also offer the unexpected party trick of spinning all the way around. Rather than turning smoothly, they click satisfyingly into place, offering enough resistance that you're unlikely to accidentally nudge them out of your preferred alignment, but not too much that intentional readjustment requires really giving it some welly.

For another, I can actually adjust the seat low enough that it not only slides under my very much non-adjustable desk but also so that my feet actually touch the floor (I really wasn't joking about the Gimli height comparison). Besides lowering or raising the seat, the chair's back height can also be adjusted independently by up to 8 cm with seven lockable positions, allowing the integrated dynamic lumbar support to hit you where you really need it.

The 3D headrest is mounted on a plastic pivot for postural adjustment but enjoys independent height adjustment too. In all, the chair's height range is listed as catering to folks between 150 and 190 cm—perfect for small fries like me and those a little more vertically gifted. Add to that the ability to recline backwards at an angle between 105° and 126°, and every slouch proves dangerously close to a nap.

Once assembled, the X-Air Pro offers a comfortable perch with a wide range of adjustable features to suit you—however, the road to get there is not nearly as smooth. First, the X-Air Pro rocks up in an absolutely massive box. That does mean there's plenty of room in said box for everything you need to assemble it inside, like Allen keys and a screwdriver, but it also proves a logistical mission before you even start the build.

Thanks to the mostly easy-to-understand visual instruction manual though, construction itself is fairly straightforward—save for those 5D armrests that will keep you guessing as to whether you've attached them the right way around. So, while the website's claim that "You can set everything up in around 15 minutes," is perhaps a tad hopeful, this is hardly a difficult build. That said, it's finally time to address the robot in the room.

This build requires the seat to be mounted onto the gas piston in the wheelbase as the very last step—with the head and armrests already attached. 'Extra' is definitely the word in every sense; the added heft of the oh-so-striking plastic back absolutely makes this a two-person job at least, requiring some tentative 'to-me-to-you-ing' in the office.

Occasionally annoying build aside, I continue to be keen to get in the robot. Offering office chair comfort in the front, and a statement hunk of plastic in the back, AndaSeat has managed to balance both substance and style.

If you tell someone you've been invited into a private suite in Vegas, they may well raise their eyebrows. It is the city of sin, after all, and the imagination can run wild. However, Razer gave me me an experience to remember before CES 2025 kicked off in earnest—although thankfully all of it was gaming hardware-related.

First of all, I got the chance to experience the Razer Freyja haptic feedback cushion (affectionately referred to as "the bum rumbler" in the PC Gamer office) in combination with the Razer Kraken V4 Pro headset and its built-in, err, vibrators. Both existing products we've reviewed recently, and if I'm honest, ones I was a little wary of.

Haptic feedback can be a bit gimmicky, although if anyone's game for some good vibrations (in theory, at least), it's me.

Well blow me down, the two working in unison is quite the effect. To add to the immersion, I was placed in front of a laptop making use of Razer's new Aether standing lightbars (two glowing RGB rods sitting on either side of a laptop and set to adjust the colour at appropriate points) while I watched a gameplay video of what-did-you-just-put-in-my-coffee simulator, Thumper.

My buttocks vibrated in unison with my earlobes (there's a sentence I never thought I'd write), the lights flashed in gameplay-linked psychedelic strobes, and if I'm honest it was a darn good time. I'm not sure I'd convert my home setup to be haptic-ified—especially when the cushion and headset together cost a massive $700—but having experienced all the effects at once I can say it definitely adds something. Colour me curious to try more, at the very least.

However, the real revelation came in the form of Project Arielle—and before we go any further, I regret to inform you it has nothing to do with mermaids. What it does have a lot to do with, however, is thermal comfort in your gaming chair.

I don't really like mesh chairs. It's not that they're uncomfortable, but I'm the sort of human being who leaks heat at a rapid rate. I'm told this makes me good at warm hugs—but it also means that, given a mesh seat, my body will pour heat through it at an immense rate and I'll end up feeling very cold as a result.

Project Arielle is a mesh chair with a party trick. Thanks to a hidden bladeless fan system, the chair can blow either toasty warm or slightly chilly air right down your neck and back. And, being a Razer product, it glows blue or red-orange while it does it.

So for heat-leakers like me, it's a very comfy mesh chair that's designed to warm you on a chilly morning. And I have to say, the effect is surprisingly gentle, even-handed, and just plain nice.

Even nicer was the cool setting. I don't know if Razer set this up deliberately (it definitely did), but the hotel suite was slightly on the wrong side of warm. And as a result, setting the seat to blow cool air resulted in an effect that was simply delicious.

It's like your own personal air conditioning system, and it's whisper quiet. I had to put my ear directly on the seat frame to hear any hint of noise, but the chair still fired cool air (and toasty warmth, on the opposite setting) across my neck and back with aplomb.

I was sceptical when I read the press release. In person though? Yep, I'm sold. While Project Arielle remains a concept for now, the Razer folk I spoke to seemed immensely proud of it—and when I asked about future production, I received what my mother would call a "knowing look."

Nothing's certain, of course, but I can't see the Arielle's temperature delivery system receiving anything but glowing feedback. Put me down as a convert, at the very least.

So there you go: Two concepts I really wasn't sure about, two experiences that in person work a lot better than you might think. Fair play for thinking laterally, Razer. I have been both shaken and entirely stirred, and I liked it.

Chairs can easily be one of the most important choices you make in life. A cheap uncomfortable gaming chair can lead to all sorts of back pain and health problems, especially if you have long gaming sessions in them. The best gaming chairs, those known for their ergonomics don't come cheap, to the point where they're often prohibitively expensive.

This sucks, especially given most people who most need them have probably spent a lot of their cash on things like medicine, and doctors. Reckless fools.

While it's not groundbreaking for ergonomics, Ikea's Matchspel gaming chair is a PC throne that offers a fair amount of customisation at a very friendly price.

Honouring Swedish tradition, the Matchspel arrived at my door, flat-packed in a cardboard box ready to be assembled. It's a fairly easy setup, and like most modern gas lift chairs relies mostly on gravity and your juicy behind to keep itself on its feet. I didn't have any trouble putting this chair together almost entirely by myself.

There's a choice between a black or grey colourway on these. The black sports a red trim which is very ROG gamer, but I went with the light grey to match my desk.

I also wanted to see if it gathered dirt or discoloured with sweat or just contact. Thankfully, I am happy to report both the mesh backing and leatherette seat still look as grey as the day they arrived, despite much use, including a little sweating during heated gaming moments.

For a seat this affordable, there are a fair few settings to play with to get your own individual comfort.

When setting it up the instructions tell you to leave some screws a bit loose so the back of the chair can move a bit with your body and the lumbar support on this stretched fabric is pretty decent.

The downside is it's a little rickety feeling and noisy when parts move but not obnoxiously so. The headrest also has this mesh fabric backing and can have its height and angle adjusted quite dramatically to suit different heights.

There's one lever under the seat that lets you adjust the height via gaslift, and also the tilt of the back portion of the chair. Adjusting vertically is fairly standard and quite granular, but the tilt locks in at different set points. The recline isn't all the way back either but does let you lean a fair way for a quick relax.

When pushed in, that under seat lever locks the adjustments so you don't accidentally change your comfortable seat in a heated gaming moment. The armrests are pretty standard plastic but can also be pulled up and be pushed forward and back for further personalised comfort.

Despite a fair amount of customisation, especially for the price point, my biggest complaint with the Matchspel is still about ergonomics, and it's that there's no tilt for the bum cushion. To be fair, being able to tilt this forward and back would have made this chair a bit of a holy grail as it's not the most common adjustment you find in computer chairs.

If a chair this cheap had it I would be shocked, but given all the other options I was a little hopeful.

Unfortunately, for a lot of people, especially women or other folks with pelvic pain problems or similar issues this is a big deal and arguably is the most important part of a chair to adjust.

It also might have helped make up for the seat being quite firm under the buns, by being able to adjust it on the fly, especially on long sessions. As it stands I do notice that pressure starts to seep into slight discomfort after a little while seated.

That slightly personal (50% of the population) complaint aside, the Matchspel sports a fair few customisation options, and is reasonably comfy, especially for a chair that only costs $290 / £129. It's on the lower effort end when it comes to hefty computer chairs to set up, and looks business-appropriate in an understated way, especially with the light grey colour options.

It's gamer stealth, so you can pretend you're a professional who didn't totally just alt-tab out of Steam while on Zoom calls.

It's Cyber Monday, and the deals are still flowing as fast as we can type them up. And speaking of typing...

A great keyboard can make all the difference in your PC gaming life. Whether you're tapping your way through your hotbar in Baldur's Gate 3 or writing a disgruntled email to PC Gamer, you want a satisfying, responsive board under your fingertips. And if you can get it at a discount, all the better, right?

