Tom's Guide Verdict
The HON Ignition 2.0 is an ergonomic task chair with a mesh back and a contoured, fabric seat cushion. There are several variations of the chair available if you’re willing to spend a bit more to have a mesh seat and backrest though. The chair has six points of adjustment along with an adjustable lumbar support but unless you purchase one from an authorized dealer, it comes in all black and can’t be customized.
Pros
- +
Easy to assemble
- +
Optional headrest available
- +
Plenty of customization options
- +
Adjustable lumbar support and seat depth
Cons
- -
No mesh seat option
- -
Customization options can get expensive
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
Chair size: 27 inches wide, 28.5 inches deep, 37-41 inches tall
Chair adjustable height: 17 - 22 inches
Chair weight: 42 pounds
Max weight capacity: 300 pounds
Adjustment points: 6
Tilt: 20°
Warranty: 7 years
The HON Ignition 2.0 is an ergonomic office chair that easily blends in with your home office decor. At $399, the HON Ignition 2.0 won’t break the bank while its adjustable lumbar support can help ensure you sit upright and with good posture while working from home. While the all-black version of the chair I tested won’t stand out from the crowd, you can customize it to your liking but you will need to visit a showroom or an authorized HON dealer to do so. The HON Ignition 2.0 offers six points of adjustment so that you can tailor the chair to your body type and there’s even an optional headrest available.
Our HON Ignition 2.0 review will help you decide if this is the best office chair for your needs or if you’d be better off spending a bit more on a premium office chair instead.
HON Ignition 2.0 review: Price and availability
If you look at the mid-back version of the Hon Ignition 2.0 on the company’s website, you might experience a bit of sticker shock as it has a list price of $851. However, if you check out the chair on Amazon instead, you’ll find that the version I tested sells for a much more reasonable $399. There are also several other variations of the Hon Ignition 2.0 available, including an all-mesh one with a mesh seat and back as well as one specifically designed for big and tall people with a wider seat and a maximum weight limit of 450 pounds.
HON Ignition 2.0 review: Design and comfort
The HON Ignition 2.0 has a 4-way stretch mesh backrest and a contoured seat cushion. Unlike some other office chairs such as the Branch Ergonomic Chair, the Ignition 2.0’s base as well as its armrests are both black to match its backrest and seat. The chair’s all black design definitely gives it a sleeker look.
The mesh backrest helps keep you cool while working and in between the chair’s back frame, there is an adjustable lumbar support. The HON Ignition 2.0’s lumbar support can be adjusted by lifting it up or lowering it. Although it’s made of thinner plastic than the rest of the chair, it still provides strong support for your lower back.
The seat cushion is contoured to help evenly distribute your weight and the fabric it’s made from has a nice texture to it. While the HON Ignition 2.0 doesn’t have 4D armrests which can be moved in 4 dimensions, they can be raised or lowered as well as pulled out or pushed in to accommodate different body types. The armrests are also lightly padded and push in slightly when you put your full weight on them.
The adjustable lumbar support has helped me sit upright and with better posture while working and I’ve found the contoured seat to be quite comfortable, too.
I’ve been using the HON Ignition 2.0 for the past few weeks and while it took a day or so to get adjusted to the chair, once I finally settled in it has been very comfortable to use. The adjustable lumbar support has helped me sit upright and with better posture while working and I’ve found the contoured seat to be quite comfortable, too. However, I wish the lumbar support went just a bit higher up. The mesh back has kept me cool and the HON Ignition 2.0’s synchro-tilt mechanism has made it really easy to recline in the chair when stretching or taking a break.
HON Ignition 2.0 review: What’s adjustable
The HON Ignition 2.0 features six points of adjustment starting with the lumbar support, which can be raised or lowered by pulling it up or pushing it down. This is very easy to do but you’ll want to be sitting in the chair while adjusting the lumbar support so that it can line up with the small of your back.
The armrests can be raised or lowered by pulling up the tab on the outside but they can’t be pushed forward or backward. You can also extend their width or shorten it by opening a lever on the underside of the HON Ignition 2.0 and pushing or pulling them. As they aren’t 4D armrests though, they can’t be turned outward or inward.
On the right underside of the chair, you’ll find a knob and a lever. While the knob is used to adjust the tilt tension of the HON Ignition 2.0, the lever is used to raise or lower the chair’s height. With the knob tilted all the way back, you can easily lean back in the chair without a lot of force. Tilting it forward locks the tilt and makes it so that you can barely lean back.
On the left underside of the HON Ignition 2.0, you’ll find a similar knob and lever. The knob controls the chair’s tilt lock and this can be turned on or off. Meanwhile, the lever on the left side is used to adjust the position of the seat cushion. The seat itself can be moved forward or back to accommodate shorter or longer legs.
HON Ignition 2.0 review: Assembly
The HON Ignition 2.0 sent to Tom’s Guide for review arrived in a single box with plenty of padding to keep all of the parts safe in transit. Once unpacked, I was left with the backrest, seat cushion, base, armrests, casters (wheels), gas cylinder, an instruction manual and the parts needed to put it together.
What I particularly like about the HON Ignition 2.0’s assembly process is that you don’t have to install the armrests using bolts like with other office chairs. Instead, there’s a lever you pull out before sliding the armrests onto the bottom of the seat cushion.
If you do decide to upgrade to a HON Ignition 2.0 you want to avoid making the same mistake I did when I discarded the box. This is because the chair is designed to be built using the base for support. However, even without it, it was one of the easier office chairs I’ve assembled so far.
Three bolts and an Allen wrench are provided to attach the backrest to the base. What I particularly like about the HON Ignition 2.0’s assembly process is that you don’t have to install the armrests using bolts like with other office chairs. Instead, there’s a lever you pull out before sliding the armrests onto the bottom of the seat cushion. Once they are in place, you just close the lever to lock them in place.
With the backrest attached to the seat cushion, I just had to insert the casters into the base, drop the gas cylinder into its center and line up the hole at the bottom of the chair before placing it onto the base. Overall, the HON Ignition 2.0 was very easy to assemble but the instructions that arrived with my chair were a bit outdated. Even then, this was an easy chair to assemble and the whole process took me less than 15 minutes to complete.
HON Ignition 2.0 review: Verdict
The HON Ignition 2.0 is an affordable mid-range office chair with a sleek appearance thanks to its all-black design. The adjustable lumbar support is a big plus along with the fact that the chair’s seat cushion can be pushed forward or pulled back to accommodate those with longer or shorter legs. We also really like the fact that there are several variations of the HON Ignition 2.0 to choose from while the base model won’t break the bank. I wish you could customize the chair on HON’s website and order it directly from them but if you want a chair that really stands out, it might be a better idea to visit an authorized dealer to do so in person.
If you’re looking to save a bit, the Branch Ergonomic Chair starts at $329 and there are more customization options and colors you can choose from on Branch’s site. Likewise, if you’re willing to spend a bit more, the FlexiSpot Pro Plus Mesh Office Chair OC14 has more adjustment points and while it normally sells for $599, it’s currently on sale for the same price as the Hon Ignition 2.0 and comes with a headrest. Still, if you want a comfortable office chair that isn’t distracting with enough adjustability to tailor it to your body type, the HON Ignition 2.0 is a solid choice.
