The 5 Best Gaming Chairs of 2024 (2024)

The Best Gaming Chairs for 2024

Best Gaming Chair for Most People

AndaSeat Kaiser 3

Adjustable Armrest: 4 Way | Adjustable Lumbar: Yes

With a thick, cushiony seat and bolsters that feel like a hug, the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 gaming chair provides superb comfort. The addition of a strong magnetic neck pillow that stays in place allows us to sit for long periods of time without pressure spots. The internal lumbar support might be a little tricky to dial in, especially while seated, but it can be adjusted for curvature and height. Other nice features of the Kaiser 3 include a quality recline and adjustable armrests. Reclining from 90° to 165° with a tilt lock holding the chair in five different positions, smoothly rocking and relaxing into a variety of angles had everyone on the team delighted to micro-adjust to their specific needs. Though not as cushy as some might like, the armrests provide ample support and can be raised and partially rotated for resting elbows during mobile gaming. Held in place magnetically, the armrest toppers come in a variety of colors (like the chairs themselves) and could be easily swapped out if wear and tear persists. Overall, we thought its solid construction and thoughtful design make for a relaxed gaming session that will support you for several hours of play.

Although the seat is wide, allowing for a variety of seat positions, we thought the lumbar support could be improved. It takes some time to dial in the sweet spot, although some testers noted it had an odd shape, resulting in an outlier design compared to other positive attributes. Also, if you are on the smaller side, this seat may not lower far enough to comfortably place your feet flush with the ground. Another fully adjustable, high-comfort option is the Iskur V2 by Razer. Its unique lumbar system is a game changer for a lot of people, and it also proves a powerfully comfortable seat for any gaming command center, though it is priced quite a bit higher.

Read more: AndaSeat Kaiser 3 review

A Great Runner Up

Razer Iskur V2

Adjustable Armrest: 4 Way | Adjustable Lumbar: Yes

The Razer Iskur V2 gaming chair is a phenomenal upgrade with improvements driven by feedback from ergonomic experts and professional gamers who rightfully found faults with aspects of its predecessor. Players desiring long-term comfort and support with a lot of options for adjusting to individual preferences will find more than enough to love here. Maintaining a racing seat design while swapping out bar-supported bolsters for a far more preferable foam, the back curves around in a cradling embrace. Serious thought went into adding a swivel capability to the lumbar support, which follows your body as you turn and can be adjusted up/down and in/out, more so than other built-in systems. The 4D armrests also swivel and can go high for mobile gaming support, and the neck pillow offers a luxurious cushiness. To finish it all off, Iskur V2 truly knocks it out of the park for ease of setup, only taking us 10 minutes to install ourselves.

Although the Iskur V2 has many admirable attributes, it does come at a cost, and though we think the price tag is mostly justified, it might be just out of reach for some. The seat height has a good range of adjustability, about five inches, and while shorter gamers around 5-foot 3-inches can rest their feet on the floor at its lowest setting, they might find discomfort with the lumbar support even when dialed back to its lowest setting. Minus these somewhat nitpicky considerations, we believe the Iskur V2 is one of the best gaming chairs around. More reasonably priced and featuring a less prominent internal lumbar support and a magnetic neck pillow that is easier to move as you wish, the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 is another terrific option. Both chairs deliver superior comfort with impressive support as well as comprehensive adjustability.

Read more: Razer Iskur V2 review

Best Bang for the Buck

Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S

Adjustable Armrest: 4 Way | Adjustable Lumbar with massager: Raise & Lower

The Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S is a comfortable and adjustable gaming chair at a reasonable price for gamers seeking a budget-friendly option without sacrificing too much in features and comfort. The faux leather is actually quite supple and soft to the touch, nicer than a lot of similar coverings. The armrests have some cushion but remain firm for a perfect middle ground of support, and though the up/down range is average, they do swivel and can be adjusted forward/back and in/out to allow for a good fit. The decently padded footrest is a nice touch, but it would be nice if it extended out a little farther (a common limitation with this feature), though it is easy enough to pull out for those longer kick-back sessions. The Dowinx is made for those laid-back cat naps between gaming sessions as the seat reclines to about 165° and all the way to 180° with the tilt unlocked.

