best office chairs 2022

2022.07.31
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best office chairs 2022

Buying used: The classic Aeron design sold prior to 2016 is still great for most people, and its still widely available at office liquidators and on Craigslistsometimes newfor less than $400. In our experience, the circa-$100 chairs youll find at sites like Wayfair and big-box retailers are made with lower-quality materials and may last just a year or two before they begin to fall apart. Overall, we preferred the adjustability of the other chairs, as well as the other size options not available on the Cosm. The Herman Miller Cosm (available in low-, mid-, and high-back versions) is a chair built with the idea that it shifts and moves with you. closed When in doubt, we recommend sizing up. But this chair doesnt have the Gestures cleverly designed recline mechanism or the Aerons iconic looks, and ergoCentricfounded in 1990 and only recently breaking into the U.S. marketlacks either brands longstanding reputation. All testers ran the office chairs through the same basic testing gauntlet, assessing comfort, body support, adjustability, and durability. This meant sitting in the chairs while typing at computers, playing video games, writing emails, sitting through meetings, and just leaning back to think. If you have a full-time desk job, 14,000 hours is the minimum amount of time youll spend sitting over the next 10 years. The same goes for chairs that dont roll easily because of poor casters, backrests that are too short or nonexistent, armrests that are too flimsy, too short, or too tall to be useful, surfaces that are hard to clean, chair edges that arent rounded for comfort, or models that arent designed to hold your weight (the inexpensive chairs we looked at were all rated for weights under 250 pounds). For some people, the chairs chief appeal is its design.

You can save hundreds of dollars on a high-end office chair if you know where to look and what to look for. The seat is upholstered in high-quality fabric and has a firm cushion that feels like it will last a long time, but if you prefer a softer, cushier seat, the Gesture would be a better option for you. The HON Ignition 2.0 is the best budget option weve tested. We also surveyed staff members who have owned or used any of our current or previous picks for their long-term testing notes.

But that pricing didnt factor into our blind testing, where our panelists rated it just average across most of the categories, including comfort, back support, and ease of adjusting. The Herman Miller Aeron is a surprisingly comfortable chair considering its all-mesh, no-padding design. The Sayl has the same 12-year warranty as the Aeron and comes from a company that has a history of making reliable, durable chairs. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Again, chair size makes a big difference: Our size A and B testers found the chair a bit more difficult to recline in and maintain the tilt angle, but our size C tester said the chair reclined too easily and was difficult to lock into place, even though the chair has a tilt tension control knob. If the sculpted foam design appeals to you, the Freedom might be worth trying out for yourself if you can find it at a nearby retailer and if you feel comfortable shopping in person. The Steelcase Gesture requires an investment in excess of $1,000, but if you sit for long periods, the expense is well worth itfor the support, for the adjustability, and for comfort that will last over a decade. Subscribe now for unlimited access. Affordable ergonomics with a look youll either love or hate, If you dont have (or dont want to spend) hundreds of dollars for an office chair, Human Factors and Ergonomics Laboratory at Cornell University, as recommended by Cornell Universitys Ergonomic Department, A more adjustable office chair ensures a better fit, X-Chair X3 ATR Management Chair with Elemax, How to Make Your Cheap Office Chair More Comfortable. We found this unique design effective in engaging our core muscles when we moved in the chair, kind of like doing crunches while sitting.

On the plus side, the Freedoms arms can lower to seat height, which makes it easy for you to get in and out of the chair and to fit it under any desk. With used, you lose the Herman Miller warranty, but if youre slightly handy with DIY projects, you can replace almost anything on the Aeron with used parts you can find on eBay. The Herman Miller Sayl, specced for around the same price with more adjustments, was more popular with testers. (Wirecutter editor Thorin Klosowski has had a classic Aeron for over a decade and has moved with it many times, including twice to different states, and it still looks brand-new.). You lose the warranty if you buy used, but the savings may be worth the trade-off. You might not realize it, but reclining in your chair is beneficial.

You have to reach for the back of the chair to adjust the height of the arms on the Aeron. Do so on a Gesture, and you might totally forget your legs are crossed until you stand up.

