I’m Looking for a good office chair.
Thanks! Found a good price for a Steelcase Amia.
Herman Miller
AeronEmbody and Steelcase Leap are both good.Check out Crandall’s Office Furniture for good refurbished chairs.
Edited because apparently the Embody is just way better.
Will echo the aeron. Have had mine for about 5 years, rock solid.
Bought one from a guy who refurbishes them for $500. Definely get it used and look at Craigslist/Facebook marketplace for local deals. May luck out.
I got a refurbished Aeron for $400. The thing was originally manufactured in 2002 and it is still rock solid.
The leap is an excellent “mid range” one since a lot of these chairs can hit $2000 new.
Probably why decent refurbs are such a popular choice as well.
Yeah if you watch the site for sales the Aeron can get decently cheap. Plus, consider that these chairs have a 10 year warranty, unlike the ones you pick up at an office supply store.
The Aeron really changed everything for me.
That’s it, these two. There are more expensive options in those two brands, but these are the baseline. They are actual professional chairs, not Chinese gamer chair bullshit like the stuff that gets marketed everywhere. Because they last forever due to actually being well built, you can oftentimes find them second hand.
When work from home first started during covid, lots of offices liquidated. I got my steealcase leap V2s for $200 a pop.
Yup. I hesitated when I should have bought one in 2022 and now their prices are back up.
Can +1 for Herman Miller (and maybe mesh chairs in general), however I went for the Cosm instead. It’s supposed to be a “relaxation” chair in comparison to their Aeron but the taller back on the Cosm I tried was much more suitable for me than a regular Aeron.
That being said, OP, look up where you’re able to try the chairs once you’ve got some recommendations. Not a good idea to go in blind. For Herman Miller, John Lewis is a good retailer in the UK that has their chairs on display.
My Aeron is nearly 10 years old and still great
I’ve owned £80 chairs that lasted that long though. Everything except the cheapest nastiest chairs from Amazon should be lasting 10 years.
If I bought a £1000 chair, I’d expect to be leaving it to somebody in my will.
That’s fair.
Heck the aeron!
I used to work in the warehouse where we shipped them. They’re good chairs. If you’re gonna spend that money though, get the Embody. Make sure to get the correct size. After hours of lugging designer couches around and other overly heavy stuff, sitting in an Embody chair makes the hurt stop immediately.
I’m not a promoter and they stopped paying me over some stupid shit a coworker pulled. It’s just a damn good chair. The eames lounge is also sick, but so incredibly expensive.
I keep hearing about that one, must be pretty good…
It’s actually really nice. Wish I could afford one. There’s something to be said for the designer bullshit for sure, but cost benefit ratio is bad sometimes.
I highly recommend the Steelcase Leap (v2, is what I have).
However, you may need the headrest, and they are extremely expensive/hard to find, just a warning.
I got my Steelcase from a place that resold them, so it was like 275 Canadian. Still, a great chair.
I have the headrest, don’t recall it being terribly expensive, but I also don’t think it’s that great.
The last time I found one it was 200 USD (which is basically what I paid for the entire chair).
Wow, if you got a Steelcase Leap V2 for $200 that’s a damn good deal!
That said, I think I paid like, maybe, $70 for mine direct from Crandalls. Might’ve even been less than that, I’d have to go look for the receipt.
Sorry, to be clear I got it for 275 CDN, which is roughly 200 USD.
But when it comes to the headrests I cannot find anything for under roughly that price. :/
Yeah, that’s a good deal IMO. Strange, I can’t find headrests for it now though. Maybe they stopped making them or jacked prices up during the pandemic…
I have the Aeron at work and it’s pretty meh. Not sure how it’s $2k
I think with these chairs the trick is to never buy new and only buy them refurb. Refurbished, you can knock over 70% of the price off. My hermon miller aeron chair cost me C$350 (or like 260 USD).
The embody is much better than the Aeron. I used an aeron for years and switched to an embody that was a decade old and it outperformed the aeron easily. Much more adjustable, much easier to sit in in different positions, none of that mesh. It’s a much better chair
Another place that’s got good deals is https://nationalofficeinteriors.com . Learned about this place at an old job. They sell used stuff that’s pretty much new but has like one little stain or scuff on it or something, so places making bulk purchases refuse it. Just doing a search for the Steelcase Leap (which I also highly recommend), they’ve got a bunch for like 50-70% off full price right now.
Get an office chair and not one of those “gaming chairs”
Source: I use a “gaming chair” and it sucks ass
That’s cool! Does it mean you don’t need to stand up when you need to use the toilet during a WoW raid?
EDIT: Ummm… I was just joking about literally sucking ass. And referring to the South Park episode with World of Warcraft. Sorry if it didn’t come through as funny.
