Office chair recommendations?
Looking to get a new chair; something better than my previous chair which was some Chinese product I got off Amazon that I thought might be pretty good, but ended up breaking in less than two years. I've experienced pain problems from chairs, in the legs, and the elbows (from arm rests). Avoiding those problems will be a must from my new chair.
Update: I made a purchase. Details in this comment.
I would take recommendations for either a specific model, or just a brand/manufacturer. Would love to hear stories from people, especially as it relates to sturdiness and longevity.
Desired qualities:
- Around 200-250 USD, but there's wiggle room here. (Update: I'm strongly considering bumping this price range up. It occurred to me: I will be in this thing for longer per day than I am in my bed, and I didn't skimp on my bed.)
- Good ergonomics; good for posture, health; not lead to sitting-related pains, etc.
- good for use 10+ hours a day
- very comfortable seat cushion (not hard, nothing digging into thighs, etc.)
- wheels / casters
- something that would last 3+ years
- 2+ year warranty
- adjustability of at least the seat elevation
Nice to have:
- liftable or removable armrests, because these tend to just hit my desk or other things
- 3+ year warranty
- lots of adjustability, to be able to zero in on the perfect fit for me
- wheels / casters good for carpet, too
So far, I've read good things about the Branch brand, but the model I'm eyeing (the "Branch Ergonomic Chair") is a bit out of my price range (though I've been talking myself into it).
I really enjoy my Aerons. I got several of them for basically free, but I’ve also found some on Craigslist for just a hundred bucks. I haven’t paid full price for one in 20 years — lots of them out there, and they are pretty solid. I have only had one break on me in maybe 25 years, and it was fairly easy to replace the arm rest.
Another vote for second hand Herman Miller in that price range: they last forever, they’re readily available from office clearances, and that whole time you’ll be more comfortable than you would in a technically “cheaper” chair that you’d end up paying more for brand new [insert Sam Vimes boots quote here].
I prefer the Sayl to the Aeron, but they’re both great, and the latter is definitely the more popular!
Joining in on the second hand Herman Miller recommendations, my Mirra 2 is absolutely fantastic. I fancy it a nicer chair than the Aeron, but I’ve never sat in a Sayl so can’t compare there.
I think the Mirra is pretty easy to find second hand as well.
Another vote in favor of it with the addendum that the HM Aeron will survive any moves you do. By and large, it's not flimsy plastic- it's basically cast aluminum. I've moved at least once a year for 6-7 years and it's the only thing I've got that hasn't been appreciably damaged in that entire time.
Yeah, four digits brand new is way out of my price range, but I'll keep this brand and Steelcase in mind if I come across used chairs.
i wish people werent so blatantly ignoring your budget and werent just throwing out the same names that have been in every chair thread since 2010, because im in the same spot as you.
unfortunately my best option is looking like blowing half a stack on a chair from the manufacturer "automomous" for about double your current budget.
id love to hear what you settle on when you decide!
I wasn’t ignoring the budget. I just did a search on Craigslist and found this right here for $250:
https://skagit.craigslist.org/fuo/d/coupeville-herman-miller-aeron-chair/7674953590.html
There are a lot of second hand aerons out there; it rarely takes me more than a week to find one and I buy them somewhat frequently. I would say I have probably gotten some 30-40 Aerons over time.
Wait what. Are you in a line of work that has you do this sort of thing?
I build tech startups, and all my employees get Aerons. I had offices across the country, so I’m familiar with getting them in different markets too — even in pretty small towns they are available fairly easily.
We aren’t ignoring op’s budget. But the op wants everything for very cheap, which is just unrealistic.
People suggested checking second hand and the op now knows multiple brands that they could look for.
It's understandable. I might be just a bit ignorant about the topic, and do appreciate being told some hard facts, if necessary. In comparison, I often tell people that trying to save money by getting a baby grand piano is not the best choice, because they underperform in key aspects compared to a normal sized grand piano, and even a good quality upright (or digital!) is better for learning to play properly into intermediate and advanced levels.