👉 We're curating the best Cyber Monday PC gaming deals right here 👈

I'm here to help you with that, with my five picks of the best gaming keyboard deals you can grab right now. You can read the full list below, but I have to give a particular nod to the Mountain Everest 60. We already rated it as the best budget gaming keyboard you can get—now that it's available for just $40 (a full $30 off) it's even more brilliant value.

Quick links

• Mountain Everest 60 | $40 @ Amazon
• Logitech G Pro Tenkeyless | $66 @ Amazon
• Razer Huntsman Mini | $70 @ Amazon
• Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 | $147 @ Amazon
• SteelSeries Apex Pro Gen 2 | $170 @ Amazon

Top 5 Cyber Monday gaming keyboards

👉Check out all the Amazon Cyber Monday PC gaming deals right here👈

With the gaming chair market being somewhat saturated with plush perches, all looking very similar, it's hard for any company to stand out from the competition. Secretlab achieves this by making its chairs out of quality materials, to a high standard, and at a reasonable price. For the past few weeks, I've been using a Blacklyte Kraken gaming chair to see if the same holds for the Canada-based company, and whether it can find a place in our best gaming chair list.

At first glance, the Kraken gives off a distinct Titan Evo vibe but it's different enough to not be a direct clone. There is clear evidence of some strong influences in the design but the main reason why I'm using Secretlab as a reference is the Kraken's price. Blacklyte wants $519 for its chair, which also just so happens to be the same amount of money as a Titan Evo if one buys it directly from Secretlab.

There's only one size of Kraken available, recommended for people between 165 and 195 cm (66 - 75 inches) in height, and under 150 kg (330 lbs) in weight. I'm 184 cm and 70 kg (read: tall and thin) and I have to say that its dimensions don't fit particularly well for my build.

It's not because the Kraken isn't spacious—the seat base is quite wide and filled with dense memory foam and covered with some nice PU leather (aka leatherette). The problem is that it's quite short and there's quite a large gap between the edge of the base and my knees. Tilting the chair back doesn't help, due to the large 'panel' that fills much of the seat back.

This is the Kraken's lumbar support and it's basically a spring-loaded section that moves forward with the pull of a small lever. Blacklyte claims that it "perfectly match[es] the natural shape of your lower back" but it absolutely doesn't with mine—all it does is push me further along the base, leaving my legs with even less support than it already does. A small pillow stuffed down my back does a far better job.

Speaking of pillows, the Kraken comes with one for your head/neck that magnetically attaches to the headrest and it's really quite nice. I'd prefer it to be larger than it is, though, because even with the seat back fully upright, it doesn't quite reach my head or neck enough.

It's a similar story with the armrests. They're fine for the most part but the amount of positioning available is a bit restrictive. I'd prefer it if they could go a little lower and more forward than they do. They're topped by a magnetically attached pad that's a little too firm for my tastes but where Secretlab offers alternate pads to apply to the Titan Evo, Blacklyte has nothing (so why are they removable?).

The armrests are four-way adjustable (three-axis movement and rotation) but it's a rather clunky affair, with quite a lot of play in the fixtures. In fact, there's a lot of play in the whole chair and loosening the tilt mechanism, to allow one to rock back further, induces some rather worrying-sounding clunks.

It might just be the specific sample I was sent, but the build quality was poor. The chair's height adjustment mechanism stopped working within a week and from the very start, the two levers controlling it had such a degree of slop to their fitting, I thought I'd broken them during assembly. The mechanism to adjust the lumbar support is also starting to fail, with the cable sticking in its sheath.

Unlike Blacklyte's Atlas gaming desk, which was very straightforward to build, the Kraken was a fiddly affair, involving much juggling of heavy parts whilst trying to line up bolts with holes, many of which were partly hidden by material. At least all the fittings came in a labelled package, so judging which piece to use during the assembly process was easy enough.

I was disappointed to see that the Kraken is shipped with a lot of packaging material that's non-recyclable. Some of that can't be avoided, given how far the chair needs to travel in distribution, but in this day and age, having every component wrapped up in some kind of soft plastic isn't environmentally friendly.

But I could forgive all of this if the Blacklyte Kraken was comfortable to use for lengthy periods. In my case, that means spending a day at a desk working and then a few hours in the night gaming.

Unfortunately, it's not and I have to say it's one of the least comfortable gaming chairs I've ever used. Now, a good part of that is because it just doesn't suit my body's dimensions and shape, but I've asked a few people to try it out and none of them found it nice to use.

As with all gaming chairs with a thick memory foam base, it takes a while for it to bed in, and my scant weight is probably delaying that process. But the unpleasant lumbar support, short seat base length, and overly high armrests all contribute to the general lack of comfort.

Now, if the Kraken only cost $250, like the Corsair TC100 Relaxed does, then I'd happily forgive its failings. But what's acceptable at a few hundred dollars is absolutely not at $500, even accounting for my atypical body dimensions. You might fit the Blacklyte Kraken better than I did, nor suffer any of the quality control issues, but are you willing to take the risk? For this kind of money, I suspect the answer is no.

Ever since it launched back in 2021, the Secretlab Titan Evo has been the best gaming chair and for good reason. With soft materials, a great look, and a good price point for that quality, it's hard to justify getting anything else at that cost. The Fractal Design Refine, with its 'refined' look and comfortable pads has its work cut out for it, if it wants to knock the king off that top spot.

Starting with the very first thing you will do when you get a new chair, putting the thing together, this is a very easy build. The Refine not only comes with a mini user guide but a huge poster going over the main steps. You only need a few screws and an Allen Key, all of which are provided for you, and mine even had a few spare screws, which can be a blessing if you happen to lose one while moving parts around.

Coming with the wheelbase, backrest, seat itself, and a handful of extra parts, things simply slot together, where you can then put the screws in. The seat itself has a few screws already attached in the box, which require a little bit of effort to get out, but the process itself is otherwise pretty painless.

Due to this chair being quite heavy, you will benefit from having a second person to help out but I managed to put it all together in less than fifteen minutes by myself. Due to how easy the armrests are to move (we'll get to that later) I did misread part of the instructions wrong and pop an armrest on backwards, but the hardest part of fixing this was checking my bruised ego in an office full of people.

The Fractal Design Refine is a great looking chair, with a whole host of black and white toned colours to choose from. Mine came in the standard 'Fabric Light' which is an opaque off-white colour, where 'Mesh Light' is more of a breathable transparent shade.

You then have 'Fabric Dark' and 'Mesh Dark' which are similar to the white options, and the line is finished with Alcantara, which is much more expensive at $899 and made out of the Alcantara, suede-like fabric.

With the Refine, Fractal Design has created a gaming chair that is much closer to an office chair in aesthetic. It doesn't have stripes, logos, or textures typically associated with the gamer aesthetic and the more muted colour palette of its lineup is indicative of this. It is quite a tall chair with a very slim back and a short seat. You don't fall into it like with bigger gaming chairs, and the lumbar support helps keep that posture right.

Importantly, the lumbar support can be adjusted very quickly and intuitively. There's a plate on the back of the chair you can manually move up and down to adjust where your back rests on it, and a knob can be turned which pushes it further into or away from the chair. This means, crucially, you can adjust it while sitting down to find the perfect spot to support your posture.

As is expected from a good gaming chair, you can adjust the height, tilt tension, and seat depth with a number of small handles on either side. For the most part, these function well and are easy to pull, though the seat depth handle feels a tad inconsistent.

The others have defined moments where I can tell the chair has registered the pull but one is a bit mushy. They are directly on the side of the seat cushion, which means you don't have to reach under your chair, as is the case with many gaming chairs.

Once sat down and set up, this chair is very comfortable and super sturdy. The materials aren't super soft but not so hard as to not welcome the weight of your body as you plop it down.

Everything has this rigidness that feels quite comforting and makes me feel less guilty about my posture after a long gaming session. The recline on the Refine is comfortable too, giving just enough space in between each position you can lock it in to lean back a little.

As well as this, there's some smart bits of design, like the headrest that can be popped off with a button and hooked in with metal prongs on the back. This not only allows you to change where it sits on the chair but avoids you accidentally knocking it out of place.

This rigidity is one of the better parts of the chair, for me, but is also responsible for my biggest problem. The seat itself has curved edges shaping up at the sides, so, if you have particularly big thighs (like myself) or like to pop a leg under yourself as you sit, the cushion will jut into you.

The recommended height and weight for the chair will, of course, warn you of that a little—but using weight to gauge how your legs may react to the cushion is an inaccurate science.

The armrests are comfortable, though being simply made out of plastic and being quite large, they move back and forward with very little effort. With a click of the button on the outer side of it, you can push them up and down and they snap into place, which is very intuitive but there's no such defined lock for pushing it back and forward.

