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After further testing, we added the Steelcase Karman, a lightweight mesh chair, to our other great office chairs. We’ve also added the Branch Verve Chair to the What to Expect section.
Many cheap office chairs can make you feel like you’re crammed into a miserable economy class seat on a cross-country flight. But quality office chairs can elevate you to first class—they’re built to comfortably support your body over time.
We examined dozens of office chairs, interviewed four ergonomics experts, and asked test subjects (of all sizes) to sit together for over 175 hours.
We evaluate office chairs by the comfort of the seat, back and armrests, as well as by the height adjustment of the seat and armrests.
If the chair material looks cheap or looks like it might crack under pressure on the first day, chances are it will be completely broken by day 500.
We are looking for office chairs with a guarantee of at least five years (although longer is better), which covers just about anything that breaks.
This is one of the most adjustable chairs in the world – anyone can make it comfortable, regardless of height and shape. And it’s solid.
The Steelcase Gesture costs over $1,000, but if you’re sitting for a long time, it’s worth it.
In numerous test groups that included dozens of employees trying out office chairs, Gesture has been a favorite since we first recommended it in 2015.
This is one of the most comfortable, comfortable and durable office chairs we have tested. Everything from the back support to the high quality fabrics and the sturdy adjustment knob has stood the test of time.
Gesture offers the widest selection of fabrics and finishes on the chairs we’ve tested, so you can customize its look to your liking.
This chair has more limited armrest adjustment than our top pick, but is also more breathable and comfortable. It comes in three sizes so it suits a wider range of body types than most utility chairs.
The Herman Miller Aeron chair is legendary, comfortable and durable. If you’re hot, the mesh back and seat make it a better choice than the Steelcase Gesture.
Bottom line: if your primary concern is an ergonomic chair that you can comfortably sit at your desk and type for long periods of time, the Aeron is for you.
The Aeron’s armrests aren’t as adjustable as the Gesture’s, so it’s less versatile for a variety of tasks that require arm support, such as propping up a reading tablet. But the Aeron is easier to move than the Gesture, smaller and doesn’t pick up as much fluff.
Known for its durability, this chair is backed by a 12-year warranty. If the price seems too high for you, you can find the rarely used Aeron at a big discount at an office furniture store.
The chair is as comfortable and comfortable as many models that cost twice as much, but lacks some of the advanced adjustment features. It’s also the most memorable model we’ve tested.
If our top pick falls outside your price range, the Herman Miller Sayl chair offers similar comfort and durability for nearly half the price.
The Sayl is not as adjustable as the Steelcase Gesture, but it still caters to our testers’ needs for different shapes and heights.
A high quality chair with excellent lumbar support, Sayl is perfect for those doing standard office work, and its plastic mesh back stays cooler than fabric cushions.
This chair is not like other models. If you like space age design, Sayl is available in a variety of colors to match or stand out.
This is one of the most comfortable chairs we’ve tested. It sells for under $500 and has many of the adjustment features normally reserved for more expensive chairs. But we don’t think it will last as long as our other choices.
If you’re looking for something more affordable than our other options, the HON Ignition 2.0 is the cheapest office chair we’ve tested.
It has all the standard adjustments we’d expect to see in a chair, including seat depth, recline tension, recline lock, seat height, and armrest height.
It is suitable for everyday use and has effective adjustable lumbar support (make sure the product description says “adjustable waist” to purchase a model with this option).
However, the minimum seat height of the chair is 17 inches, so it may be difficult for people who are shorter than average to sit properly with their feet on the floor (we recommend using a footrest). Also, the Ignition 2.0 isn’t as reliable as our more expensive products and we don’t think it will last that long.
This is one of the most adjustable chairs in the world – anyone can make it comfortable, regardless of height and shape. And it’s solid.
This chair has more limited armrest adjustment than our top pick, but is also more breathable and comfortable. It comes in three sizes so it suits a wider range of body types than most utility chairs.
The chair is as comfortable and comfortable as many models that cost twice as much, but lacks some of the advanced adjustment features. It’s also the most memorable model we’ve tested.