I'm going to look around for used chairs, as that might be the best way to go for me.
The secondhand part was already answered, but unfortunately with office chair recommendations you often have to ignore budget. There are almost no good, long lasting office chairs for $200 and it takes a bit for people searching to realise that.
I've done my fair share of research on the topic a while ago and ended up with a Steelcase, but that was after significantly readjusting and changing my expectations of what constitutes a good office chair.
The OP actually said something that's the main reason for this: You sit in this for equal or even longer periods of time than you lie in your bed.
In this case its literally worth it to save up and get something that it great and will last basically forever. My aeron was £400, used, 4 years ago and it still looks brand new.
Years ago I bought an Autonomous standing desk that is still with me and I love, so I thought I’d give there office chairs a try. Worst chair I’ve ever had, extremely uncomfortable, way too small (and was still uncomfortable for my wife that fit it a little better) and felt very cheap. Eventually found a used Aeron, but until I did I bought a cheap chair from Costco so I wouldn’t have to sit on that awful Autonomous chair.
If you're looking at the Steelcase and Herman Miller chairs and you do bump your price range a little, I recommend this site: https://www.crandalloffice.com/. They sell refurbished and returned chairs at a significant discount, I got a Steelcase Gesture from here and it was indistinguishable from a brand new chair.
For example, here's a Steelcase Leap for $600: https://www.crandalloffice.com/shop/chairs/steelcase/462-leap-v2/remanufactured-steelcase-462-leap-v2-office-chair/. I believe this would be $2000 from the Steelcase website, and the Crandall version will be exactly the same.
+1 for bumping up the price range, I'm sitting on a steelcase leap with a headrest that i got for when I started working from home and it's definitely worth it's weight in gold. Especially since I wfh for my job, and a lot of my hobbies are in front of my computer, it's worth the price.
I always recommend IKEA's Markus. It's $289, which is little above your range, but it's worth it IMO.
Apparently has a 10yr limited warranty, not that I ever had to use it. If you have an IKEA nearby, you could probably go there and try it out.
Great chair, had one myself for many years before switching. Only downside for me are the fixed armrests. If those where adjustable I probably wouldn't have switched.
I have had one of these before and felt similarly. Great but a pain to play guitar in. Memories of trying to perch on the very end.
Also a guitar player with the same chair. I "solved" this problem by declining to install the armrests.
Markus is a great chair, but I ultimately had to get rid of it because I tended to slide further in it which led to pain in my lower back.
Armrests also didn’t let me to get close enough to my desk, so I just removed them and replaced with low profile 3d printed handles to help me pull the chair under me when sitting down. Best upgrade for that chair.
Ultimately my back and neck pain got worse and I spent a fortune on a IKEA idasen standing desk and Hag Capisco chair to pair with it sometimes when standing became uncomfortable. That’s obviously outside of op’s budget but for me it was money really well spent and I forgot about pain in my spine. Only my ass hurt a bit from sitting in that chair longer than I should but it’s designed this way so that you aren’t too comfortable and switch your sitting positions often or stand up.
But Capisco really enforces good sitting posture if you adjust it right and your desk and screen heights.
Another HÅG owner here, I have the H05 (Credo?).
+1 bought it after browsing reddit for chair recomendation a year ago. Pretty happy with it. Feels sturdy and not cheap as some chinese or east europe variants. Small minus is that armrests are not adjustible but I can live with it. Im working from home, so using it 8-10 hours a day without issues.
Came to say IKEA Markus. I have the leather version, but it looks like they only offer the fabric version now.
That's the one you want anyways. The vinyl peels off the leather one after a while and there's no choice but to replace the whole thing.
I highly recommend the Steelcase Leap. I've purchased two (one for me, another years later for my wife) from this site called Madison Seating. They're "open box" but both looked pretty new to me.
These chairs are heavy, but they're ergonomic. The best chair is the one you don't think about often, and I work at my computer for 9+ hours a day and never feel back pain.
