Sitting and gaming for long periods of time requires the right kind of chair – one that provides ergonomic support, comfort, and customization and allows you to focus on what counts the most – your game.
Those four things come together most in a quality gaming chair made exactly for that purpose. But not all gaming chairs are made alike. Here’s what to look for to find a good one.
1. The right kind of back support
You will hear the term “adjustable lumbar support” used a lot with gaming chairs, but what does that actually mean? To decode the term, it means ideally you want a chair that has a lot of mid-to-lower support in the back rest.
The back rest should also be adjustable (both vertically and horizontally) to support the curve and depth of your spine, rather than being just a generic fit.
Proper lumbar support is important because it prevents the ligaments in your spine from lengthening and causing a condition known as creep, which can lead to bad back pain.
Back rests can be mesh, or upholstered. I recommend the upholstered kind, which is far more comfortable for long gaming stints.
Also consider the kind of stability the frame will give you. Aluminum frames are preferable to plastic ones that can sometimes wobble and lead to fatigue as your body is forced to find its center.
Chairs also come with different weight-bearing capacities (typically between 264 lbs. and 397 lbs.), and their heights differ too, so be sure to find one that supports your weight and is tall enough so that you can rest your head easily on the headrest.
Your gaming chair should be tall enough that you can easily fit your head on the headrest.
Razer
2. Padding that feels comfortable
Gaming chairs come with different kinds of padding. You’ll find chairs with soft, cushiony padding and others with firmer cold-cure foam. You can also find gaming chairs that combine support and soft padding to offer the best of both worlds, like the Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen Edition.
The experts will tell you that the firmer kind is better for your posture because it offers more support, but my advice is to go with one that has both; you want a cold-cure foam that’s supportive but you want it to still be soft enough that it won’t cause body aches if you’ve been in it a while.
As a general rule, a gaming chair with a padding density of between 50 kg/m³ and 70 kg/m³ will provide a mix of support and comfort. If you can’t find this information in the product specifications, be sure to contact the company and ask for it.
3. Covering materials: What do you need?
Another thing to consider is the type of material in the chair, how it feels and how breathable it is. Mesh fabric is the most breathable and effective at keeping you from getting too hot and sweaty, but it can be a little scratchy on your skin at times. If you live in a warmer climate, however — say, Florida or Arizona — cool mesh could be a real asset on hot days.
Leather or leatherette covering material is less breathable and can cause heat buildup and excess sweat, but inversely it feels very luxurious. It can also be warm and cozy when the temperature drops — so if you know your house is always cold, it should provide a nice boost to your comfort levels.
The CoolerMaster Caliber X2 is a good example of a gaming chair with material that can stave off overheating. It has a dense foam body but breathable PU leather material on top. Some gaming chairs go a step further actively cooling players via their inbuilt fans. The Thermaltake’s X Comfort Air is just such a chair to consider if you think even a cool mesh or breathable PU leather won’t be enough for you.
Thermaltake’s X Comfort Air gaming chair.
Thermaltake
4. Extra features that complement your gaming
Some chairs come with extra features like RGB lighting, speakers, Bluetooth functionality, and control panels that provide a little extra functionality. You can expect to pay a premium price for these features.
When choosing a gaming chair with speakers you should read reviews that say the speakers have a high-fidelity audio with good-quality sound through the mids, bass, and treble tones.
A minimum of 5.1 channels in the speakers will give you a surround sound experience that will be really immersive in your gaming.
Bluetooth functionality is a great addition that allows you to hook up other devices to your chair’s speakers, like your phone, or your TV’s stereo system – so that you can listen to music or watch a movie. You just want to make sure Bluetooth connects easily to other devices.
When looking for RGB be sure to choose a chair with accents in the positions you want them. They can be just about anywhere – in the headrest, armrests, and even the wheels. Programmability is also critical if you intend on syncing your gaming chair’s RGB with your other RGB gear.
5. Ergonomically sculpted seat
The way the chair’s seat is sculpted can be important in determining how comfortable you will ultimately find it. Two features I look for in a seat are contoured side wings and gently sloping edges – like you’ll find in the Razer Iskur V2 X.
The former guides your body to the middle of the seat so that it encounters a larger contact area, which in turn provides a lower, more uniform pressure distribution. That prevents pressure from building up in any one point and causing soreness. Sloping edges, on the other hand, allow you to assume different postures and still feel the kind of comfort you’d expect from a very expensive chair.
Razer
6. A decent degree of recline
After tense rounds of Counterstrike: Go, I’ll often just lay back in my chair and relax before I need to refocus again. For this, I need a gaming chair that has a decent reline that will easily hold my weight and that won’t go all jerky when I need to come back up to vertical.
Gaming chairs have either partial or full reclines. For me, I like a full recline, so an angle of between 160 to 165 degrees, which allows me to get almost horizontal with my legs well off the ground but still feel in control. If the chair has a headrest, all the better for my comfort too.
I hope that gives you a few pointers about selecting the right kind of gaming chair. There’s still a lot more to know, so be sure to read a few reviews before you buy.