Major Gaming Chair Brands Ranked Worst To Best

Ask the internet if a gaming chair is really worth it and you'll get a confident answer: "No, buy a good ergonomic chair instead." The reasons they'll give sound sensible, too. After all, who wouldn't want to avoid back pain in the future? And why would you give up a 12-year warranty, the gold standard in the ergo chair industry? There's only one problem: A good ergonomic chair like the Steelcase Leap costs about $1,200. This isn't the kind of chair that will last you a lifetime, either. It's just a chair that will keep your back in good shape. Wanting a cheaper alternative is understandable.

Among a sea of no-name Amazon office chairs and shady "semi-ergonomics," you'll find gaming chairs. It's worth saying that office chairs can be just as good as gaming chairs, and they're often a little cheaper, but it can be hard to know which manufacturers is trustworthy. Gaming chairs are the other way around, with big brand names, serious warranties, and at least some reviews available for every product — they could have everything you're looking for, and at a reasonable price. But how do you know which major gaming chair brand is good for you? I've owned many gaming and office chairs in the past, and I've adjusted my home office for comfort and ergonomics multiple times. Let's look at which gaming chair brand is best for you, starting with the ones you should avoid.

Razer is one of the biggest gaming accessories manufacturer to boosts a wide range of gaming chairs. However, when compared to other brands, Razer's products stick out like a sore thumb due to their excessive pricing, starting with the Enki X, a $399 chair with no tilt, no 4D armrests, and no adjustable lumbar support. Things are a little better (but only a little) when it comes to the $499 standard Enki, which comes in three sizes and includes fully customizable armrests, but no adjustable back support. The "premium memory foam head cushion" is also just a detachable cushion tied to the top of the chair. For this price, you'd expect something more premium.

The Iskur V2 is an improvement, being the cheapest chair by Razer to include adjustable lumbar support, but one you'll have to pay for dearly. With a price of $650, the Iskur V2 is in the same price line as Fractal Design's Refine, with which it can't really compare. Fujin and Fujin Pro bring a lot more to the table, but they're more comparable to ergonomic office chairs than gaming chairs. Finally, the $999 Enki Pro is simply too much money for a slight upgrade on an average racing seat-style chair, and comes with a basic 3-year limited warranty that doesn't include "wear and tear" like cuts and discolorations, and only two weeks of returns.

Herman Miller isn't known for making gaming chairs. It makes ergonomic chairs, the kind people swear ended their decades-long battle with back pain. Their purchase is often juxtaposed to the price of postural exercises, physiotherapy, and a life with chronic pain — many people will find it hard to justify buying a chair that costs more than your rent without comparing it to a medical expense.

With that in mind, Herman Miller makes some of the best gaming-branded chairs you can get, as long as you can get over two potential dealbreakers. The first is that HM doesn't make racing car-style chairs, just office chairs, even if some of them look more like design objects. The second, much bigger dealbreaker is the price. Don't expect to spend less than $900 — even that will only get you the (flawed, for the price) Herman Miller x Logitech Vantum. But surely, those chairs must be worth their exorbitant price. Some of them do, perhaps, but some are grossly overpriced, as you should expect from Herman Miller. And it's not just chairs. HM's standard home office accessories are just as overpriced. How overpriced? A monitor arm costs $295.

A prolific name when it comes to must-have gaming accessories and PC components, Asus' most respected entry in the gaming chair world is the ROG Destrier, a high-end, quasi-ergonomic chair. However, unlike ergonomic chairs which can easily cost more than $1,500, the Destrier is in line with the price of a high-end gaming chair. The Destrier is a great chair, with a mesh back, a base that can move forward and backward, and lumbar support adjustment. Even if its price of $629 might draw people away, it's not that expensive for what it is. If it had solid 4D armrests, it could be the best of its price range, but if you don't need those, the Destrier is a solid investment.

Asus' other gaming chairs didn't do as well. The Aethon is not very popular and while it is more affordable than the rest, $399 isn't cheap enough for what it is, featuring a fixed lumbar pillow and 2D armrests. Meanwhile, the Chariot's price of $750 on Amazon puts it in competition with Asus' own Destrier, which weirdly enough almost wins the contest. The Chariot might have 4D armrests, but it doesn't feature an adjustable 3D lumbar support, nor is it an ergonomic chair,  a designation that will raise the price of any product by a few hundred dollars alone. But it does have RGB lights!

In addition to its gloriously weird Orb X GamePod, Cooler Master features more chair offerings than most gaming accessory companies. While that's not exactly a high bar to clear — having three chairs would put it ahead of most of the competition — the brand's chair division seems to have an answer to every need, from the affordable Ergo L ergonomic office chair to the beloved Caliber gaming chair. Let's start with the first. The Ergo L doesn't look like most gaming chairs, which could be a positive or negative point, depending on your taste, but I can tell you your body will almost certainly like its shape. The same thing is true of the mesh back: some people like the look of synthetic leather more, but our skin needs to breathe, and it doesn't care much for aesthetic preference.

For a little over $600, the Ergo L brings adjustable semi-ergonomic chairs to the masses, even if the armrests are way too far apart from each other. Cooler Master's Caliber is even more popular than the Ergo, possibly thanks to its more traditional shape for a gaming chair and 4D armrests that don't sit 27.2 inches away from each other. Some versions of the Caliber, like the Caliber X2, can sometimes be found for far less than their retail price. I wouldn't normally suggest this chair, but if you can find one for $300 or less, that's about as good as you can do for the budget.

