If you’re a PC user, and especially a work-from-home PC user, you probably spend an excess amount of time sitting and might be considering an ergonomic office chair. While everyone should get up and move at least once an hour if able, these chairs are designed around longer overall working periods. Their construction helps the lumbar region of the spine in your back and offers neck support as well. To go even further however, the best ergonomic office chairs will support your whole body — adjustable arm rests exist for your arms and shoulders, for example — and will be made of premium materials for maximum comfort.
Hforesty Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair
Best ergonomic office chair for most people
- Great adjustability
- Breathable back
- Great for reclining
- Somewhat expensive
- Somewhat basic
When we think of a nice, cool (as in not warm) office chair, we think of an office chair like this one from Hforesty. It’s got a mesh backing and headrest and has space between the lower back and seat components, both of which promote air circulation and make for perfect office companions even during the hottest months of the year. In other words, the basic chassis of the Hforesty Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair could go toe to toe with that of any standard office chair. While those with fancier tastes may find this chair somewhat on the basic side, for the typical user this is likely the office chair layout you were looking for.
What makes the Hforesty one of the best ergonomic office chairs is its commitment to offering robust, but easy adjustments throughout the chair without becoming prohibitively expensive. For example, the mesh headrest can be adjust in both height and angle, while the curved lumbar support moves with you into an optimal spot as you go through the Hforesty’s 90 to 135 degree tilt range. Next, you’ll find a fully 4D arm rest, meaning it can be adjusted up, down, left, right, forward, backwards, clockwise, and counterclockwise. Finally, as you recline, take advantage of the extendable footrest.
Full MSRP for this chair sits at over $300. That’s good for a great ergonomic office chair, but might feel expensive if you aren’t using all of the features. In other words, if you’re just looking for an office chair with a bit of extra lumbar support, you might find yourself disappointed. That being said, if you are lucky enough to find the Hforesty amongst the office chair deals of the day, it is a great office chair for anybody that values cool comfort and ergonomic support.
Herman Miller Embody
Best premium ergonomic office chair
- Designed to encourage good posture
- “Pixelated support” for region-by-region care
- Ideal back tilt
- Costly
The creation of Herman Miller’s Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber, the Herman Miller Embody, is a premium ergonomic office chair best for those looking for superior posture and fine-tuned results. Beyond being made from premium materials, a lot of clever design work goes into the Embody. For example, the back rises to a narrow taper in such a way that allows you full movement (none of that sinking in the chair feel) but also demands are commanding, upright posture when you do relax a little into the chair. Plus, it has a spine-supporting curve your back will die for.
What embodies the Herman Miller Embody, however, is what is seen from behind the chair. It’s what the designers are calling “Pixelated Support” and essentially translates to micro-regional support. Even if you aren’t a squirmer, you move somewhat in your chair as you go about your day. These regional supports are designed to reduce pressure and give you less tension buildup throughout the day.
AutoFull C3 Gaming Chair
Best ergonomic office chair for gamers
- Gaming chair style, office chair aesthetic
- Lumbar waist pillow styled for spine
- 155-degree recline
- Armrests lacking
If you work from home and are guilty of using a Twitch stream as your watercooler chatter alternative, you’ve probably gotten a little jealous of streamer’s glorious gaming chairs. Unfortunately, if you have a stuffy boss, using a bright and shiny gaming chair during your next Zoom meeting might give you an unfounded reputation as being unprofessional. The AutoFull C3 is a great compromise, as it retains the racing style of a gaming chair while coming in more muted colors like brown, black, and grey PU leather.
As for the AutoFull C3’s ergonomic side, you’ll almost certainly appreciate its adjustable headrest, which follows the pretty standard build for these on gaming chairs. But where the ergonomics really kick in is what AutoFull is calling its “3D Bionic Lumbar Support” that lines the bottom half of the backrest. It’s built for maximum spinal support due to its shape, supporting the lumbar spine as well as the scapular spine and caudal spine. In layman’s terms, the backrest is designed to support the full lower and upper back and is shaped in such a way that each major region of your lower back gets the support it needs. We only wish that the armrests took the same queue, as they’re a little harder than the rest of the chair.