I have often found myself knocking the arm rest out of its best position by casually moving my arms back and this left me never quite relying on them. This is a shame as the 4D aspect of the armrests work well and they can move relatively comfortably to most positions you might need them in.

Though these flaws definitely betray some of that otherwise premium feel, I do appreciate some of the nicest parts of this chair. The price point puts it at basically the same range as the Secretlab Titan Evo and it makes for a decent competitor with a nice feel and great look.

There's an elegance to a lot of Fractal Design's choices here that really comes through in the Refine's presentation and feel, but given some of the drawbacks, it's hard to choose this when you have so many excellent alternatives out there.

Over the past year, it has become clear that Razer is starting to make a push toward immersive gaming with their Sensa HD Haptics. With both the Razer Freyja and the Razer Kraken V4 Pro featuring Sensa HD Haptics, gamers have a whole new way to immerse themselves in their gameplay like never before.

Being a gamer in my late thirties with three children and all the aches and pains that come with that, comfort is one of my biggest priorities when it comes to gaming. So when I saw Razer had released a haptic feedback cushion for gaming chairs, my first concern wasn’t how well it would work, but instead, how comfortable it is. So I strapped the Razer Freyja to my Secretlab Titan Evo 2022—still our pick for the best gaming chair you can buy—and was pleasantly surprised by just how comfortable this gaming cushion is.

Being a one-size-fits-all all gaming cushion, I had expected the Razer Freyja to move around and sit uncomfortably on my chair, but after testing it on several chairs (even my dining table chairs) I was surprised by just how well it stayed in place.

Not only does the Razer Freyja feel good, but it looks good too. Sporting the Razer logo on the top in the brand's signature green, as well as green stitching around the edge of the haptic gaming cushion, it’s a stylish design that compliments even the best gaming chairs.

But at $300/£300, the Razer Freyja is an expensive gaming cushion, thankfully, it’s so much more than just a cushion. With Sensa HD Haptics and six actuators, the Razer Freyja has been designed to rumble you so hard even your ancestors will feel it, this is achieved by offering haptics across your body, thanks to the cushion's six customizable zones.

Each zone can be individually adjusted with the Razer Synapse 4 software, letting you change the intensity without impacting the other zones. While I found customizing the zones pointless when playing Sensa HD-compatible games, I did find it useful in the Audio-to-Haptics mode while listening to music, as I was able to reduce the intensity on my back, without impacting my lower body.

The Razer Freyja’s Audio-to-Haptics mode includes four haptic profiles, each with its own input range and haptic gain. The controlled profile works well with bass and is almost never triggered by voice and high-range frequencies, whereas the dynamic profile offers the most immersive experience by being triggered by higher frequencies as well as lower.

If you feel comfortable playing around with the ranges, there’s also a custom profile where you can add multiple audio cues and set your own ranges. However, I found I was happy using balanced for gaming, and dynamic for music, so I didn’t see the need to invest too much time in a custom profile.

Although at first, I considered haptic feedback to be a novelty that wouldn’t impress me when it came to music and movies, I must admit, I’ve grown fond of being able to literally feel the bassline as I listen to music on my Razer Leviathan V2 Pro.

The other mode, Sensa HD Games, which is one of the Razer Freyja’s main selling points sadly didn’t impress me as much as the Audio-to-Haptics mode. Sensa HD Games has been designed to offer haptic feedback at crucial stages of the game.

While actually being able to feel the casting of a spell in Hogwarts Legacy is exciting, the mode felt somewhat underwhelming with long periods without haptic feedback, including cutscenes, which could have added to the cinematic experience.

When Sensa HD kicks in, there’s no denying it’s an awesome technology. Not only was I able to feel the gameplay, but after a little time, I was even able to feel the different rumbles between the spells being cast and identify them simply from how they felt. But, as cool as that is, it didn’t take long before I found myself going back to the Audio-to-Haptics mode for a more immersive feel.

It’s not just the feature itself that I found underwhelming, the list of Sensa HD-compatible games is somewhat disappointing too. Although, with it being a relatively new technology, we can expect the list of developers including Sensa compatibility in their games to grow.

The Razer Freyja works with Bluetooth, as well as the supplied 2.4 GHz HyperSpeed wireless dongle. Setting up the gaming cushion is a breeze, it’s as simple as plugging it in, powering it on, and connecting to it, it couldn’t be easier.

The left side of the gaming cushion offers a simple control panel, with a power button, haptic intensity controls, and another button to change the source. I found these buttons a little stiff and difficult to press at times, but once you’ve got the gaming cushion set up there’s little need to use them, as everything can be controlled via Razer’s Synapse 4 software.

The Razer Freyja is an odd piece of kit that has somehow managed to surprise me. I’m seeing a lot of accessories these days to improve gaming immersion, including a device that literally lets you smell your games and movies. While most of these accessories have left me unimpressed, the Razer Freyja has given me hope that we haven’t reached the pinnacle of gaming immersion yet.

The Razer Freyja may have its flaws, albeit, many of them coming from the fact that the technology is still in its infancy. But, with time and a few tweaks, it could easily become one of my favorite ways to further immerse myself in-game.

I'm going to be honest, when Secretlab got in touch to say it was shipping me a brand new gaming chair with the subject line "the new Secretlab chair you've been waiting for..." I was expecting something more than another Titan Evo. That's not to denigrate the classic Secretlab chair—there's a reason that it still sits uncontested atop our best gaming chair list—but that in itself was a reworked version amalgamating two of its predecessors.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That's a maxim more PC gaming brands could do with having tattooed on the inside of their eyelids when so many will change for change's sake to hit some artificial, iterative release cadence. And yet, and yet, change is vital to avoid stagnation, especially if you've become comfortable on the summit of your industry.

I can quickly point to Intel with CPUs, and Corsair with mechanical gaming keyboards, and if Secretlab wants to avoid falling behind its own competition then it needs to keep on innovating.

And, for me, I thought that meant producing something that maybe didn't look exactly the same as every Secretlab chair produced in the past five years or so. Maybe something so ergonomically ahead of the curve that all those copycat chairs hoping to catch people out on Amazon by looking almost identical to a Titan Evo would have to go back to the photocopier and get some new designs out to their mass production facilities.

I didn't have "paradoxical breakthrough" with "next-generation materials" combining "benefits previously thought impossible in the same material" on my Secretlab 2024 bingo card. I'll give you that sounds like peak marketing hyperbole, but if you're going to have a go at improving a classic gaming chair design you could do a lot worse than making sure it's more comfortable and more durable than the previous edition. Even if it does read like Secretlab has found some kind of vibranium/unobtanium weave it can lay on top of a new chair.

But holy hell, I'd ask you not to spike the price by some $200 while you're at it.

Before I get to that particular pain point, let me just talk about the upsides. The Titan Evo is a modern classic, a great gaming chair that is both reliably comfortable and remarkably resistant to the rigours of life as a piece of modern gamer furniture. But, while our unit in the office looks as good today as it did the moment our Jacob pulled it out of its packaging, I'll admit that I'm not wild about the chair's 'ride'.

I've got a lot of padding myself, I'll grant you, but I've always found the Titan Evo feels just a little too hard. This is more supportive than most softer chairs, and probably better for you in the long run, but I've found myself shifting around a lot more on the older chair than I do with the new NanoGen edition.

So, why is that?

The twin support pillars Secretlab is building its new chair upon are two new material implementations, namely its new NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette and the NanoFoam Composite it's using for cushioning the tush.

The first is its new coating for the entire upholstered part of the chair, and it is genuinely lovely. Even as the days have gotten colder the fine-weave leatherette Secretlab has created feels supple and soft, and far more pleasing to the touch than the still-actually-pretty fine finish the Titan Evo enjoys.

Of course, we've come to expect that finish to be immaculate, and it is here, too. The stitching is fine and consistent, and though I almost take that as read with a Secretlab chair, it's always worth noting that level of quality you do get with the brand.

Secretlab is calling this new leatherette its most resilient yet, which is hard for me to attest to after only a few weeks parking my posterior upon the NanoGen Edition. But, as I said before, the Titan Evo—which has become the office bike—still looks brand new today, and if the new material could only match that I'd still be sold. And I'm a ergonomist's nightmare; I can't help but sit with one leg tucked under the other as my sitting safe space, which means shoes getting scraped against leatherette on the regular. I've killed Noblechairs in a relatively short time by exposing the bare metal frame after repeated abrasions.

Of greater import, however—especially for those who, like me, found previous Secretlab chairs too hard—is that NanoFoam Composite. Now, I'm not going to go full Aniston, but the science bit is in combining the company's cold-cure foam (the hard stuff) with a softer lightweight topper which provides a softer cushion. There's also something about the bonding material used between those layers, but it suffices to say the end result is a really comfortable seat, that feels both soft and supportive as you move around, all at the same time.