Nevermind the philistines, it was funny. Could make it sexual too, would be even better.
Secret lab is used but a lot of at home workers without issues but you gotta spring for it
I have a secret labs chair and use it a lot for working at home. I often sit for more than 14 hours on it, never had any back pain ir felt uncomfortable. Unfortunately I have one of the older generations and the arm rests are slowly deteriorating and falling apart, otherwise it’s pretty good.
Go to a brick and mortar store like Staples and try them out yourself.
The chair that suits one person will be agony another.
You have to find out for yourself.
Second this. Don’t get a gaming one, go to an office store. They build them expecting people to need to sit in them for hours.
Don’t cheap out either. Remember the most important things to never cheap out on are things that go between you and the ground. Chairs, mattresses, shoes.
Personally I found a great mesh one that doesn’t get hot in the summer and is still very supportive after 5 years
I second the mesh chair. I got this one at Staples for $100 a couple weeks ago and my ass is thanking me. I was using a fancy gaming chair before that felt like sitting on concrete.
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Just to add. If you find one you like, don’t avoid it because it’s low cost. Brought the cheapest model at Staples and it’s still going great. Cost is often an indicator of quality, but not always.
I second this. Anyone who says “You get what you pay for” is either trying to sell you something OR they themself are a sucker. Sure, sometimes** you get what you pay for but plenty of other times you’re getting straight up ripped off because the seller realizes you’ll mistake price with quality. Don’t be anyones sucker.
Steelcase. They make good office chairs that you can get used for decent money.
I’ve done some shopping and I too would recommend a Steelcase. I have one in the office and want to get one for home - I find everything at Staples and other home office stores just comes close, whereas this one is wildly adjustable (I’m tall and need all the help I can get).
My vote as well. I got a series 2 around 3 years ago now and it’s the best chair I’ve had. I work from home and spend most my free time on a machine so I’m sitting like 10+ hours a day in this and it’s still going strong. My back hurts less, my hips hurt less, just a good sturdy chair
Edit to add: My spouse actually does not like these chairs because they’re super uncomfortable to sit in with bad posture. That’s part of why I like mine because I’m basically forced to use good posture. So if you need a chair that lets you sit like a gremlin a series 2 might not work well
Does yours have a million adjustments? I’ve been using Steelcase Leaps for a while and it seems like you could tune it to make sitting with bad posture comfortable.
Mine does not have all that many adjustments. Some good armrest maneuverability, lumbar support height, amount of resistance when leaning back, and of course the actual chair height
Got a refurbished steelcase leap V2 from Crandall after my budget office chair shit the bed. been really enjoying it. My ass and back are very comfortable.
I work as, amongst other things, an ergonomist and was here to comment exactly this. The Steelcase Leap or Gesture are nearly always my recommendations.
I’ve been sitting in the same Steelcase Leap V2 for 8 years at work and it is still comfortable. I love it. When my current chair at home dies (it’s good, but not “Steelcase” good) I’m biting the bullet and getting the Leap V2 at home as well.
I’ll advocate for the steelcase leap as well. Got that as my office chair a bit over a year ago and has been great
Refurbished from Crandall has been great for me. It really makes the top office chairs affordable. A new steelcase leap is absurd.
Same here. Work had the leather leap v2s and they were a better fit for me than a Herman Miller.
Yeah me too. I got mine for 150€ and honestly one of the best health purchases I ever did.
Herman Miller
Going to go a bit against the grain on this one and recommend SecretLab. It does have that “gaming chair” aesthetic, but it is a great chair IMO.
I work from home, sit on my ass for 8 hours straight, and occasionally game right after work into the evening. I can park my ass in that thing and sit for 16 hours no problem (obviously getting up to take short breaks etc). It is super comfortable. I own the mesh one, instead of the leather/pleather, and I think it’s the way to go.
Furthermore, the customer service is excellent. I needed to replace the armrest after 4 years as it was beginning to crack. My model didn’t come with the snap on/snap off armrests, so I had to send an email to customer support to see if there was something they could do. Not only did they inform me it was actually easily replaceable, they sent me instructions, and gave me 50% of the replacement cost, which was only $20CAD, as I was just over the warranty at that point. It might be a 3 year warranty, but I can’t quite remember, possibly 4.
My circle of friends largely work from home as well, and many of them have SecretLab chairs, and they also love them. No back problems, super comfy, breathable.
The only downside I can really think of is that it is a fairly heavy chair, as the base uses a large amount of metal, and the price tag can be expensive, at around $500-$700CAD if you purchase new.
They are also sized to fit your height and weight. I own the Titan 2020 model, and I love it.
