Office Chairs vs Gaming Chairs

If you’re deciding on a new chair, chances are you’ve seen the office chair vs gaming chair debate. Various tier lists and online discussions mention how one is better than the other, but the reality is a little more complicated than that. Both types of chairs have the same purpose, only they have different styles and target audiences. In this article, we will discuss the differences, and we will also tell you how to recognize a quality chair.

What is an Office Chair?

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An office chair (also called a desk chair) is a chair that is intended to be used at a desk. A good office chair is adjustable and ergonomic, allowing the user to sit in the chair for long periods of time without experiencing long or short term discomfort. Important to note is that there is no one ‘best seat’. Everyone has a different body type, so there is no way to make a chair that suits everyone.

Office chairs come in a wide variety of styles and prices can vary widely. From designer chairs that cost over $1,000 to simple, cheap plastic chairs: the market is huge. Therefore, there is no single design that is identical to an ‘office chair’. In the past, bombastic leather chairs were very trendy, while today’s most popular options seem to mostly use mesh and clean lines in their designs.

Entire books could be written about office chairs and their designs over the decades, but in short: an office chair is a chair that is intended to be used at a desk.

What Is a Gaming Chair?

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Gaming chairs are a type of office chair. Unlike office chairs (which come in a wide variety of designs), there is one design in particular that is associated with gaming chairs: the racing chair.

Basically, it’s a design taken straight from a race car and put on the table. This bucket chair is characterized by a winged backrest that extends to the back of the user’s head. These chairs are also often wider than regular modern office chairs.

The first racing chair appeared in 2006. Since then, many companies have started producing this type of chair until it is basically synonymous with gaming chairs. If you watch professional gaming streamers or tournaments, you will likely see this type of chair at some point.

Are Gaming Chairs Good For Regular Use?

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In short: yes, a gaming chair can be a great overall chair. There’s no reason why a gaming chair can’t be a great office chair.

However, due to the popularity of the design, many companies have tried (and are trying) to make a quick buck with racing-style chairs. Unfortunately this has led to many substandard products flooding the market, giving this type of chair a bad reputation.

In essence, you should consider racing chairs as any other style of office chair. Just like the bulky leather chairs of yesteryear and the minimalist mesh chairs of today, racing chairs are just one category of the broader desk chair product segment. In this category, there are good products and there are bad products.

Real Racing Chairs vs ‘Office Racing Chairs’

One important thing to note is that racing chairs and office chairs actually have very different purposes. Racing seats are designed to perfectly support the driver and minimize movement. Racing chairs generally don’t have to worry about ergonomics or comfort either, as their primary purpose is to maintain the driver’s safety and peak performance during the race, which usually only lasts a few hours at most.

Therefore, it is basically not a good idea to copy + paste a car racing chair onto a five-point base for an office chair. The side bolsters restrict movement, the backrests have little to no lumbar support, and they are not made so that people can sit in them for several hours each day.

However, that doesn’t mean that chairs made in that style are automatically ‘bad’. There are many companies out there that produce racing style chairs with some modifications so they are suitable for use as office chairs. If you like the sporty style of this chair, there’s no reason to automatically exclude it from your shopping list.

What Makes a Good Chair?

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A good office chair should have the following:

• Waist support – It supports the lower back and follows the natural curve of your spine. It’s best if it’s adjustable so you can adjust it to suit your body.
• Backrest reclines – Although technically not necessary, a reclining backrest can help achieve a comfortable sitting position.
• Adjustable armrest – If available, you need an armrest that is at least height adjustable.
• Reclining mechanism with tilt lock – It allows you to lie down without compromising your posture. This helps accommodate natural posture changes.
• The seat height is adjustable – Being able to adjust the seat height is very important for creating a good sitting posture.
• Five star base with smooth wheels – A good desk chair needs five ‘legs’ for stability. Ideally, this base has wheels that allow you to smoothly place the chair in different positions.
• The edge of the chair is curved – Smooth edges reduce pressure on your feet, thereby improving circulation.

Everything else depends on personal preference. Things like the firmness of the seat material can greatly influence the feel of a chair, but there are no specific guidelines for how firm a seat should be.

In essence, a good office chair should allow you to sit with perfect posture. This doesn’t mean you have to sit in the same position all day. Moving around and changing sitting positions is a good thing. Perfect posture is just a good guideline when shopping for a chair. If you can’t get the ideal posture with a chair, it’s not for you.

Are Gaming Chairs Ergonomic?

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Yes, gaming chairs are definitely ergonomic. In fact, various chair brands produce gaming chairs that definitely meet the requirements of a good office chair.

We’ve established that a good office chair should be adjustable and allow you to sit in an optimal position. Having a racing-style design in no way prevents a chair from meeting the requirements of a good office chair, provided the manufacturer actually put thought and effort into creating a good chair rather than just taking a non-adjustable OEM chair and calling it a day. .

Thus: there are no ‘winners’ here. A good racing-style chair can be as comfortable and ergonomic as a regular office chair at the same price. You also don’t need a gaming-style chair to play games. Any good office chair will do.

Comfort and Style

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As we’ve discussed now, gaming chairs are just a different style of office chair. Certain racing styles are now synonymous with ‘gaming’, but functionally there is no difference between a gaming chair and an office chair. Both have the same goal.

Even so: there is one feature that most gaming chairs have that regular office chairs tend not to have, namely their reclining aspect. Office chairs usually allow you to recline the back a little, but gaming chairs are more extreme in this regard. The Secretlab TITAN Evo, for example, allows the backrest to recline up to 165 degrees. This allows you to turn your chair into a lounge chair, which is perfect if you want to rest after playing hard.

Price

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When browsing chair recommendations online, people often recommend specific brands like Herman Miller as an alternative to gaming chairs. While these chairs are certainly amazing, they are also quite expensive, often costing double the price of a gaming chair.

Most people don’t have the budget to afford a high-end seat, so they opt for more economical options that cost around $500. That’s also the price range for most gaming chairs.

When comparing new chairs in the $400-$500 range, there is no reason to say that a gaming chair from a quality brand offers a worse value proposition compared to an office chair from a name brand. It depends on what you prefer in terms of style and features.

A good rule of thumb when shopping for chairs is that you should never walk away Also budget. It’s often better to save a little longer than to buy a really cheap chair that may start to creak or break after almost a year of use. Additionally, many very low budget chairs don’t perform as well as offerings from more reputable brands in terms of ergonomics/comfort.

Good chair brands offer years of warranties, and high-end brands even offer more than a decade of warranty support, so your investment should be safe.

Office Chairs vs Gaming Chairs – The Verdict

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Simply put: gaming chairs are just one model of office chair. Therefore, there is no reason to say that gaming chairs are inherently worse. They are neither worse, nor better. It’s just a different choice.

That said: it’s true that there are plenty of brands looking to make a quick buck by capitalizing on the hype behind racing-style seats. This means that there are more products on the market that are not worth the price. However, there are definitely brands that make high-quality gaming chairs that will let you sit comfortably for years.

If you’re shopping for a new chair, we suggest you do your research (you can use our gaming chair comparison list for help), find out what you like, then decide whether or not to pull the trigger. It doesn’t matter whether you choose a gaming chair or a regular office chair. The most important thing is that you like it and that it suits your body. Quality options can be found in both product categories.