Over the years, weve tested a few office chairs from IKEA. The IKEA Markus is a budget office chair that several Wirecutter staffers still own and like. Plus, the Gesture is the only chair we tested with ball-and-socket-style armrests that you can rotate and move into nearly any position: You just hold down a tab under the armrest to unlock the arm and then rotate the whole arm freely to make it comfortable for whatever youre doing. The Herman Miller Mirra 2 is a good office chair thats priced comparably to the Aeron. Although its endorsed by numerous celebrities (including Bruce Willis and Justin Bieber), we think for $800 you should get a more adjustable chair with higher build qualityand do your crunches elsewhere. The Herman Miller Cosm cradles your upper back especially when you push back into it, and the seat is quite springy. In fact, the Aerons mesh has a springiness and breathability that some of our testers preferred over the feel of the Gesture and other chairs for long hours of work.

A good backrest should support you regardless of the angle you sit at. We had a small, odd issue with the two Ignition 2.0 chairs we tested: When we got out of the chair after sitting in it a while, the seat made a whooshing sound, kind of as if we were getting up from a plastic-covered seat on a humid day. With plenty of adjustability for a wide range of body types, the Steelcase Gesture is the best and most comfortable office chair for most people. We think the Aeron is a better chair with a more comfortable seat and better tilt controls, though. You can also splurge on options, such as a polished or satin aluminum frame, to spruce it up a little. The Steelcase Silq boasts an adjust-to-your-body engineering design similar to that of the Herman Miller Cosm, but we found the chair to be less comfortable for sitting for long periods of time than other, comparable chairs. Keep in mind, however, that in long-term testing weve found that the Gestures and Aerons seat comfort is better. Because the seat height starts at about 17 inchesan inch higher than on the Gesture or the Aeron size B chairits not a great fit if youre petite. Sitting for hours on end in a chair without proper support can result in lower back, neck, and/or hip pain, which can impede your ability to work. However, the chairs construction is plasticky; its armrests arent adjustable for height, width, or angle (although they can flip up completely); and with an 18.5-inch minimum seat height, the chair isnt suitable for people who are under about 5-foot-8. Because its a big plastic piece, you can easily feel the lumbar support through the mesh back; it takes away from some of the seat backs springiness, but thats the case with all chairs of this design, and we think the trade-off for more ergonomic seating is worth making. A chairs arm support is important, according to Pynt: Any posture where you are leaning forward from the vertical without arm support will require the back muscles to work overtime to maintain an erect posture, leading to muscle stress and resultant pain. We found the Gestures arm support useful for reclining to read, for playing games, and for leaning over a tablet to draw for long hours. But if you fall into the goldilocks zone of not being too tall or too short, the Markus could be a solid option. And the Aerons arms go only up and down and their pads angle in and out, whereas the whole armrest on the Gesture can move diagonally in and out, as well as forward and backward, to give you more room when you want it. Compared with the back on the Aeron, which has a tight weave that feels like a trampoline for your posterior, the Ignition 2.0s mesh back feels more like a camping chair you sink back into. Our petite-size testers had difficulty sitting in the chair comfortably and getting full back support because of the seat-pan depth. Melanie Pinola previously covered all things home office as a senior staff writer at Wirecutter. That tally doesnt include the nights you have to work late, the weekends youre called into the office, those unfortunate occasions you end up scarfing down lunch in front of your computer, or any late-night gaming sessions you might enjoy. You dont have to break the seat in, and at the end of a long day, the seat still feels supportive, unlike too-soft seats that youd sink into over time. While most of those chairs may seem fine at first, you'll soon be feeling (and hearing) the consequences of choosing a cheap chair: creaking sounds, deflated foam cushions, and cracking armrests and other plastic parts. Alternatively, you can mount a keyboard tray under your desk to lower the keyboard. We also gathered long-term testing notes for the chairs that staffers had been using in our offices for months. Shes thrilled when those topics intersectand when she gets to write about them in her PJs. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing to save people time, energy and money when making buying decisions. The Gesture has an impressive range of adjustability, and its easy to maneuver and get into just the right configuration for your task and body type.

However, in previous rounds of testing, it was universally reviled.