Hope this helps!
Comfort wise I have to say it saved me. That said, for their price they lack any real durability on the aesthetic parts. The functional parts are amazing (save for the mis-manufactured back I got originally. The warranty process was involved but they delivered a new back).
So it’s expensive, wears quickly, has QA issues, and they slow play warranty claims? Glad you ended up with a chair you like, but this is not inspiring confidence. :-)
Seconded this, if you’re a bigger guy or like sitting on your legs like I do then the Titan is the right choice, that wide flat platform is ideal
I’d recommend against this. I have a 2020 Titan XL and it’s been nothing but headache. It’s finally in an OK state after two years.
The QA is poor beyond belief and the support team is nearly useless. The chair shipped with defects resulting in very loud creaking in the backrest when you make any movement (enough to be heard on Zoom or across your home). What’s worse is they KNEW about the defect and only sent you a small email about it after the item arrived. Returning the chair requires you to cover shipping, so they banked on people keeping a defective product.
It took them 6 months to replace the chair back and the replacement was even worse. It took them a month to replace THAT one and I had to call twice to get them to schedule a pickup for the first defective replacement they sent.
Finally, the seat bottom was replaced about 4 months ago because some metal wire started poking out of it.
Each interaction with support was awful, it doesn’t matter how much detail or how many photos and videos of the problem you provide, it’s ignored and you get put on a script.
In hindsight, I should have charged the stupid chair back. You couldn’t pay me enough to have next chair be Secretlab.
It does look nice though.
Going to second this. I have a Titan XL from 2019 and it’s still going strong. Only issue has been a small crack in the side of 1 of the armrests. I haven’t bothered replacing it because it doesn’t affect functionality, just aesthetics. The cushion is firm as a chair cushion should be for proper support. It supports my tall, heavy ass no problem. I work from home half the week and I’m pretty comfortable. I cannot speak to newer versions of the chair though. I know about 3 or 4 people that have the Titan XL as well and haven’t heard any negatives from them.
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I just want to say, I’m in my 40’s and most of my friends are late 30’s/early 40’s, and those chairs are starting to cause some of them some serious issues. If they’re the ones that have the ‘racing car’ style seats, where the left and right are forward of the back, that design is to combat G-forces while driving. When you’re stationary though, they can cause your shoulders to bend forward. Over a year or so, no big deal. Over 5-10, it starts to cause issues.
Had a Marcus from IKEA for years, switched out to a Herman Miller Embody and I can sit in it for hours without any butt or back pain. I do wish I had a headrest on the Embody but its not the end of the world.
The HM range is expensive but with the 12 year warranty they’re well worth the cost compared to cheap ones you’ll likely replace.
I believe Atlas Headrests makes one for the embody. The one they have for the Aeron is a really nice match for that chair (colors, design and material)
I work for a company that specializes in ergonomic work setups and the OTs recommend Ergocentric chairs at least 90% of the time.
They’re expensive, but if you are having health issues due to sitting then your employer has a “duty to accommodate” to get you a better setup.
We also often recommend sit-stand desks because too comfy of a chair can just cause different problems from lack of movement.
I got a Varidesk and that was a game changer. Standing for half the day helped me lose 5lbs with no other change.
The most important thing, no chair can solve the problem of uninterrupted sitting for 8+ hours. No matter what you spend or what materials they use. Sitting for 8+ hours will slowly do permanent damage to your body. No matter what chair you sit in, stand up occasionally, take little walks, do exercises or calisthenics or something, whatever feels right for you.
I’m Autistic and when I play videogames I can get so hyperfocused that I don’t realise the outside world has moved forward a whole day. Until something physically interrupts my gameplay. So I set timers now, and I strictly obey them. Nothing short of surgery will ever heal my tailbone issue, but I can at least prevent it from getting worse.
I also have a standing desk, so I will swap it between standing and sitting every 2 hours if I don’t want to take breaks. And I have a VR headset for using my computer from different chairs; a recliner, a kitchen chair, anything different from my computer chair. I also use the VR headset for most of my non-computer gaming. It has become my current console gaming platform.
VR games are a great way to spend 8+ hours uninterrupted in a game without causing body problems, lol. Plus, if it’s mixed reality, you can still do real life stuff while playing, like walking over and getting a glass of water or talking to and interacting with the other people in the room. In full Virtual reality it’s still a good idea to have timers set, just as a check-in, if you have been standing still in the game, your knees could need some exercise, if you are hungry or thirsty or have to go to the bathroom… you know, the kinds of things you might not notice while the game is running, hehe.
For your tailbone, have you had a ganglion impar nerve block? It may help. A pain management facility can do it.
