I’m Looking for a good office chair.
Thanks! Found a good price for a Steelcase Amia.
I have a steelcase chair I like a lot. Not sure of the exact model but it’s got great back support. I paired it with an autonomous standing desk to stretch my legs here and there when I’ve been sitting too long.
I’ve been working from home about 90% of the time since the pandemic lockdown era. I had a cheap office chair and had noticed my back starting to hurt after a few hours in it per day. I eventually wound up getting a Humanscale Freedom headrest chair, which has been awesome. These chairs are stupid expensive, but I bought mine used, and reeking of the previous owner’s perfume. It took months for the smell to completely go away, but I saved about $1,000 over buying one new, and it is otherwise in mint condition.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Herman Miller Aeron Embody 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.
The leap is an excellent “mid range” one since a lot of these chairs can hit $2000 new.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
I have the bottom half of an unpleasantly upholstered office chair that I pulled out of a dumpster a quarter century ago. I would not recommend it, but it’s better than the loose crap I find every time I go chair shopping.
