What is a gaming chair?
There's nothing particularly unique about gaming chairs, except the style. Sure, you'll find everything fromgaming armchairstogaming chairs that bring you down close to the floorand everything in between. But these days, the term "gaming chair" tends to denote a specific type of office chair with a leather or faux-leather build, a high-back race car-style seat and colorful patterns.
1. DXRacer Racing Series Gaming Chair
DXRacer was the first brand to produce this style of gaming chair back in 2006 and has grown to offer many different shapes and styles — most built on the same race car chair design. This model uses an artificial polyurethane leather with high density foam and a carbon fiber texture on the seat. You also get strap-on lumbar and neck pillows, and a number of colors and patterns to choose from.
Since their inception, gaming chairs have grown incredibly common behind esports teams, Twitch streamers, YouTubers and other gaming personalities — leading to a surge in popularity.
Are gaming chairs ergonomic?
The word "ergonomic" gets thrown a lot in marketing — especially when it comes to chairs — ultimately, ergonomics is all about customizability.
"If I had to pick one important thing, it's that a chair be easily adjustable" said Karen Jacobs, a board-certified professional ergonomist and clinical professor occupational therapist at Boston University. Specifically, she explained, you want a chair whose height, tilt and armrests are versatile, and then you want to actually learn and use those adjustments so you can get that ideal sitting position at a desk. In fact, it's best if you adjust it throughout the day to vary your posture just a bit, rather than staying in one formation. So, in summary, adjustability is key.
2. GTRACING Gaming Chair
There are dozens of chairs using this racing seat design, but with different features. Many more affordable chairs like this popular model on Amazon — whose more than 18,500 reviewers left it a 4.5-star average rating — allow the back to recline but don't allow for the full seat to tilt. If you're sitting at a desk for long periods, you’ll likely want that full tilt mechanism.
