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.

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.

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.

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👈

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.

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.

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 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've been testing gaming chairs for over seven 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 it is 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 29, 2024. 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."

The backrests on the cheapest are 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.

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, and likely will be again this Black Friday, 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, the lack of 4D armrests is a miss, but it just goes to show you can buy decent 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 the Secretlab Titan Evo or 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 were told by an ergonomist back in 2015. Even if it's just a pillow. I don't have a firm favourite for back support in gaming chairs, 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 Secretlab Titan Evo, for example, which I praise as the best gaming chair going. Our review unit has been sat in our office since early 2021. That's almost four years ago. The black neo-hybrid leatherette finish is almost as good as the day we got it, too, 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 on 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, that 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 new 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 recently—one of which is sat in the PC Gamer office awaiting review. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Secretlab Titan Evo | 'Signatures' designs | Magnetic cushions | $549 $519 at Secretlab (save $30)
The Titan Evo is our favorite gaming chair, and has been for the longest time. It's the benchmark by which we judge all other gaming chairs—it's comfortable, supportive, and easy to assemble. The holy trinity. Buying direct from Secretlab is the only way to pick up this chair at this price right now.View Deal

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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.

From looks alone, you might not be able to spot many differences between the Titan Evo and Titan Evo Lite. Both share the same multi-tilt recline, seat base design, foam construction, and style; though there are a few key differences to note.

For starters, the Evo Lite only comes in medium and large sizes. Smaller chairs are only available with the more premium model. The upholstery is also a little different when you get down to it. The Lite comes with Prime 2.0 Leatherette and SoftWeave Fabric options, whereas the Titan comes with updated versions of both. From our experience with older Secretlab chairs pre-Titan Evo, I still have high hopes for the longevity of the cheaper materials, though time will tell.

The lumbar support is less flexible on the Lite than the Evo, and right the way down to the wheelbase you'll find a nylon construction on the medium Lite model, rather than the aluminium base on the Evo. That said, the large Lite comes with an aluminium base as well, which might make that chair the more desirable option.

Most of the magnetic features I've come to enjoy with the Titan Evo aren't present on the Titan Lite, such as the magnetic swappable armrests or magnetic head pillow. However, you can still use a magnetic head pillow on the Titan Lite if you buy one separately, and I'd definitely want to do that if I picked up the Lite. Though therein lies a bit of an issue with the Lite, it's not quite cheap enough to be considered budget, and definitely not if you're adding a $49 magnetic headrest into the cart as well.

Starting at $449 in the US, in its cheapest form, the Titan Lite launches for the same price the Titan Evo launched at back in 2021. It's still the price I reference in my Titan Evo review from way back then. Rising costs and inflation have led to the Titan Evo coming in at $549 nowadays, $100 more than the Lite. 

Secretlab Titan Lite prices worldwide:

• US: Starts at $449
• CA: Starts at $579
• EU: Starts at €459
• UK: Starts at £389
• AU: Starts at $649 
• NZ: Starts at $789
• SG: Starts at $519
• MY: Starts at RM1,799

Personally, I'd still be tempted by a good deal on the Evo—one that brings down the price of that chair to around the $510–520 mark, which happened on various occasions late last year. That's loosely the price of the Lite + the magnetic head cushion, anyways. 

Similarly, the Lite doesn't appear to be priced to pull away customers from the more budget end of the chair market. Anyone looking for a budget gaming chair will likely want to consider cheaper options such as Corsair's TC100 Relaxed at around $250 or less. It's dropped down to $190 during major sales events, too. The Lite, on the other hand, is still a pretty premium offering judging by its positioning in the market.

The Lite isn't available just yet, though it's coming. It'll be available in a few regions at launch or thereabouts: United States, Singapore, Europe, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia. 

Since I haven't rested my weary butt in this chair, I can't talk about its finer points versus the competition. Neither can I confidently say whether it's worth buying instead of its bigger sibling, which I'm sitting in as I write this. I'm certainly keen to find out, however. If it can live up to the Evo where it counts, it's certainly an interesting proposition, but a mighty investment all the same.

Nevertheless, when we were offered one for review I jumped at the chance to sit in the lap of luxury chair refinement.

First impressions on receiving my unit were good. It comes in a substantial box, as you would expect, and is packaged in the sort of way that makes you feel reassured that you've bought a quality product, with clever flat pack design and a gigantic laminated card on which are printed some less than intuitive but still nicely rendered instructions. Each individual piece has significant heft, but it wasn't too much of a pain to put together especially given the very nice toolkit Quersus has included, complete with a rather lovely branded allen key extension and high-quality bits.

Once built it's certainly a striking looking object, and one that I think might split opinion. I'm actually a fan of its Sith-like good looks, although that gigantic black rear shroud might stand out a bit in an office setting. I'd go as far as to call it handsome, and as I stood back and admired my work I couldn't help but be impressed at the imposing nature of its design.

Sitting on it, if I'm honest, is where things started to go a little south. Quersus is adamant that this chair was designed to deliver excellent back support, with a "restflow" headrest and all sorts of sculpting to reduce fatigue, improve circulation and increase productivity.  I can believe that might be true, however, my first impressions were that it's firm, with almost a capitalised F. So firm in fact, that for the first couple of days using it I was left with, and I'm sorry to put this image in your mind, something of a sore posterior.

However, while it's certainly firmer than I would prefer, after a few days of use the bottom cushion in particular became comfier in a way I found quite supportive. It took some getting used to, but I will admit that as someone who prefers my gaming chairs to be on the plush side the unyielding yet supportive nature of the Icos did begin to win me over. It straight-up refuses (and again you'll have to forgive me here) to be kind to your buttocks, and mine have rather healthily responded.

I am very sorry if you were eating your lunch.

Anyway, back to the chair. While I could get used to the firmness of the bottom cushion, what I couldn't get used to was the angle of the chair itself. There's adjustment here of course, courtesy of something Quersus calls the MS (Maximus Synchro) synchronous mechanism. 

Despite the somewhat silly name this is basically a chair base unit with adjustment handled by two knobs underneath which can be pulled to unlock, then twisted to adjust the tilt tension and synchronous tilt, before being pushed back in to lock again. All very well, but no matter how I fiddled, pulled and clicked I couldn't get the chair into a position I liked. 

The Icos 1.1 synchronous tilt mechanism allows you to slide the seat base and tilt the backrest, then clicks into a preset tilt position once locked. This sounds fine in principle, but I found myself bouncing between two settings that ranged between uncomfortably bolt-upright and leaning ever so slightly too far back. I can believe that the first setting is very good for your back, but it's so rigidly upright that I almost felt like the chair was going to tip me forward and out. 

The Icos seems determined to correct your posture, and while the goal is admirable, the experience is not particularly pleasant. 

The tilted position directly after it would be fine if the headrest could also be adjusted to support your neck, but unfortunately it's limited in motion to only moving up and down, so leaving the chair in even the first level of tilt means your head would need to be pointed back and slightly upwards to receive any support. 

This is an unpleasant sensation, and it's as if the chair itself is telling you that you're sitting in it wrong. Bolt upright is how it wants you to be, it seems, or there'd be some sort of tilt adjustment in the headrest or a cushion to accommodate a good lean backwards.

Speaking of that headrest, I noticed that it wobbles within its sockets. This isn't so bad in its default position all the way down, but if you're of the taller persuasion and want to raise it up, the wobble gets worse. Not a particularly egregious sin, and far from the first chair I've seen to do it, but for this sort of money a bit more attention to fit and fitting would be appreciated.

That being said, the rest of the chair feels very heavy and robust, which is reassuring, and the obsidian black fabric on my review model seems very hard wearing yet soft to the touch. The 4D adjustable armrests are well made and supportive, it's built like a tank, and I have every confidence that it will stand up to a remarkable amount of abuse. It's just that for this sort of cash, I feel like a bit more attention could have been given to luxury over spine-resetting mechanics.

It feels like the sort of chair your chiropractor might love, but when it comes to sitting down at the end of a hard day and comfortably enjoying your games, I couldn't, and still can't, get on with it. Perhaps I'm simply the wrong build for it, or my posture is so awful that the Icos is attempting to do me and my future self some good, and my body is resisting. 

But honestly, I want comfort out of a high-end chair, and the rigid design here simply didn't provide enough of it for my tastes.

So much so in fact, that I've made a modification of my own. A bit of searching around led me to this lumbar support and headrest cushion combo on Amazon, and since its installation I can say that it's made an absolute world of difference. With a bit of added plush-ness, the combination of a squishy head support and a soft lumbar cushion means I can leave the chair in its leant back position in perfect comfort. Now the Quersus Icos 1.1 is a genuinely nice place to sit, and I can appreciate its good looks and build quality without feeling like it's trying to reset my spine in ways I'd rather it didn't.

I've left the bottom seat cushion as it is though. I like what it's doing to my glutes, and I reckon I'm going to look fabulous in my swimwear this year.

There comes a time in everyone's life when they look upon their gaming setup with fresh eyes. Usually that time comes when an outsider catches sight of your grinding dungeon. It's a similar phenomenon to that of moving house, seeing intensely personal belongings being paraded around outside and saying to yourself, yep, definitely time for a new mattress.

For me, it was having a mate round my house and seeing my gaming room through his eyes. And what I saw was hardly the stuff of an Architectural Digest tour. Dead and dying house plants arranged on a second-hand Ikea desk I'd bought on eBay during lockdown when new furniture took seven to eight years to turn up. Tea rings on my mouse mat. Dust. Cables dangling everywhere. And worst of all: a mismatched array of peripherals. Roccat, Corsair, NZXT and Logitech with their contrasting styles and clashing RGB schemes, all sitting on one sad house plant graveyard. No no no. This wouldn't do.

What should a PC gaming space actually look like in 2023, and more importantly what elements are actually important, beyond somewhere to put a mouse and keyboard? Are standing desks actually of benefit? What about ergonomic office chairs? How much light should I be getting and from where? For once, I had questions about my setup that my Instagram feed didn't have all the answers to.

First: standing desks. The purported benefits are that standing burns more calories than sitting, that it promotes good back posture, and can boost mood, focus, and circulation. That sounds pretty great to me, so I research further into it and find some pretty substantial drawbacks.

One: standing desks are quite expensive, for some reason. It's like the extra length of the legs has to be made from sheer saffron-plated gold, based on the MSRPs slapped on them. And sit-stand desks, which give you the option of both positions via a motorised adjustment to your desk height, are even pricier.

Two: well, they just don't look very nice, do they? Speaking personally, curating a dedicated gaming space in my home is about making a cosy corner where I can relax and take a break from life's duller demands. I don't want anything productive to happen in this environment. It's not going to double as my home office, so installing a totem of productivity like a standing desk in there runs contrary to the spirit of the space.

The legitimacy of those purported health benefits is also up for debate. Standing at a desk burns about 88 calories an hour, says Harvard Medical School. Sitting burns about 80. And yes, standing for extended periods can improve your posture—but only if you stand with good posture in the first place, which is a bit of a catch-22. Sitting with good posture is better than standing with poor posture, and if you're not managing that, well, at least you're sitting down.

Tables and chairs

I arrive at a traditional sitting desk with telescopic legs, generous dimensions so I can arrange some (living) house plants around my setup, and a polished concrete surface, just in case Architectural Digest ever does drop by.

