The best gaming chair will keep you comfortable throughout long stints of gaming, working, or relaxing at your computer. If you spend a long time sitting at a gaming PC, having an ergonomic chair can make a real difference to issues like back pain.
Gaming chair designs have become more advanced over time, and many now cross over with the best office chairs for their tilt, height, and armrest adjustments. When paired with the best gaming desk, the right chair gives you a gaming setup that’s supportive enough for epic gaming sessions. Subjectively, they also make a real statement in any gaming room.
You’ll need to consider style, materials, weight, support, and likely budget. Most major hardware brands make chairs too, but are the options from Razer and Corsair worth their price tag? Can you get a good cheap gaming chair? We’ve been trying and testing options at all price points to help you find the right throne for your money.
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Secretlab Titan Evo (2022 series)
Best gaming chair overall
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| Maximum weight | 90kg (small) / 100kg (regular) / 190kg (XL) |
| Recline | 165 degrees |
| Upholstery | Leatherette / Fabric / NAPA Leather |
| Warranty | 3 – 5 years |
- High build quality
- Wide variety of designs
- Available in three sizes
- Expensive base price
- Customization is costly
Don’t let the “2022” in the name throw you – despite being a couple of years old, the Secretlab Titan Evo has yet to be dethroned as our favorite gaming chair. It ticks all the right boxes for comfort and aesthetics, and you can even get variants that pay tribute to the best PC games, like The Witcher 3, Overwatch, and League of Legends.
Videogame-themed shenanigans aside, the Titan Evo 2022 Series boasts style and substance, featuring full-metal 4D armrests, a locking full-tilt mechanism, and a perfectly plush memory foam cushion. Secretlab’s premium seat is also a sturdy bugger, but if you’re not convinced it’ll stand the test of time, its included three-year warranty will provide you with peace of mind.
It’s a sturdy chair that you can configure to support your back and neck as much as possible while you play. It’s exactly the kind of chair you’d use for work or study as well as gaming because sitting in it for extended periods is a lot better for your back than many other options.
The Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 is a premium perch, and those fancy game-themed variants mentioned above cost even more. Yet, it trades blows with other contenders like the Razer Enki Pro – an ultra-premium alternative that costs more than many living room sofas.
Read our Secretlab Titan Evo review.
Boulies Master
Most supportive gaming chair
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| Maximum weight | 135kg |
| Recline | 135 degrees |
| Upholstery | Faux leather |
| Warranty | 2-year limited |
- Built in sound system
- Fun crossover variants available
- Decent price
- Faux leather can age poolrly
- Less ergonomic features than others
Like so many chairs on the market now, the Boulies Master is a hybrid office/gaming chair that offers a supportive foam seat with a more restrained design. Most importantly, it’s incredibly comfortable, with adjustable everything, including a smooth tilt mechanism ideal for kicking back and playing games.
You can get the chair in a choice of materials, including water-repellent fabric, PU, and leather. It’s a good size for larger users but I’d suggest it might be too chunky for smaller spaces. Assembly is a two-person job, and you won’t want to move this chair upstairs if you can help it because it’s so heavy.
But I’m incredibly impressed by the build quality, comfort, and adjustability of the Boulies Master (also available in a taller Max version). This is my favorite pick for value, especially if you want a supportive option that looks less imposing than a traditional gaming chair.
Read our Boulies Master chair review.
Corsair TC100 Relaxed
Most comfortable gaming chair
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| Maximum weight | 120kg |
| Recline | 160 degrees |
| Materials | PU fabric or leather |
| Warranty | 2 years |
- Comfortable materials
- Wide seat base
- Good lumbar support
- Rigid neck cushion placement
- 2D armrests
The Corsair TC100 Relaxed is an ideal midrange gaming chair, with the levels of comfort you find in premium competitors. Our reviewer found it helped her posture, and she particularly enjoyed the tilt 160-degree recline.
The TC100 doesn’t slack when sitting up straight either, with robust lumbar support and a comfortable memory foam neck pillow. It does have shortcomings, like its 2D armrests, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a gaming chair that offers the same level of value at this price point – although the armrests in particular will be quite irritating to taller gamers.
Read our Corsair TC100 Relaxed review.
Noblechairs Legend
Gaming chair with the best lumbar support
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| Maximum weight | 150kg |
| Recline | 125 degrees |
| Upholstery | PU leather |
| Warranty | 3 years |
- Subtle, sleek design
- Incredibly comfortable
- Robust
- Pillow feels redundant
The Noblechairs Legend is a standout contender in the top gaming chair race, as it offers a blend of versatility, comfort, and style that’ll fit in with any setup. It ditches flamboyancy for functionality in a way that’ll win over anyone opposed to gamer tropes, all while still embodying everything that makes products designed for PC gaming worthwhile.
At $689 (£459.95) the Noblechairs Legend is far from cheap, but it offers a lot for a chunk less than our other premium picks. A concoction of high-quality leather, aluminum, and plastics helps the latest Legend wield an unassuming aesthetic on one hand, robust build quality on the other, and respectable levels of comfort stowed on its hip for good measure. In other words, it’s armed to the teeth with everything you’d want from a premium seat, catering to everyone rather than a select few.
