I've tested some pretty fancy chairs recently as part of my job ranking the best office chairs, which has unquestionably spoiled me. But as a twenty-something living in a crummy Philly apartment, I feel a little like I'm punching above my weight with a $600 3D-printed chair rolling around on my uneven hardwood.
It was time to test something a little more salt-of-the-earth than state-of-the-art, I decided. So I looked at some of the cheapest chairs I could possibly find online and ordered one of the best-selling models under $50.
I've only had this chair for a few days, but I'm somewhat blown away by how little I dislike this chair. It definitely isn't a match for my needs, and I would strongly recommend a larger chair with more adjustability if you have the money, but I wouldn't steer people away from this cheapo if they only had 40 bucks to spend. I've wasted more money than that on chairs that were far worse.
After the first few bouts of testing, these are the high and low points of my experience with a bottom-shelf chair from the internet.
Reasonably easy assembly
When I first saw this chair in my mail room and saw how small the box was, I groaned. I had just built another chair the other day that came in a similarly small box, and it took me forever to get everything screwed in with its cruddy bolts. Thankfully, that wasn't the case here.
There were some odd steps I had to take to put this chair together, including attaching the fifth leg of the base, but the process was otherwise straightforward. Casters to base, base to gas cylinder, gas cylinder to seat cushion, seat cushion to armrests, armrests to backrest. I was done in 10 minutes. Pure bliss.
Impressively light
I don't think this chair's low weight was a deliberate design consideration, but rather a consequence of its mostly plastic construction. Either way, I felt like it was worth noting how easy it is to move this chair around.
This chair is so light that I can bicep curl it when I hold it by the gas cylinder. I can hardly bicep curl anything. I'll be curious to see how this translates to durability (or, more likely, a lack thereof) in the long term, but for now, I don't mind how easy it is to move this thing around while I take pictures of it.
Limited adjustability
Now, a downside: this chair was definitely not built for someone as tall as me, even though I'm shorter than 6 feet. A solid third of my leg does not make contact with the seat cushion, which feels super precarious when I'm trying to roll around on my uneven floor.
If this chair were more adjustable, I could simply scoot the seat forward and lean the backrest back just a bit more to center myself more properly. Unfortunately, the entire top half of the chair is fixed, meaning the seat, armrests, and backrest are trying in vain to be a one-size-fits-all ergonomic solution. It didn't work well for me, though I wonder if someone who's a few inches shorter would have a better time with this.
Otherwise, the only adjustability this has is with seat height and tilt resistance. For 40 bucks, I really can't complain about that, but I would happily pay several times that price to have a seat that fits me properly.
Flimsy support
I appreciate what this cheapo brand is trying to do by adding a lumbar support bar behind the mesh backrest, but it seems like it's entirely cosmetic to me. It has almost no load-bearing capacity, and I can easily bend it with my fingers. I'm convinced that you could cut it out from behind me while I sit without alerting me to your presence.
On a similar note, the backrest on this chair is pretty short. I know others like chairs that are compact like that, so that isn't entirely a knock, but I would prefer if this covered more of my upper back and shoulders.
A good deal for what you're getting
Ultimately, I can't be too mad at the shortcomings of an office chair that costs less than a dinner for two in my neighborhood. Of course I would prefer something with more adjustability and firmer lumbar support, but I also appreciate that this cheapo pick isn't holding onto the definition of "office chair" for dear life. It's not trying to do anything extraordinary, which I think is why it works.
I'm going to keep testing this chair for a while to see how durable it is, but my confidence is high that this chair can handle a few months or years of regular use. If you don't have the money to invest in a fancy office chair and need something to hold you over until you do, this might be worth your consideration.
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