Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsSit on a barstool instead!!!
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2019
I wish I found a review like this before purchasing the chair, I’m returning it after less than a week.
I’m 5’11/195-210lbs/athletic build, weight fluctuation is dependent of season (bulk/cut) but right now I’m 210. At work we have Steelcase Leap’s v1 & v2, and Herman Miller Aeron Classics. I was in the market for a chair for home use and am used to the comfort of the Leap and sitting for 7+ hour days straight. I sometimes also like to fold my left leg across the chair with my ankle under my right knee. I don’t game, don’t watch/edit movies on my computer; I mostly am programming, messing with hackthebox, and penetration testing. Regardless if you’re a gamer, editor, or a programmer you’ll be sitting in a chair so that doesn’t matter.
I originally went with the NeueChair because I am not a fan of “bucket seat racing car” style chairs, it’s a gimmick. What is it supposed to keep you from flying out of your chair when you turn to sit up? Nonsense. Also, the “built-in lumbar support”, lumbar pillow, or lack of any lumbar support is a turn off. That pretty much eliminates 80% of the chairs on the market today.
Which leads me with the NeueChair, Triiger, basic office chairs, or high-end expensive chairs. After lots of back and forth between the NeueChair and Triiger I pulled the triiiiger on the NeueChair. The design is pretty much similar, the NeueChair had a nice discount (which I’m going to spend in shipping it back, return shipping is out of pocket) so I’d assume the flaws would be the same. After all both chairs are designed off a similar chair found overseas, significantly cheaper too.
In Mike Wat’s almost 12-minute YouTube review of the NeueChair he is spot on with many things but doesn’t go in depth, you just don’t realize how flawed the chair is until you sit on it for 7+ hours. Timestamps mentioned below are from his review:
1. The arm rests. If you pull them up too much they will fall back down, 7:51. You may think that is intentionally in the video, but I have literally leaned over my chair and counted each click to ensure I don’t reset them to get a comfortable height.
2. Lumbar support. Yes, it feels firm in your back but the moment you lean back the lumbar support travels up your back a good 3” and is no longer comfortable and just feels awkward. When you lean back you can literally the whole chair back (lumbar support included) sliding up your back. Instead of the chair leaning back with you and keeping your position the same.
3. Arm rests. You just don’t know good armrest design until you sit in a Leap. The NeueChair armrests have this weird 15-degree pivot in and out, 5:48, but doesn’t really add much. They are still far enough apart where you’ll end up resting your arms on the desk. Or you’ll bring your keyboard almost to the edge of the desk in order to sit up straight. Also, at 5:28 Mike mentions that the arm rests are “beefy”, “soft rubber”, “pretty flexible”. Only 1 of those is true, it is beefy. The rubber is not soft, it (if you slide your thumb against the ”smooth” edge and dimpled edge) feels like the side of a gallon milk jug, not soft like wrist pads he mentions. As for “pretty flexible”, at 5:31 he presses down with his thumbs. Doing the same thing, that’s all the give there is. It is NOT flexible, you can’t press down any further, the tips of my thumbs and thumb nails are turning white. There is no more give. Granted the Leap v2 is not much softer, but the arm rests are thinner and more useful. Look at BTOD.com’s “Steelcase Leap Ergonomic Office Chair Review on YouTube. At 2:53 they start talking about the armrests, one thing that mentioned is how the top of the armrest pivots in, well the tops also pivot out too. This is a superior armrest (in my opinion if the Aeron had this type of armrest it would be the perfect chair).
4. The seat. Wow mesh you won’t sweat! How hot of a room are you sitting in, do you not have a fan or AC? I sit in the Leap for 7+ hours straight in a 75 degree building and have never sweat in it. Yes, it sucks spilling a drink on it because it’s fiber, if you can’t help but being messy just don’t drink and eat at your desk. Problem solved; dirty keyboards are just as gross. Back to the NeueChair; you can kind of see a hash design (#) under the seat of the fabric. Let me tell you something, this mesh GIVES. It already sags, time is not needed for that. Maybe this chair is for people who are 150lbs, but for me…nope. At 2:24 when he presses down on it, that is barely any pressure. You see how only the center gives but the sides/front/back don’t? Same thing happens when you sit on it. You literally sink down in the chair, but only in the center. The edges do not give. Look down about an inch from where his thumb is. When I’m sitting, that spot is higher than when were my butt it. It’s a pretty significant drop, and the same thing happening on the sides of the chair. It if feels like the outside of your thighs are being rotated up from the bottom, and your inner thighs are being rotated down. Kind of like your thighs are being rotated in, while the outsides are being lifted and your hips/butt are being forced into this “U” shape. NOT comfortable for anything over an hour. I find the bar stool I sat on for 8+ months prior to this chair more comfortable. Back to that hash design under the seat, just to illustrate how much sag there is. When I’m not sitting in the chair there is 3” of space between the sides of the hash and the bottom of the seat fabric (measured it). When I’m sitting there is less than 1” I can only imaging after a few months of use sitting on the hash design because of the sag. Every time I stand up after an hour of sitting in the NeueChair my hips pop, that has never happened at work or with the bar stool.
5. This is minor, the chair (I got the obsidian) is a smudge machine. Aluminum is probably just as bad.
So, where does that leave me?
Like I said, I’m returning the chair. I found an office furniture liquidator in my city, basically they buy office furniture from places that’re going out of business or upgrading and sell it for stupid cheap. I spent $600 on the NeueChair (full refund), with around $50 for return shipping. The liquidator has Seelcase Leap’s in v1 & v2 (v1 has the “domed” armrest, v2 is flat). Granted they are ALL used, but they have an all-black v2 (built 5 years ago) no stains or tears for $200. Granted it is not the sexiest chair, however if you investigate the research and design of it, it’s the real deal. I already know this from sitting in one at work. This is what I’m going with, if your used chair can’t be cleaned and looking almost new from a quick vacuum, and a damp cloth keep looking – don’t settle because better condition ones are out there. From experience I have sat in a size B Aeron. I believe I need a size C; in the B the bottom of my shoulder blades are just about touching the top of the back rest. Just throwing that in here for anyone who is “B or C” range, find a seller and sit in one.