There's no cable management system bundled with this desk, but since this makeover is about aesthetics as much as function I consider it mandatory to hide my cables, so I buy a management 'system' from Amazon for £15.99 and install it on the underside of my desk. And it works just great.

The chair decision is a biggie. There are so many options to go down—gaming chairs. Office chairs. Ergonomic office chairs. Ergonomic office-gaming chairs. Having recently been down a standing desk research rabbit hole, I dig deep again on the science of ergonomic interventions to improve neck and back pain. Once again the science isn't particularly robust—a recent, high-quality study of 1,000 teenagers published in the American Physical Therapy Association Journal found no link between posture and neck pain. Sleep quality, physical activity and stress levels have a much greater impact on your likelihood of neck pain than your typical seating posture, it's now thought.

Gaming chairs are even worse. The design's based around bucket seats in race cars, which were devised to keep you fixed in one place while lateral G-force is applied. No matter what that Amazon store listing is telling you about that RGB lumbar pillow, gaming chairs are no kind of solution to anything. And yes, I've seen the ones with cooling fans for your back. So go to an actual shop, sit in some chairs, and choose the one that feels the most comfortable.

Finishing touches: a deep clean of all my peripherals and components with compressed air and rubbing alcohol, and an RGB unification project—white pulse, since you ask—across my multi-manufacturer suite. New house plants. Job done. Sometimes you've got to ignore all the marketing and go for what actually works for you.

Corsair TC100 Relaxed gaming chair | £199 £149 at Very (save £50) 
A 25% discount on one of the best budget gaming chairs should make your gaming sessions more comfortable and your back happier.

Price check: Corsair £199.99View Deal

Look, I'm not trying to say that PC gamers are a lazy bunch, but anyone who's spent time in front of a monitor knows the importance of a good chair. That's why this deal—a plump £50 off Corsair's TC100 Relaxed gaming chair at Very—caught my eye. 

Who doesn't want to be relaxed at their PC? Maybe some weird survival horror players want to enhance their experience by sitting on beds of nails or chairs made from human bones while playing, but I reckon the majority of gamers require something soft and supportive beneath them, which is exactly what this chair provides.

And while the SecretLab Titan may be PC Gamer's favourite gaming chair, the TC100 Relaxed makes for an excellent budget buy—even more so with £50 off. It took the coveted position of Best Affordable Gaming Chair from another Corsair model, the T3 Rush, that was very similar but more expensive, showing that Corsair—perhaps better known for PC cases and mechanical keyboards—has a proven ability to conjour comfort from a restricted budget.

• See all our Cyber Monday gaming chair deals still available.

The 'Relaxed' monicker comes from the chair's ability to recline to a 160-degree angle, more than enough for an emergency nap but also allowing you to take a positively flaccid approach to games. Alongside pouring praise on the chair's cushioning and its ability to accommodate a normal-sized person sitting cross legged (those over six feet tall may need to look elsewhere for satisfaction), our reviewer celebrated its simplicity of construction (it bolts together securely, though the armrests and headrest attachments came in for some criticism) and aesthetically pleasing character, as well as the broad backrest and thick cushion that are, after all, the whole reason we consider buying one of these chairs in the first place.

While some of the best gaming chairs may come with a higher price tag, like any piece of quality furniture, it's worth the investment. Our bodies require proper care, and the Secretlab Titan Evo stands out as the best gaming chair today, blending the best features from Secretlab's previous models with a decent warranty should something go wrong. For an affordable recommendation, however, the best budget gaming chair is the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, as it's a supremely comfortable chair with a subtle and premium feeling aesthetic for less cash than you might expect.

In our pursuit of the best, we've rigorously tested a ton of gaming and office chairs from respected brands to guarantee each recommendation in this guide has met our stringent standards. Opting for a less expensive office chair might seem appealing, but investing in superior ergonomics is a choice your body will be grateful for as time goes on. So, invest in something that'll last and give your butt and back the comfort and support it deserves.

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

The Corsair TC100 Relaxed has entered the gaming chair space with a refined racer-style chair with very few compromises, which makes it our recommendation for the best affordable, budget-friendly chair. We were big fans of the Corsair T3 Rush, but the TC100 pips it to the post in many regards.

It's shorter with an 81 cm backrest, but the TC100 Relaxed is in fact a fair bit broader. It's got a wider backrest, a bit more cushioning in the seat, and gentler bolster angles, hence "relaxed." It's the sort of chair that asks you to settle in and get comfy, although that shortness does mean it's perhaps not best suited to some larger frames.

If you're very tall, you might need to reconsider your options. For the rest though, the Corsair TC100 Relaxed should fit your frame nicely, and there's always the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL to consider if you need something larger.

Concessions have been made to keep that cost down. You only get 2D armrests for example, compared to something like the Secretlab Titan Evo's 4D arm-holders. But I suppose the company had to make it affordable somehow, and it was the arm support that bore the brunt.

The construction does reveal the odd price concession, too. Some of the bolts are a bit of a struggle to get into their respective holes, due to some wadded material leftover from the manufacturing process. Otherwise, though, it's still pretty easy to build, at least as far as gaming chairs go.

Where it shines though, is in places where you'd expect to see budget constraints, but don't. For example, the fabric version we tested feels fantastic on the skin, and looks great, too. Material choice is often a revealing part of a chair's construction, as so many manufacturers choose to skimp out on the important bits.

Here, everything feels quality, refined, and more expensive than you'd expect. Really what most people will be looking for in an affordable but brilliant gaming chair is something that looks the part, feels the part, keeps you in a great seating position for long days, and doesn't break the bank. Job done, we'd say, and then some.

Overall, what you're getting here is a budget chair that doesn't look, nor feel like the budget option. It's supremely comfortable, well-made, and looks the part in almost any setup. The TC100 Relaxed beats out every other chair in its price range by a large margin, and is absolutely the best affordable gaming chair you can buy right now.

Read our full Corsair TC100 Relaxed review.

The best high-end gaming chair

We love the Herman Miller Embody, and it occupied the top position in our best office chair roundup for a long time. But when it comes to the best high-end gaming chair we simply have to recommend the slightly more gamer-focused version, the Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody, instead.

Let's get one thing out of the way right out of the gate—it's not cheap. It's not even close to cheap. Nope, if you want one of these, be prepared to spend $1,830/£1,570.

I'll wait for you to pick up your collective jaws from the floor. Welcome back! The good news is, however, that the Embody is a fabulous chair. Our Jacob loves his model very much, and that's a man who has sat in every single good gaming chair you can think of.

If you do decide to treat yourself to one of these, upon delivery you'll receive a very large box. That's because the Herman Miller turns up fully assembled. For this sort of money, no one expects you to get busy with a screwdriver, and that alone is worth a fair bit of cash.

Once opened, however, you'll find that this chair is surprisingly compact. There's no gigantic headrest, as Herman Miller reckons you shouldn't need one if the back support is done properly, and thankfully, that is very much the case. The sprung-mesh design coated in Sync Fabric is extremely supportive, while still being very comfortable. Support and comfort can co-exist, and thankfully this isn't one of those chairs that tries to realign your spine against your will.

That fabric coating is remarkably hard-wearing, while still feeling great on the skin, too. The foam-layered seat cushion is designed to be comfy, cool, and posture-enhancing. You might shift around in your seat all day long from the top upwards, but your rear remains in roughly the same place. Herman Miller knows this, and the Embody is ready to deliver comfort and spinal bliss in equal measure—from top to bottom.

You might have to pay a high price, but you also get a 12-year warranty for your money. That covers just about everything about the chair, from the casters to the pneumatics, although perhaps the fabric might not qualify. Still, as we said, it feels tough enough to withstand the test of time, as does everything else about this chair.

In fact, just about the only thing that isn't exceptional about the Embody is the armrest adjustment. You don't get fancy 4D movement here, although they are adjustable to a degree and comfortable in their own right.

The Herman Miller Logitech G Embody is simply fantastic to sit in, looks great, and is built tough. It's the best high-end chair by far. Yes, you'll have to fork out. But what with that excellent warranty, and all the comfort and support on offer here, it's still the one we'd have if we were looking to spend some serious cash.

Read our full Herman Miller Logitech G Embody review.

The best office chair for gaming

The NeueChair has been our best office/task chair recommendation for so long, it's practically part of the furniture (boo, hiss). That's because it's got so much going for it in the support and build quality department, it simply hasn't been bested, even here in 2025.

Let's get one thing straight: this isn't quite what you'd call a gaming chair. It's a tasking chair, designed to make sure that over a long day at the office (or working from home, of course), you leap out of it feeling like you haven't damaged your back.

Of course, it can be reclined, and it's far from what you'd call uncomfortable. But this chair is all about keeping you supported and upright, with a sensation that lets you know it's doing excellent things for your spine. It's got a wide seat base with a good level of comfort, but this chair is all about getting down to business. And that, it does better than anything else on the market.

A good office/task chair should provide supreme support. The NeueChair is unmatched in this regard, and it's still what we'd call comfortable. You only get one set of bones, of course, so you'd do well to look after them in the hours you spend sitting at your desk. Comfort isn't just about sitting in squishy, armchair-like confines, but also about what you take with you when you get out of the chair.

Back pain, sore shoulders, and a numb posterior should not be any of those things. The NeueChair is designed to prevent or reduce them all, and it does an admirable job.

You get smart Controlshift controls located under each armrest that allow you to unlock or lock the recline, and raise and lower the chair for the optimum seating position. The armrests, however, don't have a huge amount of adjustment, so if you're looking for something with as many armrest settings as possible, the Secretlab Titan Evo might be more up your street.

The real kicker on top of that excellent spinal support, however, is the build quality. Its industrial-inspired design isn't just to help it look great in a modern office setting (which it really does), but to ensure that this chair will go the distance. It's remarkably tough and well-made, with a 12-year warranty that should go some way to offsetting concerns about its price.

At $1,169/£774, the NeueChair isn't cheap. But like the Logitech G x Herman Miller Embody above, what you're spending your money on here is something that is designed to stand the test of time, with a warranty to prove it. It's handsome, robust, supportive, and business-like, which makes it the best office chair overall.

Read our full NeueChair 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 not only be 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, but it does come with a caveat: this chair is currently quite difficult to find in the US. Our stateside friends may well be better off going for the Secretlab Titan Evo for a gaming chair, or the NeueChair if you're looking for something more office-focussed, as both of those models offer superb back support as well.

Or there's the Logitech G x Herman Miller Embody, which is good at just about everything—if you're prepared to put down some serious cash. Still, if you can get hold of one, the ThunderX3 Core is still the best chair for back support. 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 sitting 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.

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.

So, we'll 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.

The subjective sitting experience is the most important factor when we test gaming chairs, but the actual build experience is important, too. We don't want to have a chair that tries to take a bite out of us when we come to install the backrest or has poorly machined screw holes that don't line up.

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.

Best gaming chairs FAQ

Here I sit, as I write this very article, on a regular old dining table seat. My delicate behind is placed upon a hastily placed sofa cushion, my back mere inches away from the cold touch of wrought iron and inevitable spinal distress. This is, I'm sure you will agree, sub-optimal.

I need a good gaming chair, dear readers. And very possibly, so do you.  

