Best gaming chairs 2023 | PCGamesN

2. Ikea Huvudspelare

The best cheap gaming chair is the Ikea Huvudspelare.
Expect to pay $89.99 USD / £60.00 GBP.

Pros

• Less than $100 USD
• Pairs with Ikea gaming gear

Cons

• Basic design
• Uncomfortable for some

We’re jumping out of the premium frying pan and into the budget furniture frier next, as our top budget gaming chair comes from Ikea. That’s right, your favourite Swedish flatpack aficionados now do gamer gubbins, and the Huvudspelare is a cheap seat that is incredible value for money.

Coming in at just $90 USD / £60 GBP, the Ikea Huvudspelare is a cheap and cheerful champion that puts other budget chairs to shame. It offers ergonomic essentials like lumbar support and a breathable mesh back that both looks the part and will keep you from working up a sweat in stressful gaming situations. Splashes of colour on the armrests and wheels also give the overall look a unique flair, all while still maintaining a level of subtly that’ll fit into your home surroundings.

Naturally, a chair under $100 is going to lack premium features, and it sticks to the basics in terms of adjustability. In many ways, it just feels like an ordinary Ikea office chair, but that’s perhaps more a strength than a weakness. After all, the Scandinavian superstore knows a thing or two about furniture, and you can count on the Huvudspelare to embrace the company’s philosophies.

We’re sure the Huvudspelare won’t provoke the phrase “buy cheap, buy twice,” as we can’t see any reason why it’d be more susceptible to wear and tear. That said, we wouldn’t expect it to last as long as premium chairs on this list, but we’re willing for someone to prove us wrong. If you’re reading this ten years from now, send us an email to let us know how your heroic Huvudspelare is fairing.

3. Corsair TC100 Relaxed

The best gaming chair for most people is the Corsair TC100 Relaxed.
Expect to pay $249.99 / £199.99.

Pros:

• Comfortable materials and solid lumbar support
• Wide seatbase
• Good lumbar support

Cons:

• Rigid neck cushion placement
• 2D armrests

If you’re in the market for a midrange maverick, then look no further than the Corsair TC100 Relaxed. It’s got just about everything you could want from a gaming chair and packs levels of comfort you’d more commonly associate with more premium competitors.

As its name suggests, it’s a great chair to relax in thanks to its 160-degree recline and high quality leather and fabric upholsteries. It doesn’t slack when it comes to sitting up straight either, with robust lumbar support and a comfrotable memory foam neck pillow.

It does have some minor shortcomings, like its 2D armrests, but you’ll be hard pressed to find a gaming chair that offers the same level of value at this price point.

Read the PCGamesN Corsair TC100 Relaxed review for our full verdict and score.

4. Neuechair

The best office chair for gaming is the Neuechair.
Expect to pay $649.00 USD / £574.00 GBP.

Pros

• Secretlab quality
• Breathable material
• Up to 12-year warranty

Cons

Can you keep a secret? The Neuechair is actually a Secretlabs chair in disguise. Alright, we’ll quit the brand puns now, but this office chair embodies the same level of craftsmanship as its parent company, and it ditches all those gamer tropes associated with most seats targeted at PC enthusiasts.

Neuechair describes its solution as the “ultimate modern computer chair,” and it certainly looks like something that belongs in 2023. Its aluminium frame and three-layer mesh are a visual treat, with both contributing to the chair’s incredible build quality and comfortable form factor. In addition, adjustability helps make it one of the most versatile seats out there, accommodating a selection of preferences.

You’d expect the Neuechair to last, as prices start at a whopping $649.00 USD. That’s significantly more than our top gaming char pick by Secretlab, so it’s a good job it comes with a 12-year warranty. The company says “Neuechair is an investment, not an expense,” and the included lengthy guarantee really hammers that sentiment home.

If anything, we’d argue the Neuechair is a bit too professional. It almost feels like a Secretlab’s chair grew up and started working a nine till five job instead of playing in a grunge band – a scenario that feels a bit too close to home. Of course, that’s not remotely a bad thing, and we’d only suggest looking elsewhere if you’re not really into plain and subtle furniture with a futuristic finish.

5. Mavix M9

The best ergonomic gaming chair is the Mavix M9.
Expect to pay $1,099.99 USD / £983.99 GBP.