Known for its RAM sticks and PSUs, Corsair is a major PC brand on the market, but its store features quite a few gaming chairs, too. That includes one of the cheapest options you can find from a reputable brand, though for $250 you definitely get what you pay for. For some, the limitations of the TC100 might be reasonable. You can only adjust the height and distance of the armrests from the center of the chair, but that's what matters most. Meanwhile, lumbar support is minimal and the overall shape of the chair doesn't make the ergonomics much better. Two years of warranty aren't what I'd expect from the more expensive chairs, but feels justified by the price.

Meanwhile, Corsair's mid-range T3/T1 models — which are essentially the same chair, covered by different fabric — don't add enough to justify the $80 increase over the TC100. Finally, the TC500 seems to be Corsair's answer to the Secretlab's Titan Evo, and while at about $500 it is priced competitively, it doesn't survive the comparison unscathed. For one, the armrests are a consistent point of complaint in consumer reviews, both because of the distance between them, and for how much they can swivel with minimal force. Unlike direct competitors like the Secretlab Titan and the Fractal Design Refine, the armrests can't be switched for more premium options either.

AndaSeat isn't the biggest name when it comes to gaming chairs, it is one of the few brands dedicated exclusively to this kind of product. Its lineup isn't as large as other more popular brands, but it covers the bases. Its premium products are conveniently priced at $529, and its low end reaches $199, though if your budget is that restrictive you might want to buy a cheap office chair instead. The cheapest Novis isn't really worth talking about, since for just $50 more you can get a Corsair TC100, which comes with at least some adjustability. Weirdly enough, even if the smallest size is labeled L, the Novis is pretty good for those below average height, since the armrests are close to the center.

The company's quasi-ergonomic X-Air goes for $399, and has more than most competitors offer in this price range, including 4D armrests, 3D headrest, adjustable lumbar support, and breathable, soft mesh. If the armrests weren't so far away from each other, this would be a great pick for everyone. They're just shy of 26 inches  apart, so you'd need some very broad shoulders to use this chair comfortably. Meanwhile, the Kaiser 3 and $569 Kaiser 4 come with some goofy 5D armrests that can be raised like a drawbridge, detachable memory foam headrest, and adjustable lumbar support, putting it on pair with other chairs of a similar price while not doing a lot more than the X-Air, besides placing the armrests at a reasonable position.

The biggest strength of the Fractal Design Refine is how customizable it is, which is good news for Fractal, since it only makes this one chair. The backrest can lean up to 125-degrees and the base can move up and down — so far so basic — but it gets more interesting with the adjustable and removeable headrest, two axis of movement lumbar support, and a seat that can slide forward and backward. The 4D armrests complete the package, making this an extremely easy to adjust chair for $600. While there is no way to fully lock them in place, the armrests' four axis of movement (up-down, in-out, forward-back, clockwise-counterclockwise) allow you to take comfort in the most overlooked aspect of bad desk ergonomics: constantly raised shoulders.

The one problem of the Refine is that it doesn't seem to have much of an eye for ergonomics. This doesn't just mean it's not an ergo chair, but that it doesn't even embrace the most common innovations that have their origin in ergonomics but have since trickled into gaming chair design. Curved backrest is one that the Refine lacks, even if it does have lumbar support. The shallow seat cushion is another common point of complaint. That said, unless you're willing to spend $1,000 or more, you'll have to give up on some things, and the Fractal Design Refine doesn't lack anything usually found on chairs of a similar range, while bringing something new to the table.

Secretlab used to have a wide range of gaming chairs of different prices and styles, but lately it seems like the company has focused entirely on the Titan, the family of models which the manufacturer calls "the core Secretlab experience". However, this doesn't mean that the company hasn't been improving its products. The Regular and Small sizes of the Titan Evo feature shorter hydraulics that let it get closer to the floor, allowing more people to place their feet firmly on the ground, where they should be. The company also offers a Lite version of the Titan Evo that costs about $90 less but doesn't feature adjustable lumbar support, and a much more expensive NanoGen version featuring "next-generation" foam and fabrics, whatever that is.

If you're going to pick up any of those chairs, we suggest you get the Titan Evo, or at most an older flagship Titan model, if you can find it used. The Titan Evo comes with "the world's most advanced 4-way lumbar support system," which might be a little pompous but does mean there's adaptable lumbar support in this otherwise stiff and straight backrest. The headrest isn't adaptable, but it is easy to detach and seems like quality memory foam. Finally, the armrest have four directions of movement. Overall, for $569 this chair fairs about as well as Fractal Design's Refine. The Titan, as the name implies, is quite a bit wider and might not be very comfortable for those who don't need the extra space. It also comes with a five-year warranty instead of the regular three, though it doesn't cover wear and tear.

We based our gaming chair brand assessments on — in order of importance — ergonomics, comfort, extras like adaptable armrests and headrests, and price/quality relation. Another influencing factor is the degree to which each chair can adapt to different types of bodies, or alternatively the choice of different sizes offered for the same model. We did not give a lot of weight to the number of chairs offered by each brand, since most people only need one chair. Finally, we based our decision on personal experience, professional reviews that have appeared on SlashGear and other websites, and user reviews.