Luckily for me, and indeed you, Black Friday is nearly here. And this year, I'm hoping, nay praying, for some really big discounts on some of the best gaming chairs, bringing them into the realms of affordability. The deals are coming people, and if your chair isn't doing it for you right now this might be the perfect time to think about investing in something that will genuinely change your daily life. I'm looking for the very best premium gaming chairs at a heavy discount, to save me and indeed you from the tyranny that is the dreaded cheap seat. 

Hold up, hold up, I know what you might be thinking. "What's wrong with those regular cheap office chairs? I see budget models on discount all the time. Why not buy one of those ?" 

Well, as just about anyone who's bought a cheaply made chair will tell you, they tend to come with a host of issues. Uncomfortable, squeaky "pleather" finishes, bolsters so firm you could use them as house bricks, wheels and mechanisms that collapse into plasticky nothingness. We've seen a lot of cheap chairs over the years, and the problems they bring tend to be numerous. They're almost always a false economy, and when it comes to something as serious as your posture, spinal health and overall comfort, it really is worth spending the cash on something premium that will last. And, with Black Friday nearly here, that spend is hopefully going to become a whole lot smaller.

• We're curating all the best Black Friday PC gaming deals right here.

It's difficult to overestimate the difference a really good chair can make to your day-to-day life, and it can honestly be the difference between standing up at the end of the day feeling refreshed and energised, or slumped, creaky and broken. As I shall be by the end of this piece. But what should you and I be looking for in a good seat?

Well, as the Black Friday gaming chair deals start rolling in, it's worth keeping an eye out for chairs with premium quality of life features like adjustable tilt, lumbar support, and moveable armrests. All things that allow you to adjust the fundamental ergonomics of the chair to your particular body shape and sitting style. Everyone's a little different in this regard, and a premium chair should be able to accommodate you no matter your body type or sitting preference.

More than the flexibility a good gaming chair provides, it's also worth looking out for different finishes and fabrics. A well-made chair should come with comfortable materials such as high-quality soft coatings and scratch resistant plastic parts, and can really be a major aesthetic choice that becomes the jewel in the crown of your setup. You should look forward to sitting down in front of your machine, not dreading it, so pick something that isn't just comfortable, but inviting to sit in to boot. 

As an added bonus, chairs with high-end finishes usually use higher quality materials overall, so your new purchase is likely to stand up to years of usage without issue. A good warranty is always worth considering, as not only does this mean you could get a replacement if something breaks, but is usually a testament to the overall quality of the chair if the manufacturer feels they can provide lengthy support. 

Some of the best chairs will come with a decade, or more, of manufacturer warranty. My previous chair did indeed come with a warranty, but it was lost in the burning of the Library of Alexandria. RIP, F to pay respects and all that. We move on.

Ultimately, if you invest your money wisely in a good chair over the coming sales you could be looking at years of comfortable gaming, office work, and whatever else you do when you're sitting at your desk. Think of it like investing in a good mattress, or a comfortable sofa. It's where you're likely to be spending a huge amount of your time, and it makes sense to go for something quality. We're already keeping track of the biggest Black Friday discounts on the best gaming chairs as they arrive, and now's the time to really start paying attention. 

Get yourself something premium at a good price, as I shall be, and your spine will thank you for many years to come. In the meantime, here I slump, my posterior aching. Save me Black Friday. You're my only hope.

It's easy to forget yourself when gaming, but the fact is that sitting for hours and hours in a tense position can be as taxing on your back as late-night sessions are on your ever-drying eyes. While eye-drops can provide relief for the latter issue, the matter of posture and seating is best resolved by a high-end gaming chair, which is where gaming accessory designer AutoFull comes in.

AutoFull has for years been the chair of choice at gaming tournaments such as LPL and KPL, and has seated legendary eSports teams including Rogue, RNG, LGD, DRG, 4AM, and Wolf. There's good reason these guys have been voted as the most prestigious esports chair brand among players for years on end, and this line-up of their latest products goes a long way in showing why.

AUTOFULL M6 GAMING CHAIR

Price: $499.99

The star feature in the M6 is the dynamic tracking lumbar support, which adapts the built-in lumbar support according to your specific positioning and body type, keeping you comfortable (and healthy) over long gaming hours.

The 6D foldable mechanical armrests provide six different angles of arm support, which can be adjusted to, for example, support the weight of your forearm when playing mobile games, or widening the position of the armrests to better support your arms when playing on a PC.

If you want to chill with a controller, watch some Twitch, or take a nap after a long streaming session, just lean back with the 160-degree reclining backrest, which will also bring up the built-in footrest. Need to roll the chair around like a detective fastidiously poring over crime scene photos and court documents? You can do so smoothly and quietly thanks to the soft PU wheels.

The ultra-soft porous leather is more breathable and comfortable than traditional leather, while the 576cm² spring cushion allows you to easily change between various sitting postures (cross-legged sitting, sitting with waist propped up, you-name-it).

For that extra peace of mind, the chair also comes with a warranty of three years, but don't worry, because that wear-resistant leather is made to last. It's super-easy to put together too, so really the only thing you need to worry about when gaming is the on-screen action. 

AUTOFULL C3 GAMING CHAIR 

Price: $249.99 (Amazon) | $249.99 (Official store)

The C3 Gaming Chair is the more wallet-friendly alternative to the M6, while looking super-stylish with its futuristic mecha-purple color scheme, graffiti elements and distinctive embroidered design. 

The upgraded seat cushion and stain-resistant leather will stand (or, y'know, seat) the test of time, while the enlarged seat cushion, and comfy, adjustable lumbar pillow give it the plush, decadent feeling of a gaming throne. The reclining backrest tilts freely between 90°-160°, while the footrest and rocking functions accommodate more relaxed gaming positions (or snoozing).

AUTOFULL ELECTRIC STANDING COMPUTER GAMING DESK 

Price: $299.99 (Amazon | Official Store)

Desks have largely gone ignored by major gaming accessory brands, but AutoFull appreciates the importance of mixing up your gaming position when you're going to be in front of your PC for hours. There's a growing body of research to show that switching between sitting and standing at a computer has plenty of health benefits, and this standing desk *ahem* rises to the task.

The AutoFull standing gaming desk supports a range of features, starting with an

Adjustable height range between 73cm and 118cm, letting you easily set the sitting and standing heights that work for you. With a slick little cup holder to house those energy drinks, and a cool curvy design, this desk will provide just the motivation you need to haul yourself up from AutoFull's esteemed gaming chairs for stints of stand-up gaming. It takes a little getting used to, but your body will thank you for it down the line.

To keep up with the latest from the AutoFull lab, follow them on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Introducing the Team WBG x AndaSeat gaming chair 

The latest partnership between AndaSeat and Team WBG introduces a brand-new Team WBG gaming chair to the AndaSeat lineup so that you, too, can play like the pros. With a dynamic backrest, personalized lumbar support, and customizable tilt tension, the Team WBG chair from AndaSeat is where comfort and innovation come together. 

The Team WBG chair is designed to provide lumbar support for those long gaming sessions, eliminating back pain after a night of matches or streaming. Not every gamer is made the same, though, so your lumbar support needs might be different from your squad's. AndaSeat features dual-knob lumbar adjustments so that you can personalize your chair to support your back while you play. The unique dual-knob adjustments allow you to dial in your lumbar position without the risk of damaging your AndaSeat chair. 

We spend more time at our desks than ever before. Whether we're punched into the clock or zoned into our favorite game, posture matters. The Team WBG gaming chair is designed to move with you, supporting your posture no matter what task is driving you to sit at the desk. Whether you're the type to lean forward while engaged in high-octane multiplayer battles or kick back and immerse yourself in a cozy valley, the Team WBG gaming chair lets you lock in your perfect angle thanks to a multi-tilt mechanism. After your match comes to an end, you can recline back for a little nap until it is time for the round to start.

 You could win an AndaSeat gaming chair 

To celebrate its collaboration with Team WBG, AndaSeat is giving away eight gaming chairs to lucky winners who participate before November 19. The League of Legends World Championship has 22 teams from around the world coming together to battle it out for a chance at a Summoner's Cup championship trophy and a million-dollar prize pool. For the first time in five years, the League of Legends World Championship has returned to South Korea, and AndaSeat's partner, Webo Gaming (WBG) will be among the teams seeking glory.

By entering the giveaway on AndaSeat's website, you could stand a chance to win one of two available prizes per competition, including a Kaiser 3 Series WBG special edition gaming chair. One lucky winner in each drawing will win a gaming chair signed by WBG’s THESHY.   

Hack Black Friday: Save big on the chair you want now 

AndaSeat is offering Black Friday pricing on its premium, luxury quality gaming chairs until November 30. Each AndaSeat chair is crafted with the needs of gamers' comfort in mind, featuring ergonomic designs and lumbar support, as well as a warranty of up to 5 years on all chairs. 

The AndaSeat Kaiser 3 Series is a premium gaming chair with an easy assemble system, 4-way adjustable lumbar support that is built-in, 4D armrests, and a magnetic head pillow. The Kaiser 3 is the pinnacle of comfort and design for those long sessions seated at your desk, and you can pick one up for just $399.99 right, now—a savings of $100. 

Like the Kaiser 3 series, the Phantom 3 Series gaming chairs from AndaSeat feature an ergonomic design that is easy to assemble with ample lumbar support. There's also an included neck pillow to keep things comfy while you play. The Phantom 3 series gaming chairs are $150 during the Hack Black Friday event, costing just $249.99.

AndaSeat knows not all bodies are the same, and the Kaiser Frontier Series XL gaming chairs are ideal for those gamers who need a premium gaming chair for a big and tall body type. The Frontier Series XL wraps an ergonomic design with 4D armrests in top-quality PVC leather, so the chair looks as good as it feels. Save $70 when you pick up a Kaiser Frontier Series XL from AndaSeat for $349.99.

Of course, if you prefer a little aesthetic nostalgia for your game room, AndaSeat also offers the Transformers Edition premium gaming chair. The Transformers Edition chair features everything you expect from AndaSeat, including a magnetic head pillow, lumbar support, an ergonomic design, and an easy assembling system. Add a bit of flare to your setup for just $199.99, a savings of $200.

All AndaSeat chairs have free shipping. You don’t have to worry about breaking open your piggy bank to afford a luxury chair, either. Shop now and enjoy interest-free payments on your terms when you check out with Shop Pay, Affirm Financing, or Afterpay.

We put so much time into contemplating our setups, from the PC components and RGB lighting to our desks and decorative accessories. The one place you should be focusing on when planning your setup, however, is your chair. A good chair can make or break your gaming session, no matter how many frames per second your rig is pushing. A premium gaming chair from AndaSeat is an investment in your comfort and your style alike.

Make your set-up comfortable 

Sitting for extended periods while gaming can have an impact on your body. It’s important to select a good desk chair that both fits your frame and provides the necessary support to limit neck and back pain while also improving your posture. AndaSeat produces gaming chairs that are ergonomic and comfortable, while also being packed with features such as magnetic headrests and adjustable lumbar support.

The Phantom 3 Series premium and gaming chair from AndaSeat is an affordable way to improve your desk setup. AndaSeat’s Phantom 3 series of chairs feature integrated steel frame construction for better pressure-bearing capacity. A widened seat cushion constructed from molded high-density foam is suited to accommodate different body types. The ergonomic design promotes productivity and increases blood flow, while also taking pressure off of your back and hips. The Phantom 3 series chair can adjust to a backrest angle of 160 degrees, so you can lay back and catch a power nap between meetings or matches. 