I also have a Leap that I got for cheap and it has been working well for me so far.
OP regardless of what specific chair you want, you might want to try finding a local office furniture clearance warehouse. Most major cities will have them and these warehouses exist specifically to move older office furniture from companies that have been sold, foreclosed, etc.
What this means for you is that you can find some solid quality ergonomic chairs for cheap. My leap was only like 160 or so I think.
Agreed. My company, when we were still in the office, bought most of our nice office chairs and desks and such from a local overstock place. We got some great deals on excellent chairs, like hundreds of dollars off per chair. Some coworkers even went in on the deal and bought personal office chair for home.
Sounds like an even better deal than I was able to get. I believe our chairs were around $220 each. Main advantage to that (which may or may not affect OP) is that they ship the item for free, where some local furniture stores may not (YMMV).
I too have a Leap and it's been a godsend. @Pistos said they can bump their budget and I don't know by how much, but if they live in the US, with some luck, they can get their hands on a second hand one with a significant discount. These chairs are made to last a lifetime so all they'd likely have to do is get it cleaned thoroughly.
I myself don't live in the US, so I got it new and paid almost two times the MSRP, but I don't have any regrets about it. My back issues have completely disappeared since I started using mine. Best investment I've ever made.
I will say that one of the armrests on mine started to crack, but that's after 10 years of regular use of this thing, and likely because I put too much pressure on it when I get in/out of it. Probably going to make some kind of cover for it one of these days.
I don't know what region you're in, as warranty differs from region to region, but in my region (EMEA), Steelcase has a lifetime warranty for the armrest. (10 years for the armrest cushion, but lifetime for the structure). You might want to look into that, assuming you bought it directly from them or through a distributor.
Nonetheless, sorry to hear about the issue. Armrest is probably the only thing I slightly dislike about this chair as it wobbles too much for my taste (though that might be to preserve long term structural integrity) so I'll definitely keep an eye on that.
$250 is not enough for a decent new-in-box chair. It is enough for a beat up on Aeron, which you can slowly restore with new parts as funds allow, so this is the route I'd go.
There are dozens of videos on YouTube about Aeron chairs, how to spot good deals on local marketplaces, and how to restore them. Start there.
Indeed. I mentioned in another comment:
Note that Woot is having a pretty significant sale on ergonomic office chairs right now. I can't vouch for any particular model and many are already sold out, but hopefully at least some of the recommendations here intersect with what they're offering.
You can get similar deals at your local office surplus, and you get to try the chair before you buy. We're all different so I highly recommend trying. Even better if you can be fitted for a chair at specialist ergonomic chair store.
I use an Autonomous ErgoChair Pro. I've only had it for about 6 months, but it's been great. Adjustable arm rests, lumbar support, headrest and pretty much everything else. It reclines which is great for a power nap. The cushion and back breath well, so they don't get too hot.
That's way above your price range, but they have a model for $300. It seems to do lot of what I mentioned.
I used to only stand at my desk while working, so I'm not too picky on chairs. Even now I'm half/half, but ErchoChair has been great for me
They aren't bad. But they are way overpriced since they are just reselling rebranded Chinese chairs.
Another vote for Autonomous!! Mine is over the listed budget, but I have absolutely 0 regrets. I'm prone to back issues and lower back pain, but I've been working in that chair for 45-50 hours a week for nearly 2.5 years, and not a damned twinge at my EOD still.
Iirc mine was in the 400 range, lmk if you'd like to spend a bit above what you listed and I'd be happy to look up my model and share.
Yes, please do share. Based on my research so far (and the fine feedback from everyone on this post), it's starting to look like there will be good ROI on increasing my budget. It'll bite the bank account a bit in the short term, but seems like it will pay off in good health and comfort in the long term.
Hah, I just looked and yup, it's the same one that the parent comment mentioned lol! The ErgoChair Pro is what I got - I paid 458 euros for it at the time in mid 2021.