I would prefer to feel pain when something is supposed to be painful. The whole point of pain is to avoid doing things that are causing you damage. The reason I’m in this mess is my unnatural ability to ignore pain. Not feeling pain isn’t a solution to a problem, it’s a cause of further problems in the future.
Chronic pain often doesn’t carry a “something is wrong” signal.
Herman Miller Aeron
Hadn’t heard of this and looked it up because numerous people in this thread mentioned it. Is it really that good? Looks like a mesh back chair. I typically strongly prefer padded back when possible.
Idk, I have one at work, and it’s fine. But nothing special. I don’t know why everyone loves them. I have an Ikea chair at home and it honestly feels about the same.
I’ve used it a lot and hate it, padded back is better especially in high back
I hate mesh chairs. They’re always freezing and never have enough support.
I have two ergoCentric Executive chairs, one in my office that work purchased after having me try out chairs and one at home that I bought myself because that chair is fucking comfy as hell. Fabric, padded, and comfy.
It’s very good
It’s not just how comfortable it is (that’s a bit of a personal preference), but office chairs like the HM Aeron and competing models come with a good warranty, very long availability of parts, … HM offers a 12 year warranty on the complete chair, even when used 24h a day. Those are made to last and stay comfortable.
The Aeron is also known for having a great reclining mechanism.
The embody is much better and is actually their more popular chair. We have two of them. One I just bought brand new for my wife and she loves it. The other I’ve had for several years and I got it for free from an old boss.
It’s not a mindblowing difference, but there’s infinite ways to adjust it and once you get it dialed in to your body, you’ll sit in the same position for half’a day and not realize you’ve been sitting in an office chair. It’s the complete opposite of GAMER CHAIRZ where not only are they uncomfy after a while, but after you’ve used it for a year or two, you’re sitting on a plank of shitty wood.
Other mesh office chairs are good, but the mesh sags after a few years. Herman Miller chairs can last for 20+ years without sagging.
I’ve had a refurb one for 8 years now and like it. I sit in it every day for multiple hours but it’s meant to force you into an ergonomic position. The mesh feels good but the added benefit is that it is much much easier to clean than a pad.
I sit all day and have a degenerative disc condition. I’ve been sitting in the same Herman Miller Embody for
2217 years. HM had to come refresh it once, but otherwise its been fantastic for SO long now. It’s the same model that LG now sells as a gaming chair.Edit: I mathed wrong first thing in the morning, and added 5 years to how long I’ve had the chair.
Surprisingly this chair has come out highly in reviews when compared to 4 figure chairs. I have it and can say it is very comfortable. It’s not going to be the best of the best, however if your budget doesn’t stretch to more than mid-3 figures this could be a good alternative.
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/markus-office-chair-vissle-dark-grey-30261152/
Markus is good for 2 hours max due to the non adjustable poor lumbar support. Also, the non adjustable arm rests are a deal breaker.
This is the one
I was going to recommend this chair. I have it as well and can confirm it is very comfortable.
Steelcase leap v2 from Crandall online.
They’re an official remanufacturee, so they put new cylinders, new casters and other parts like fresh foam and fabric on them.
Mine was a grade B and honestly, I couldn’t find a single mark or scratch on it.
I got the same brand from Madison seating out of new Jersey. Slightly used at less than half the cost.
I second the Steelcase Leap if only for cost reasons, since it’s an office staple and could be found all day for around $200 in decent shape (vs. $1000 new) and unlike the Herman Miller competition, the Steelcase Leap v2 is one size fits all with fewer if any optional accessories, making buying one used incredibly simple.
I have a leap v1 I got about 5 or 6 years ago that was reupholstered by a local used office furniture place. I keep using cheap cylinders, so I’ve changed that out a couple of times, and I changed out the original armests about two years ago (bought from Crandall for that). All in, including the original purchase, I’m at maybe $350 over the entire time I’ve owned it, and the structural parts and new upholstery are holding up perfectly. The tag on the bottom says it is 22 years old.
The other side of my home office has a HM Mirra v1 I got for free when they shut down my employer’s local office, and my wife uses a Steelcase Gesture in the “study,” which is to say the nice home office that doesn’t have two 3D printers, a soldering station, half a dozen keyboards, a dog crate, and an elderly cockatiel. My 10yo uses a godawful “gaming chair,” but it’s pink and she’s ten, so ergonomics are barely a blip on her radar. She has a standing offer to take the Mirra.
I have had a Herman Miller Sayl chair for 7 years. I work from home.and game in it, it’s plenty comfortable for 10+ hours if you need to sit that long.
Only downside is no headrest. Upside is more affordable and less weird looking than the Aeron.
