The best gaming chairs 2021

The best gaming chairs are worth considering if you’ve been spending a lot of time gaming at your desk — or working from home. These stylish pieces of furniture don’t just make an aesthetic statement; they can also save your back from poor posture and painful contortions. While the best gaming chairs cost a lot more money than a standard office chair from your neighborhood discount furniture shop, they’ll also liven up your living room, while keeping your spine in the proper position.

Tom’s Guide has reviewed a variety of gaming chairs, including favorites from manufacturers like Secretlab, Anda Seat and Razer. While readers will have to decide for themselves whether to go with a gaming chair or one of the best office chairs instead, one thing is for sure: Anything on this list will treat your body a whole lot better than the ancient office chair that you should have replaced years ago.

What are the best gaming chairs?

Although it’s a bit of a cliché, the Secretlab Omega really is one of the best gaming chairs you can buy. Secretlab has been in the gaming chair business for years, and routinely winds up near the top of these “best of” lists. The company comes by its accolades honestly, though, as Secretlab chairs really are gorgeous, customizable, comfortable and durable products. Sometimes, things are popular because they’re legitimately good.

The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 review is also a surprisingly strong choice, considering that AndaSeat started off selling sports accessories rather than gaming gear. Still, there are a lot of similarities between racing seats and gaming chairs, and Anda Seat has leveraged its expertise to create something both comfortable and supportive. For gamers who love licensed tie-ins, Anda Seat also sells a variety of chairs with popular Marvel character logos.

Gamers looking for a familiar brand name might want to consider the Razer Iskur, which represents the peripheral manufacturer’s first attempt at creating mechanical furniture. The Iskur sports a big, recognizable Razer logo, which might not look great in every gaming setup. But where the chair shines is with its adjustable lumbar support, which provides a very firm, customizable rest for your lower back. That alone makes it worth a few tradeoffs.

The best gaming chairs you can buy today

Tom’s Guide is not the first tech site to recommend the Secretlab Omega as the best gaming chair, and we won’t be the last. This chair has it all: a comfortable design, plenty of adjustable features and enough color schemes and available materials to please even the pickiest gamer. Whether you’re working, gaming or even streaming (the Secretlab Omega is a great favorite among popular YouTube streamers), this chair can keep you propped upright for even the longest sessions.

There’s not much going against the Secretlab Omega; even its price is pretty modest. However, depending on which model you want, a chair may take a long time to ship. Furthermore, the lumbar support isn’t all that it could be, particularly since all you’ll get is a nonadjustable pillow. Still, the Secretlab Omega (and similar, larger Secretlab Chairs) is the gold standard for a reason.

The Secretlab Omega won “best gaming chair” at the Tom’s Guide Awards 2021 for gaming.

Read our full Secretlab Omega review.

The absolute best gaming chairs you can buy are very expensive. There’s no getting around that. That’s why we give the FlexiSpot Gaming Chair GC01 at least a mild recommendation. This no-frills gaming chair costs less than $200, and still offers the bold design and adjustable features that players expect in a gaming chair. You can change the angle of the backrest; you can adjust the height; you can even extend and retract a footrest. That’s pretty rare, even among gaming chairs.

There are some drawbacks, however. The material doesn’t feel especially premium, and will wear down over time. The adjustment settings aren’t nearly as precise as many of the FlexiSpot Gaming Chair GC01’s competitors.  The lumbar support is also somewhat lacking, offering only a pillow that never quite sits right. Still, this is the way to go if you’re on a tight budget.

Read our full FlexiSpot Gaming Chair GC01 review.

The Mavix M7 opts for a mesh design rather than the fabric, pleather or leather of most of its competitors. This is a cool decision — in more ways than one. Not only does the M7 do a better job circulating air around your body, but it also simply looks extremely sharp. Even beyond the material, the Mavix M7 is an impressive piece of furniture, with lots of ways to adjust the height and angle, as well as a comfortable headrest.

Tall people in particular may enjoy the Mavix M7’s large frame and high weight limit. But this accommodation comes at a price: Namely, the backrest is a bit of a pain to manipulate. While you won’t have to do this too often, it’s still tough to find a height that fits your frame perfectly.

The Mavix M7 won a “highly recommended” honor for “best gaming chair” at the Tom’s Guide Awards 2021 for gaming.

Read our full Mavix M7 review.

Most gaming chairs have users between 5’6” and 6’2” in mind. If you’re significantly taller than that, the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 may be the way to go. This huge chair can support individuals up to 6’10” and 400 pounds, making it an excellent choice for any gamers you know who also happen to be professional basketball players. Beyond that, the chair also features an elegant, understated design and an extremely comfortable build — provided you’re tall enough for it, anyway.

Naturally, gamers on the shorter side of the spectrum need not apply here. (AndaSeat does, however, produce other models with more averagely sized gamers in mind.) Furthermore, setting the chair up for the first time isn’t the easiest or more intuitive process. Beyond that, the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 is one of the best gaming chairs on the market.

Read our full AndaSeat T-Pro 2 review.

The Razer Iskur is an unusual gaming chair, in that it comes from an electronics manufacturer, rather than a furniture creator. Gamers know Razer as a purveyor of mice, keyboards, headsets and laptops, but the Iskur demonstrates that the company is also quite good at making chairs. The chair is comfortable overall. But what really sets it apart from its competitors is its adjustable pneumatic lumbar support, which works much better than a pillow.

There are a few drawbacks to the Iskur, however. The neck pillow doesn’t sit quite right for shorter players, while the logos can be pretty loud and obnoxious, even by gaming chair standards. Still, in terms of comfort and customizability, the Iskur is hard to beat. Just be sure to get a friend or family member to help construct it.

The Razer Iskur won a “highly recommended” honor for “best gaming chair” at the Tom’s Guide Awards 2021 for gaming.

Read our full Razer Iskur review.

How to choose the best gaming chair for you

There are a few general guidelines to keep in mind when choosing the best gaming chair for you. Price an important consideration, as cheap chairs may retail for less than $200, while premium models can soar past $1,000. The sweet spot tends to be somewhere between $300 and $700. Just pretend that you’re picking out a fancy office chair, and the same general pricing should apply.

You should also be sure that the chair you have in mind supports your height and weight requirements. If you’re too short, your feet won’t touch the ground; if you’re too tall or too heavy, the chair might scrunch up your legs, or buckle over time.

Finally, it’s worth considering what kind of lumbar support a chair offers, and how prone you are to lower back pain. A simple pillow might cut it if you sit properly by default; if your posture needs some work, you may want a more rigid back support system. A good chair should last for at least two to three years, so you’ll want something that can stand up to hours and hours of everyday use.

How we test the best gaming chairs

As such, every writer weighs in on his or her experience. Then a single editor analyzes and evaluates all of the quantitative specs, as well as each writer’s qualitative observations.

When testing gaming chairs, writers evaluate how easy they are to set up, how many adjustment options are available, and how easy it is to customize the chair settings. Then, of course, they sit in the chair for a long time while both working and gaming, to see how well the comfort holds up over time. Since comfort is highly subjective, writers also try to compare how many features a gaming offers versus other competitors in the same price range.