Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?
If you’re a PC user, and especially a work-from-home PC user, you probably spend an excess amount of time sitting and might be considering an ergonomic office chair. While everyone should get up and move at least once an hour if able, these chairs are designed around longer overall working periods. Their construction helps the lumbar region of the spine in your back and offers neck support as well. To go even further however, the best ergonomic office chairs will support your whole body — adjustable arm rests exist for your arms and shoulders, for example — and will be made of premium materials for maximum comfort. Here, we collect the best ergonomic office chairs, split up into categories that make sense for different categories of consumers and bodies. Look below for a short summary of our favorites, then keep reading to see what the fuss is about each seat. Office Chair Seat
When we think of a nice, cool (as in not warm) office chair, we think of an office chair like this one from Hforesty. It’s got a mesh backing and headrest and has space between the lower back and seat components, both of which promote air circulation and make for perfect office companions even during the hottest months of the year. In other words, the basic chassis of the Hforesty Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair could go toe to toe with that of any standard office chair. While those with fancier tastes may find this chair somewhat on the basic side, for the typical user this is likely the office chair layout you were looking for.
What makes the Hforesty one of the best ergonomic office chairs is its commitment to offering robust, but easy adjustments throughout the chair without becoming prohibitively expensive. For example, the mesh headrest can be adjust in both height and angle, while the curved lumbar support moves with you into an optimal spot as you go through the Hforesty’s 90 to 135 degree tilt range. Next, you’ll find a fully 4D arm rest, meaning it can be adjusted up, down, left, right, forward, backwards, clockwise, and counterclockwise. Finally, as you recline, take advantage of the extendable footrest.
Full MSRP for this chair sits at over $300. That’s good for a great ergonomic office chair, but might feel expensive if you aren’t using all of the features. In other words, if you’re just looking for an office chair with a bit of extra lumbar support, you might find yourself disappointed. That being said, if you are lucky enough to find the Hforesty amongst the office chair deals of the day, it is a great office chair for anybody that values cool comfort and ergonomic support.
The creation of Herman Miller’s Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber, the Herman Miller Embody, is a premium ergonomic office chair best for those looking for superior posture and fine-tuned results. Beyond being made from premium materials, a lot of clever design work goes into the Embody. For example, the back rises to a narrow taper in such a way that allows you full movement (none of that sinking in the chair feel) but also demands are commanding, upright posture when you do relax a little into the chair. Plus, it has a spine-supporting curve your back will die for.
What embodies the Herman Miller Embody, however, is what is seen from behind the chair. It’s what the designers are calling “Pixelated Support” and essentially translates to micro-regional support. Even if you aren’t a squirmer, you move somewhat in your chair as you go about your day. These regional supports are designed to reduce pressure and give you less tension buildup throughout the day.
If you work from home and are guilty of using a Twitch stream as your watercooler chatter alternative, you’ve probably gotten a little jealous of streamer’s glorious gaming chairs. Unfortunately, if you have a stuffy boss, using a bright and shiny gaming chair during your next Zoom meeting might give you an unfounded reputation as being unprofessional. The AutoFull C3 is a great compromise, as it retains the racing style of a gaming chair while coming in more muted colors like brown, black, and grey PU leather.
As for the AutoFull C3’s ergonomic side, you’ll almost certainly appreciate its adjustable headrest, which follows the pretty standard build for these on gaming chairs. But where the ergonomics really kick in is what AutoFull is calling its “3D Bionic Lumbar Support” that lines the bottom half of the backrest. It’s built for maximum spinal support due to its shape, supporting the lumbar spine as well as the scapular spine and caudal spine. In layman’s terms, the backrest is designed to support the full lower and upper back and is shaped in such a way that each major region of your lower back gets the support it needs. We only wish that the armrests took the same queue, as they’re a little harder than the rest of the chair.
Tired of fidgeting with supports, adjusting back bracing, and having a troublesome time getting your chair’s height properly adjusted? Flexispot’s C8, to a degree, takes care of most of that for you and makes the rest easy, all while being made of a premium, comfortable mesh. The back, which provides some curve for spinal comfort, is lined with PU soft plastic. This PU plastic adjusts based on your body’s weight (and, presumably, the pressure you put into the back of the chair with your sitting style) automatically. Do note, however, that this mechanism will work best for people with medium to small sized bodies, as one of the few complaints we see about the C8 are that it isn’t quite as comfortable for heavier people. A better ergonomic office chair for the big and tall can be found below.
Other adjustments that make Flexispot’s C8 comfortable are easy to adjust, such as the movable headrest and 3D armrests. The seat is adjustable, but can also automatically adjust based on your needs. As a result, this is a largely hassle-free ergonomic office chair that can take care of your comfort while your focus on the task at hand.