Just like many of our top chairs, the Legend includes reliable lumbar support, but we’re not too thrilled about its included head pillow. The cushion seemingly doesn’t contribute anything to the overall experience, and it skips on the magnificent benefits of magnets. Nevertheless, it does come with a pillow as an extra, and you might get more use out of it than us.
Noblechairs puts up a great fight against its competition with the Legend Series 2022, and it wins a few fights using the power of versatile subtly. If you’d rather dodge the Henry Ford “long as it’s black,” approach to design, you can grab either a white version or one that looks like Spider-Gwen without having to spend extra pennies.
Read the Noblechairs Legend 2022 series review.
ThunderX3 Core Modern
Best value gaming chair
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| Maximum weight | 150kg |
| Recline | Not stated |
| Materials | Leatherette or woven fabric |
| Warranty | 2 years |
- Class-leading gaming chair comfort
- Fantastic feature set for the money
- Great build quality
- Faux leather version can get a bit hot
- Faux leather finish creaks
- Hard to find in the US
The ThunderX3 Core is defined by two core things: it’s really comfortable and it’s surprisingly good value. Across the board, its padding is much softer than many competitors, leading to superior short and long-term comfort. The seat padding and armrests are so much nicer than many gaming chairs.
Then there’s the lumbar support. It’s a really odd idea on the surface of it: the lumbar support plate sits on a pivot point that wobbles around as you lean against it. But, it really does work. The support nestles nicely into your lower back – unlike so many poor-quality lumbar support cushions provided with other gaming chairs – and then just gently moves with you as you shift in the seat, continuing to add unobtrusive support.
You also get a quality recline feature that’s nicely weighted for an easy, relaxed recline action, plus the seat slides forward and back to provide for shorter or longer-legged users. The recline controls aren’t the easiest to use but get the job done.
All this and the ThunderX3 Core is priced below the more premium chair we’d consider it to compete with. Unfortunately, buyers in the US will have a hard time getting their hands on it as it’s not widely available in that region at the moment (and when it is, the price is inflated). In time, it may receive broader distribution in the United States, but for now, this is primarily a recommendation for gamers in Europe or the UK.
Read our full ThunderX3 Core review.
How to choose the best gaming chairs
There are hundreds of gaming chairs on the market, from unbranded budget options to top-of-the-range products that win design awards. As with any purchase, you’ll need to start with your budget, although I’d recommend that you spend at least $250 (£200) on your chair to get something with enough adjustments and support.
For my money, the ergonomics of a chair are what I look for first, and what we test extensively at PCGamesN. This is particularly important if you want a gaming chair that can also be used for work upwards of eight hours a day. Does the chair offer options for adjustment (e.g. armrests, height, lumbar support)? What’s it made of? We’ve included mesh and foam seat options here, alongside leather and faux leather which might look slick but become harder to maintain.
And what about the aesthetic of your gaming chair? I’m guessing you want something that fits your gaming space and lifts the mood. If you’re into certain franchises, check out chairs with special designs to match those.
Best gaming chair FAQs
Office chair vs gaming chair: what’s the difference?
Gaming and office chairs generally look different, and that’s because they’re driven by the aesthetics that their users prefer. You often see neutral grays and blacks, mesh seats, and minimalist outlines for office chairs, which are made to blend in with (obviously) office environments. Gaming chairs are designed to make more of a statement, with bolder leather and PVC accents, emblems, designs from the best PC games, and a taller headrest to support a laid-back posture.
Traditional ergonomic chairs were designed to make you sit upright while typing during a 9-5, rather than those adopting different positions throughout the day. Today the functionality of gaming and office chairs is more blended, and that’s because what we do at our desks varies so much more – from typing to playing games to reaching for a smartphone. The CEO of Secretlab says: “No one should buy a computer chair that only allows them to do one thing. Our design mentality is that we design chairs suited for long hours of gaming and other activities.”
The best office and gaming chair types should all have ergonomic height, angle, and armrest adjustments so that you can adapt your seating position for comfort. Premium office chairs will also have adjustable lumbar support, with mesh materials that are flexible, more breathable, and mold to your shape. Gaming chairs usually have a foam seat pad, which is thought to offer better pressure distribution.
Why do gaming chairs cost so much?
High-end gaming chairs aren’t always more expensive than office chairs from the likes of Herman Miller. You could argue that some gaming chairs use more expensive materials – such as leather – and undergo a more rigorous manufacturing process. You can pick up a decent gaming chair for around $400, but premium options cost upwards of $1,000.
Why is Secretlab so popular?
The answer to this question is easy. Secretlab has cemented itself as one of the very best manufacturers of gaming chairs by making a top-notch product. It has put enormous amounts of research into making gaming chairs as comfortable as they are good for your back, including a recent study with The University of California, Berkeley.
Are gaming chairs better for your posture?
As gaming chairs come in all shapes and sizes, there’s no definitive answer to this question. Most gaming chairs will be better for your back than dining table chairs, or sofas, which are only designed for short-term use. If you compare gaming chairs to office chairs, however, you’ll find that they often have fewer ergonomic features. This is why many gamers use an office chair as part of their gaming setup.