This chair demands that you notice it, and if youre into that space-age look, the range of color options allows you to make it fit in or stand out. The mesh seat and back make the Aeron a better option than foam upholstered chairs in warm climates or for anyone who runs hot. However, the Aeron is designed around desk work and sitting properly upright. The unframed rubber back has an unusual look that will draw the eyes of every guest who comes into your office or home. That said, the Ignition 2.0s durability seems like it will be a little better than that of most chairs in this price range. As Rani Lueder explained it to us, [When] leaning back, not only are you intermittently relieving the loads on your spine [but also] in the process, opening up your thigh-torso angle. The cost is close enough to that of the Gesture, however, that most people considering the Think will likely prefer to move up to the Gesture instead. Overall, however, its unremarkable design and limited features keep it from excelling. 2022 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company. Of course, design is a matter of personal preference. And the seat cushion is covered with a thick woven fabric, although its obviously less premium (with a looser weave) than that of the Gesture. The coronavirus has turned life upside down. Its a no-frills chair with fixed armrests and a one-year warranty. In that time, she has researched and tested all sorts of office furniture and hardware, including standing desks, footrests, and ergonomic keyboards.

We sat in them properly and improperly, we aggressively twisted knobs, and we wheeled them recklessly around the office for over two weeks.

The Gestures lumbar and back support is on a par with that of other chairs in this price rangeits excellentbut where this chair stands out is in how comfortable it is to recline in and vary your position. Weighing over 70 pounds, the chair is bulky, an annoyance if you want to move it around your home office. The biggest point of contention was the high back: The Fern is taller than the Gesture but not as tall as the IKEA Markus, which puts it in an odd spot. If your chair is too high and you cant lower it (meaning you can keep your arms and wrists at the right position but cant keep your feet flat on the floor), you can get a footrest to support your feet. Testers commented that the chair had a minimalist yet sturdy appearance, great for a professional setting or when you want your home office to feel more professional. If thats not possible, a generous return policy of at least 30 days will help you make that decision at home. (Ergonomic experts recommend reclining about 110 degrees to relieve pressure on your spine, rather than sitting straight up or forward.) And since 2015, weve found that the Steelcase Gesture is the best office chair for most people. Using knobs on the right side, you can move the seat depth forward and back, change the tilt tension, adjust how far back the chair can lean, and move the seat height up and down. The Gesture is expensive, usually selling for over $1,000, but if you dont care about specific colors (the customized version offers more than 70 fabric options plus six leather ones), you can often find it for less than $500 at office liquidators online or locally. You can customize the Gesture so that its comfortable to sit in no matter what youre doing. If you just occasionally sit down to check email or play games, buy whatever chair youre most comfortable in or like the look of. The IKEA Hattefjll comes in colorful fabrics and sports a fun, curvy design, but our testers found the seat too firm for prolonged sitting. Great office chairs arent cheap, and not everyone can afford ergonomic perfection. Buying an office chair is like buying a mattress: If youre spending a third of your life in this furniture, it had better support your well-being and not break your back. These two accessories can also help you adjust a chairs seat depth or height to fit you better. A footrest easily solves that problem, albeit at an added cost. Others found the recline, which shoves your crotch into the air as you push back, a little awkward.

In an ideal ergonomic world, you would set your arm height once and leave it there, but most people dont sit perfectly all the time, and many people switch tasks throughout the day. The seat cushion is thick and softan improvement over the slightly too-firm seats of our previous budget pick, the HON Exposure, and the similarly priced Fully Desk Chair. Same solutions, different problem: If you find that the cushioning in your cheap office chair wears out quickly or isnt dense enough to begin with, you can use a lumbar support pillow to augment the backrest padding or a seat cushion to coddle your tuchus. Depending on the seat fabric you choose, the cost adds up to about $670, or nearly half the price of a fully loaded Gesture or an Aeron. As long as you have the right-size chair, the Aeron is comfortable for long hours of work. One size C tester found that the Silq pushed them forward in an uncomfortable way and that the armrests dug into them. Try to sit with your legs crossed in an Aeron, and youll find it uncomfortable immediately. Weve researched dozens of office chairs, interviewed four ergonomics experts, and asked test panelists with a variety of body types to sit in deliberation for over 175 collective hours. Our test Aeron was size B, recommended for most people between 5-foot-2 and 6-foot-6. Its less bulky than the Gesture and easier to move around, and it doesnt collect lint as much. If youre looking for something more affordable, the HON Ignition 2.0 makes the fewest sacrifices of any inexpensive office chair we tested and is an upgrade to our previous budget pick, the HON Exposure. Used as the standard chairs in Wirecutters Los Angeles office since 2018, the Sayls weve tried over time have generally maintained their smooth adjustments and looks, although the arm movements can be clunky on occasion. This can be an annoying distraction for some people, depending on how much you use the armrests. Your home-office chair is likely getting more use than ever before.