If you’re a large individual, you may have encountered office chairs that won’t support you. This frustrating issue can go away with chairs like this one from Colamy, specifically made with issues that affect you in mind. It is designed with heavy-duty materials that will stay structurally sound during use. Additionally, the cushions are thick for long lasting fluff that will stay soft and keep you comfortable during long days.
While you cannot tell from looking at the chair, the Colamy’s headrest is height adjustable, giving you seamless support at any height. Likewise, the lumbar support is controlled by an internal airbag. Adjusting the internal mechanism adds or releases pressure on the lumbar region, giving you ergonomic lumbar support that makes sense for your body. When sitting in the chair and resting your arms on the armrests, you’ll find that they are very comfort and use a higher quality of materials than other office chairs, but are not adjustable.
Steelcase’s philosophy when it comes to chairs is that they should support everybody from the 5% to the 95%. Whether you are five-foot tall or six-foot-one, a Steelcase Series 1 chair will fit you comfortably. That makes it great for shared home offices, as the chair is likely to be equally good for one spouse as the other. It’s integrated flexor system (called “LiveBack”) works to fit your back. Likewise, parts of the chair’s supports are weight triggered, giving you support based on you, not the position of some knob. When sitting down, and reclining, you should feel comfortable quickly by design.
The other great thing about a Steelcase They’re very customizable. You can get the back and base color that fits your room and tastes, get armrests in the style you like (or no armrests at all), and get wheels that suit your floors. The five chairs above? All are Steelcase Series 1 chairs. So, while this is one chair, and one set of design sensibilities for your back, it feels more like an armada of different chairs that you can choose from to get something that ultimately suits your environment.
For those wanting a chair in the executive style, the Ezaki will give you what you are looking for. In addition to having a premier look, it uses premium materials, such as the spring-loaded memory foam filling in the upper part of the chair and premium rubber wheels and metal alloy in the bottom half. It provides a subtly padded headrest for comfort that won’t push your chin forward in an uncomfortable tilt when rocking or even reclining to the full 130 degrees.
Like the ergonomic office chair above, the Ezaki has and internal adjustable lumbar support. It operates by adjusting the internal pressure of the lower back area of the chair, giving you full control of give and stiffness in the region. This chair is particularly nice if you use a 2-in-1 laptop for your work, as it has 90-degree flip up arms. Just flip up the arms on the side of the chair and your elbows can comfortably extend outwards, unhindering both tapping and typing as you sit or recline in the Ezaki and work.
You may think that you would need to spend a ton to get quality ergonomic adjustments on your office chair, but that’s not the case anymore. The Neo Chair High Back provides a premium mesh backing with a lumbar support behind it. This lumbar support can be adjusted by two inches, up or down, to provide the best support area for the curvature of your spine. Similarly, the upper part of the back rest curves in a way that will naturally support you. Flip up arms will support all of your activities from resting while watching a tutorial video on your main monitor, to sitting cross-legged and doodling in a notebook on your lap. The chair is a lightweight 21 pounds, which makes it maneuverable and adds to its already easy construction. It comes in three colors, but we think you’ll particularly love the clean and modern aesthetic of the white variation.
Overall, if you’re looking for an ergonomic office chair under $150, it will be hard to find something better. Plus, when this chair goes on sale, it can easily become the best ergonomic office chair under $100. Unfortunately, however, it does tend to be better for smaller people and outright will not support those over 250 pounds. If you can handle the chair, though, it is a great buy.
While we broke up the categories into some of the most sought after types of office chairs, there were some common factors that we needed to look at for each chair to determine if it was right for you. Here is an up close look at our primary specification categories:
At the end of the day, we buy ergonomic office chairs to get quality support for our bodies. Different chairs have different means of providing this support to us.
For head and neck support, look at the headrest of your new office chair. In most cases, there will be some padding where you will rest your head and oftentimes a curved neck support. Office chairs that are also intended for gaming may even have an attachable headrest support pillow that juts out further. This helps during extended periods of lounging during gaming and may feel excessive for the hunched-over-the-keyboard work from homer. While most headrests are stable, some move up and down or are even tiltable.
Lumbar support is a phrase that you’ve almost certainly heard but might not have the physiology chops to fully understand. The lumbar, or “lumbar spine” as doctors might more formally refer to it, and incorporate the spinal curve above your butt. To no great surprise, human evolution didn’t involve a lot of sitting in office chairs. As a result, this curved area of the spine can get undue pressure. The best ergonomic office chairs will offset this pressure with increased support to this region of the spine. This can be through pillows, memory foam, or increased solid support in the structure of the chair in that region. Some chairs will even offer the chance to adjust the ‘give’ of the lumbar region of chair via internal inflation. At max pressure (and inflation) the region will become stiff and offer tons of support, while low pressure will allow for a more relaxed seating position.