Flexispot C8 Exclusive Ergonomic Chair
Easiest to adjust
- Minimal work get a great fit for you
- Stylish modern look
- Best for medium to small bodies
Tired of fidgeting with supports, adjusting back bracing, and having a troublesome time getting your chair’s height properly adjusted? Flexispot’s C8, to a degree, takes care of most of that for you and makes the rest easy, all while being made of a premium, comfortable mesh. The back, which provides some curve for spinal comfort, is lined with PU soft plastic. This PU plastic adjusts based on your body’s weight (and, presumably, the pressure you put into the back of the chair with your sitting style) automatically. Do note, however, that this mechanism will work best for people with medium to small sized bodies, as one of the few complaints we see about the C8 are that it isn’t quite as comfortable for heavier people. A better ergonomic office chair for the big and tall can be found below.
Other adjustments that make Flexispot’s C8 comfortable are easy to adjust, such as the movable headrest and 3D armrests. The seat is adjustable, but can also automatically adjust based on your needs. As a result, this is a largely hassle-free ergonomic office chair that can take care of your comfort while your focus on the task at hand.
Colamy Big and Tall Office Chair
Best big and tall ergonomic office chair
- Supports most bodies
- Sofa-like seating
- Designed specifically for larger bodies
- Though comfortable, cannot adjust armrests
If you’re a large individual, you may have encountered office chairs that won’t support you. This frustrating issue can go away with chairs like this one from Colamy, specifically made with issues that affect you in mind. It is designed with heavy-duty materials that will stay structurally sound during use. Additionally, the cushions are thick for long lasting fluff that will stay soft and keep you comfortable during long days.
While you cannot tell from looking at the chair, the Colamy’s headrest is height adjustable, giving you seamless support at any height. Likewise, the lumbar support is controlled by an internal airbag. Adjusting the internal mechanism adds or releases pressure on the lumbar region, giving you ergonomic lumbar support that makes sense for your body. When sitting in the chair and resting your arms on the armrests, you’ll find that they are very comfort and use a higher quality of materials than other office chairs, but are not adjustable.
Steelcase Series 1
Best ergonomic office chair for shared offices
- Sits comfortably for most people
- Responsive ergonomics
- Highly customizable
- Headrest costs extra
Steelcase’s philosophy when it comes to chairs is that they should support everybody from the 5% to the 95%. Whether you are five-foot tall or six-foot-one, a Steelcase Series 1 chair will fit you comfortably. That makes it great for shared home offices, as the chair is likely to be equally good for one spouse as the other. It’s integrated flexor system (called “LiveBack”) works to fit your back. Likewise, parts of the chair’s supports are weight triggered, giving you support based on you, not the position of some knob. When sitting down, and reclining, you should feel comfortable quickly by design.
The other great thing about a Steelcase They’re very customizable. You can get the back and base color that fits your room and tastes, get armrests in the style you like (or no armrests at all), and get wheels that suit your floors. The five chairs above? All are Steelcase Series 1 chairs. So, while this is one chair, and one set of design sensibilities for your back, it feels more like an armada of different chairs that you can choose from to get something that ultimately suits your environment.
Ezaki High Back Office Chair
Best ergonomic executive office chair
- Memory foam filled
- Metal construction and premier wheels
- Easy lumbar adjustment
- Not for short people
For those wanting a chair in the executive style, the Ezaki will give you what you are looking for. In addition to having a premier look, it uses premium materials, such as the spring-loaded memory foam filling in the upper part of the chair and premium rubber wheels and metal alloy in the bottom half. It provides a subtly padded headrest for comfort that won’t push your chin forward in an uncomfortable tilt when rocking or even reclining to the full 130 degrees.
Like the ergonomic office chair above, the Ezaki has and internal adjustable lumbar support. It operates by adjusting the internal pressure of the lower back area of the chair, giving you full control of give and stiffness in the region. This chair is particularly nice if you use a 2-in-1 laptop for your work, as it has 90-degree flip up arms. Just flip up the arms on the side of the chair and your elbows can comfortably extend outwards, unhindering both tapping and typing as you sit or recline in the Ezaki and work.