This is the paradox Secretlab's marketing department is on about. Soft and resilient in the leatherette as well as soft and supportive with the cushioning. And it works. This is the most comfortable gaming chair I've ever sat in, and definitely the most comfortable a Secretlab has ever felt.

With those two newbie features you're getting the rest of the Titan Evo experience, too, including the lovely magnetic memory foam neck pillow, though now with those PlushCell memory foam armrests (mmm, soft) as standard. That means 4D armrests, though with a 50% higher adjustment range. Honestly, that's not been a huge deal for me, I'm a set and forget kinda chair guy, so the range doesn't hit hard so long as I can get myself set up in the first instance.

And yes, that set up is easy. I've seen folk almost break bones setting up gaming chairs (you know who you are) but the Secretlab Titan Evo might not be as simple as pulling it out of the box in one piece, but putting it all together takes less than 30 minutes.

But I still have issues. My first is a throwback to my outgoing chair. In all honesty, I'm not really going to miss the Mavix M9 which has graced my desk for the past few years. It was a fine chair, and I dig the slighter frame and meshwork, but it was a pain to set up (I ended up having to craft one functioning chair from three separate units which arrived with me in various states of destruction). But its tensioned tilt was something I didn't know I was going to miss until it was gone.

Secretlab talks of adjustable tilt tensioning, but honestly from one extreme of the tension knob to the other is maybe the difference between the chair tilting back when you look at it or when you breathe on it. So, it's a locking thing not a tilt rocking thing.

My biggest struggle with the Titan Evo NanoGen Edition, however, is the price. At $549 for the regular-sized Titan Evo (itself $100 more than it retailed for at launch), or $628 with those plushy armrests, it's a fair chunk of cash, but actually not a bad price for a really well made piece of furniture. That aforementioned Mavix M9, on the other hand, is a $999 chair and isn't as comfortable or supportive a seat for the money. Nor has it retained its looks or comfort over time.

But this NanoGen Edition adds near $200 ($250 if you ignore the armrests coming as standard) on top of the original's sticker price. That's a huge mark up for the extra layer of comfort the "next-generation" materials deliver. If you want the absolute best Secretlab chair experience, then yes, this is it. But I don't know if that extra cost is justified by the overall, comparative experience.

Maybe it is justified by the cost of material R&D, but how you quantify an extra $200 worth of comfort, now that's going to be the hard sell.

There's an easy 'the best just got better' kiss off here for the review, but I feel it's just a little more tainted than I would like by the extra cost Secretlab is asking for the NanoGen Edition. If this were a wholly different chair from the Titan Evo it would maybe be easier to swallow, but the knowledge there's a far cheaper—and still excellent—alternative readily available out there, well, that's just still living rent-free in my brain as I finish this out.

Corsair's answer to the Secretlab Titan Evo, the Corsair TC500 Luxe, is the most annoying product I've tested in quite a while. And not because it's bad, either—far from it. No, it's annoying because it could have been close to perfect if Corsair had done one simple thing differently.

If it was a bad chair, I wouldn't find this so annoying, because then I could just write off the chair as a no-go from the off. But there's a hell of a lot to love about the TC500 Luxe, from its understated design to its ergonomic adjustability. But there's one thing to hate, and that's its armrest placement.

Yes, I said armrest placement, not just "armrests". The rests themselves feel nice and are incredibly adjustable in almost every way. Every way, that is, except arguably the most important: their distance from the chair.

Now listen, I'm not exaggerating here. I'm a big lad and even I feel a little reluctant to traverse my arms across the gaping cavern either side of the seat and drape them over the otherwise lovely armrests. If I was a slimmer person, I might not bother at all. It's not as if Corsair didn't consider adjustable armrest widths, either. You can adjust them by loosening the screws underneath, but the closest placement just isn't close enough.

As I said, the most annoying thing about this is that it would be a simple thing to fix. All it would require is drilling the adjustable slots a little wider on the underside of the arms so you can scoot them closer to the chair base. Nothing's preventing this other than a bizarre design choice. 

After scouring the internet to see if anyone else was as bothered by this as I was, I discovered that yes, they are. For instance, one Reddit user even said they drilled new holes in the armrests to move them closer. And hey, if you're a DIY-er, maybe this is the solution for you—but it shouldn't be required for a product that costs $500.

In my case, I've ended up angling the armrests inwards by a few degrees so that at least the fronts of them are closer to the seat base.

Despite this annoying quirk, in every other way, this gaming chair justifies its premium price tag. Especially if you're like me and prefer understated office designs to garish "Look mom, I'm a gamer!" ones. The TC500 Luxe really would fit the bill for any above-board, no-shenanigans office setup. It still has that bucket racing seat style, of course—it's just more subtle.

I noticed how premium this thing looks and feels from the moment I unboxed it to put it together. Which was a pretty smooth process, I should add. The seat had the armrests already attached, and there was only a little screwing-in needed throughout the whole process. Having someone to help definitely made fitting the seat onto the base and the back onto the seat easier, but I reckon it wouldn't be too difficult for one person to do. Just bear in mind that it's quite heavy—again, this is a noticeably premium chair.

Apart from its weight, its surprising lack of creaks and groans, and its subtle aesthetic, the other dead giveaway that this is a premium product is its fabric. Because yes, the TC500 Luxe is an all-fabric chair, and the material is frankly one of the best I've seen used on a chair, barring the ultra-breathable fabrics and meshes on top-tier office chairs. The fabric the TC500 Luxe uses is pretty breathable and very comfy.

I came to use this chair after spending the last couple of years sitting atop the Steelcase Leap V2, a simply wonderful premium ergonomic office chair. Naturally, my standards for comfort were quite high, as were my suspicions towards racing seat style chairs. It's therefore no small endorsement that I can say I find the Corsair TC500 Luxe to be incredibly comfortable to sit on.

Not at first, mind, but after a couple of weeks of breaking it in, the TC500 Luxe felt great and still does. To start with, the seat's ridges dug into my legs a little, which might only be a problem for other wide bois who manspread like there's no tomorrow. After a few days—I guess after the corners softened up a little, or after my body naturally adjusted—this wasn't an issue at all. After this and after adjusting things to my liking, it was perfect. 

I was a little surprised by how hard the seat is, at first, but actually it hovers in a pretty ideal spot on the plumpness scale. After the initial break-in period, I haven't had a single ache or pain, even after extended periods of sitting in it. It's got a super wide (59 cm) seat base, too, so at least some of you should be able to sit cross-legged on it, if that's your thing.

Adjustments, by the way, should include everything you might want. It does almost everything my ergonomically minded Leap V2 does with surprising adeptness. We're talking lumbar support that can be adjusted inwards, outwards, upwards, and downwards, as well as adjustable seat height, tilt tension, tilt lock, recline adjustment, and armrest adjustments which include a complete 180-degree rotation. 

On this last point, Corsair says, "If the armrests are rotated 180 degrees, they angle upwards which makes it more comfortable to hold a phone, Steam Deck, or other mobile gaming device in the correct spot." I don't buy it, myself—I find the armrests are too far back when rotated—but the more possible adjustments the merrier I suppose.

One adjustment in particular that I was surprised to find useful is the tilt lock ability. I usually keep my seat upright for ergonomic reasons, and if I want a recline I'm fine just leaning back. But I found the option to have it locked into a slight recline was great for chilling out gaming with a controller.

Another thing I was surprised to love is the neck pillow. I'd never bothered with one before because I figured they were ergonomically unnecessary. Now, however, I don't really care whether it's unnecessary. Once it's in the right spot, it feels comfy, and that's that. The TC500 Luxe's one in particular is great, too, because it's magnetic, so it's super easy to move around.

The only bad thing about the neck pillow is that it comes in black, which is great if you ordered the black chair, but not so great if you ordered the white one like I have. Sorry, I should say "frost", the other two options being "shadow" or "sherwood". 

The frost colour is actually a little off-white, so keep that in mind if you're going for something to match your other furniture. All colours look great, judging by the reference pictures, and I'm very happy with how my own TC500's frost-coloured fabric looks in person. It certainly doesn't detract from the subtle, premium aesthetic the chair's going for in general.

A word of warning, though: If you opt for the frost one like me, be prepared to clean it regularly, possibly even with a lint roller. Dust and wool and whatever other debris can stick to it over time, and this can become quite visible on the light-coloured fabric.

In all, and as you might be able to tell, I rate the TC500 Luxe very highly. It looks premium, feels premium, is incredibly adjustable, and hella comfy to sit on, even for extended periods. I expected to be more uncomfortable on it compared to my time on the Leap V2, but I found the transition surprisingly seamless, and even learnt to love some things the TC500 Luxe has that the Leap doesn't, such as its neck pillow.

But this just makes the armrest problem that much more annoying. Why, oh why, couldn't Corsair just have drilled the armrest adjustment holes an inch closer to the seat base? That one issue prevents the TC500 Luxe from achieving the greatness it almost reaches. 