Pros

• The best lumbar support around bar none
• Lockable rubber wheels
• Can be upgraded with Elemax attachment

Cons

• Undeniably pricey
• Rattly arms
• Bland design

When it comes to lumbar support, the Mavix M9 understands the assignment, and if your back could talk, it’d probably agree. It’s a ridiculously expensive option for those who want to experience egregious levels of comfort, even if that means arguably trading away fancy aesthetics.

The Mavix M9 has a bit more visual going on than the Neuechair mentioned above, but lumbar support is at the top of the chair’s agenda. Its incredible dedication to comfort is accompanied by an array of adjustable settings, as you’ll be able to tweak the headrest, back height, and armrests until they feel just right.

We feel the Mavix’s M-Wheels deserve a shoutout too, as they glide like butter across hard floors. In a way, it almost feels like this chair is wearing a pair of rollerblades, but you can lock them into place if you’d rather not Jet Set Radio away from your desk by accident. The setup will probably change the way you feel about traditional caster wheels, especially if you’ve damaged an expensive hard floor in the past by rolling your seat around.

Admittedly, there are more solid-feeling gaming chair options on this list, and many of them feature an aesthetic edge. Yet when the Mavix M9 gets it right, it whacks it out of the park and into outer space. Its strengths outshine any gripes we have with the getup overall, but it also feels like an appropriate match for its lofty MSRP.

6. Razer Enki Pro

The most comfortable gaming chair is the Razer Enki Pro.
Expect to pay $999.00 USD / £999.00 GBP.

Pros

• Magnetic memory foam head cushion
• Robust cushioning
• High-quality materials

Cons

• Costs as much as a mid-range gaming PC
• Finicky construction

The Razer Enki Pro is an outrageous gaming chair in many ways, and it completely delivers on the comfort front. Pleasing your toosh isn’t its only superpower, as it’s built like a tank and embraces expensive materials, but it’s hard to pay attention to all that when it feels so damn good to kick back on.

Gaming chairs often emulate sports motor interiors, but the Razer Enki Pro is clad with the exact same materials. Upholstered with Alcantara leather, the Enki Pro is comfier than an actual car seat, and it feels more like something that belongs in a vehicle than a piece of office furniture. That said, it comes with lumbar support abilities and adjustability that you won’t find in the priciest of briefs, so don’t get any ideas about repurposing something from the scrapyard.

The Enki Pro is a heavy beast, and it should have what it takes to outlive Razer’s included three-year warranty. That might not be surprising given it costs nearly $1,000, but it offers better build quality than the Mavix M9 for ever so slightly less. That’s a quality worth shouting about in our book, particularly if you prioritise style and comfort over ergonomic dedication.

If you’re looking for an ultra-comfy chair that’ll potentially outlive your current gaming PC, the Razer Enki Pro is up to the task. There are flashier-looking thrones out there, but rivals will need to cook up something spectacular to challenge Razer for the comfort crown.

Read the PCGamesN Razer Enki Pro review for our full verdict and score.

7. Noblechairs Legend

The best versatile gaming chair is the Noblechairs Legend.
Expect to pay $689 USD / £459.95 GBP.

Pros

• Subtle, sleek design
• Comfortable
• Robust

Cons

The Noblechairs Legend is a standout contender in the top gaming chair race, as it offers a blend of versatility, comfort, and style that’ll fit in with any setup. It ditches flamboyancy for functionality in a way that’ll win over anyone opposed to gamer tropes, all while still embodying everything that makes products designed for PC gaming worthwhile.

At $689 USD / £459.95 GBP, the Noblechairs Legend is far from budget, but it offers a lot for a chunk less than our other premium picks. A concoction of high-quality leather, aluminium, and plastics helps the latest Legend wields an unassuming aesthetic in one hand, robust build quality in the other, and respectable levels of comfort stowed on its hip for good measure. In other words, it’s armed to the teeth with everything you’d want from a premium seat, catering to everyone rather than a select few.

Just like many of our top chairs, the Legend includes reliable lumbar support, but we’re not too thrilled about its included head pillow. The cushion seemingly doesn’t contribute anything to the overall experience, and it skips on the magnificent benefits of magnets. Nevertheless, it does come with a pillow as an extra, and you might get more use out of it than us.

Noblechairs puts up a great fight against its competition with the Legend Series 2022, and it wins a few fights using the power of versatile subtly. If you’d rather dodge the Henry Ford “long as it’s black,” approach to design, you can grab either a white version or one that looks like Spider-Gwen without having to spend extra pennies.