The Dowinx Retro Series seat has good width and a pleasing squish to it. However, our testers did start to note some discomfort with the underlying seat construction around the 6-hour mark, and the lack of breathability makes for a hotter seat during sweaty summer months. The seat includes strapped-in back and neck pillows along with a massager fitting into the lumbar support in such a way that you can feel the vibration but not the motor casing. It is somewhat gimmicky and a tad on the noisy side with a surprisingly short (approximately 4' long) cord, which fortunately comes with a quick release. The neck pillow sags a bit, so taller gamers might find themselves having to readjust it each time they sit down or lean forward. There is no tilt limiter, and the tension on the lock is pretty tight, making it more difficult to move back. Although there are some subtle disadvantages, the Dowinx Retro Series gaming chair offers solid value for its price, combining comfort, a good range of adjustability, and high-quality faux leather for a pleasurable and affordable gaming chair. An even lower cost option also worth a look is the GT800A Footrest from GTPlayer. It offers a similar degree of comfort and also features a lumbar massager to help keep you comfortable and on track during gameplay.

Read more: Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S review

Best on A Tight Budget

GTPlayer GT800A Footrest

Adjustable Armrest: None | Adjustable Lumbar: Raise & Lower

For a fraction of the price of most serious gaming chairs, the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest offers comfort and adjustability to gamers operating on the tightest budget. This model provides the base features of a good gaming chair, including adjustable lumbar and neck pillows that are strapped around the chair, giving you the freedom to shift up and down along the straps of the system. A footrest gives an added perk for leisure and support for your legs. Although the chair isn't designed to tilt, it does have an aggressive recline angle for quick cat naps between gaming sessions.

In addition to the features mentioned above, the lumbar of the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest includes a massaging feature, which is no replacement for a masseuse and generates some unwanted noise but is functional. The armrest design is interesting and moves at two pivot points, which auto-adjusts with the chair's reclining but lacks any other adjustments. Our larger and heavier team members felt the tensioning knob was too weak to provide adequate tension, and the entire team rated the chair to a maximum of 5 hours before needing a serious break from being seated. Shortcomings aside, our team would recommend it as a replacement for an office chair for gaming or gamers who may be tight on cash. A budget-friendly option that offers a comparable degree of comfort and a step up in adjustability, not to mention built-in headrest speakers and adjustable armrests, is GTRacing's Music Series.

Read more: GTPlayer GT800A Footrest review

A Great Office and Gaming Option

Modway Articulate Ergonomic

Adjustable Armrest: Up/Down | Adjustable Lumbar: Raise & Lower Backrest

The Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh isn't as highly regarded as the top gaming chairs, but it does catch our eye as it costs hundreds of dollars less than those models and was well received by our test team for its respectable adjustability and good comfort all-around. Additionally, its mesh design will keep you cool when your gaming rig is running hot, or you are cooking your processor to crank through large spreadsheets or rendering a final cut.

It also does not recline as much as the premium gaming chairs we tested, and it lacks the same level of adjustability and features, like a more robust lumbar or aggressive bucket racing seat design. Overall, the Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh is a good option for those who want a chair that is comfortable enough for gaming but will primarily be used for work. If you are exclusively hunting for a gaming chair but you're still on a budget, take a look at either the GT800A Footrest or the Music Series by GTPlayer for nice entry-level options with decent comfort ratings and varied feature sets that won't break the bank.

Read more: Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh review

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Why Trust GearLab

Our test team has employed a systematic approach to testing and devoted hundreds of hours to evaluating our carefully narrowed product selection. We sought the input of our in-house GearLab test team members, who spend many hours a day sitting at their desks researching and analyzing varied products. Their collective input provided a wide range of opinions about comfort and adjustability due largely to their different body shapes and heights, ranging from a 5-foot 3-inch tester weighing in at closer to 120 lbs to individuals weighing around 200 pounds at a height of over 6 feet.

We divided the scoring of each gaming chair into three key metrics:

• Comfort (55% of total score weighting)

• Adjustability (35% weighting)

• Setup (10% weighting)

For this review, we brought in lead tester Austin Palmer. Austin has a rich background in research and objective review, having honed that expertise while earning a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Sam Houston State University. He now spends the typical work week sitting at a desk for his job at GearLab, so he has more than a few opinions on everyday office chairs. Moreover, he is a serious lifelong PC gamer who spends even more time sitting in a gaming chair during his free time and has also tested office chairs for seven years, so he came to the task ready to extract the facts and explore the subtle nuances in design or performance that might appear along the way. Review editor James Maiz has spent many years extracting and distilling qualitative and quantitative insights by parsing perceptions and preferences, combing through sprawling datasets, and supporting investigations and analyses by higher education researchers, pre-trial legal consultants, and market/product testers. He holds an advanced writing degree from San Francisco State University and trawled our extensive feedback on gaming chairs to help surface and illuminate the good, the bad, and the cushy.