Highly recommend, and I 100% agree in this being a huge ROI. It's been 2.5 years and it doesn't even have a scratch on it, I have literally not adjusted it either since I first got it (apart from the headseat, that one clicks down a bit easy if, say, your spouse leans on it if you're showing them something on your screen :p clicks back just as easily though!).
Have they made their arm rests any better? I have one I got maybe 5 or so years ago and the one thing I really dislike are the arm rests, they're hard as rocks and the horizontal adjust isn't locking, so they just slide all over the place.
Otherwise it's a well built chair and I've definitely gotten my milage out of it.
I would say no based on what you said. They're still stiff and don't lock horizontally. I don't mind the arm rests being hard, but the sliding can be a little inconvenient.
I haven't purchased from this company, but their videos like this one really helped me out to just get an idea of the chairs out there and their quality / cost.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dreobyuQVc8
For chairs that I have been in their opinions lined up with mine so I was tending to agree with their rankings/opinions. For chairs I have been in, I currently have a steelcase leap right now that is a few years old and still kicking. Before that was 20 years of a few random staples chairs that were ok, but having been in a proper chair were no match
I've been in an ikea Markus, but they were left over from my company buying another office and were pretty beat up, but overall they are comfortable, only issue I'd say is no adjustable arms so if you aren't happy with where they are that could be an issue. My company replaced the beat up Markus with Staples Hyken chairs and to be honest I liked the beat up Markus better. That chair grew on me a bit, but again the arms did not adjust and they were in a worse position for me than the markus, and the seat does not go forward/back so I felt like I didn't quite fit into the chair.
An older job I've sat in aeron's and those are pretty nice chairs but didn't really blow me away, i liked the leap a lot better. I also was in some SUPER old steelcase chairs of another style but were really comfortable despite looking like they were made in the 90's or something, but just shows how well a good chair can hold up.
My wife recently got the Hayworth Soji after looking through one of the videos above and I'm pretty happy with it, it's exactly like it said, a very comfortable and well-built chair but not quite as good as the higher end ones.
I think the MAIN thing for a chair is adjustability, and for me the big ones that make or break are seat height, seat forward/back, (so I don't feel like i'm falling off, and i'm 6ft about 225lbs for reference), and being able to have the arms level with the desk. Tilt an torque adjustment most chairs have, but obviously is important.
I also like to repeat what I often read when looking for chairs, if you can afford it and spend enough time at the PC it's really worth getting a nice chair that'll last you for years on end. But those top end chairs aren't like a recliner or anything, they just work as a chair you sit in and will never think about again, which is sort of the point of them.
I use a HÅG H05. It has wheels, adjustable arms, adjustable height, lumbar support, comfortable for extended use. Mine has no head rest, which was optional, that was personal choice.
I've had it 15 years (1/3 of my life!) and it only has minor wear to the arm edges over that time. Cost me £300 used and was probably £1000 new. I decided on the model by going to a specialist back pain and ergonomic chair store and was fitted for chairs that matched my needs. This takes the guess work out of what chair is best for you.
The HÅG philosophy is that the chair constantly adjusts to your movement/pose and helps builds core strength. So you don't lock the chair in a rigid position. Fitting the chair and proper setup and use is essential.
In hindsight, and given that it stopped my back pain very quickly, the daily cost (currently £0.05 per day) is ridiculously low and the benefit was life-changing.
Update: Purchase details
TLDR: Got a Steelcase Leap V2 for 30% of the brand-new price on Steelcase's website. (70% less)
It never occurred to me to consider buying used, so thanks to everyone that offered that great tip (particularly ~BajaBlastoise who I think said it first). I scouted around and found many used office furniture stores in my region. The one closest to me happened to have Leap V1 and V2, and Aerons, and many more models in stock, so I went there today.
