Credit:
Reviewed / Tim Renzi
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Credit:
Reviewed / Tim Renzi
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
Learn more about our product testing
The AKRacing Core EX has just about every adjustability option that you need to find a comfortable fit. Read More
The Homall Gaming Chair is comfortable, with many of the adjustability options present in some of the higher-priced gaming chairs. Read More
The Herman Miller Embody gaming chair is a high-end chair with all the comfort and adjustability features expected from a luxury brand. Read More
The Vertagear SL5800 is a comfortable gaming chair with numerous adjustability options and better lumbar support than the SecretLab Titan EVO. Read More
The Iskur V2 is well-made, highly customizable, and features some of the best lumbar support in a gaming chair we've seen yet. Read More
Most of us spend a good portion of our lives in front of a computer monitor. The best gaming chairs should provide long-term comfort, with an ergonomic design and support to make both work and gameplay more enjoyable.
We’ve spent years researching and testing the top gaming chairs on the market for comfort, customization, ease of assembly, and adjustability to find out which can support you for hours at a time. We’re confident the AKRacing Core EX Gaming Chair (available at Amazon) is the top choice thanks to its adjustability and long-term comfort.
If you want a premium experience built to last, we recommend the Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody, and if you're looking for a more wallet-friendly gaming chair, we recommend the Homall PC Gaming Chair. There are several other great chairs on our list, so you can find the perfect option for any setup and budget.
The AKRacing Core EX is a comfortable, high-quality chair.
The Homall Gaming Chair is a comfortable, affordable chair with a deep recline.
The Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody commands a hefty price but delivers comfort (and a warranty) to match.
Comfortable and supportive lumbar
Outstanding adjustability
Quick and easy assembly
Lumbar support not adjustable
Top-notch lumbar support
Highly customizable
Quality materials
Takes a while to off-gas
Promotes proper posture
Large recline range
Its posture-forward design can be fatiguing
Affordable
Adjustable
Uncomfortable during initial setup
Crumbs can fall below seat cushion
There are so many different styles of office/computer chairs that it can be difficult to know what you’re even looking for. When it comes to gaming chairs, here are a few key features that you should look for:
First and most important is ergonomics. Gamers often put in long sessions and need an ergonomic gaming chair that can keep their backs free from aches and stiffness over multiple hours.
Most computer chairs on the market have at least some level of lumbar support. A gaming chair should take that to the next level. Whether it’s a memory foam pillow or a fully-adjustable lumbar support system, your back should feel completely taken care of.
But the best gaming chairs in 2023 should also provide support all the way up to the head and neck. When getting up after spending hours in Call of Duty, players shouldn’t hear any creaking or complaints from their bones.
The second necessary feature of any great gaming chair is adjustability. Depending on the game and the input (controller or keyboard and mouse), each person is going to sit in a different position and needs a chair with the flexibility to accommodate that.
Easily adjustable ergonomics are the gold standard, but many gaming chairs offer a wide range of height, tilt, and recline options. Some of our favorite chairs even had fully adjustable armrests. The most comfortable gaming chairs recline and tilt as separate functions rather than one or the other. The more the chair can be tuned to a user’s body, the longer their sessions can go. And don’t forget about long-term heat concerns, either; a breathable mesh is preferable.
The last feature that defines gaming chairs is aesthetics. A gaming chair should ideally look the part. No simple leather rectangles stacked on rectangles.
Gaming chairs should make you look and feel like you’re sitting in a race car or spaceship. If someone doesn’t walk into your office and say “wow, that’s a cool chair,” is it really a gaming chair?
Our final piece of advice is that the best way to test a gaming chair is to go to a store and try one, even if you can’t find the exact model you want already assembled in a store. They feel very different on your body than a traditional office chair does, and it’s not a form that works for everyone. So make sure that the style is for you before committing hundreds of dollars.
Whether we were gaming or working, we made sure to try out all of the different features of each chair.
Testing gaming chairs is a long process, but pretty straightforward. First is assembly and setup. Our testers unbox everything, set a timer, and put the chair together.
Once assembled, the chairs were maneuvered to the testing area. From there, our tester sits in each chair until they find a relatively comfortable starting position for the real trial: sitting and playing video games.
Whether gaming or working, we try out all of the different features of each chair. That includes reclining, leaning forward, tilting, and moving up and down. We try to sit in each chair for a minimum of three hours over the course of a day, though a few are sometimes too uncomfortable to make it that long.
We make notes about comfort and adjustability, and how the tester’s body feels overall after an extended period of time. From there, we put each chair through a few basic wear tests. The first of these was a scratch test, which included dragging a fork over the fabric of each chair a few times, not trying to puncture, but with some pressure.
Then crumbs and yogurt were spilled on various parts of the chair, let sit, and cleaned it up. We tracked any damage to the chair, how easy the fabric was to get clean, and whether there were any noticeable stains left behind.
Jean Levasseur
Contributor
Jean Levasseur became a professional writer over a decade-long career in marketing, public relations, and technical writing. After leaving that career to stay home to care for his twin boys, Jean has continued to write in a variety of freelance roles, as well as teaching academic writing at a local university. When he's not reviewing tools or chasing toddlers around the house, he's also an avid fiction writer and a growing woodworker.
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