Do you spend a lot of time in front of your computer? Whether you are working or gaming, you need the best chair you can afford to avoid back pain and health problems. But, what’s a good gaming chair? A gaming chair is a special desk chair that, compared to a normal chair, combines ergonomic design with additional functions that meet the demands of an esports fan.
Gaming chairs may have built-in gizmos like integrated control panels, speakers, motors for build-in vibration, motion sensors, input/ output jacks, blue tooth or wifi, and many other features.
Above all, thanks to their ergonomic design, they enable you to sit naturally and comfortably while providing active support to your back. This allows longer fatigue-free sitting and therefore more focus on gaming or work. For someone who sits all day long, be it in the office or at esports, a good gaming chair is essential.
Why get a good gaming chair?
You invest a lot of money to get the best gaming hardware such as a mouse, keyboard, the fastest computer, and other gaming accessories. Why now, should you try to save money on something as important as a chair which is only about sitting? Maybe you say to yourself: “Huh, I’m fine, I don’t have any problems with my back.” But back problems creep in slowly and in the long run sitting in an inferior chair will take its toll. Sitting for a long time in a bad posture leads to tension, back issues, and other problems, but above all, it affects your productivity and performance.
Directly related sitting problems such as a tense neck, headache, shoulder, and discomfort in hands and arms are not all. Further health problems may include circulatory disorders causing tingly legs or even digestive and inner organ problems. Choosing a comfortable good chair for a good sitting posture is most important if you spend extended hours at your desk.
Whats a good gaming chair? Gaming chair features
To find out what a good gaming chair is, a number of features need to be considered. Let’s take a look at the main functions of the gaming chair.
Price of a gaming chair
You get what you pay for. The price of a gaming chair determines comfort and quality. There are gaming chairs under $ 100, but if you spend that little, you have to sacrifice a lot in quality and comfort. But the best chairs don’t have to be the most expensive. A lot of chairs are sold in the range of $ 100 to $200 and most customers are happy with their purchase.
However, if you are serious about getting a quality gaming chair that benefits your health and creates a WOW effect when you sit down in it for the first time you looking to spend around 300 to 400 dollars. In this price range, you find the best value gaming chairs that are a great compromise between sitting comfort, quality workmanship, durable materials, and hopefully your budget for a gaming chair.
Adjustable seat height
Individual adjustment options are a prerequisite for a chair to be really ergonomic and to offer the user sufficient comfort even after long periods of sitting. This starts with the adjustable seat height function, which must not be missing in any gaming chair. You can recognize the correct seat height from the angle of your legs, more precisely from the angle between your thigh and your lower leg. Adjust the height of the gaming chair so that this angle is 90 degrees.
Adjustable Armrests
Armrests are important to rest arms and provide relaxation for the shoulder-neck area during breaks. Armrests should be adjustable to be optimally adapted to the chair occupant. While playing or working the armrests may or may not be used, depending on how one prefers to work or engage in gaming. But in many cases, they can function as an extension of the desk surface by providing support to the lower arm and in that way increasing precise mouse control.
Anyway, in good gaming chairs, they are 4D adjustable, which means they are not only height adjustable but also their angle, back and forward as well as their sideways position is variable.
Backrest angle tilt adjustment
Nearly all ergonomic chairs come with this important feature. Adjusting the angle of the backrest, tilting it backward in relation to the seat, reduces strain on lower back muscles, and relaxes your lumbar area.
Reclining Backrest
For the perfect gaming experience, it is important that the backrest of the chair can be tilted way back and be locked if necessary. This adjusting feature of the backrest also referred to as a reclining function, is available in some models to up to 180 degrees. It allows resting the back or even a nap between gaming or working sessions.
Seat angle tilt adjustment
This feature allows the whole seat pan angle to tilt. It rotates your pelvis forward and reduces strain on muscles and tendons and ensures a posture in which the pelvis supports the natural curvature of the spine.