AndaSeat’s build quality expands into their Kaiser 3 Series of premium gaming chairs, which feature an ergonomic seat base that is filled with dense molded foam to be strong but cushioned for comfort. The Kaiser 3 Series can recline up to 165 degrees in rest mode for ultimate comfort. As an advantage over the Phantom 3 series, the Kaiser series chairs offer 4-way adaptive lumbar support, allowing you to adjust it up and down, as well as in and out, with control knobs located on the side of the chair. A head pillow made with memory foam and a cooling pad can be magnetically attached to the chair’s headrest. 

 Find your fit. 

Your gaming chair needs to fit your body just as much as your style. With a maximum height of 5’9 and a weight limit of 200 pounds, the Phantom Series 3 is best suited to those with smaller frames. The AndaSeat Kaiser 3 Premium series is available in a size Large, suitable for heights ranging from 4’11 to 6’2 with a recommended max weight of 260 pounds. The Kaiser 3 Premium XL, meanwhile, is suitable for heights up to 6’11 with a max weight limit of 395 pounds. The Kaiser Frontier XL is recommended for a maximum height of 6’7 and a maximum weight of 330 pounds. 

 Aesthetics matter 

The Phantom 3 series of chairs makes it easy to customize your set-up with your choice of 8 premium PVC leather finishes, including 3 which are part of a special Transformers Edition. Add some extra flare to your space by choosing a creamy pink, or embrace your childhood hero with a seat emblazoned with Optimum Prime. Leather’s not for every setup, however, and AndaSeat has options with linen fabric in Ash Gray or Carbon Black, as well.

Comfort doesn’t have to be devoid of style. AndaSeat’s Kaiser 3 Series offers 9 different color options in 2 different materials in both its Large and XL sizes: Robin egg blue, cloudy white, creamy pink, bentley brown, blaze orange, elegant black, classic maroon, carbon black, and ash gray. The Kaiser Frontier XL is also available in black or maroon with premium PVC leather upholstery.

 Hack Black Friday, not your budget 

Desk chairs, especially good ones, are an investment. AndaSeat’s Hack Black Friday event begins on October 12 and lasts through November 30—giving you the chance to get the ultimate gaming setup you’ve been pining over for yourself without breaking the bank to do it.

The Phantom 3 Series gaming chair will be available for $150 off at just $249.99 during this event. The Transformer Edition premium gaming chair will be $200, making it just $199.99 for a limited time. The Kaiser 3 Series Premium Gaming Chair, in both large and extra large sizes, typically retails for $499.99. During the Hack Black Friday event, it will be $100 off, so you can add it to your setup for just $399.99. All AndaSeat orders are eligible for free shipping.

You can save even more by joining the AndaSeat discord community, which frequently features “Cheat Codes” to let you save even more on your purchase on top of the already great low price offered by sales and other events.

AndaSeat chairs can be purchased using interest-free payment methods such as Shop Pay, Affirm Financing, and Afterpay. Choose when and how to pay in a way that is convenient for you without adding on extra fees or expenses. You can also rest assured that you’re getting your money's worth out of an AndaSeat chair as they include a warranty of up to 5 years.

While good chairs aren’t cheap, they don’t have to be cost-prohibitive. AndaSeat offers chairs that can fit your body, your style, and your budget. Plus, the money you save can go to other exciting elements for your setup—like more RGB. 

Tom's Hardware reports that RTX 4090 prices are going haywire in China, with supplies drying up and the few that are available now doubling in price. Back home, there are already signs that the rush to bag RTX 4090s in China before the ban kicks in next month could be pushing prices up.

The cheapest RTX on Newegg as we write these words is this Zotac item for $1,699, well above the $1,599 MSRP set by Nvidia. Incidentally, the RTX 4090 is currently out of stock on Nvidia's store.

The next cheapest 4090 on Newegg is a $1,729 MSI card. It's similar situation on Amazon, with the cheapest model going for $1,699. While the RTX 4090 has been prone to the odd supply shortage, just a few days ago it was simple enough to pick one up for MSRP and we have even seen them going for slightly below MSRP in recent months.

So, yeah, it just goes to so how sensitive GPU pricing is to external factors. Just as it seemed like graphics card prices were trending back to something approaching the historical norm (including the cheapest RTX 4070 we've yet seen for $539 which has since returned to something closer to MSRP) here comes a China export ban to mess things up. For RTX 4090 buyers, at least.

In mitigation, the whole RTX 4090s for China thing is likely to be a blip caused by a rush to bag cards while they can still be imported into the country legally. A month or so from now, it will probably all have died down.

Still, not that it was ever hugely likely, but the odds of an epic deal on the RTX 4090 this Black Friday look slimmer than ever.

Speaking at a recent company earnings call with investors (via Tom's Hardware), TSMC CEO C.C. Wei said, "our internal assessment shows that our N3P technology demonstrated comparable PPA to 18A, my competitors' technology."

To decode that, "PPA" stands for Power Performance Area, indicating the three critical measures of chip achievement, namely how much power a chip uses, how much performance it delivers, and how small TSMC can make it. "N3P", meanwhile, is one of several 3nm-class production nodes TSMC currently offers. Apple is already selling iPhones containing chips based on another 3nm-class TSMC node, known as N3B. "18A" meanwhile is Intel's next-but-two node, due in 2025.

Intel currently sells CPUs based on the Intel 7 node, such as the latest Raptor Lake refresh CPUs, with Intel 4 due shortly in the form of Meteor Lake mobile CPUs and Intel 20A coming in 2024. Intel says 18A, which is a refined version of 20A, will arrive in 2025, at which point Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger claims Intel will have regained "unquestioned leadership" in chip production technology.

Well, not according to TSMC, which thinks its existing silicon production is as advanced as what Intel has planned for 2025. Slightly complicating the comparison, Intel has some fairly exotic plans for its 20A node, most notably a feature called backside power deliver which is said to allow for much greater transistor density.

TSMC isn't planning to add backside power delivery until its second-iteration 2nm-class node in 2026, some two years after Intel. That will no doubt allow Intel to claim that it has, indeed, regained leadership. From a certain point of view.

Of course, C.C. Wei also said during the earnings call that TSMC's 2nm technology would be superior to Intel 18A when it arrives in 2025, even without backside power delivery. So, both companies are positioning themselves as the clear market leader.

Overall, then, it looks like it will be a subjective call between TSMC and Intel in the coming years over who has the most advanced production technology. It may well turn out that both companies end up with plausible claims to leadership depending on the measures you favour.

But the good news is that both companies seem confident they can continue to advance the art of chip manufacturing, and that should mean ever faster bits for our PCs. Which is what matters, right?

Most people now recognise that the traditional 'bucket' chair design comes with its own long-term tradeoffs. All of these are addressed in the CORE range. These chairs look great whilst combining proprietary lumbar support with premium office chair ergonomics and a huge feature set.

This is a major departure from what we've come to think of as gaming chairs, and expect the wider market to follow in the wake of the ThunderX3 range. The first generation of CORE chairs are built with the SYNC6 multi-functional mechanism that allows for 6-way adjustability, more familiar from premium office chairs, and the CORE.RDY lumbar tech ensures they self-adjust to your posture for the most ergonomic sitting experience on the market.

The CORE.RDY lumbar tech is what's missing from many existing gaming chairs. Here it's built-in and activates as you micro-adjust your sitting position (something everyone does), automatically adapting to your posture,. There's no one 'right way' to sit in it. In addition, the forward seat tilt will keep your legs below the hips, a healthy posture that improves circulation.

With the SYNC6 multi-functional mechanism, you can enjoy a synchronous and forward tilt, with seat adjustable front and back, a 2-in-1 neck and side support headrest, and a 3-in-1 multipurpose footrest. Whether you're relaxing in front of Netflix or want to be up close to the gaming action, this chair can be quickly adjusted to provide the perfect support.

With six levels of fine-tuned comfort, this chair has you covered from any position for gaming, work, and more. Made from top-of-the-line premium grade materials, including a sturdy nylon frame and steel base, the ThunderX3 CORE range offers durability and quality you can rely on, and at an affordable price. You can follow the ThunderX3 range on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

I discovered this chair after a long day of trudging around Computex in the Taiwan summer heat, and while any chair would have sufficed in my bedraggled state, I stumbled upon this—one of the most innovative gaming chairs I’ve seen to date. But how could a gaming chair possibly improve upon a heated nuggie holder, you ask? Well, for one thing it has a wiggly backrest.

Hear me out. I know it sounds like a gimmick, but something that hit me when I sat down in this chair was that I’ve never actually sat up straight in a gaming chair. No one does. We wiggle around, we lean forward, we pull our legs up. But the ThunderX3 Core loft’s many mechanisms are able to adapt to all this tomfoolery, and I honestly don’t think I’ve had this much support for my bones since I was a wee baby coddled in my mammy’s arms.

Seriously, though, ThunderX3 has put a great deal of time and effort into forcing ergonomics on even the least ergonomically inclined. Aside from the Lumbar 360° tech backrest feature that moves around with you as you shift in the chair, it’s got smashing, well-padded, 4D armrests, and a Sync6 mechanism I'll explain in a moment with plenty more ergonomic tricks than your average gaming chair.

That little black Sync6 box provides something called synchronous tilt, which essentially keeps the chair seat more level so even short queens like me can keep their feet firmly on the ground when they lean back. The only issue there is that the armrests don’t come with it, so leaning back you have less support for your arms.

There’s also forward seat tilt, so you can lean in when you realise your opponent is better than expected. Adjustable seat depth also means you can slide yourself forward to get in closer. The latter might be the least useful of the lot, but it comes in handy if you gotta get cosy with your PC but can’t roll any closer.

The head cushion is super plush, and has side support for all my dodgy sitting positions. And the multipurpose cushion is a fantastic addition, too. It gives a little attention to the fact that not everyone will be able to touch the floor when their chair is at the right height. Not only does it have a rounded side so you can rock your feet, it also separates into two cushions and can double as an armrest, for when you want to use a controller or put your laptop actually on your lap.

You can also lock the ThunderX3’s backrest at four angles, and while you can't lean all the way back like with a lot of gaming chairs, I don’t think it takes away from the practicality. I’ve never used those full recline features anyway, except to show off.

The Sync6 mechanism is an oddly simple solution, considering how versatile it is, and one that had me expecting a much more complex assembly process. Usually it takes me about 45 minutes to put together a chair. This one? Just over sixteen minutes, unboxing and all. That’s partially thanks to the arms already being attached, and the packing foam not being sellotaped on tightly enough to strangle a boar like some. There was also no need for those awkward cover plates you get on a lot of chairs to hide the mechanisms and joinery. I didn’t even have to worry about the deadly spring mechanism a lot of gaming chairs threaten me with, since the backrest just slotted in neatly to a little sleeve—there were no bare mechanisms at all, in fact.

Somehow the ThunderX3 Core Loft manages to look sleek, and aside from the ridiculous, throne-like wings on either side protruding as if to say "Oooh, look at me", it’s not an ugly chair by any means.