Analysis and Test Results

We spent countless hours collectively sitting, reclining, measuring, and evaluating our gaming chair selection so that we could bring you the most unbiased and objective data available. With our testing results, you can choose the best model for elevating your gaming experience.

Value

The quality and comfort of gaming chairs are somewhat correlated to cost, with a couple of opportunities to purchase bargain options on tighter budgets and still get a good balance of comfort and adjustability. The AndaSeat Kaiser 3 rides at the bottom of the high-priced product tier. It could be a good investment for gamers who are going to be putting in long hours and need a quality chair to match.

If the cost is too steep for your wallet, the Dowinx Retro scores admirably in our tests, which provides a great balance between price and performance. For under $200, the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest is a great option for those who need to save even more money. Although we recommend these budget picks, do understand that they come with drawbacks in reduced adjustability where we weren't able to sit for full-length days compared to higher priced products in the selection.

There is one outlier in our results that we want to note. The Asus ROG, although priced high, didn't show a complementary appraisal from our test team. It has great features with a wide range of adjustability, but underperformed in our comfortability metric, making us look to other chairs in this category, all while saving a few hundred bucks.

Comfort

The comfort test metric holds the greatest weighting in our testing, as it is the most important aspect of a gaming chair. We specifically enlisted judges from our in-house GearLab team to evaluate the comfort levels of each chair's three submetrics: seat, backrest, and armrest comfort. Our test team also assessed the comfort of sitting in each chair for an extended period to produce an average maximum amount of time one could sit in each chair with reasonable comfort. Our panel consisted of individuals of various weights and heights who had the opportunity to test each chair side by side over a long period of time.

Regarding overall comfort, the Razer Iskur V2 rose to the top as one of the most comfortable models in our product lineup, with SecretLabs Titan Evo 2022 not far behind and just a smidge ahead of the AndaSeat Kaiser 3.

The AndaSeat Kaiser 3 scored well for back comfort, especially for the upper back, as the lumbar support takes some trial and error to get just right, while the AutoFull C3 ranked only a tad lower, partially due to some of our testers feeling warmer over time. Also, wider-shouldered gamers who like to lean back and relax might find the C3's bolsters a little cramped but not to an uncomfortable degree. Another chair with excellent backrest comfort to consider is the SecretLabs Titan Evo 2022, which is made of materials that seem to do a better job of dissipating heat. That, combined with the strong magnetic neck pillow that comes with it, makes it a great option for extended gaming sessions.

The lumbar support of the Razer Iskur V2 stands apart from other models for its noticeable lumbar panel. Instead of a pillow that changes position over time or fixed supports that cannot be adjusted, the Iskur V2 offers complete lower back support through a panel that matches a natural lumbar curve, which adjusts to some really serious extremes. It will also follow you as you turn, a unique design that provides support when moving around.

While most higher priced models outshined the majority of the product test lineup, our team still felt two other models, the Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S and the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest, offer serious gamers a high level of comfort at more approachable prices. They offer adjustable lumbar and neck pillows plus a comfortable footrest when you want one. Our team rated the seat on the Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S as the significantly more comfortable of the two overall, with the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest offering a firm seat cushion with less give. A massage feature of the GTPlayer GT800A may seem a little gimmicky, but it is functional.

Concerning more serious gaming sessions, with campaigns lasting more than five hours and multiplayer cooperatives, you'll find long-term comfort from the Razer Iskur V2, the SecretLabs Titan Evo 2022, and the AndaSeat Kaiser 3. Our team's final assessments rated these chairs to 8 hours of use with adequate comfort, while they rated the runner-ups, the AutoFull C3 and Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S, to 6 hours.

Behind our duration comfort leaders, our team rated the Homall S-Racer Gaming Chair to a maximum of five-and-a-half hours of adequate comfort before needing to spend some time moving around, with the Asus ROG Destrier, GTPlayer GT800A Footrest, and GTRacing Music Series clocking in around 5 hours. These may be good options for fast rounds of first-person shooters and shorter campaigns or even for less serious gamers who might use these chairs for office work but don't expect to spend more than half a day gaming in comfort.

Lastly, if a supportive reclined is your gaming position, then the Razer Iskur V2 has your back. It has good backrest tension and can be locked into a wide range of positions, so you'll be sure to get the most comfortable reclined position possible. The large lumbar support continues functioning, even in the most extreme reclined positions.