How important that issue is to you, only you can judge. If you're not a very wide person, you need to ask yourself: Is having easily useable armrests that don't require splaying your wings like a chicken important to you? If so, I'd look elsewhere. But if you can deal with tilting the armrests in and splaying your arms a little, or just not using the rests at all, the TC500 Luxe is well worth its premium price tag.

Have you ever thought, "Wow, this gaming chair™ would be even better if I could lean back further and take a quick nap in it?" Yeah, me neither. However, this hasn't stopped Secretlab, which has just announced a new cushion tool that clips onto the bottom of your chair to allow you to recline even more.

Secretlab says of its creation, "Go from work to play, and even to nap with incredible ease." Though the idea of napping is mentioned to emphasise how comfortable you can be and how far back you can recline, it also drives home how strange this add-on feels.

The tool itself is simply a cushion with metal under it to hook onto Secretlab's ever-popular chairs, such as the Titan Evo. The cushion is made out of memory foam and is 230 mm by 430 mm. To give better pressure relief and support to your legs, the design has "microscopic memory pockets", which Secretlab claims "contours to your leg arch".

The new add-on is reported to take three minutes to set up and can be fitted to any Titan Evo or Classics Secretlab chair. It can also adjust from 0° to 80°, which means you can tuck it away when you aren't using it or put it out in front to support your legs as you lean back.

Secretlab makes the Secretlab Titan Evo, which we think is the best gaming chair right now, so this tool will likely be of good quality. But it's hard to really see the value in something like this. Not only does it not seem very comfortable to sleep in a gaming chair but it's probably not a great habit to form either.

There is a potential use case here, for users with mobility issues, though this doesn't seem to be the central selling point. If this seems like something you would benefit from, you probably will, but I don't fully see the point.

This is all before mentioning the Standard Edition of this add-on will cost you $199/£159/€199, with the Founder's Edition fetching a whopping $250/£199/€249. It's a lot of money for something that feels superfluous.

This may have an appeal to some people but, for me, I'd prefer to spend all that cash elsewhere, like picking up a new 2 TB SSD and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.

Razer's new haptic gaming cushion is, well, interesting. It's called the Razer Freyja and it's a pretty self-explanatory device: you load it onto your chair, plug it in, and the six padded regions, each with a motor embedded within it, start a-rumblin' in time with in-game actions, sounds, or music. The idea is, with haptic feedback vibrating down your back and backside, you'll be more engrossed in your game.

It's certainly an idea—one that a few haptic companies have been pushing for a while now. There are haptic vests, haptic chairs (including one from Razer), haptic chair accessories, but never, as Razer tells me ahead of Freyja's release, a cushion.

I tried the haptic gaming cushion out ahead of its announcement over at Razercon just now. Loaded into a Razer gaming chair with the cushion attached (it's held on with a couple of adjustable straps and should work with most chairs) I sit back enough to get the full force of the device. I watch our long-standing Razer PR sadistically turn up the vibration force to maximum rumble in the new Razer Synapse 4 app and load up Final Fantasy XVI.

Final Fantasy is one of the games that supports the haptic cushion natively, meaning the developers have specifically coded support into the game and tied to certain actions. Hogwarts Legacy was also mentioned as having support baked into the game, as will Silent Hill and Snowrunner. I'm told support for future games will be made easy by a Unreal Engine 5 plugin. Though that's still relying on developers to support the thing, even if it's as easy as ticking a box in UE5. 

If specific support for Freyja doesn't happen for a particular game you play a lot of, the haptics can also be set to respond to in-game sounds instead.

But back to my rump-shaking experience. With Final Fantasy loaded up, I was ready to kick butt and get my butt kicked in return. Tapping furiously on the provided keyboard and mercilessly murdering large lobster-looking creatures with one fell swoop of my magic hands (I don't play Final Fantasy, can you tell) I was getting properly rumbled.

Different actions cause different pads to shake. Flinging your sword into the air will see the pads engage near the top of the cushion, and as you come slicing down the lower pads engage. There was no discernable lag from my actions in-game into the cushion as I tried it out, though after a while of ferocious button mashing I became slightly numbed to the intricate haptic details.

As a keen enjoyer of sim racing, and as someone who's tried many of the best racing wheels for PC personally for review, you'd think I'd be all over this sort of haptic feedback off the track. And yet I'm really only thinking about ways it could be incorporated into a sim racing setup. Attach this into a Playseat or similar, crank up the force feedback on the wheel, and you're looking at a more immersive simulator experience without spending the tens of thousands of dollars usually required for a full-motion rig (some of which offer some sort of seat-based feedback, by the way). 

I'm not saying it's close to a mega sim-racing rig with all the actuators, but it's more than a stiff-seat level of immersion.

Yet beyond the sim racing setup, I'm not so sure. Maybe I'd need longer with it than a fleeting Final Fantasy experience to understand the full appeal—maybe a horror game would be fun—or I'm just not the target audience. But I didn't walk away feeling like I'd want to pay the $300 fee to feel the sensation again.

Even set to music mode and when listening to Chase & Status and Stormzy's bass-pumping track Backbone, it didn't hit the right spots for me. I even had Razer's new haptic headset on, the Razer Kraken V4 Pro, but it felt like being a bit too close to the speaker on a night out. And I'm usually a bit of a bass-head. Far from a bad experience, I'm just not sold on the value proposition, especially when the headset alone costs $400.

If you're more frivolous or that sim racing setup does sound like something you'd be interested in, the Razer Freyja is available right away from the Razer store.

Gaming chairs come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. However, if you're someone of larger dimensions your options narrow down a bit. While plenty of gaming chairs are comfortable, if you've got wide shoulders, are particularly tall, or simply need a bit more room, you'll probably have considered something built specifically for the bigger frame—like the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 XL.

However, there's a new model in town, and it's the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL. Designed for those who need a lot of room, this substantial chair has serious dimensions. The backrest measures 86.5 cm tall, with a shoulder width of 57 cm, while the bottom cushion is 54 cm across and 51 cm deep. The shoulder wings are larger than the previous model, and it's now got fancy 5D armrests and a pop out lumbar support with 4-level adjustment. 

All chairs are delivered in substantial boxes, but my delivery driver laughed when they saw the doorframe we'd have to slide this particular package through. It fits, just, but even by chair packaging standards it's obvious what you're getting here is larger than most. Construction is a fairly standard affair with the tools and instructions provided, but if you want an easier time of it I'd highly suggest calling in a friend to help. Chairs are never particularly easy to put together, but the extra dimensions here make for more of a workout than most.

Once constructed, what you're left with is a large but not ridiculously huge chair. Seeing the XL on the box and the individual pieces did make me worry I'd be left with something cartoonishly big, but the dimensions here are well-judged, and leaves you with a seating space that'll fit most people without being too big to fit in with your average desk setup. It's a bit of a looker too, with bridge-of-the-Enterprise vibes, set off by those wide, swooping shoulder wings and plush side-supports.

Sitting in the Kaiser 4 XL for the first time is a bit like getting on a plane and realising you've accidentally been upgraded—there's much more room here than you expect, and it's a pleasant surprise.

I am not the tallest, nor largest of human beings. Still, while this XL model is made for those who need more space than most, it doesn't feel like I'm surrounded by too much chair when I sit down. My 5' 11" frame fits nicely, while my 5' 4" partner doesn't look too out of place, either.

I've had all sorts of differently-sized visitors sit in the Kaiser 4 XL for testing purposes, the largest of which being 6' 5" and built like the proverbial brick outhouse—by which I mean, bodybuilder-sized. There's been no complaints from any as to sizing, which speaks well for this chair's ability to fit the vast majority of people.

Nor have there been any complaints in regards to comfort. There's a ton of adjustability settings here, all of which work well. There's 135° of recline, accessible through a sizeable right-mounted handle (top marks for not putting this crucial control underneath the chair, so you can actually adjust it while leaning), and a pop-out integrated lumbar cushion, which can be adjusted by a dial on the side of the backrest and popped in and out with a lever on the side of the seat.

I'd go as far as to say the lumbar support here is actually the best I've used to date. It's easy to dial in exactly as much or as little as you need, and the pop-out cushion treads the line between being soft enough for comfort, and firm enough to provide proper, meaningful back support.

Like the previous model, there's also a magnetic head cushion with some seriously powerful magnets. It's good fun to chuck it at the chair and watch it attach with a pleasing thunk, and it actually requires some genuine effort to move it around once attached. Once you've got it in position, it's not going anywhere easily, so it'll support your neck exactly where you place it without sliding about.

Then there's the armrests, which are 5D. For the uninitiated, that means they adjust up and down, forwards and backwards, left and right, and rotate. Oh, and they split in the middle to fold upwards, too.

