If I asked you to name one of the best office chairs offhand, there’s a strong chance that you might bring up the Herman Miller Aeron thanks to its iconic design and popularity. Now if I did the same thing with the best gaming chairs, it’s very likely you’d bring up the Secretlab Titan Evo. However, while Herman Miller is known for its premium office chairs, the company has been making great strides when it comes to gaming too.
Several years ago, Herman Miller announced that it had entered into a partnership with Logitech G, which is the Swiss peripheral maker’s gaming division. This collaboration was intended as a way for both companies to create the next generation of high-performance home office furniture for gamers.
Just like Haworth did with its Xbox line of gaming chairs, the first products to emerge from this partnership were gaming variants of several Herman Miller office chairs. These included the Embody Gaming Chair, Aeron Gaming Chair and the Sayl Gaming Chair, which were all released simultaneously back in 2022. Herman Miller and Logitech G weren’t done there though. A few months later, the first true gaming chair to come out of their collaboration was released in the form of the Herman Miller Vantum.
Over the summer, I visited my local Herman Miller store and had a chance to try out every single Herman Miller office chair. It was great going hands-on and learning more about the research and work that went into every one of the company’s chairs. While I actually preferred the Cosm over both the Aeron and the Embody, the Vantum immediately caught my eye.
I reached out to Herman Miller, and they sent over their Vantum gaming chair for me to test out. I’ve been using it for several weeks now, and while I’m still putting together my full review, I have to say that so far, I’m thoroughly impressed. Here’s everything you need to know about the Vantum including the one thing that sets it apart from every other Herman Miller office chair and gaming chair.
Breaking tradition
If you’re familiar with Herman Miller’s office chairs, you’ll immediately notice the one thing that’s different with the Vantum. Unlike the Aeron, Embody, Sayl or even the Cosm, it features an adjustable headrest — and for good reason.
With an ergonomic chair, you technically don’t need a headrest. This is because they’re designed to promote good posture by supporting you from the bottom up. When you don’t have a headrest, you’re also less likely to hunch over when seated at your desk or even one of the best standing desks.
With the Vantum though, Herman Miller decided to break tradition by adding a headrest. The chair itself was designed specifically to support a gamer’s upright, active posture. This is great when you’re focused on a more competitive game like a first-person shooter or a fighting game like the recently released Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection. However, what if you’re playing a more story-driven, single-player game? If you’re working your way through Persona 3 Reload or even Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, then you might want to kick back and relax instead. Hence, the headrest.
One thing that I really like about the Herman Miller Vantum is that it’s more like an office chair than a gaming chair in a similar way to the Razer Fujin Pro. It doesn’t feature an all-mesh design like that chair but it does have a mesh back to keep you cool while gaming. However, the Vantum’s backrest which is made from a proprietary elastomer and polyester feels like fabric to the touch while still providing plenty of airflow.
The Vantum foregoes a mesh seat for an adapted seat pad with Herman Miller’s PostureFit which supports your lower back and reinforces the pelvis. Like the rest of the chair’s design, this helps prevent slouching and fatigue.
Even though the Vantum has a mesh backrest, both your upper and lower back still get plenty of support. At the base of the backrest, there’s a lumbar support pad which has a second part above it to support your back’s sacrum. However, at the top of the backrest, you also get a thoracic support pad to support your upper back, neck and even your head. It works in conjunction with the Vantum’s headrest to relieve pressure buildup.
While the Vanum is the only Herman Miller chair with a headrest, it’s also the first and only gaming chair with a thoracic support pad. Hopefully, we see other gaming and office chair makers follow suit as trust me, it makes a big difference when you’re seated for extended periods.
Posture meets comfort
Although the Herman Miller Vantum is available in several different colorways from lilac to teal along with your standard all black and black and white, I went with the black and red version as I’ve also been partial to this color scheme. It’s worth noting that regardless of which colorway you get, the Vantum’s seat, backrest and headrest all come in black while the secondary color is used for the chair’s base, frame and as accents on its tilt adjustment knobs.
As I have a separate desk dedicated to gaming outside my home office, I decided to pair the Vantum with the Secretlab Magnus Pro where I have my Xbox Series X and the AtomMan G7 PT mini PC which I recently reviewed. There, I spent time playing the best Steam games on the mini PC while working my way through an upcoming RPG from Atlus that I’m in the middle of reviewing.
When seated in the Vantum, I immediately noticed a difference compared to some of the other office chairs I’ve tested in the past. I felt as if I couldn’t slouch in the chair even if I had wanted to. My posture was pristine and though I didn’t need the headrest when sitting upright, I found that the curve on the bottom perfectly aligned with the back of my neck when lowered all the way down. I actually stumbled upon this when taking my initial photos as I need the chairs I photograph to be as low as possible so that I can fit the whole chair in the frame more easily.
I also spent some time leaning back in the Vantum while gaming and here, the headrest certainly came in handy. Getting the perfect recline angle with this chair was easy too as Herman Miller has included numeric feedback when adjusting the knob on its right underside. This is easier to see for yourself in person but essentially, as you move through the Vantum’s tilt adjustments, the knob stops along the way instead of rotating continuously. That way, you can easily remember your preferred settings even if someone else uses your chair.
The Vantum was extremely comfortable to use while gaming to the point that I played for a lot longer each time I started a game, almost like back when I was a kid without any responsibilities. While there’s still more testing to do ahead of my full review, I’m very impressed with Herman Miller’s first chair purposely built for gamers.
The best of both worlds
If you’re in the market for a gaming chair but also want the added support and better ergonomics of an office chair, the Vantum really hits that sweet spot between the two. You get that gamer aesthetic and comfort without having to sacrifice good posture. Likewise, you won’t look out of place in a video call, granted you don’t get up from your seat and spin the Vantum around.
Even then though, this is the type of chair that’s sure to turn heads and it looks fantastic when pushed into your desk. Back in June, Herman Miller added more color variants to the Vantum lineup which include a deep blue color (Nightfall) and the lilac variation (Mystic) I mentioned earlier. However, there’s even a bright orange version (Helio) and a green one (Abyss). Besides these new colors, Herman Miller also gave the Vantum a significant overhaul with an enhanced headrest with improved adjustability and a new rotation pad design.
The Vantum is on the higher end when it comes to gaming chairs at $895 but it does come with a 12-year warranty. If you’ve always wanted a Herman Miller chair with a headrest and even if you don’t have a penchant for gaming, this chair doesn’t disappoint.
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