Tested out Leap V1, V2, a couple Aerons (B and C? I forget), a Hayworth Zody, and maybe 2 or 3 others that I didn't bother to check the name of. I really didn't like the Aerons because I found the mesh seat not comfortable enough, as though the seat frame itself were pressing into me. The salespeople were busy at the time, so I admit, this could have just been user error on my part, but they were out of budget for me anyway, so I just dismissed them.
It came down to the Leap V1 and V2, and the Zody. The V1 wasn't bad, but sitting in the V2 was just noticeably more comfortable, particularly the seat cushion (more cushy). The V2's price tag was 30% more than the V1, but I did some quick math, and concluded it wasn't worth the savings over 2 or 3 years if I ended up with discomfort or pain, then regret. So, between V1 and V2, V2 was the winner. However, I sat in the Zody, and the seat cushion felt just as good, if not better, than the Leap. However, the Zody isn't as adjustable and customizable. They were selling for about the same price (in this store), so the deciding factor was that the online brand-new price for the V2 is higher than the Zody, so I figured I would be getting better value with the V2, so that's what I went with.
It's noticeable that it's used (some indentation in one arm rest), but it otherwise looks and feels in good condition. I turned it over, and examined the underside (where my previous chair broke), and wiggled and "wrestled" the chair a bit. The fabric seems practically new. I can't see anything used about it. On the plastic parts, there are a few scratches and dings, but they're really small, and you'd have to put your face right up to the chair to notice them. The most obvious thing that makes it look used is the casters, which are dusty, scratched, and dirty, but I don't care about that.
The casters don't work well on the carpet I have, requiring more effort to roll around than with any previous chair. However, I can live with that, as I don't need long-range mobility with this.
Being able to sit in the chairs (some for 10+ minutes (!) due to the salespeople being busy) was huge. I think I would have had buyer's regret just buying without trying, as I probably would have gotten the Leap V1 based on price alone.
Thank you to everyone for the responses.
As a follow-up, you can get roller blade style wheels as replacements for the casters to make the chair work much better on carpet. I don't recall how much they cost, but they are an option if you find that to be a long term annoyance.
I replaced the casters on mine with the roller blade wheels and it has made a significant difference.
I went into Staples on some holiday sale, probably Memorial Day. Sat on every display chair and picked the comfiest one regardless of price. It’s been over 3 years and the chair is still like new (if I got the dust bunnies out of the wheels). As far as durability and comfort I wouldn’t get anything else. The seat cushion surprisingly hasn’t degraded despite working from home full time its whole life. My only complaint is the backrest doesn’t go up to the neck.
https://www.staples.com/Staples-Professional-Series-1500TF-Mesh-Back-Chair/product_1922857
I'll second the recommendation for a used high-end office chair (corporate buyers are not very price-sensitive, so there's a market for highly durable, long-lasting, comfortable chairs; and corporations tend to buy new and somewhat regularly replace or liquidate their office stock, so there's a thriving used market). I sit on a used Aeron, which has been serving me well for almost a decade at this point. (If you can, it's definitely ideal to sit in a chair before you buy it; see if there's an office supply store near you with a showroom. I bought my Aeron sight-unseen and butt-unsat, and it worked out great for me, but the Aeron isn't a perfect fit for everyone, so it could have been an unfortunate waste of time and money.)
However. I want to touch on this:
I'm sure you're aware, but this much sitting is not healthy. Your budget allows for a decent standing desk converter; I would strongly recommend considering this approach and not sitting in your chair all day. Aside from general health, this cuts the need for excellent ergonomics in your chair somewhat (not that it's unimportant, but you won't suffer from it as much/quickly if you're sitting in it for four hours a day as opposed to eight).
Not arguing with you, but this is kind of like "you should floss every day". Yes, but: laziness. Anyway, advice noted.
Not a specific recommendation, but I prefer a chair with a mesh rather than foam seat. The mesh seems to last longer, breath better, won't crack and peel like pleather, and doesn't have the opportunity for the lunch you ate while working to fall down into the little holes in the fabric covering the foam.
This is the chair I have, to illustrate what I'm talking about. But I don't think you can buy it anymore.