On that last point: I'm not exactly sure why. You can, if you so wish, raise your arms like you're performing a T-Rex impression—which doesn't seem particularly useful unless you had the overall height of the chair down at its bottom setting and a very high desk. I suppose you could tilt them inwards and use the upright position to hold a controller in front of you, but it feels a little awkward in practice.

Still, keep them flat and they are very large, slightly soft and squishy, and extremely comfortable. If you're an arm-leaner this is excellent news, as testing the Kaiser 4 XL has made me wish all chairs had armrests of this size. They do wobble on their axis a little more than most between rotational settings, however. It does seem like an intentional amount of play in the mechanism, but it could do with a little tuning for a more high-quality feel.

If I was ordering my own model I would have picked the fabric version, as I find PVC leather chairs uncomfortably sticky in summer, and cold in winter. I'm not quite sure how AndaSeat has managed it, but the faux-leather model I received suffers from neither. On hot days it's been cool and refreshing, without causing excess sweat, whereas on cold nights it's not frozen solid like the rest of my house. 

The inner chair material seems pretty tough, too, and despite receiving a white model (insert rant about touchable white objects being a bad idea here) it's been easy to wipe clean. Just be prepared for every little spec and stray hair to bother you—if you're anything like me—but there's a whole range of colour options here that should be less prone to showing the odd bit of dirt.

What isn't so tough, however, is the textured soft-touch backing on the rear of the chair. It's pleasingly squishy, and looks great. However, my review unit does have a nick taken out of the material. I'll give AndaSeat the benefit of the doubt here and say this may have happened during construction, despite best efforts to be careful.

However, it does suggest that if you've got a space where you expect the back of the chair to touch things, it's likely to get damaged if it encounters a sharp edge or corner.

There's also the branding to consider. The rear very loudly displays both "AndaSeat" and "Kaiser" in large, embroidered lettering, which is mirrored on the inside of the seat itself. It doesn't look bad, necessarily, but it's a little gamer-y in a way that lets everyone know you bought a gaming chair and not a super-serious office seat.

That's a shame, as I reckon with some smaller text and less overt branding this would be a good candidate for a chair to use at work without advertising your hobbies. It's a handsome object overall, so a more subtle, smaller text design would have tied in better with the overall vibe.

For downsides though, that's pretty much it. It's even well-priced at $539, given our top gaming chair recommendation, the Secretlab Titan Evo, is actually $10 more expensive. You're getting a whole lot more chair (in terms of size, at least) for the cash here, and that makes it a good value proposition.

Which puts me in a bit of a quandary. Does that make the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL the best gaming chair of them all? Well, for most people, I'd say not quite. The Titan Evo seems more resilient to damage and perhaps a little more robust in general, as we've had one knocking around the office forever and it's held up remarkably well. I also think the more subtle design is slightly better looking, and if you don't need the extra room you might find the SecretLab is more cosseting to your particular frame.

But if what you need is a really big, very comfortable chair with great back support, the Kaiser 4 XL is the one to pick. It's large and in charge, but still quite refined, and a comfortable daily driver with relatively few drawbacks. A big seat it may be, but the value for money here is nearly as huge.

If there's one thing you need to know about me, reader, it's this: I will never buy a standing desk. I was not put on this Earth to stand, but to sit. To recline. To luxuriate. My tired bones were built to be cradled by the absolute finest of thrones, not to prop themselves up like some awkward bipod.

Problem is, of course, that the chair that currently faces my desk is some cheap-and-cheerful no-name thing I got off Amazon for much less money than a chair should cost, and my body is paying the price. No wonder I'm eyeing up this Prime Day deal on the Secretlab Titan Evo, our favorite gaming chair, which is currently going for $519 on the Secretlab website.

• We're curating the best Prime Day PC gaming deals right here.

That's our numero uno on PCG's list of the best gaming chairs, and yes, the eagle-eyed among you might have noticed that it's, well, not actually that heavily discounted. Its regular price is $549, so you're only saving a whopping 30 bucks—5.5% of the usual price—if you pick it up during the Prime Day bonanza.

But it is a very, very nice chair. So nice that we scored it 95% in PCG's Secretlab Titan Evo review, praising it for its comfort, the lack of squeaks and groans, its whizzbang magnetic attachment system, and—this is valuable in a gaming chair—the fact that it actually looks like something you wouldn't be slightly embarrassed to have in your home. It's a hell of a seat, in other words, which is why we call it "the benchmark by which we judge all other gaming chairs."

Our only real issue with it? The warranty. Secretlab only offers a 3-year warranty on its chairs, which isn't much in the world of high-end seats like this one. Still, it's a high-quality bit of kit that's likely to last you a good, long time. Our review model in the office is still going as strong as the day it arrived, and we've had that for over three years now. If you're in the market for a gaming chair and you want the best of the best? Save yourself $30 at the same time.

Like everything else in PC gaming, gaming chairs are ten a penny in the market, so it takes something special to stand out in the crowd. Actually, it doesn't. They just need to be well made, adjustable for all shapes and sizes and have day-long comfort. The original ThunderX3 Core was one such example, thanks to its sublime lumbar support and affordable price. Now there's a new version of the Core and it's just as comfy but also much cheaper.

We spotted the new Core Smart while at Computex and naturally, like everyone else there, quickly tested the ergonomics by parking our rears in the luxurious seat and cosseting our noggins in the '2-in-1' headrest. I'm not entirely sure what two things it does in one but who cares when it's "absolutely divine," to quote our Jacob.

Self-adjusting lumbar support might sound like a gimmick but in the case of the ThunderX3 chair, it really does work. That large pad you can see in the chair's back moves with you, like a pair of helping hands protecting your back, as you shift around. Add the cushioned armrests and you've got the perfect place to plonk your posterior as you play on your PC for…umm…ages.

A few minutes of well-earned rest from the hectic bustle of Computex is by no means a comprehensive review so our official word on how great it is will have to wait until we can get our hands (and everything else) on one in the office.

For now, though, let's just take a gander at ThunderX3's other new model—the Flex Pro, with more Ds in its spec sheet than you can shake a backrest at. It has 19D adjustability, with a 4D headrest, 5D armrests, 3D lumbar support, and a 3D seat. In case you're wondering what any of that means, the 'D' simply refers to dimensions of adjustments, so 3D would be up/down, forward/backward, and side-to-side.

The mesh version looks like it will be ideal for gaming in hot climates, though both Flex Pro versions look like you'll be able to sit back and feel thoroughly supported across your entire body. The design gives off a distinct space-age vibe to my eyes but I have to confess to not being a fan of mesh chairs or any chair that lacks substance to the seat and back.

Being of a somewhat slender build (read: starving stick insects have more meat on them than me), I find such chairs to only be comfortable for fairly short periods and the decline from ah to argh is very rapid. If I was spending my own money on a new gaming chair, it'd be the Core Smart that I'd choose over the Flex Pro.

And speaking of which, where the original ThunderX3 Core launched at $399 (not cheap but way less than other, less luxurious, gaming chairs), the Core Smart will have an MSRP of $299. Not sure when we'll be able to buy one but at that price, ThunderX3 is going to be shifting a whole lot of them.

Not every gaming chair is a gilded throne with outspoken styling. Take the Razer Fujin Pro, it's a mesh gaming chair that wouldn't be entirely out of place within a beige-washed corpo office. And before you think I'm bashing the Fujin Pro unfairly on its looks—I like it. I really like it.

It'd be a crying shame for this chair to be anything less than great, though. It's priced at $1,049.

Still with me? Let's talk about the great bits about the Fujin Pro before we get to the pricing and competition. 

For starters, it's a breeze to set up. The chair comes disassembled, however, it has few large parts to manoeuvre. The seat is the most unwieldy piece and even then it's easily slotted into the base by yourself. The backrest and arms slot into place and attach with a couple of hex (allen) bolts, but you'll need your own allen key. Lastly, the headrest clamps onto the top of the chair, though I quite like the chair without.

Resting my rump on the chair and it's very firm. It's a different approach to the plush seats found on many leatherette gaming chairs I've tested over the past few years, though it's not uncomfortable. There's not much give to the chair if you lean back into it, and in the default position, you'll sit bolt upright. That's not such a bad thing for office life, though if you're trying to relax into your evening both figuratively and literally, you'll want to take advantage of the multiple adjustment options the chair offers.

Three paddles offer various ways to customise the comfort of the chair. I have to commend Razer on these—usually a small, inconsequential detail, these paddles are actually much nicer to use and more convenient than the wobbly levers you'll find attached to many gaming chairs.

There's a lever to adjust the height of the chair and another to adjust the seat's forward/backward position. Lastly, there's one to recline the chair. This works in tandem with a bar to increase/decrease the tension in the chair's recline. Flip the lever to lean back to your heart's content. You can only lock the chair to a certain recline at set points but it's no issue to find a comfortable position.