It comes in three styles: Racer, with an embossed pattern on the backrest and seat, comes in plain black or with turquoise go-faster stripes; Modern, which is a little more refined and consists of three muted colourways; and Loft, coming in either black or grey. The Loft and Modern are the plush fabric versions, whereas the Racer comes wrapped in a stark leatherette. All are relatively restrained—even the Racer, considering some alternative gaming chair designs.

There are a few more colours on the way, including a white version, says ThunderX3. For now there's at least some choice—and all Core styles come in at the same price, too. 

Price was also my main concern when I initially sat in a chair with this many greebles.

Slap an ergonomics label on anything, and you can usually expect it to cost a premium. Somehow, though, the ThunderX3 Core has kept that price down to $399. It’s not cheap, but consider that less ergonomically superior chairs have been priced over $600—I’m looking at you, Noblechairs Legend. Generally something with as much comfort and adjustability as the ThunderX3 Core would set you back more than a grand, like the Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody for example, so it’s impressive to see this one coming in at under $400.

Set the ThunderX3 Core Loft against our current best gaming chair, the Secretlab Titan Evo, and it becomes even clearer why this is a best gaming chairs contender. Not only does it come with the same three year warranty, it’s oozing with features the Evo couldn’t dream of, thanks to that Sync6 and Lumbar 360° wizardry. 

Moreover, while it doesn’t have the magic of magnetic pillows, for me the ThunderX3 actually manages to surpass the comfort of the $520 Titan Evo. And that’s really saying something when it comes in at $120 less in all its styles.

But I'm not going to stand behind it, I have to sit on it because, damn, it sure is a comfy chair. 

Coming from the same stable as the best gaming chairs—the Secretlab Titan Evo—it's no surprise that the NeueChair is an outstanding seat. But it is very much a task chair, not a gaming chair.

By that I mean it's designed to be used while working at a desk, not to lounge in while kicking back with a controller in-hand. It's not that it's uncomfortable in its fully reclined state, but even with the optional headrest it's not a position that you're going to want to be sat in for a long haul gaming session.

The active position, however, is perfectly supportive and I really feel like my spine is being looked after by that mesh backing and adjustable lumbar support. The wide seat feels good, though is certainly not as giving as some squishier gaming chairs I've parked my posterior in.

I know it's looking after my body because I can't actually get one leg underneath me to sit in my usually preferred—though posturally abysmal—relaxed working position. I'm forced to sit in the correct manner, and I do actually feel better for it while I'm sat at my desk during the working day.

Though there is still a part of me that wants to lounge around of an evening, and the NeueChair isn't designed for that. That's clear in the more limited recline than you can 'achieve' with a more gaming-focused chair, such as that Titan Evo. The NeueChair will only go back to 130°, while the Secretlab will stretch all the way to 165°. Y'know, for sleep. 

I mean, it is an office chair, after all, and one of the absolute best, too. But there are few offices that really want to encourage that level of workday relaxation where you're practically horizontal at your desk.

That's highlighted by the smart Controlshift controls located beneath each armrest. The two levers allow you lock or unlock the recline, anywhere between its 85 - 130° possible angle, and to raise and lower the chair. The armrests themselves are a bit of a disappointment, however, given that you can only raise them on a ratchet mechanism and they don't quite go high enough for my desk. They also don't move in or out to support your elbows. 

You also don't get that headrest as standard, which adds a not-inconsiderable amount to the cost of the chair if you do want it. Considering I think it's more suited to the active position than reclining, I don't actually think it's a big miss not having the headrest.

The NeueChair is certainly built to last, with a gleaming heavy industrial design that won't look out of place in the funkiest of offices. Home or otherwise. That's backed up by a hefty 12-year warranty, which goes some way to offsetting some of our concerns over it's otherwise high price.

But it is the most comfortable office chair I've ever sat in, and if you're going to be at your desk most of the day working, as well as into the night gaming, then it's worthy investment to keep your spine healthy. Though, remember, it's worth getting up and walking about every now and then.

At a glance, the Levus looks like a torture device from some dystopian future or something you'd find in the back room of a shady arcade. The Levus is a "zero gravity ergonomic workstation" designed to reduce vertical spine pressure by evenly disturbing your body weight while you work.

Think of it like that cursed Japanese gamer bed we wrote about a few years back, except intended for the CEO who never sees their family and loves to talk about the virtues of micronapping.

The idea behind the chair is to keep your body in an open hip-spine angle, a neutral body posture when sitting in the chair, cutting down on excessive movements that hurt your body during long stretches of work or gaming. This keeps all your limbs at the right angles, hopefully reducing excess pressure on various body parts. 

The Levus is customizable, too. You can add little side tables, laptop holders, VESA mounts for monitors, and even a flight stick base to convert the chair into a cockpit for a flight simulator. 

The Levus can be shifted into four modes by sliding from a 40° angle (work mode) all the down to a 25° angle (sleep mode) for "sleep breaks in-between the work." It reminds me of a hospital bed that can be manually adjusted depending on the user's needs. 

The Levus targets users with various health issues who must work at a desk. The creators of the Levus claim that that workstation can cure you of varicose veins and thrombosis, though you should consult your physician first and not a goofy YouTube video.

So how much is the workstation of the future, exactly? Well, it starts at €3,250, but if you add all the attachments, you're looking at around €4,000 (or $4,337). To be fair, good ergonomic office furniture is never cheap, but if you don't have to spend that kind of money, just look at one of our favorite gaming chairs and take care of your back. Frequent breaks, people.

Over a year on from our review of the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, we're still happy to recommend it as the best budget gaming chair. For cheap gaming chairs, we've not tested anything better since, and we test a plenty of gaming chairs every year.

Our review sample has withstood a year in PC Gamer's office, which means it's fairly frequently bashed about in an ever-growing game of bumper chairs between desks. Moreover, the Corsair TC100 Relaxed has only dropped further in price, meaning it's increasingly good value. Around major sales events, we've seen it dip under $200. That's a good deal on a stylish chair such as this.

Original review: June 2023

As always, Corsair has waltzed into the gaming chair space with a refined racer style chair that's not going to have you remortgaging for the privilege of sitting in it. If you're happy to make a couple of sacrifices, this is certainly a good contender for the best cheap gaming chair. Right now the Corsair T3 Rush keeping us going on the side of affordable gaming chairs, so I was expecting great things from this new addition to the ecosystem. And I've not been disappointed.

In a lot of ways the TC100 and T3 gaming chairs are highly comparable, not least in their simple colourway and 160 degree recline. But the main thing to point out is the price difference. At $70/£100 less than the T3 you expect some kind of compromise from the TC100, but I have yet to discern how Corsair has managed to drop the price so much and for essentially more chair.

It's a little shorter with an 81cm backrest, but instead of tall the TC100 Relaxed goes broad. It's got a wider backrest, more cushion in the seat, and gentler bolster (side cushion) angles for those beautiful, thick thighs… hence the "relaxed" nomenclature.

We stocky babes had no trouble sitting in it at the office, and I'm not constantly fighting to reach the headrest since I'm not the tallest lass out there. I've never been a huge fan of Corsair headrest attachment, though. The straps are very short, and while slotting them through the two backrest holes might sound practical, it means you're limited when it comes to adjustability. Those pushing 6'2" will need to reconsider their options, but the headrest and accompanying cushions are comfy enough, and come with the chair.

The major drawback with the TC100 Relaxed is the 2D armrests. It means you only benefit from up, down, in, and out adjustability, and compared to the T3 Rush and other chairs with 4D armrests it's a little disappointing. But I suppose the company had to save money somewhere. The short distance between the armrests means I can happily rest my elbows without any rotational help, though, and the lack of forward and back movement isn't too much of a problem for me.

The armrests are pretty comfy considering they aren't plush. They're just a tiny bit rattly—something I've come to expect from a £200 gaming chair, but something that certainly breaks you out of any illusions that this is a luxury gaming chair.

Putting it together you'll be reminded of the low cost too. While everything did align well, and the materials are more than fit for purpose, I did have a little trouble getting some of the bolts in place. That was due to the marbles of balled up synthetic material around the holes, which had evidently been burned through. Aside from that, it took me maybe 40 minutes to put together—even without instructions in the box it was relatively straightforward, but this is coming from someone who puts together chairs on almost a monthly basis.

Manufacturing aside, I've been thoroughly impressed with the aesthetic. This fabric model doesn't feel too flashy, and while the backrest has slightly wider wings than its sister, the T3 Rush, the angles are much less sharp. There's an intricate, almost honeycomb patterning on the backrest, which is nowhere near as in-your-face as the majority of gaming chairs I've tested. In the US, you can get either, but for UK folks the leatherette version is limited to a black on black colourway, while the fabric version also comes in the truly exciting grey and black option.

That was sarcasm. Though I do realise that keeping things simple is no doubt a contributor to the TC100's low price.

I appreciate that both the leatherette and fabric versions of the TC100 Relaxed come in at the same price, too, as often you see fabric gaming chairs models going for a little more. I can confirm that not only is the fabric soft as anything, it's also breathable and stops you from sticking to the surface when wearing shorts in the height of summer. Aside from it being a nice change from testing leatherette options, I'm glad the TC100 Relaxed makes the soft-look lifestyle more attainable.

You will end up losing your pen down the side of the bolsters but I really do like the style. Maybe you could even store your pens down there. The possibilities are endless.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to price. Even at $320/£300 we were smitten with the T3 Rush, so the fact the TC100 Relaxed comes in at the distinctly more affordable price of $250/£200, with only a few small compromises to speak of, gives me a lot of hope for the future of cheap gaming chairs.

When you have such big names sitting in their chairs for so many hours a day, you know that AutoFull products are designed to last.

Where your typical gaming chair may suffer from insufficient lumbar support, and basic armrests that only go up and down, AutoFull chairs are engineered to do those extra things that other chairs don't. The current top tier of AutoFull‘s line-up—the peak seats that will keep you propped up all through those late-night sessions—are the M6 gaming chairs, and they're out now.

Let's dive into what makes them so special.

Spine and posture are critical when gaming. As the designated gaming chair for KPL 2023,  the AutoFull M6 gaming chair features 4-way waist protection and mechanical folding armrests. The 4-way lumbar waist can provide accurate waist support, which adapts to players of different body types and states. The chair is suitable for gamers of all heights, providing strong and precise support to the lumbar spine. The thick and wide cushion, meanwhile, will keep you comfy for untold hours. 

The mechanical ‘6D’ folding armrests give you the option of sitting in the traditional position with your elbows supported, or you can push the armrests aside completely for mobile or console gaming with a controller—perfect for those local multiplayer sessions with your pals. 

There's more. The traditional 2D armrests are limited to height and angle adjustments, leaving your arms unsupported and causing discomfort when you want to play Nintendo Switch or mobile games. The AutoFull mechanical armrests, on the other hand, offer a revolutionary solution to this issue, perfectly lifting and supporting your arms. Say goodbye to arm fatigue and soreness during prolonged gaming sessions.

The AutoFull M6 gaming chair's armrests are also brought into the armrest surface, and when the chair is reclined, they can be linked together backwards. Whether you're knee-deep in gaming or at work, the unique shape of the armrest adjusts to exactly how you want it, ensuring maximum comfort for your specific style. 