Neo Chair High Back
Best budget ergonomic office chair
- Premium mesh
- Easy assembly
- Clean aesthetic
- Not suitable for larger bodies
- No headrest
You may think that you would need to spend a ton to get quality ergonomic adjustments on your office chair, but that’s not the case anymore. The Neo Chair High Back provides a premium mesh backing with a lumbar support behind it. This lumbar support can be adjusted by two inches, up or down, to provide the best support area for the curvature of your spine. Similarly, the upper part of the back rest curves in a way that will naturally support you. Flip up arms will support all of your activities from resting while watching a tutorial video on your main monitor, to sitting cross-legged and doodling in a notebook on your lap. The chair is a lightweight 21 pounds, which makes it maneuverable and adds to its already easy construction. It comes in three colors, but we think you’ll particularly love the clean and modern aesthetic of the white variation.
Overall, if you’re looking for an ergonomic office chair under $150, it will be hard to find something better. Plus, when this chair goes on sale, it can easily become the best ergonomic office chair under $100. Unfortunately, however, it does tend to be better for smaller people and outright will not support those over 250 pounds. If you can handle the chair, though, it is a great buy.
How we chose these ergonomic office chairs
While we broke up the categories into some of the most sought after types of office chairs, there were some common factors that we needed to look at for each chair to determine if it was right for you. Here is an up close look at our primary specification categories:
Support
At the end of the day, we buy ergonomic office chairs to get quality support for our bodies. Different chairs have different means of providing this support to us.
For head and neck support, look at the headrest of your new office chair. In most cases, there will be some padding where you will rest your head and oftentimes a curved neck support. Office chairs that are also intended for gaming may even have an attachable headrest support pillow that juts out further. This helps during extended periods of lounging during gaming and may feel excessive for the hunched-over-the-keyboard work from homer. While most headrests are stable, some move up and down or are even tiltable.
Lumbar support is a phrase that you’ve almost certainly heard but might not have the physiology chops to fully understand. The lumbar, or “lumbar spine” as doctors might more formally refer to it, and incorporate the spinal curve above your butt. To no great surprise, human evolution didn’t involve a lot of sitting in office chairs. As a result, this curved area of the spine can get undue pressure. The best ergonomic office chairs will offset this pressure with increased support to this region of the spine. This can be through pillows, memory foam, or increased solid support in the structure of the chair in that region. Some chairs will even offer the chance to adjust the ‘give’ of the lumbar region of chair via internal inflation. At max pressure (and inflation) the region will become stiff and offer tons of support, while low pressure will allow for a more relaxed seating position.
Armrests
Oh, the armrests you’ll see! Unfortunately, the 2D, 3D, and 4D labelling of armrests make them seem more like extraterrestrial sketch artists than comfy places for your arms. Here are common designations for styles of armrest that you’ll see when selecting an ergonomic office chair:
- 2D — These typically allow for up, down, forward, and backward movement.
- 3D — These also allow for up, down, forward, and backward movement, but also add another dimension of adjustability. In most cases this will be side-to-side movement (great for people with wide or thin shoulders) but can also mean clockwise or counterclockwise rotation.
- 4D — 4D armrests allow for up, down, forward, backward, right, left, clockwise, and counterclockwise movement of the armrests.
- Flip up — While flip up armrests don’t sound as fancy as 4D armrests, then can be ever bit as handy. As the name suggests, this style of armrest flips up 90 degrees to get out of your way. If you like to sit cross-legged in your office chair from time to type and/or type away at your business laptop from your lap, strongly consider getting a flip up armrest style for maximum comfort.
User weight
This goes without saying, but you need to get an office chair that is suitable for your body. Office chairs will come with a rating for maximum weight they can carry. Manufacturers are getting better and better about this over the years and nearly all halfway decent ergonomic office chairs will support at least 250 pounds and a minimum, with 300 pounds being the typical weight limit you can expect to get. Special ‘tall and heavy’ ergonomic office chairs exist for heavier users and many are especially designed around the needs of heavier users.
This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.
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