The best office chair for gaming lets you lead a double life. During the day, unsuspecting office worker. At night, sort-of-okay Hunt: Showdown player. Yes, this could be you with any one of the chairs we’ve included in this guide. We apply the same rigorous testing to all our chair recommendations, be them office beasts or gaming thrones, but if you care more about the gaming side of things, check out our guide to the best gaming chairs.
The best office chair for gaming right now is the NeueChair, and it actually shares one big thing with our favourite for gaming. It’s made by a subsidiary of the company behind Secretlab. The NeueChair might look boring by comparison, but it’s so darned comfortable and adjustable, we like it just as much as the Titan Evo.
A good office chair for gaming could cost you hundreds of dollars with one or two exceptions. Simply put, good furniture is expensive; fancy upholstery and lumbar support are going to cost you. These chairs are all sturdy, well-built products that should last you years. So, think about what’s most important to you and set a budget. You deserve more than that chair you stole from the family room twenty years ago. Your body will thank you.
One other thing: it’s always good to think about desk-based ergonomics and how to best support your spine and the rest of your body. You may want to invest in a standing desk to get off your butt and stretch your legs every couple of hours, or just get up and take a break more often. A quality chair is important, but it isn’t the be-all and end-all to a healthy office life.
Best office chairs for gaming
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1. NeueChair
The best office chair
Our expert review:
Specifications
Seat type: Task chairRecline: 85–130 degreesWeight capacity: 240lbsWeight: 64lbsAvailable colors: Silver, Obsidian
Reasons to buy
+Ridiculously sturdy and well made+Comfortable and supportive+Highly adjustable
Reasons to avoid
-Limited armrest adjustment-Mesh can be tricky to clean
If you’re the sort of person who prioritizes functionality over flash, the NeueChair is an excellent option. This isn’t to say it’s not stylish—quite the opposite; the NeueChair comes in a sleek, muted obsidian or flashy chrome/silver, both with bold, sweet curved supports on the back and an attractive black mesh.
But, more importantly, the NeueChair is built to last, with a heavy, sturdy industrial construction. Even the chair’s weight in the packaging indicates a solid piece of carefully constructed industrial art: it’s heavy and substantial.
Assembling it is a breeze, as it comes in two discrete pieces and is simply a matter of inserting the casters and then pushing the two parts together. Almost every aspect of the seat is adjustable, from the armrests to the lumbar support system that lets you change the height depth of the backrest.
It’s one of the best office chairs I’ve ever had the pleasure to sit in, and if you can afford the admittedly steep price tag, well worth the investment.
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2. Steelcase Gesture
The best office chair for ultimate comfort
Our expert review:
Specifications
Seat type: Task chairMaterial: Breathable fabricRecline: 116 degreesSeat height: 16–21 inchWeight capacity: 400lbsWeight: 78lbs
Reasons to buy
+Most comfortable chair+Stylish color options
Reasons to avoid
-No lumbar adjustment-Takes some getting used to
The Steelcase Leap is one of the most iconic modern chairs, with a price to match its performance, but we prefer the newer Steelcase Gesture for several reasons. Foremost of which is, holy smokes, it feels good to sit in.
If your eyes are still watering at the cost, know this: much as we enjoyed the other chairs singled out here, none of them came close to the pure comfort of the Gesture.
Imagine your butt and back being perfectly cupped by the giant ever-loving hand of the deity of your choice. That’s what the Gesture is like. Or, as it became known amongst us testing it: ‘the dream chair.’
Anyone that spends a significant amount of time in a chair should seriously consider splurging on this one. The steep price buys you a lifetime warranty and your butt the most comfortable embrace it’ll ever experience.
Best gaming keyboard | Best VR headset | Best mechanical keyboard| Best wireless gaming mouse | Best wireless gaming keyboard
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3. Office Star ProGrid
The best affordable office chair
Our expert review:
Specifications
Seat type: Task chairMaterial: Mesh back, fabric seatSeat height: 17–20.5 inchWeight capacity: 250lbsWeight: 41lbsAvailable colors: Black
Reasons to buy
+Lots of adjustments+Very comfortable
Reasons to avoid
-Takes a while to setup perfectly-Very basic design
Office Star’s line of chairs doesn’t look noteworthy initially, but the customer reviews are consistently good. We like the ProGrid Back Managers Chair a lot because it offers the kind of tweakability usually only found on much more expensive models.
Using its daunting array of levers, you can adjust the chair’s height and tilt, plus slide the seat pan forwards or backward. The backrest can also be shifted up or down, and the armrests raised or lowered and slid back and forth until you find the perfect position.
It may take a while, but once you tune it to your liking, the chair becomes incredibly comfortable. With so much customization, the ProGrid is a strong choice and very hard to beat at this price.
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4. Office Master OM5
The best office chair with a self-adjusting mechanism
Our expert review:
Specifications
Seat type: Task chairMaterial: Polyflex back, fabric seatSeat height: 14.7–25 inchWeight capacity: 300lbsWeight: 64lbs
Reasons to buy
+Automatic adjustments+Highly customizable colors
Reasons to avoid
-Takes a little getting used to-Limited armrest adjustability
On the face of it, the Office Master OM5 sounds like the snake oil of seating. The marketing materials describe it as “a self-weighing chair that intuitively responds to a wide range of body weights and sizes without the need for manual tension.”
Essentially: don’t worry about all those levers and knobs on the other chairs; this one will magically work out what your butt and back need, no problem. Our skepticism didn’t last long, though, because sitting is believing when it comes to the OM5.
There are plenty of manual adjustments possible, but all of the magic happens around your back and hip. As you lean back and apply pressure, the seat pan shifts forwards while the backrest reclines in response, articulating smoothly thanks to wheels on runners that function much like the ones in desk draw sliders.
It takes a little getting used to but transitioning from upright work mode to relaxing while playing or watching swiftly becomes a cinch. If you want comfort and can’t be bothered with levers and adjustments, the OM5 is one of our favorites. It gives you high-end quality and comfort at a mid-range price.
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5. Logitech G x Herman Miller Embody
The best office chair with a gamer aesthetic
Our expert review:
Specifications
Seat type: Task chairMaterial: Multi-layer fabricSeat height: 17–22 inchWeight capacity: 300 lbsWeight: 51 lbs
Reasons to buy
+Stimulates blood and oxygen flow+Unrivaled back support+12-year/24hr use warranty
Reasons to avoid
-Limited armrest movement-Seriously pricey versus traditional gaming chairs
Perhaps you’ve heard of the Herman Miller Embody. It has been a stalwart of our best office chair lists for years. Now it occupies a place in the hearts of both gamers and office workers because the famed chair manufacturer has partnered up with Logitech to create something tailor-made to our gaming rumps.
Sitting comfortably?
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It’s not so much the changes that make the Embody stand out as one of the best gaming chairs going. It’s what’s been kept the same. It’s mostly the same, very sought after office chair with a few gamer tweaks to the materials in the seat. And the new moody styling, of course. That means you could just as easily pick up the regular Herman Miller Embody here and not miss out on much.
Overall, it’s incredibly comfortable over prolonged use, supports an active and healthy posture, and easily fits your frame.
The warranty is also a standout feature. At 12 years, including labor, and rated to 24-hour use over that time, it’s a chair that is guaranteed to last you over a decade. So while the initial price tag may seem steep, and that it is, the reality is you’re sure to get your money’s worth in the long run. And your back will be thankful for it, too.
Read our full Logitech G x Herman Miller Embody gaming chair review.