Adjustability

For our adjustability metric, we assessed the extent to which each chair is adjustable and evaluated the ease of making those adjustments. We specifically examined the diverse options available in five submetrics and scored the ability to modify the armrests, seat height, and backrest of each chair, including features like lumbar support and tensioning knobs, but also evaluated whether we could achieve a good gaming position with each model.

The Razer Iskur V2 led the group for its greater seat height range, with some of our testers finding the Asus ROG Destrier a tad too low for their gaming setups. On the other hand, both can boast a great tension knob, which offers positive engagement for a wide range of reclining positions, though one of our testers mentioned the height adjustment could get in the way when adjusting the Destrier a long way but liked that the knob slides in and out, making it easier to adjust than some chairs while not sitting.

The Titan could have earned a better score if not for its rather weak reclining tension knob, while our testers found the Dowinx Retro Series to be too tight, with one tester needing to get the chair reclined past a certain point in order to get enough leverage to freely bounce around with the tension. On the other hand, our smaller, lighter tester had a little trouble pushing back.

If you have a large positive ape index, lanky arms, or bony elbows, you may value adjustable armrests that accommodate your preferred gaming position. It's nice to be able to widen or narrow your armrest positions, as well as raise and lower them. The Kaiser 3 and Titan both come with swappable magnetic armrest toppers, which allow for a variety of colors or styles and if damaged, an easier exchange without having to replace the whole chair. The Asus ROG has a wide range allowance compared to others, allowing it to go the extra distance for those outside of the averages. It has almost six inches of vertical movement, that's great for mobile gaming or possibly for taller gamers.

The top models all offer armrest adjustments for pivoting, height, and width and feature comfortable cushioning with a small range of densities. Although the rest of the group offers fairly comfortable armrests, they do lack adjustability. The GTPlayer GT800A Footrest incorporates a novel design that pivots and adjusts with the backrest as it reclines. While interesting and comfortable, it limits it to being unadjustable in any other way.

Tension knobs were another specific component of each gaming chair that our team evaluated, and the Razer Iskur V2 again earned a top score for the submetric. Although we found the location of the tension knob to be a little difficult to reach and adjust while seated, this is a rather common issue.

Our team was pleasantly surprised by the AndaSeat Kaiser 3's highly adjustable tension knob, and though the plastic is a bit sharp, the ability to get great tension for just about any weight earned it a high score. Neither the SecretLabs Titan Evo 2022 nor BestOffice High-Back Ergonomic have an impressive tension nob, and both are a little cumbersome to reach. The Titan Evo offered weak resistance, while the BestOffice offered too much resistance, even on the lowest setting. Unfortunately, the GTRacing Music Series, AutoFull C3, and GTPlayer GT800A Footrest completely miss the mark by the lack of a tension knob that had us wanting better support for our backs.

However, it's worth reiterating that GTRacing Music Series reclines to about 150°, the GTPlayer GT800A Footrest to about 135°, and the Dowinx Retro Series LS-6689S to an impressive nearly horizontal position and a full 180° with the tilt unlocked. While these models aren't ideal for PC gaming when using a keyboard and mouse, they are good options for those dedicated to console gaming.

Setup

Our final test metric setup focused on the effort required to go from a boxed-up chair to game-ready. Whether the setup task is painstaking or a breeze may make a difference in purchasing decisions. However, considering it only needs to be done once, we didn't attribute too heavy weighting to each model's overall score. Within this metric, some products stood out for their ease of assembly and short time to get from unboxing to comfortable gaming.

Our test team member responsible for the assembly of each chair put together the top performing model, the SecretLabs Titan Evo 2022, in under 10 minutes, the Razer Iskur at about the 10-minute mark, and the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 in just over 12.5 minutes. Also impressive was the BestOffice Gaming Cheap Desk Task Executive with a 15-minute assembly time.

Overall, most models were reasonably easy to assemble, and even the most mechanically un-inclined person can assemble any chair in our test lineup with either the included tools or basic tools and instructions in under an hour.

Conclusion

Gaming chairs may seem unremarkable or even unnecessary to some. Still, an ergonomic gaming chair can significantly impact your gaming performance and contribute to whether you have a good gaming session or one filled with discomfort, backaches, and disappointing performance. Therefore, they can be a great investment and are worth careful consideration. Our intensive side-by-side analysis of the top gaming chairs on the market is designed to equip you with the information to select the ideal chair that aligns with your sitting requirements, budget, and gaming preferences.