Check out E-WIN Gaming Office Chairs and mention the code MTE to get a 15% discount.
Assembly
The chair comes in a large box that requires two people to carry easily. It can be lifted by one person, but it’s not easy to move.
Unboxing and construction are straightforward and fairly obvious. The hardware and tools included are decent quality and easy enough to use. The instructions are photographic, which is helpful, but they’re also strangely laid out.
Nevertheless, I was able to construct the chair quickly with minimal confusion or difficulty. The chair also came with a pair of white gloves, presumably for use when constructing the chair, which was a thoughtful touch. If you’ve ever assembled some IKEA products, you’ll have no problem with this one.
Visual Design
The chair has a visual design common to chairs of this style. Marketed as “gaming chairs,” they adopt the bucket-style design of a race car seat. Since that seat pattern was designed for maintaining physical comfort during long sitting sessions, it’s an ideal pattern to adapt to a computer chair.
This also means you have what is essentially a piece of a car sitting in your house. The fact is that the chair is unlikely to match your decor. But once someone sits in it, they’ll immediately forgive the unique aesthetic of the chair. Gaming chairs are all like this, but E-WIN keeps things fairly understated when compared to competitors. The E-WIN chair does eschew the more dramatic design aesthetic of similar chairs, opting for subtle design choices in most places rather than the dramatic and perhaps cartoonishly aggressive lines of some other gaming chairs.
Ergonomics
The chair is quite possibly one of the most comfortable desk chairs that I’ve ever used. As vestigial as the padded elements look, they are in fact crucial to your long-term comfort. Without the padded elements, you will miss the lumbar and neck support that makes the chair so comfortable over long sessions of sitting. If you don’t like the pads, their elastic straps are easy to remove. They come off completely, without leaving any parts or equipment on the chair, so they’re not obviously “missing” from the chair when removed.
However, I found the chair to be distinctly less comfortable without them, especially with the poor posture I share with most heavy computer users. In the vertical orientation, removing the neck pad didn’t dramatically change the comfort of the chair. When reclined, the neck pad is helpful in keeping your head angled well enough to see what’s going on in front of you. That quickly became my favorite pose for watching films and television. The chair is also large enough to accommodate multiple body sizes, including larger frames, both in width and height. The width of the seat provides plenty of options for seating, whether you prefer the standard feet-on-the-floor posture or, like me, prefer to sit cross-legged with your feet tucked under your thighs. The chair accommodated both positions with equal easy and comparable comfort, which is unusual in a less-expensive desk chair. It should be mentioned that I am lanky and tall, at 6’0” (183 cm) and 150 lb (68kg). As a result, my frame has certain cavities that can be easily supported by padding. For larger users, you may find that the padding presses against your body uncomfortably, but it can be easily removed.
Adjustability
Like most other desk chairs, the E-WIN gaming chair is highly adjustable and configurable. If you’re seeking a serious ergonomic layout, this will help you adapt your chair to both your body and your environment. In fact, the chair is probably more adjustable than you’ll ever need or want.
The back of the chair reclines out to about a 170-degree angle. As a result, it is completely possible to tip the chair so far back that you’ll fall over, as so aptly demonstrated by famous streamers. The back of the chair can also be leaned uncomfortably far forwards, so you have access to a full range of back positions for whatever position is comfortable. The adjustment is completely stepless, so you can set the back’s position precisely and expect it to stay there.
The armrests have a small amount of yaw to them, as well as adjustability over all four axes. They’re a hard plastic, but still comfortable. Positioning is good, and my elbows find the armrests naturally and comfortable. The arms cannot be removed or tipped up and out of the way, however, so if you’re really anti-armrest that might be a problem. Chair height is adjustable, of course. At the minimum height, the top of the seat cushion is 18 inches from the ground. At the maximum height, the top of the seat cushion is 23 inches from the ground. While this isn’t as large an adjustability range as other parts of the chair, it hits the sweet spots.
Construction
Construction is strong as well. The chair uses a high-quality leather substitute that feels like leather but doesn’t require the care and feeding of actual leather furniture. If you’ve never owned a leather chair or sofa, you might not realize how careful you need to be with them. Without regular oiling and maintenance, the leather will grow brittle and eventually crack. The crack typically can’t be repaired and requires a full replacement of the piece carrying the damage. Leather substitutes can be made with the desired flexibility and give without requiring significant upkeep, resulting in a more comfortable but longer-lasting chair. The vinyl leatherette can also be easily cleaned with readily-available household cleaning products.
The padding material is comfortable and dense, with minimal compression during use. The elastic straps cannot be tightened or adjusted and may eventually loosen over time. As a result, I could imagine a future in which those elastic straps become loose with constant removal and adjustment, but it seems like a small chance. The moving parts are heavy and well-designed. Adjustable pieces operate cleanly and click firmly into place where appropriate, with no shaking or rattling when locked into positions. The wheels are quite firm and sturdy, holding position even when shifting your weight in the chair. In fact, when you first open the chair, you might have a little trouble rolling it on your floor.
The wheels quickly loosen up, but this is actually a good sign. I’d much prefer the wheels to start slightly too firm and loosen to the correct usability over a day or two. The alternative is the cheap wheel found in most office chairs, which roll with almost no force, make a ton of noise, and chatter easily. These are nothing like that, and they are virtually silent on my wood flooring. If you dislike the wheels, they use a standard stem mount, so they can be easily replaced with a different type of mount. You can also replace them with bell feet, removing the rolling feature from the chair. If your house is deeply carpeted, for example, even a thick plastic carpet cover might not allow the chair to roll easily without sinking into the carpet pile. As a result, non-rolling feet can be better, and that is an option for this chair.
Conclusion
The E-WIN gaming chair is an excellent choice for everyone from League of Legends pros to office workers. While it’s more expensive than a run-of-the-mill task chair, it’s also a major upgrade over those uncomfortable and fragile chairs. Just be aware that the visual design is both opinionated and impactful. Check out E-WIN Gaming Chairs and mention the code MTE for a 15% discount.