The AutoFull M6 gaming chair is wider and taller than most chairs, making it great for bigger gamers. With a tilt angle of up to 160° and built-in footrests, you can even kick back and take a nap in it, with the rocking function helping you quickly recharge your in-body battery when it runs dry. The PU leather it uses is skin-friendly, environmentally friendly, and extremely durable.

To ramp up the flair, you can light your chair up with an array of AutoFull LOGO LEDs, which entail 14 customisable lighting modes, five brightness settings and five colors.

By involving professional esports players, famous streamers, and core gamers in product design, AutoFull aims to create industry-leading equipment that combines professional esports performance, technological innovation, and trendy fashion. That's why it's sponsored nearly 2,000 top professional eSports events, including top-tier competitions such as LPL and KPL. In 2019 AutoFull signed NBA Star Gorden Hayward as their Global spokesperson.

The virtues of gaming chairs over regular office chairs are well established by now: additional lumbar support, unparalleled adjustability, and, well, they just look cool, don't they?

So what are you waiting for? To grab your gaming chair and see what else AutoFull have in their armoury, head over to the AutoFull M6 Gaming Chairs on AutoFull Official Store. It's time to take your seat at the head table. 

It was worth the wait. This is a fantastic-looking sim racing cockpit. I have high expectations for the build quality of Logitech gear, but seeing as this is a Playseat creation with the Logitech logo and styling slapped on it, I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, it's absolutely as well-made as I was hoping for.

What you get is both a sim racing wheel and pedal mount and a built-in racing seat-style chair. Though the chair is more like a hammock, in actual fact, due to how it's strapped on around the rear of the cockpit. It's extremely comfortable, however, and I'm sitting in it right now as I type out this review.

My biggest pet peeve with sim racing at home is that I'm often pushing and sliding my pedals away from me as I race. It's incredibly frustrating and has psyched me out of my own timed laps before. So, I needed a fix, and this is the fanciest fix of all.

I've also been testing out the Monoprice Dark Matter GT Foldable Racing Wheel Stand these past few days, which is a much more affordable way to fix that pedal problem at $153. Thing is, without the chair bit, it's far less comfortable, and it doesn't put you into much of a racing position. It's one way to fix the problem, but the Trophy is something else.

With the Trophy, it feels like I'm levelling up my sim racing setup ten times over. I had all the important parts for a while—the wheel, the base, the pedals—but they felt quite muted by the inconvenience of setting them up on a desk. The seating position is all wrong, which leads to faster fatigue, especially in the arms and ankles, and the pedal slippage was extremely mind-melting at times.

That's all gone with the Playseat Trophy. Provided you can slot it in under your desk and tilt your PC's screen down easily in order to play, it offers a naturally easy-going racing position. My arms are stretched out at a good distance, my legs too, and I'm not having to work hard to make do with a cramped or uncomfortable space.

I've raced in plenty of cockpits before, but primarily at events. Having this sort of setup at home has genuinely rekindled much of my love for sim racing.

But, gosh, there were times during setting up the Trophy that I had my doubts. The Playseat comes mostly in parts, and there are an exorbitant amount of screws required to put it together. The main struts of the frame are firmly held in place by some six to 12 screws at each connection, and the adjustable backrest and frame needs assembling and tweaking to your height, which involves some screwing around.

The chair is much easier to adjust. It's essentially hanging from the frame via some heavy-duty velcro straps. It's extremely comfortable once you're in there, as it's sort of like a very firm, padded hammock. There's also an adjustable belt around the back of the chair to support your lower back, but I'm still working on getting that in the exact right position. My only concern is what happens when the velcro wears out, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

The Trophy is a massive lump, however. Unlike the foldable Dark Matter GT, you'll have to find somewhere to store the Playseat Trophy in its entirety, as you're not taking this thing apart to put it away. You'd never use it again. As such, it's definitely a luxury to have any space for such a thing.

It feels luxurious to race in, though. You can tweak it so it's just right with the granular, often sliding, adjustments for the pedals, frame, and chair angle. Ideally you can get to a point where your feet and arms are perfectly placed to achieve the most movement and attack for racing, without getting tired.

The elephant in the room, then, is the price. At $599/£529, it's nearly four times the price of the cheaper Dark Matter frame. Though they're not the same, neither in what they offer or how well put together they are. The full cockpit experience is, as I've said, a luxury, and if it's a luxury you can afford then I recommend you check out the Playseat Trophy.

Because it turns out that if you have the popular Ikea Markus chair, your gaming monitor might just go blank for a few seconds on the regular, and that is sure as hell going to have an impact on how your system's running.

These are the findings of a certain Felix Häcker (via Tom's Hardware), who discovered that, after weeks of experiencing his monitor going off every now and then and being frustrated at every point of inquiry, it was all the fault of his Ikea chair. 

It turns out it's all about electrostatic discharge (ESD), and it's not an uncommon phenomenon, especially not with this specific Ikea chair. Häcker uncovered a 2021 thread on the ComputerBase forum started by someone with a similar issue, and it wasn't until well into 2022 they discovered it was down to their chair. The same chair as Häcker was using.

It was discovered that it was caused either by the friction of the gas lift under the chair or simply by the action of charging the seat surface. Rubbing your behind around the chair, sitting down, or getting up could send a charge from the chair to any non-grounded part of the PC.

Most people would have ditched the chair at this point, having finally figured out the problem, but not the enterprising Capt. on the ComputerBase forums. No, they stapled copper foil under the Ikea seat and then connected that to the ground of a power socket via a one megaohm cable.

That's a lot more effort than I would have gone to, particularly for an Ikea chair.

Honestly, they should have both been warned by the promo video on the Ikea product page for this thing. I mean, look at it positively exuding charge.

But ESD isn't solely related to monitors; there are reports that the chair has also taken out storage drives, too, and even made graphics cards stutter. Though that could just be because of some more terrible PC ports.

So, the thing to take away from this is that if you're ever having weird issues with your PC, and your screen keeps flickering off seemingly at random, it might just be an incompatible gaming chair.

Scottish specialist GT Omega’s been there from the start of that journey, starting up in 2009 and drawing inspiration from motorsport to serve the sim racing community, whose needs have always been a bit more specific than most. Try completing a race in F1 22 at full race distance with a force feedback wheel at 100% strength throwing you to and fro, and you’ll understand. 

GT Omega’s seats grew to cater for the whole gaming community, not just the sim racers. But its modern offerings have retained some of the sleek lines and bucket seat shape from motor racing. And in its latest seat, the Zephyr, it’s demonstrating a modern evolution of the classic gaming chair. 

Most strikingly, the chair’s wrapped in a soft fabric finish, and comes in a choice of six colours, ranging from a stealthy blackout version to a bold turquoise and a dusty pink. Streaming has changed the game for PC peripherals and furniture and turned us all into discerning aesthetes to deliberate on the exact pantone shades of our RGB. It matters what our sacred play space looks like, so having a choice of colours for the throne we sit on in there really does matter.

The black velour detailing really brings out the colours of the Zephyr, making it ready for a streaming setup or simply an aesthetically considered gaming space.

It’s an exceptionally well-padded model. Under all that super-soft fabric, dense cold-cure foam adapts to your body shape and offers strong support. The included adjustable memory foam lumbar cushion compresses to provide catered support, matching the natural curve of your back to keep you comfortable for long hours of work or play. Worried this gaming chair won’t hold up? Fear not, the Zephyr’s rated up to 150kg of bodyweight, making it ideal for larger users. That philosophy extends to the dimensions, too, with a 56cm width across the shoulder area of the back support, and a generous  62cm seat width. The steel tubing that forms the skeleton of the chair is 2mm thick too, thicker than the industry standard. 

Anyone who plays in a hot climate, or a smaller room where the heat from a chugging PC can really build up over time, will appreciate that the construction materials used throughout the Zephyr are breathable as well as supportive. It’s clear a lot of thought and experience has been poured into the design here, and it arrives at a time when we’re giving a lot more thought to our gaming spaces. For a lot of us, they double up as home offices. We spent large periods here, so it makes more sense than ever to really consider what we’re sitting on. 

The Zephyr is available now, priced at £349.95 in the UK, $449.95 in the US,  €419.95 in the EU, $599.95 in Canada and Australia. For more info on the Zephyrus, including details on free worldwide shipping and interest-free payment options for US and UK customers, head over to the GT Omega Zephyr official product page. Follow GT Omega on its social channels for updates and news:

• Facebook: gtomegaracing
• Twitter: @gtomegaracing
• Instagram: @gtomegaracing
• Tiktok: @gtomega_official

It’s not news to discover that gaming can be sedentary, and it’s that very aspect of our RGB-drenched passion that led to the rise of gaming chairs in the first place. Scottish company GT Omega was there in those early days, and over the last 13 years it’s acquired some considerable expertise in the market. 

The arrival of its new Xayo chair, though, marks a landmark moment. Breaking the mould from the market’s traditional shape and construction, which originally took inspiration from the world of motorsport, the Xayo’s all about customisation, ergonomics and, ultimately, keeping you supported and comfy according to your exact dimensions. We all come in different sizes, so it makes sense for a chair to be able to adjust to those varied requirements. 

And adjust you can. There are five levels of headrest adjustment, with 35 degrees of rotation. A sliding seatbase, again with angle adjustment. You can tilt the angle of the back rest to 15 different positions. The armrests and lumbar support are adjustable too, and even the tension of the seat sliding is customisable, with three different settings. We’ve played Korean MMO character creators with fewer customisation options than that. 

That’s a lot to dial in, but it doesn’t mean you have to get the tape measure out or sketch a Vitruvian Man of yourself before you’ve got the chair calibrated. There’s an automatic posture adjustment system (APAS) that lets you sync up the chair base and back and then lock them in place, which gives you a strong starting point from which you can make fine adjustments elsewhere. 

The benefits of a chair with ergonomic features are pretty wide-ranging. Back support’s the biggie, but sitting in a seat that properly supports your back and allows you to distribute your weight evenly can improve blood flow, relieve neck and limb soreness, and some studies say it boosts productivity too. Whether that translates to more chicken dinners or a higher CSGO rank, science has yet to quantify. But in the long term, a clean bill of overall health is a net win.

Of course, looks go a long way too. Any component of a gaming setup needs to be Instagram and stream-friendly, so to that end there’s a choice of three colourways here. They’re all subtle enough to fit in with any setup, but the onyx, opal and obsidian options give you some visual customisation to go with all the physical adjustments. 

The events of 2020 and the long-term lockdown measures in its aftermath got us all thinking a bit more deeply about how and where we spend our indoor time. It might have seemed extravagant to invest in an ergonomic chair in 2019 - it’s not now. In the remote working era, buying a seat that looks after you while you work and pay makes an awful lot of sense. The industry’s adapting to support our needs, and as a result of products like this appealing to a wider audience, costs are coming down. £1000+ has previously been a pretty standard purchase point for ergonomic office chairs, but the Xayo’s available for £649.95 (€779.95).  

To discover more about the Xayo, including free worldwide shipping and interest-free payment options in the UK, visit the official GT Omega Xayo product page. 

Note: the Xayo is currently only available in the UK and Europe. Other locations will be available later in the year. Follow GT Omega on its social channels for updates and more info:

• Facebook: gtomegaracing
• Twitter: @gtomegaracing
• Instagram: @gtomegaracing
• Tiktok: @gtomega_official

That's the price of the white version I've been testing anyway, though it rises to £460/$690 for any colour other than white. Logically, the white version will get dirty much easier, so respect for making it cheaper. The fabric version is yet cheaper at £420/$640, but it only comes in grey and isn't exactly wipe clean.

