Key Specs:
Retail Price: £119.99 - Purchase Here!
High-quality PU leather construction
Adjustable seat with 135 degree tilt
Additional support accessories
‘Gaming chair’ is a strange term. Ask any normal folk out there and they’ll tell you that if anything’s a gaming product, it should be things like controllers, keyboards and mice, not furniture.
Yet in 2021, the market is flooded with premium chairs from premium brands galore. Noble, Secretlab, GT Omega, Andaseat and many more can provide a comfortably expensive experience for upwards of £300 in some cases. Even Logitech and Razer are getting in on the act.
With that being said, what if you haven’t got £300 to spend? What if you’re someone on a bit of a tighter budget? Luckily, there’s a few brands out there to suit those who aren’t cash strapped and when EasySMX reached out to provide one of their £120 budget chairs, it seemed a no-brainer to review.
Setup & Construction – Everything fits like a glove
I’m not someone who usually involved with building anything. I’m a ham-fisted teenager who lacks any form of common sense and ability to perform manual labour. However, I’m happy to report that this chair was a doozy to build and easy enough to setup.
EasySMX reckon that this’ll take 20 minutes to put together thanks to their rather detailed guide and to be honest, it probably took me within the region of a half hour to 45 minutes to put it together.
There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the actual contents of the box for this chair as everything comes in a flat-pack style arrangement with minimal assembly required. All else that’s required in terms of fixings and screws are also included which means you’re practically ready to go, as long as you’ve got a decent screwdriver to hand.
Design & Build Quality – Simple and sturdy
It would have been very easy with this being more of a wallet-friendly chair for EasySMX to have skimped out on the front of the actual build quality and I’m pleased to say that this definitely not the case.
When placed side-by-side against my trusty GT Omega chair that I’ve bene using for many years now and has never faltered, apart from a base replacement six months ago, there isn’t all too much difference in looks, besides the differing logos and the EasySMX chair being bright blue. If that’s not to your tastes, they also do it in red and in a decent grey mesh.
Its PU leather seat and back means it feels decent and the inclusion of hard plastics and a metal frame everywhere else mean that this chair looks and feels rather sturdy too. In terms of colouring and overall looks, it’s an unmistakably ‘gamer’ looking chair with a racing style type bucket seat design, although don’t expect to be as low slung as you would be if you were driving a Ferrari 488 GTE.
This means that overall, it won’t be a product that looks out of place in your gaming dens, not least if your peripherals are synced up nicely with some cracking lighting, but then again, its predominantly black colouring with those blue accents and classy stitching means that this chair shouldn’t look out of place anywhere you set it down, be it in an office or a bedroom.
Comfort & Ergonomics – Nothing budget about this chair’s feeling
It is indeed all very well and good having a chair that looks the part but there’s little point in having a chair that isn’t comfortable. With that bucket-seat type design, you’re guaranteed to find this chair decent enough to sit in for those long sessions of gaming.
It provides a good experience during long hours of office work, offering ample support in all the right places, including having a nifty little retractable footrest that was certainly of major benefit to me. Combine this with its 135 total degrees of tilt and this makes for a seriously ergonomic chair for the money.
I’m someone who will, on occasion, finishing playing Football Manager and tilt my chair back, stick my feet up on my bed, and binge something on YouTube or Amazon Prime Video (usually The Grand Tour, let’s be honest). Using this EasySMX chair for the same task was a doddle and the combo of that retractable footrest and the 135 degrees of tilt was ideal for relaxing.
I will say though, there are more expensive chairs with higher degrees of tilt, with the ability to go back a full 180 degrees, so if you are looking to use a gaming chair and go fully horizontal with it, then this particular one might not be the best option.
There’s most of the usual chair-type trimmings with adjustable armrests that can go up or down; they can’t move forwards or backwards though, mind. Furthermore, EasySMX also provide two aids that are both detachable: a squidgy yet firm headrest and some equally firm lumbar support.
These can be particularly useful if you’re looking for something that little bit more comforting, but from a personal perspective, I didn’t necessarily need them in order to make this chair any more comfortable, but if you want them, EasySMX do at least provide them.
Verdict
Overall, this particular EasySMX chair represents a great option for those who want a comfortable and smart chair without burning a hole in your wallet. It’s easy to put together, well-built and sturdy enough to last a decent period of time. What’s more, that price is a hard thing to ignore, especially when some competitors’ offerings can be double the price, or even more.
However, for those who want something made of arguably more premium materials, more customisation or a chair that doesn’t look like it’s been lifted from a sim racer’s setup, then you will be paying a little bit more.
Rating: 4/5
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