Gaming Chair vs Office Chair: Which One to Choose?

This is a legitimate question especially when you know that gaming chair can be very expensive.
Well, today I am going to give you a definitive answer on which type of chair you should buy.

You are probably thinking that I will, obviously, tell you to buy a gaming chair. And you are right.
I prefer gaming chairs now.

You see, not a while ago I was very skeptic about these type of product.  I thought it was another way for big corporations to sell us overprice office chair.

I was wrong and now I think that gaming chairs offer the best value for gamer and non-gamers.

Here is why…

When buying an office chair makes sense

Obviously, not everyone should buy a gaming chair. The most important factor that will decide whether or not you should get a gaming chair is the time spent sitting on your chair.

Let’s take an example.

If you are the kinds of guys who occasionally work on your computer for a school project, or to check your email, a simple $50 office chair (or less) will be fine. As a rule of thumbs, if you spend less than 3 hours a day, you don’t need to buy a good gaming chair.
However, if you are like me, that is to say, you spend the majority of your day sitting in front of a screen, then you should seriously invest in a good chair.

If you take a look at office chairs designed for long use, you will see that they are quite pricey. Because these chairs are designed to perfectly adapt to anyone.

They can be adjusted in various ways to adapt to the shape of anyone.

With that kind of chair, you perfectly maintain in a healthy position for your back.
Sure they are ergonomic and they can really improve your health, but as I said before, they are very expensive ( at least the true one).

So between those two extremes, you have the middle-end product. And this is where gaming chairs tend to have a true advantage over traditional office chairs.

You see, office chairs that cost between $100 and $200 are, for the most part, not very good in terms of features vs prices ratio. They tend to lack very basic features such as adjustable armrests, or an adjustable backrest. Sure, you can find some good product, but the majority are overpriced for what they offer to you.
For instance, you can easily find an office chair with no adjustable armrest and a fixed backrest at $150. Not the best deal ever…

So, even if you do not consider yourself a gamer, I recommend you to buy one.

Why you should take a gaming chair over an office chair

If you have a decent amount of money to spend on a chair let’s say between $150 and $350 you should go for a gaming chair. For that price range here what you can have :

• Adjustable backrest
• Adjustable Armrest
• High back support
• Lumbar and head cushion
• Rocking chair mechanism
• Adjustable seat height
• Cold foam and synthetic leather cover

The more you pay the more you feature you have, especially for the armrest. You can check out my guide on how to choose your gaming chair without trying it.
The only thing that could be an obstacle is the design. I totally understand if you don’t like it. The racing style may not be adapted for a business environment and it may not fit into your office.

But some brands create very subtle designs for their product that would fit into any office. For instance, Vertagear created the Triigger Line which are gaming chairs but with a totally different design.

So overall, you should be able to find a gaming chair that you like.

Is the high price of gaming chairs justified?

To me absolutely.
If you take a look at what you can get on the office chair market, you would see that a lot of product doesn’t bring that much value for their customer.

Let’s take an example :

As you can see this office chair doesn’t bring a whole lot of feature. The armrests are fixed, there are no cushion and the back support is not the best.

If we compare it to a low-cost gaming chair like this one :
For a very similar price you can get a decent gaming chair with :

• Height adjustable armrest
• adjustable backrest

Which make the chair way better in terms of comfort and ergonomy.

As you can see, finding a decent gaming chair a very affordable price is easy. Just type gaming chair on Amazon and you will be literally flooded with that type of product.

So what about more premium brand DXRacer, AKRacing etc?

The feature to price ratio is for the most part excellent. You see with this type of brand, you will be granted with a top-notch build quality and a very solid set of features even at for the low-end product.

For example, the AKRacing Core EX is one of the best gaming chairs for around $250.

Whereas for 250$ you can still find an office chair with non-adjustable armrest…

In a nutshell, for the same price, gaming chairs have more features than office chairs. So, the price of gaming is totally justified.

Final Verdict: get a gaming chair!

Now is the time to get a gaming chair, but it was not the always the case. The market is now very competitive and many brands are fighting to get their market share, which ultimately brings the cost down.

So if you are looking for tips on which gaming chair you should buy, you can read this article on the best gaming chair brand.