I thought I'd mention the prices up front, because that's the real issue here. For a super-premium gaming chair at that price, you'd expect there to be no gripes whatsoever but sadly that's just not the case. But I'm getting ahead of myself; let's rewind.

This is a gorgeous chair. The pure white leather and stitching look incredible, and the slim and subtle design doesn't scream "boy racer" unlike most gaming chairs out there. It also goes incredibly well with the likes of Logitech's new, bubbly Aurora Collection, the Logitech G715 being my choice of pairing from the kit cupboard. Add the spectacular Logitech G502 X to the mix and you'll have yourself a pure and heavenly aesthetic going, but your wallet will not thank you.

I'm not exactly sure what Noblechairs means by "Straight lines for a mature design", listed under the chair's features section. It's actually a super rounded, curvy design, and while the white colourway does give it an air of refinement, the shape has more of an "I moulded this from Play Dough" look. Not in a bad way, but perhaps more innocent than mature.

Either way, that playful shape does wonders for comfort, and combined with the cold foam padding and non-intrusive lips either side of the seat and backrest, it's a great one for ignoring ergonomics and sitting cross legged, or leaning off to the side as you fall asleep in meetings. I also appreciate the handle on the back so you can slide it around easier—much appreciated when you're constrained to carpet.

The lumbar support is also a huge plus. Integrated into the chair there's a dial on the side that lets you adjust and it's easy to get it just right. Admittedly this is also one of the gaming chairs I haven't had issues with where height and width are concerned. With 52cm between the armrests (42cm minimum), and a 90cm height on the backrest, I don't feel like I'm drowning in gaming chair. That's with the armrests bolted as close to the seat as possible, too, so there's plenty of room to expand sideways.

My only real gripes for the armrests are that they suffer from the age-old problem of rattling mechanisms, which is not a good look on over half a grand's worth of gaming chair. And while the polyurethane does have a bit of sponginess to it, I would have liked a bit more padding for the price.

Speaking of padding, you do get some gloriously plush cushions for the price though I've found them to be a bit superfluous. I actually have preferred using the lumbar cushion as a headrest, and disposing of the head cushion altogether. Importantly, though, the white cushions are washable, though you'll want to brush up on your stain-removal tactics.

When it comes to motion, there's 11 degrees of tilt. That's enough for me, and doesn't send me into a panic when it drops backward like the Noblechairs Hero Doom Edition did when tilting at full recline. The Legend can be adjusted so that it takes more force to push back, though again this is a standard feature for all the best gaming chairs out there.

The knob to adjust the ease of tilt is a little far back compared to some, though, meaning you have to literally fold in half to reach it—not everyone's gifted with that kind of flexibility. There is a bit of give too, a slight rock motion if you push back when it's meant to be locked in place, which makes it feel a little unstable. 

When a gaming chair comes in at one of the most riotous price points I've seen since Thermaltake's Porsche gaming chair, there's a lot more I was expecting from its design. Cupholders. A free footrest, maybe. And while rattling armrests and an awkward tilt adjuster don't reduce the value too much in my mind, the instability when locked is a bit of a downer, and with only a two year warranty I would be constantly on edge having spent over $600 on anything.

Yes it's one of the most subtly beautiful gaming chairs I've encountered, with no ugly print and fantastic ergonomics, but if I recommend it for that price I'd have to surrender to a truly doomed economy. Comfortable gaming chairs should be affordable for the everyman, especially when graphics cards cost as much as a car in 2023. 

When you can get the Secretlab Titan Evo for $150 less—with its three year warranty and magnetic pillows—the question is clear: Would you pay yourself that much to land one of the best gaming chairs ever made? I think so.

Thermaltake's latest gaming seat is undeniably stupidly expensive, with a recommended retail price of $1,299 (£1,199 around AU$2,000), though that has regularly come down in the sales. Still, even at a discount it's a high enough price to make even the flushest of us baulk a little, but from the moment you sit in it, it's clear that the Argent E700 is a seriously premium product.

With a design from Studio F.A. Porsche (yes, the same studio that designs Porsche-branded goodies from buildings to bikes to kettles), it's not hard to see why the price is so high. If you'll allow us one more Marvel reference, our 'Sanga Yellow' edition of the Argent E700 is distinctly evocative of a certain telepathic professor's hovering throne.

The E700 comes in nine different colors, all with the same black leather cushioning and chrome base. All are equally distinctive; though we love our yellow review model, we're also partial to the 'Flaming Orange' and 'Ocean Blue' versions. The coloration extends across the entire back of the chair and the underside of the bucket-style seat, both of which are covered in a hard plastic coating. A single metal cutout in the leather back shows a minimalist Thermaltake logo—the only bit of visible branding on the chair.

The main frame of the chair is all concealed metal, making it heavy but very sturdy. Assembly is mercifully quite straightforward; unlike many gaming chairs, the Argent E700 comes almost fully assembled. You just have to screw together the back and seat of the chair then place it atop the base after fitting the casters, a job that took us less than ten minutes

With soft high-density foam padding beneath the real leather exterior, the chair isn't immediately super-comfortable, but we did come to appreciate it after a little while. It's not soft and squishy like some of its competitors, but it's sure to be a good fit for anyone who likes a firm, supportive chair. 

There are no head or lumbar pillows to be found here, and while there is a small cutout at the top of the chair, it doesn't seem convenient for attaching a head cushion. Fortunately, the built-in headrest uses a different type of internal foam which is a bit squashier than the rest of the chair.

We did feel that the bucket-seat base wasn't particularly wide; it cups your thighs with its robust shape, which may prove uncomfortable for larger users (as a confirmed wide-boi I can attest to that -Ed). The chair supports up to 331lbs, but the flat portion of the seat is only about 14 inches across before starting to curve up on either side. There's very little give in the seat padding, so I'm confident it will retain its shape even after extended use.

The armrests have four-dimensional movement: lateral, vertical, horizontal, and a limited degree of rotation. They're easy enough to adjust, although we do wish Thermaltake had included a proper movement lock—if you knock the armrests with your elbow, they rotate or slide backwards, which can be annoying.

The seat height and recline functions are tied to sturdy metal handles on either side of the seat, which are immediately reminiscent of a car door handle. Many gaming chairs claim to be 'racing inspired', but we've never seen one that actually looks so much like a racecar before. The back recline hinge is very firm, but annoyingly you have to leave one of the handles extended in order to lock the recline angle in one of four pre-set positions, with means that it sticks out of the chair's frame.

You can't recline the chair back too far, either so don't expect to be snoozing in this seat. The gas lift in the column of the chair has a nice, smooth movement to it, and the range is sufficient for users of any height to find a comfortable position. We didn't have any issues with the caster wheels either—they rolled smoothly over thin carpet and hard flooring, with no locking.

It's obviously hard to judge how well a gaming chair will stand the test of time when we only get to test them out for a relatively short period, but the Argent E700 certainly feels like it is built to last. The chair's plastic shell has a scratch-resistant 'Gloss UV' coating that also serves to reduce color wear, and the subtle red stitching on the leather pads feels well-crafted and durable to the touch. 

Though that will only stretch so far. The original E700 in racing green that was shipped our way fully built but rattling around in the back of a van. It did not survive the journey looking particularly well.

Somewhat amusingly, we didn't realise that the headrest was adjustable until we'd already been using the E700 for a while. The mechanism is completely hidden behind the foam padding, but you can actually slide it up by about two inches, which makes for a better fit for taller users. The leather across the whole chair is microperforated for improved breathability, which may come in handy during hot summer gaming sessions.

Ultimately, this is a really, really nice gaming chair with only a few foibles—like the wiggly armrests or the mildly annoying recline handle—but it falls short of greatness compared with the best gaming chairs, mostly due to its sky-high price tag. Considering that the amazing Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 costs just $449 (£379, about AU$700), the price here is just a bit too high to make it an outright recommendation. If you've got the cash to splash, though, the Thermaltake Argent E700 is definitely worth a look.

Though Cyber Monday has wound down, there are still plenty of gaming chair deals to snap up. Honestly, the Cyber Monday gaming chair deals looked a lot like the old Black Friday deals. This is actually no bad thing, though, because I would be willing to bet right now that the same Secretlab deal will remain on throughout the rest of the deals season, which puts the Titan Evo out with a (very slight) discount.

The other is that Corsair's TC100 Relaxed is sitting with a hefty discount across a bunch of retailers, and has already gone out of stock and been restocked at Amazon, which indicates to me that it's likely to be available for that price for a good while yet. And speaking of the Bezos bunch, we're seeing some great Cyber Monday gaming chair Amazon deals.

But why a gaming chair? Well, the best gaming chairs are carefully designed and manufactured to correctly support your body, through many hours of gaming. The market is very competitive now, which is a good thing for us customers, although there are lots of models that aren't great and are best avoided.

We test heaps of gaming chairs throughout a year. In some cases, we use them on a daily basis, which is why you can be sure that anything we do recommend isn't going to be a poor deal. Let us do the hard work, shifting through the trash. All you need to do is save this page and then reap the benefits through Cyber Monday and beyond.

It doesn't really matter what style of chair you pick, 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 it will take care of your body.

Cyber Monday gaming chair deals — quick links

• PC Gamer's favorite gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo for $519
• Best budget gaming chair: Corsair TC100 for $250

• Amazon: Cheap Cyber Monday deals on gaming and office chairs
• Secretlab: Discounts on the best gaming chair (and desk)
• Best Buy: Corsair TC100 gaming chair for $250
• Walmart: Cheap GTRacing gaming chair down to $94
• B&H: Racing seats and weird active gaming chairs
• Target: A good place to look for gaming chairs for kids
• Staples: Staples' own gaming chairs from $60
• Newegg: Dowinx gaming chair down to $160
• Dell: Gaming chairs and wheel stands from $180
• AndaSeat: Good value gaming chairs up to $270 off

Cyber Monday gaming chair deals - Under $300

Cyber Monday gaming chair deals - Under $500

Cyber Monday gaming chair deals - High-end

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Cyber Monday sim racing chair deals

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Cyber Monday gaming chair deals — UK quick links

• PC Gamer's favourite gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo from £439
• Best budget gaming chair: Corsair TC100 from £160

• John Lewis: AndaSeat Luna for £140
• Very: A variety of gaming and office chairs

Cyber Monday gaming chair deals in the UK

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Cyber Monday office chair deals in the UK

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Black Friday has now been and gone. However, though the day itself has passed, the deals haven't all evaporated just yet. We have updated this page with fresh deals for the last time, but we're now staying on top of everything over on the 👉best Cyber Monday gaming chair deals👈 hub. Alongside up to date gaming PC deals, you could still grab a bargain on one of the best gaming chairs we've tested.

Secretlab dropped its Black Friday sale well in advance this year, and they've since moved on to all things Cyber Monday. In either case, it's a relatively modest reduction, but as it's the only place you can buy them reliably, this is about as good as it's going to get for Secretlab deals.

There are other gaming chair sales on right now, however, and the excellent Corsair TC100 Relaxed has had a hefty discount taking it down to just $180. It was already the best budget gaming chair around, and now that it's well below the $200 mark it's a no-brainer.