The ergonomic back support appears more like a medieval torture device, though it's the opposite of such a thing in action. You can finely tune it to fit your back and keep your posture proper in the seat, which makes for comfortable sitting. It's definitely better suited to a more upright position, however, so if you're a sloucher or looking for something to sink into every evening, I'd recommend looking elsewhere.

The arm rests are not the most comfortable design, either. A straightforward black plastic arm rest finished with, uh, more black plastic. Though that sounds dire, it's actually the same approach we've seen with many other high-end office chairs. It's not half bad, but I've used better.

A gaming chair for both working from home during the day and gaming through the night, the Fujin Pro is overall excellent.

The Fujin Pro's price tag is initially not-so-excellent, coming in at $1,049. Though this chair is in a different league to most we rate in our best gaming chair guide.

If you're familiar with the best office chairs for gaming then you already know that there's a premium for a good office chair, and that's the slice of the market that Razer is aiming at with the Fujin Pro. It's competing with the likes of the NeueChair, which shares a similar mesh construction and frame; the Herman Miller Embody, my own chair at home; and the Herman Miller Vantum, which I've got here next to me in the office.

Two are more expensive than the Razer: the NeueChair costs $1,169 and the Embody costs $1,995. The Vantum is $895.

Wait, what? When I looked at the Embody for review a few years ago, it was $1,445. That later increased to $1,595. Now, sheesh. That's a serious case of inflation.

I can speak to my own experience with the Embody versus the Razer Fujin Pro—I use one at home and one while I'm in the office. The Fujin Pro is much more a traditional office chair in its design, taking plenty of notes from the NeueChair. It pushes you to sit more upright and slouch less, which certainly has its positives, though is less amenable to the WFH and gaming lifestyle.

The Embody, on the other hand, is much more of an inbetween of a prim and proper office chair and a more relaxed one. It delivers excellent comfort but there's more flex to the materials, more padding, more cushioning—it's an all round comfier unit.

Though there's no escaping the Embody's humongous price tag. The Vantum is more the Fujin Pro's competitor. I've tried this out in the office for comparison. While I don't love some parts of that chair's construction (the sliding armrests drive me wild), it does show that a simple, straightforward mesh chair that's good for your posture doesn't have to demand a four-digit price tag.

The Embody and Vantum have the upper hand on Razer when it comes to warranty periods, too. Herman Miller offers a 12-year warranty. Razer just five. With two-year warranties quite common among gaming chair manufacturers, all lengthier options are welcomed. I've used Herman Miller's warranty to call in a spare part (a broken armrest lever) and I received the replacement part, no questions asked, within a matter of days. That's a pretty great experience.

The other chair to come with a 12-year warranty is the NeueChair, which stands as our best office chair for gaming.

The Fujin Pro ends up amongst a competitive pack of very highly rated office chairs. It's better on price than most, and I most definitely prefer it to the Vantum, though the lack of a lengthy warranty to match is its achilles' heel. It looks great, and it promotes good posture for a long day at a desk, but it's not quite able to pull me away from the tried and tested options. If it were a couple hundred bucks cheaper? I'd do it. Same if the warranty was doubled.

I'm in no rush to swap out the Fujin Pro in the office, either. Previously I was using the Secretlab Titan Evo, but I'm happy to give that gaming throne up for something more upright and active during the work day. If I were purely picking a chair for gaming comfort, however, I'd like something I could sink into a little easier, i.e. the Secretlab.

Games Workshop collaborations have been common fare since the Dark Ages, but this one is a bit unique as it's the first one that Secretlab has done with the company. And what you're getting here is the Titan Evo Warhammer 40,000 Ultramarines Edition, replete with your very own purity seal.

We're big fans of the Titan Evo and it's been our recommendation for the best gaming chair for a long time, so that's the first good bit about this news. There's nothing worse than having a collaboration with your favourite gaming company, only to find the product is rubbish. 

Fortunately, Secretlab's Titan Evo is anything but rubbish. It's not cheap, of course, but it's the bar against which all other gaming chairs are held.

The cold-cure foam in the back and base is firm but cossetting, and it'll stay that way for years. We have a few Titans in the office and they endure hours of use, day after day, yet they're just as comfortable now as they were when they were first tested.

The adjustable lumbar support can be operated while you're sitting in the chair, making it a doddle to get the perfect seating position. They really are fabulous gaming chairs. 

Of course, it's possible to have a great product ruined by an awful colour scheme or just a badly thought-out theme. I think Secretlab has got the balance just about right here, though if it wasn't for the sigils front and back reminding me, the choice of colours would make me think Fallout rather than Warhammer 40k. Still, it does look very nice indeed, with the gold trim and blue leatherette looking bright and clean. Hmm, 'clean' doesn't sound very Warty-K, does it?

Anyway, I know you can't judge the quality of something entirely through pictures, but I can't imagine that Secretlab would want to dent the Titan Evo's reputation by using cheap materials and construction methods, just for this tie-in.

Just to make sure you're 100% clear on where your allegiance lies, the Chapter symbol for Ultramarines is stitched into the back, along with a stylized Aquila embroidered in the front, your very own purity seal on the left shoulder. I have to say that, as a finishing touch, it's borderline perfect. Secretlab could have just stuck to the colours and logos, but that skull and litany are an inspired addition. 

While I wouldn't class myself as being a heartfelt Warhammer 40,000 aficionado, I do have a soft spot for anything that lets me don some hefty power armour, grab a bolt gun, and stamp out a few hordes of heretics. So if I was going to get myself a new chair and wanted to have a serious game theme to it, I know I could do a lot worse than this Titan Evo Ultramarine Edition. 

As anyone who sim races on a regular desk setup will tell you, compromises must be made. While most of the best racing wheels will come with desk clamps for the wheelbase, what you won't realise until you use one for yourself is the amount of self-adjustment you'll need to perform on the regular to keep yourself in an optimum position.

For a start, there's your desk chair. Chances are it doesn't lock in terms of spinning movement, which means a decent wheel with good feedback will try and turn you around its axis as you fight against the torque, requiring quite a bit of core stability to maintain a good position. There's also the angle itself, which, unless you elevate your pedal set or are a particular fan of Euro Truck Simulator, won't feel very car-like. 

And then there's the pedals, which—despite the best attempts of manufacturers—will still inevitably move around under heavy braking. All in all, it's a bit of a faff, which is why sim racing enthusiasts tend to buy a heavy sim rig frame to keep you in the optimum position and securely clamp down all your gear. Trouble is, they're big, heavy, and bulky.

That's where the Logitech Playseat Challenge X comes in. Playseat has been making gaming chairs and relatively lightweight sim rig setups for a while, and now, in collaboration with Logitech, has come up with something that not only aims to keep your sim racing gear pinned in the right positions, but can be folded away for easy storage too. 

At $300/£260 it's a fair bit cheaper than the $599 Playseat Trophy—although still not what anyone would call cheap in general—and while the Trophy is plenty sturdy, it doesn't fold up the same way the Challenge X does. The idea here is that you can simply pack your sim rig away like an oversized, folding camping chair. On the face of it, that is a whole lot more convenient and sociable than dedicating space to a more permanent setup.

The box itself was a lot more compact than I was expecting, too, which suggested to me that I was in for a heavy afternoon of construction. However, many more parts were pre-assembled than it first appeared, everything was well-machined and clipped together with minimal effort and no real hang ups, and, thanks to some good instructions and a clearly thought out process, I was done building the chair in less than an hour. And that included taking plenty of photos for this review and a mid-construction cup of tea.

The seat cover is attached to the chair with velcro straps underneath the frame, which initially gave me some pause. However, the bulk of your weight is supported by a gigantic strap underneath your posterior. Being a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to builds, I initially mis-aligned it and wanted to straighten it up for a photo, and discovered that it's coated in what might possibly be the strongest Velcro connection known to humankind. Though that did give me some reassurance it would be capable of taking a large amount of weight.

Sitting in my handiwork for the first time was still a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. The Velcro initially crunches as it first adjusts to the pressure, but once in place you do feel remarkably secure. The frame poles are a good thickness, and the design means that the chair resists rocking from side to side perfectly. Grand.

Seat height and angle adjustment is determined by two numbered locking mechanisms, the "X-adapt hinges", located on either side of the crossed angles of the frame, and the instructions suggested locking them in the mid-position to start with. This also serves as the folding mechanism, as with a flip of the two bright blue handles the locking teeth release for folding the chair away or angle adjustments.

This mid-position was, I discovered, perfect for my frame. I'm just under six foot tall (so near, and yet so far) and around 170 pounds, but at the middle setting I found the angle was about perfect for supporting my spine and keeping my head in a forward facing position.

