Oh, the luxury of comfortable sitting. Without a doubt, the only correct sitting is comfortable seating. Chair designers go to extreme lengths to create comfortable seats. The padding, the leather choice, even the ergonomics are designed in a way for us to be as comfy as possible.
For gamers – you know, the people who spend an absurd amount of time sitting in front of a computer – having a cozy setting is vital. In recent years, it is evident that more and more gamers choose gaming chairs instead of ordinary office ones.
The first big brand DXRacer started off by designing colorful flashy seats. The unfortunate thing is that the comfortability of the first gaming chairs was somewhat lacking. The newer brands, however, started focusing more and more on how the gaming chairs feel instead of how it looks.
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So which gaming chairs are the most comfortable ones? Well, in order to understand what makes a chair comfortable, you have to break it down to specific parts that work in harmony to give us that satisfaction of having a snuggly seat.
According to the Gaming Chairs Hunter, these are 5 key parts that can make or break the comfortability of a gaming chair are:
Choice of upholstery
From PU leather to mesh and upgraded synthetic leather options, the choices are endless. However, only some of them offer breathability.
Thickness and density of the padding
Especially the seat – the place where most of our weight is distributed – needs to be thick.
Ergonomic elements
Most basic include pillows for lumbar, neck and head support. The best gaming ones have a dedicated design – that resembles the interior of luxury sports cars – that provides superior back support and the most optimum weight distribution.
Frame and a maximum weight capacity
In order to guarantee comfiness, a gaming seat has to be stable; it has to support our weight and that’s where the reinforced frame comes in handy.
Inclusion of a footrest
Gaming chairs with footrest can be extremely comfortable; in fact, if you recline the back, you can actually nap in them.
We’ll go through these 5 factors below. We’ll also look at different gaming chairs as examples.
1. Upholstery (PU Leather, Mesh, Real Leather)
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Most gamers with an aesthetic setup love red or pink gaming chairs that complete their gaming rigs. However, if you value comfortability, the choice of color is pretty much irrelevant.
What matters is the choice of upholstery; material the upholstery is made out of, of course. The cheaper gaming seats are covered with basic PU leather. Which is fine, by the way, but PU leather lack breathability and is not as skin-friendly as some other materials.
For breathability, for example, you want to take a look at mesh. Mesh has those nice holes where air can enter and exit. This, in turn, cools you down during long gaming sessions and prevents you from sticking to the backseat. It also ventilates the sweat right away.
Real leather, on the other hand, is very skin-friendly but doesn’t offer breathability. It’s also crazy expensive. Real leather ones can easily cost more than $500.
The best price-performance PU upholstery is the new-age upgraded synthetic leather options. Secretlab chairs, for example, offer Prime 2.0 PU upholstery that is both more breathable and skin-friendly compared to basic PU leather.
Having your back cooled properly without the fear of you sticking to the seat is the essence of a comfortable upholstery.
2. Padding (Check Both Thickness And Density; Nokaxus Chair Is A Good Example)
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The number 1 thing people think of when they hear comfortability is padding. Specifically, how to think the foam padding below the upholstery is. That’s not even a mistake; thick padding is usually more comfortable than thin padding.
For example, the Nokaxus gaming chair is the most famous because it has 5-inch seat padding. That’s about 30% thicker seat padding than a standard seat has. It makes for a comfy seat but even the guys who designed the Nokaxus chair realize what’s even more important than padding density.
And that’s padding density. What you don’t want is a thick fluffy seat. It might feel like sitting on a cloud at first but after sitting on such a seat for a few hours, you realize that you’re drowning in all that coziness.
The density of padding is measure in lb/ft3. It’s additionally correlated with the softness factor (ILD). Regular HD36 foam – the most common padding choice – has a density of 1.8 lb/ft3 and ILD of 35. This is the industry standard.
If you want a comfortable seat, however, you might want to look into cold cure molded foam. It has a density of 5+ lb/ft3 and a softness factor of 50. That means that it is two times as dense as the regular foam and it feels more than 50% harder. Cold cure foam doesn’t give way as easily as regular foam; this translates into comfortable gaming chairs.
In short, the thickness of foam is important, but the density of the foam is even more important when it comes to comfortability.
3. Ergonomic Elements (Pillows, Spine-Friendly Design Of The Seat And Backrest)
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Pretty much every gaming chair currently on the market comes with some kind of back support. The most basic ones are pillows. These include:
- Lumbar support pillow.
- Lower head support pillow.
- High head support pillow.
The best gaming ones, however, don’t use pillows as the primary way to distribute a gamer’s weight. The optimum distribution is designed into the shape of the backrest.
That means that the backrest is designed with ergonomics in mind. The appropriate distribution of padding and backrest shape can feel much more comfortable than basic pillows.
The designers got this idea when checking out luxury sport car seats.
4. Frame And Maximum Weight Capacity (There Is No Comfortability Without Stability)
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In order for any seat to feel comfortable, it has to be stable. Unstable gaming seats – the ones which squeak, for example – are a red flag. Steer clear from them.
The way you can check if yours is stable is by looking at the frame. A stable frame, coupled with a 5-star nylon base, will increase stability.
The best ones have a steel reinforced back frame. The minimum you want is the 1.5 mm steel thickness. The best chairs for big guys can have a steel thickness of 1.8 mm or even more.
The sturdiness of the materials translates into the maximum weight capacity. The standard max. capacity is 300 lbs. However, if you’re a bigger guy or if you just want a more stable seat, you should opt for the ones with 350 lbs or more.
These gaming thrones might be more expensive because they require more high-quality materials to make. However, the higher price is often offset by how stable and thus comfortable gaming in them feels.
5. If You Like Naps, Check Out Gaming Chairs With Footrest
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This is the one add-on that can add extra comfortability. There are several brands like GT RACING and Nokaxus that offer gaming seats with footrests.
The footrest is located under the seat and can be extended in the forward position. You can recline these chairs back, put your legs on the footrest, and enjoy gaming.
If you want to take a short break and rest your eyes, you can easily fall asleep in them. Nothing says comfortability more than the ability to take a nap.
Summary
All in all, if you’re buying a gaming chair, you would probably prefer a comfortable one. These 5 key elements should be used as a checklist to determine if a gaming seat is comfortable or not.
You will be able to keep your focus longer if you have a comfortable seat supporting you properly.