But why buy into Black Friday gaming chair deals? Well, posture is everything. It's certainly key to a healthy spine at least, and with the best gaming chair, we can help keep you upright, supported, and ready for a long session with minimal discomfort. With heaps of high-quality gaming chairs that will keep you comfortable for long periods, it's definitely a good time to invest in your comfort or pick up a gaming chair for the PC gamer in your life.

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

We here at PC Gamer test a lot of gaming chairs; it's a tough job sitting around all day to get a feel for a seat, but someone's got to do it. Seriously, we feel it's an important job. The chair you choose for your desktop setup is so important to keeping you healthy and happy: comfort, durability, and support are the key tenets to making a well-informed purchase.

Black Friday gaming chair deals — Quick links

• PC Gamer's favorite gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo for $519
• Best budget gaming chair: Corsair TC100 for $179.99

• Amazon: Cheap deals on gaming and office chairs galore
• Secretlab: Discounts on the best gaming chair (and desk)
• Best Buy: Corsair TC100 gaming chair for $180
• Walmart: Cheap GTRacing gaming chair down to $94
• B&H: Racing seats and weird active gaming chairs
• Target: A good place to look for gaming chairs for kids
• Staples: Staples' own gaming chairs from $60
• Newegg: Dowinx gaming chair down to $160
• Dell: Gaming chairs and wheel stands from $180
• AndaSeat: Good value gaming chairs from $270

Black Friday gaming chair deals - Under $300

Black Friday gaming chair deals - Under $500

Black Friday gaming chair deals - High-end

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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 — UK quick links

• PC Gamer's favourite gaming chair: Secretlab Titan Evo from £439
• Best budget gaming chair: Corsair TC100 from £160

• John Lewis: AndaSeat Luna for £139.99
• Scan: Corsair TC100 chair for £159.98
• Very: A variety of gaming and office chairs

Black Friday gaming chair deals in the UK

Black Friday sim racing chair deals in the UK

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Black Friday office chair deals in the UK

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Black Friday gaming chair deals - FAQ

The Secretlab Star Wars imperial Collection features two chairs inspired by the dark side of the force. Both are based on the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022, which we were very pleased with in our review. It's one of the most comfortable and premium-feeling gaming chairs around, especially so if you go for those new nice plush armrests. The only real change anyone should notice on the Star Wars Imperial collection editions is the aesthetics.

The first in the collection is the Empire Edition chair, which rocks a red and black style full of dark side energy. In the upper centre of the backrest is a red Imperial Crest, which helps to bring out the other notes of red trim. Meanwhile, the black leatherette looks nice and resistant to mess, and some of the texture has real Vader vibes.

In total contrast the second chair is the bright clean white of the armor worn by everyone's favorite cannon fodder. The Stormtrooper Edition uses black as the accent colour, including a black Imperial Crest. The other black trimmings feel reminiscent of the gaps in Stormtrooper armor that leaves them free to move and aim so dismally.

The backs of the chairs show off more of the ribbed texture complete with larger iterations of the crests. While both are certainly a clear Star Wars nod for those in the know, otherwise they just look like fairly nice gaming chairs. They strike a nice balance between blatant fandom and still being able to fly under the radar to anyone who doesn't recognize those logos.

Both chairs are available as of right now on the official Secretlab store, but as these are premium thrones don’t expect them to go for cheap. Due to the options they can vary in price and you can also choose between several different sizes on offer. Right now they're a little bit cheaper than usual thanks to the Black Friday sales, so if these have tempted you to the dark side, you might want to get in quick.

That's the price of the least expensive of the three, the Noblechairs Legend TX Series. Up from that is the White Edition coming in at $669 (£450), and the Black Edition at $690 (£460). All of them are built around a super curvy, race-car inspired design and compared to some of the sharper looking designs of the past, these are really pushing the cozy look.

There are obvious improvements over the Hero currently sitting in our best gaming chairs guide, such as the reduction of those superfluous winged sides that really just served to make the thing bulkier and more awkward looking, in my opinion.

Aside from looks, you get adjustable lumbar, 4D armrests, a rocking mechanism, adjustable height, and recline features. And you'd expect so for that price.

The tagline for the Noblechairs Legend is, well it's something: "You’ve been EPIC, you’ve been an ICON, you’ve even been a HERO, now it’s time to be a LEGEND."

Ignoring that, and the ostentatious naming conventions, I'd be very tempted by the white version, though my better judgement (any my wallet) tells me that's a terrible idea as it'll likely get grubby pretty darn quick. Still, damn would it look good with a pure white setup.

No, you've not slipped into an alternate universe where Ronald McDonald is a famous esports athlete. The McCrispy is a real, palpable gaming chair that you can win by entering an official McDonald's Facebook competition—because of course it's a Facebook competition.

There are only four in the entire world, which means we shouldn't be seeing every Streamer with questionable revenue streams sporting one of these babies, though this may yet open up a terrifying opportunity for corporations to follow suit. 

I dread to think.

The design is a vomit-inducing black and yellow, with McCrispy printed slantily across the leather and even a matching lumbar support pillow. Of course, there's a giant M on the black headrest and even the wheels have the McDonald's yellow slapped on them. 

It comes complete with a fries holder, two dip holders and "burger 'heat zone' to keep your McCrispy warm."

Never, in my 30 years on this earth, have I felt the need to keep my McCrispy warm. Imagine all those germs, fermenting your burger for hours on end. Moreover, never have I (nor anyone I know) expressed a wish for a heat-emanating gaming chair. Gaming chairs are already warm enough with us sitting in them, working up a juicy gaming sweat. Normally gaming chairs are advertising the opposite feature.

The worst part is that McDonald's is selling the seat on its grease resistant leather treatment "so no need to worry about spills and stains." Ah yeah, just gobble it down, folks. No need for table manners, and you can forget about all that work you put in cleaning your gaming keyboard.

Welp, time to wave goodbye to the dignity of the human race. And no, we won't be getting one in for testing so don't expect a review.

The Hero is the one I picked to test our own design, since it's one of our favourite gaming chairs of 2022, and I have to say it looks pretty stunning. Despite the design we chose being a little tongue-in-cheek, we've had a lot of compliments from other teams in the office. Even when it's sat next to the Thermaltake's Porsche gaming chair we've been testing, most eyes are trained on this one.

That's partly down to the fantastic printing, and perhaps partly down to the reference we made to bottoms in the design. Honestly, though, we're probably not going to be the last to push the limits of what Noblechairs is willing to print on its chairs. I dread to think of some of the designs Overclockers is going to get through and I'm not sure where the line stands on that one. 

What I do know is that unfortunately for our overseas friends, "the service is by Overclockers UK so the printing is currently done in the UK. But they accept orders from all over the world, it may cost them a lot in shipping, but technically anyone can buy one." Just a heads up in case you've never tried to lift a gaming chair in its box: these things are not light. The Noblechairs Hero is 28kg (61.7lbs), so don't expect oversea shipping to be cheap.

If you're desperate to get a gaming chair plastered with your favourite meme or wonderful waifu, and you're willing to spend out on shipping, as well as £30 for printing on the back of the headrest and £100 for the full back then it may be time to get creative. Just remember that's on top of the price of the chair.

You can get get your own design printed today, so don't let your memes be dreams, folks.

You know that position. The position your body naturally contorts into when you're playing a close match of Street Fighter 6 or crossing a foggy threshold in Elden Ring. You lean in six to ten inches closer to the screen, your shoulders and elbows tighten, and your pupils become dilated. Your S-foils are locking into attack position: It's the posture your body automatically assumes when you're playing a game, and shit gets real. And it turns out that someone has made a chair specially designed for those moments.

Believe it or not, the Playseat Champ NBA has been around since 2019. The only reason these chairs have popped up on my radar now is that I got an email about these NBA-branded Playseats going on sale. These $199 chairs are decked out in the colors of one of eight NBA teams:
 

• LA Lakers
• Boston Celtics
• Toronto Raptors
• Milwaukee Bucks
• Los Angeles Clippers
• Golden State Warriors
• Brooklyn Nets
• Chicago Bulls

 The Playseat Champ NBA is a gaming chair designed to support what Playseat calls "defending and full-on attack mode." The chair allows the player to lean forward to the point of what looks like the edge of tipping if you were in a rocking chair—a hardcore gaming rocking chair that you'd likely find in the loft of your definitely-adult friend who plays a lot of Call of Duty. 

There are cute little pouch pockets in the front and side for stashing your controllers and remotes when you are done gaming, or if you maybe just want to take a much-deserved power nap from, you know, all that intense gaming and need a place for your phone. I like that the chair looks like it lets one flop right off it in disgust after a loss in a match of Fortnite. 

Obviously it's a form factor designed for playing in front of a TV, since the idea of rocking back and forth in a gaming chair looks pretty uncomfortable and impractical for keyboard and mouse players. The lack of armrests isn't ideal for PC gaming either. While Playseat does make a more traditional gaming chair for PC gaming, the (labored sigh) L33T Black doesn't seem as magical as the Active Gaming Seat.

Playseat also makes specialized chairs for at-home racing cockpits. These chairs have all the brackets and plates you need for bolting on racing wheels and pedals. It won't look like Sebastian Vettel's cockpit, but it'll come pretty close.

The Playseat Active Gaming Seat starts at $179 on Amazon for its more standard chairs in either black or red. The basketballed-out Playseat Champ NBA are on sale right now through Playseats' website and are selling for $199. I'm going to track down one of these for further coverage, so expect some kind of review soon, unless I go off my rocker.

As reported in the Financial Times, US-based equipment suppliers must cease all business with Chinese semiconductor companies. The move forces Chinese chip makers to look elsewhere for manufacturing tools and equipment—a massive blow to China's semiconductor industry. 

US semiconductor toolmakers such as Lam Research, Applied Materials, and KLA Corporation have already started work to comply with the new regulations. Lam is "pulling out support staff" from chipmakers in China, according to FT. An anonymous employee speaking to the publication said that they are being told to "stay away from fabs in China for now."

ASML, another chip toolmaker, has told all US employees to "refrain—either directly or indirectly—from servicing, shipping or providing support to any customers in China until further notice."

The new sanctions, according to the statement(opens in new tab) from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), are part of "ongoing efforts to protect U.S. national security and foreign policy interests." The BIS also says that restriction will hinder China's ability "purchase and manufacture certain high-end chips used in military applications."

Any US citizen or company that wants to provide services to Chinese chipmakers will need special approval from the Department of Commerce. Chinese chipmakers can apply for permission from the US to do business with these companies.

TSMC and SK Hynix told FT that they had both received one-year exceptions.

Reutersreports that enforcement of these new rules limiting the export of sensitive technology to China will be strict. It's part of an "overarching policy to address concerns stemming from the PRC's use of these particular technologies to the detriment of US national security and foreign policy interests" in recent months. 

In a statement last Thursday, the China Semiconductor Industry Association said it hopes “the US government can adjust its wrong course of action," according to FT. 

The other company well-known to PC gamers facing complications with its business in China is Nvidia. The company was ordered to halt sales(opens in new tab) of some of its more powerful graphics cards to companies in China, though shortly after was given a one-year exception to ensure its continued logistical operations in Hong Kong.