In terms of mounting sim hardware, I tried out both the Logitech G923 and the Moza R5 bundle. The G923, as you would expect, mounted with very little issue, with both the pedals and the wheelbase unit lining up nicely with the multiple holes on the baseplate. The Moza, however, had the odd issue. While I could mount the wheelbase securely, the pedals themselves required some additional hardware that neither Logitech nor Moza provided, despite both companies including vast numbers of screws, bolts, and connectors with their packages.

That being said, with some longer bolts bought from a local DIY store I was able to successfully attach the Moza's pedal set, so I'm just going to blame it on a rare setup combination, given that large amounts of different types of mounting hardware were provided by both. Customising a sim rig frame is unfortunately commonplace as there's little standardisation in terms of hole placement, and the Challenge X has plenty of pre-drilled holes in both the wheelbase mount and the pedal mount to cover as many possibilities as possible.

Also included are some little snap-on plastic clips to keep the cables attached to the frame, which is a nice touch.

The wheelbase plate can be tilt adjusted with the help of a screw in lock underneath, so there's plenty of flexibility there, while the pedal mount hardware is angled slightly towards you, which worked nicely on both pedal sets I tested. You can also easily adjust the pedal distance with two adjustable rods connecting them to the rest of the frame.

Once locked in place, I found the Challenge X to be remarkably comfortable. The seating angle was perfect, with plenty of adjustment for different heights and leg lengths, and the "Acti-fit" material is soft, premium-feeling and cushy. It's a nice place to be, and puts you in a positive position to get racing.

In order to get in and out of the seat, the wheelbase attachment bar can pivot and lift over to the left hand side, which feels a bit like getting in and out of a rollercoaster. This initially feels like a risky movement, as your precious wheelbase rotates out into the open air, but thanks to a well-placed extendable support leg that can be deployed from the left hand side, there's no danger of the seat tipping over.

As you can see from the pictures, the fact that the Challenge X wants you to get out from the right hand side was a little inconvenient for my purposes, as to the right of my setup is a large bookcase. Still, unless you're cramped in a right hand corner like me that should leave plenty of room to get out for most people, and even with the wheelbase open on the left I didn't find it much of an issue to step over.

Once back in the seat, the bar comes down (riders, keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times) and a twist lock mechanism on the right side secures it in place. Once all locked in, with the extender support leg placed outwards, the feeling is remarkably secure, sturdy, and confidence-inspiring.

I had the feedback intensity turned up to max on both the G923 and the R5, and while neither are as powerful as the Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel, I felt zero flex or buckle in the frame, even in intense racing scenarios.

After you're done racing, unbolt your gear, unlock the side-locks with the bright blue handles, and the Challenge X tucks itself up to something that can easily be chucked into a spare room or besides a wardrobe. There's a buckle clasp strap to keep the pedal mount from unfolding itself while you move it, while the blue locking mechanisms keep it securely shut, so there's no danger of it unfurling itself like an ironing board while you stow it away.

Here's something to note: while the G923 pedal set had to be removed to fold up the Challenge X and put it away, I found I could actually keep the Moza set bolted on, which made it even more convenient. I'm pretty sure Logitech wouldn't recommend this, for the record, but I found it convenient not to have to set up my pedals again each time I got the Challenge X out, although it did add to the weight considerably.

Despite the secure seating position, I did experience a couple of durability issues. Number one was the leatherette backing on the seat, which quickly showed signs of dust and wear and was difficult to clean. 

Second, and slightly more concerning, the left hinge lock at one point did let go on me and drop down a few settings in one movement during a day spent in the chair. This was due to the inner facing hex bolt of the mechanism working itself slightly loose over time, and was easily fixed with an included hex key.

That being said it was a bit of a buttock-clenching moment, as I did feel for a second like I was falling, which is a hell of a thing when you're immersed in a game. Since tightening the hex bolt I've had no issues, but given that the hinge mechanism isn't part of the user construction I can only assume it wasn't tightened properly from the factory, so points deducted there. 

The only other issue is price, and here we reach a real sticking point. $300 does feel like a lot, especially when the original Playseat Challenge racing cockpit looks like a very similar product and can often be found for less. While I haven't tested the original, they do look much the same, and if it was my money I might consider the other option instead, simply for the price reduction. The strap adjustment mechanism looks more crude, but then the Activ-X locks here aren't exactly perfect, either.

Otherwise though, I enjoyed my time with the Challenge X. It's a clever solution to a problem many would-be sim racers face, namely where you're going to put a proper sim rig frame. Other than my slightly loose hex bolt drama it's been completely solid, and after spending many hours in it since, I've found I'm able to jump out after a long racing session with zero fatigue or uncomfortable back twinges.

While the Playseat Trophy strikes as perhaps a more solid solution for those that have the room for it, if you're struggling for space or don't want a dedicated setup, I reckon the Challenge X is a very good solution indeed. While you could also consider the Monoprice Dark Matter GT, the Challenge X is a more all-in-one product, albeit for significantly more cash.

It's made racing on the weekends in my front room much more convenient, and a bit more immersive thanks to that seating position, too. While it's had the odd niggle, the comfort and convenience of the design are all top notch. But with those niggles, and that price? I feel like it could and should deliver just a little bit more.

I really wanted to love the new Razer Iskur V2. And why wouldn't I? It improves on practically everything from its predecessor—better materials, refined design, and a much more versatile lumbar system. Every complaint I had with the previous Razer Iskur, which, by the way, has been my main chair for the last three years, has been addressed.

And yet, I still don't love it for the sole reason that even with all the changes, updates, and tricks, it's not that much more comfortable than the chair it replaces. In fact, for the last few weeks that I've been using it, I've had far more soreness in my back. 

Now, while it might just be that I am so attuned to my old chair's shape, or I sit like an idiot, that may just prove that Razer's tinkering didn't quite hit the mark.

The new Razer Iskur V2 retails for $649 and comes in two leather variants and one fabric one. I've got the poster boy leather one with green accents. I say leather, but it's not real leather. It's a synthetic Premium EPU-Grade leather, a step up from the PVC leather in the Iskur V1. It really doesn't feel more plush or materially better in any way compared, but time will tell as the Iskur V1 has survived a lot in my ownership, so I hope this one is just as durable.

Physically, the V2 looks a lot like the V1 went on a serious diet and lost a ton of weight to become a leaner, meaner, tush-seating machine. To start with, the V2 strays away from the tight, racing styling seat with much more flared and wide shoulder arches, and a widened seat base that drops the restrictive side bolsters that made sitting cross-legged in the V1 impossible for anyone but children and Hobbits.

Razer shrunk the main cushion for your bum, making it thinner than on the V1 but it feels about the same to my derriere. I did get a sore bum initially but over time, the memory foam is molding to me. Oh, and I'm now free to sit cross-legged from time to time thanks to the removal of the obnoxious racing seat side flanges. Though maybe that's why my back is playing up, too...

Razer has also increased the angle of recline, from 139° degrees to 152° which is helpful if you are prone to sleeping in your chair. That's something I'm not prone to do but in my limited testing, the Iskur V2 feels sturdy enough to support its rated body weights up to 136 kg.

Also returning are the excellent 4D armrests that give such a varied range of motion for some pretty precise positioning. Height, rotation, and width all covered smoothly. As someone who generally uses 75% keyboards and controllers when gaming, I love the ability to rotate the armrest 50° inwards for better arm support.

The Iskur V2 has an adaptive and adjustable Lumbar system, which is the star of the show. Unlike the V1, which had a simple and limited one-dimensional lumbar design, the V2 features a new 6D system that addresses many of the issues with the previous model. The new design enables depth, height, and even swivel adjustments.

Instead of pushing a hard cushion into your lower back, the new Iskur lets you inflate or deflate the lumbar bulge using a rotary dial on the right side of the chair. You can also adjust the height position of the bulge with a secondary dial on the left of the chair. This is essential for finding the perfect seating position and arch of your back.

The old Iskur made it difficult to achieve a deep arch in your back without forcing you to sit further forward in the seat. This new lumbar system solves that problem. Moreover, the lumbar swivels as you naturally move about in the chair. Although it feels a little strange at first, it ensures that the lumbar support stays in place when you lean on either side, particularly if you have a dual-screen setup.

The Razer Iskur V2 is technically a better chair than the one it replaces—better lumbar design, materials and profile. So it's such a shame that even with the greater levels of control, for me it really isn't a more comfortable chair than my old V1. My lack of knowledge of proper sitting posture may be a contributing factor, but regardless, it shouldn't be that complicated, right?

During a recent event at CES 2024, Razer had a Posture doctor on hand to demonstrate proper sitting technique in the Iskur V2. Unfortunately, most people won't have access to this kind of assistance, which means they may not be getting the full benefits of the chair.

You're mileage will vary, but in the absence of Razer’s resident posture doctor, I’m not so keen to recommend this chair to anyone who just wants something they can easily plop down into and game all night. For a chair that seemingly offers the world, it doesn't give you much leeway in how you sit in it.