Chair Base, Wheels, and Swivel features
The base of the chair must be stable and robust, after all, the whole weight rests on it. The base is made either of nylon plastic or cast aluminum or steel, depending on what you spend. Plastic wheels also called castors, that swivel by 360 degrees, allows you to get from one place to another quickly without having to get up.
The five-armed base of the chair also serves to hold the gas lift spring on which the upper chair structure rests.
Additional padding for Neck and Lumbar support
Cushions in the neck and lower back area are often additional features that are quality chairs are fitted with. These extra pads are meant to take pressure from the neck and lumbar area to relieve the spine. Supporting elements for the neck and back may counteract a crooked sitting posture thus avoiding consequential back problems.
Material
The material used for upholstering gaming chairs may be genuine leather, artificial leather, fabric cover or mesh fabric. Each has its pros and cons.
- Genuine leather is a high-quality, breathable, waterproof, very durable cover, it is also the most expensive.
- Artificial leather is much cheaper than real leather, often also of good quality which is difficult to distinguish from genuine leather. It is tough and easy to take care of. However, on hot days it may be uncomfortable to sit on, due to sweat.
- Fabric and mesh covers are very breathable, you hardly sweat and don’t stick to it even on hot days.
Gaming Chair FAQ
What is the difference between a gaming chair vs office chair?
The difference lies mainly in the design-technical aspects with the aim to increase the gaming experience. Some have built-in gizmos and come in flash color accents, which provide for a better gaming feeling. Quality chairs of both kinds are of highly ergonomic design and have features that may prevent back and health problems when spending many hours sitting in them. Chairs with extra upholstery such as head and lumbar pads and a special seat shape could support the body slightly better.
What are the different styles of gaming chairs?
Video Rocker
These are kind of gaming chairs sit right on the floor. They are great for playing console video games, reading a book, or watching a movie.
They are a favorite chair for young folks to hang out in. Kids love them as they are comfortable especially for you people. They come at very affordable prices. But stay away from the cheapest ones.
Racing Style Seat
Those are great chairs specially made for PC gaming activities. The prices of the good racing-style seats start at around a hundred dollars. Premium Ergonomic Chairs can cost around five hundred dollars.
Racing style gaming chairs often come with multi-adjusting features and special neck and back support allowing for many hours of fatigue-free gaming or computer work.
Vertagear, DXRacer, Secretlab are popular manufacturers of some of the best racing-style chairs which are bestselling gaming chairs on Amazon.
Racing Simulator Chairs
If you are serious about playing racing games these are the kind of gaming chairs to get. Racing simulator chairs are especially build to simulate the cockpit of a racing car and to create the feeling of sitting in one.
They have a mount for a steering wheel and some even come with a gear shifter mount. Just get a compatible steering wheel and gear shifters and the race can start.
Pedestal Gaming Chair
They are kind of a Rocking Gaming chair mounted on a solid pedestal on which they swivel and rock.
Many of them have additional features built-in like speakers and control panels giving them a futuristic appearance right out of a star trek movie.
They are great for console video gaming.
Sooooo… Whats a good gaming chair?
So it must not just be a low price that is the main criteria for buying a gaming chair. A comfortable sitting posture in which you feel good should be your main concern. So a good gaming chair will cost money, but the comfort and good posture it provides while sitting can prevent back issues, so it pays in the long run. Unfortunately, many people only realize this when it is too late. Sitting many hours in the same position is not something that is natural to the human body, we are made to move.
If you choose to sit, or if you have to sit long hours at a computer make sure you are sitting in a chair that is ergonomically designed, and that lets you sit in comfort. You need to get the best gaming chair.
There is an ever-increasing number of different chairs hitting the market. Make sure you consider the size as this is one of the most essential aspects when selecting a chair.
Look at your budget and choose the chair that is the best compromise between sitting comfort, quality workmanship, durable materials, and benefit to your health.
Another factor to watch out for these days is whether the chair is made environmentally friendly. Many cheap chairs are mass-produced in Asia and are shipped all over the world. Many of them are not produced in an environmentally friendly way – this relates to the raw materials used and the manufacturing processes.
I hope you find the best chair for you and you can enjoy sitting and playing in comfort.