Oh, the armrests you’ll see! Unfortunately, the 2D, 3D, and 4D labelling of armrests make them seem more like extraterrestrial sketch artists than comfy places for your arms. Here are common designations for styles of armrest that you’ll see when selecting an ergonomic office chair:
This goes without saying, but you need to get an office chair that is suitable for your body. Office chairs will come with a rating for maximum weight they can carry. Manufacturers are getting better and better about this over the years and nearly all halfway decent ergonomic office chairs will support at least 250 pounds and a minimum, with 300 pounds being the typical weight limit you can expect to get. Special ‘tall and heavy’ ergonomic office chairs exist for heavier users and many are especially designed around the needs of heavier users.
This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.
Amongst the plethora of Way Day deals out there, there are some particularly big discounts on office chairs as part of Wayfair's massive Way Day sales event. Right now, you can buy a simple office chair from just $35 or choose to invest hundreds into a long-term investment office chair. It all depends on what you need and for how long but whatever you go for, the Wayfair office chair sale is bound to be a big hit for your home office.
The entire office chair collection is pretty vast. Starting out, there's the simple Janine Child Task Chair by Symple Stuff which begins at just $35. Working its way up there are folding chairs from $40 if you just need a temporary solution or you have limited room so like to pack up your office furniture at the end of the day.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday may be over, but the year's biggest sales continue through Cyber Week. We found continuing office chair Cyber Week deals from Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and other online retailers. Here, we've rounded up all the very best remaining Cyber Week office chair deals so you don't have to search far and wide to find them. There is an excellent selection of chairs in all price ranges and some prices are lower than they were for Black Friday. Quantities are limited on select chairs and time is running out to get your hands on an office chair for cheap! The sooner you decide which office chair you want the better your chances it will still be in stock and available at Cyber Monday prices. Best Cyber Week office chair deals One of the hottest sales is a mesh office chair deal going on at Staples. See more discounts below:
How to choose an office chair Cyber Week deal As more of us find ourselves working from home, our need for supportive and comfortable chairs is greater than ever before. There's no shortage of impressive remaining Cyber Week office chair deals to choose from today, but which chair should you buy? You can start your search for the best office chairs by considering how you'll use the chair when you're working, how long you'll sit in it during a typical day, and your budget. Aesthetics matter, and you'll want a chair that looks like it fits in your home or office workspace, but comfort and proper support should be your primary considerations. Your needs will differ considerably if you spend time sitting back reading reports, chatting with clients, or focusing on spreadsheets and data for long periods of time.
If you have yet to invest in a proper ergonomic office chair, you are seriously missing out. Moreover, you are probably doing untold damage to your back and other joints. A good ergonomic chair can set you up with perfect posture, moving weight from stress points in your back, and making your office a healthier, happier, more productive place. Right now, you can score $400 off the Backstrong C1 Vegan Leather chair from All33. It’s only $800, down from its original price of $1,200 -- a discount made possible by shopping direct at the manufacturer. At that price, buying this chair is an easy call, but this discount is far from the only reason you should invest in the All33 Backstrong C1 as your new office chair.
It’s doctor recommended “Taking good care of your back is not something you can ignore right now,” says Dr. Travis Stork, who endorses this chair, especially now that we’re spending most of our days literally sitting at home. The wrong chair can “stiffen your muscles and tighten your joints,” he says. “You need to prevent problems by being in motion.” Dr. Stork says that the dynamic qualities of this chair can assist with that motion. The seat of the All33 Backstrong essentially hangs from the arms, like a swing, so there’s movement, which allows you to maintain good posture throughout the day. It’s slouch-proof and more The seat, or saddle, is designed to match your lower back and rear end, allowing ergonomic movement and providing lower thoracic support and ideal posture. The effect here is that it cradles your lower back to take stress off of pressure points and give you ideal posture. The result: Less pain in your shoulders, neck, and back. This chair doesn’t just support you, it saves you. The movement its unique design creates allows an increase of oxygen and better breathing, which will make you feel better and more energized. It also stimulates blood flow, which is known to reduce fatigue from sitting.
Comfy Office Chair Upgrade your lifestyleDigital Trends helps readers keep tabs on the fast-paced world of tech with all the latest news, fun product reviews, insightful editorials, and one-of-a-kind sneak peeks.