This is one of the most comfortable chairs we’ve tested. It sells for under $500 and has many of the adjustment features normally reserved for more expensive chairs. But we don’t think it will last as long as our other choices.
Senior Contributor Caitlin Wells has worked in a hybrid and remote work environment for the past ten years and understands the importance of having a quality office chair. Reporting on Wirecutter’s home office pace, she tests everything from desks and printers to paper planners and dictation software.
Melanie Pinola of Wirecutter wrote several previous versions of this guide after testing dozens of chairs. Melanie also interviewed a number of experts on proper ergonomics.
Buying an office chair is like buying a mattress: if you spend a third of your life sitting or lying on something, it’s better for your health than for breaking your back. If you work full time at a desk, you will have to sit for at least 14,000 hours over the next 10 years. (Assuming you sit in your chair for at least 35 hours a week, which you shouldn’t.)
We now know that any lengthy time spent in a chair can be detrimental to your health, but bad stools will only exacerbate the problem, putting you in a position of increased long-term risk. If you have a home office, then finding a chair that makes your work more comfortable and healthy is worth the effort.
If you don’t spend a lot of time sitting in front of your computer, you don’t need an ergonomic office chair with an emphasis on adjustment like the ones we recommend here. If you only occasionally sit down to check email or play a game, buy a chair that you are most comfortable with or like the way it looks. Many people are happy to do a little work while sitting on a chair or sofa in the dining room. This guide is intended for people who work full time while sitting in an office chair.
Before each round of testing, we browsed the manufacturer’s website for new models and reviewed older editions of this guide to reassess our choices and previous rejections. We also turned to ergonomics experts for advice on how to find the office chair that will best support your body during short or long periods of sitting. To decide which chairs to test, we use the following criteria:
In our testing, each participant rated the chair against the above criteria using a modified version of the Cornell University Chair Ergonomics Assessment Form (PDF). Each panelist evaluates chairs for all criteria on a scale from 0 (unacceptable) to 10 (excellent).
Testers evaluate comfort, body support, adjustability, and durability as they sit in chairs typing, playing video games, writing emails, sitting in meetings, and then leaning back to think.
We also collected long-term test records of chairs that employees have been using in the office for several months.
This is one of the most adjustable chairs in the world – anyone can make it comfortable, regardless of height and shape. And it’s solid.
The Steelcase Gesture has enough adjustability to fit a wide range of body types and is the best and most comfortable office chair for most people.
It’s so convenient. After sitting in different office chairs during testing, returning to the Gesture was “like going to the spa,” as one panelist put it.
Impressively, panelists gave Gesture the highest score across all of our criteria. The Gesture seat is said to strike the right balance of hardness and softness when compared to similar chair seats; it is much better than sitting on a cheap chair, which is almost the same as sitting on an equally sturdy chair.
Wirecutter employees who own Gesture confirm that after five years of heavy use, the seat cushion, back cushion and armrests are as comfortable as they were on day one.
It is versatile, supportive and feature rich. As our test group, which included writers, editors, and photographers of all sizes, confirmed that this chair can comfortably handle a variety of tasks.
The lumbar and back support of this chair is on par with other chairs in this price range, that is, very good. But the Gesture stands out for how comfortable it is to tilt it and how easy it is to change position. Most other chairs have backs that recline when you recline, but the Gesture back is also designed to flex because the shape of your spine when you recline is different from when you sit up straight.
Our testers agreed that the Gesture’s recumbent position was one of the most comfortable chairs we’ve tested. This is because this gesture maintains the angle, so you don’t have to keep pushing your legs or body away to maintain that angle (like you do with most other chairs).
It offers more and better settings than the competition. The gestures are easy to control and can be customized to suit your task and body type. You can move the seat depth forward and backward, change the backrest tension, adjust the seat recline, and move the seat up and down.
Gesture is also the only chair we’ve tested with ball-and-socket armrests that can be moved just about anywhere. We found Gesture’s hand support to be very helpful when we played games, leaned back to read, and drew for long periods of time while leaning on the tablet.
Post time: Aug-29-2023