Office Chair Review

Evaluating reviews of office chairs

Herman Miller started the modern ergonomic trend in office chairs. Though the hugely successful Herman Miller Aeron chair is still considered prestigious and stylish, there are some reviewers who say the Aeron office chair isn't as exciting as it once was. To find out which other chairs are worth considering, we've turned to reviews. Unfortunately, office chairs aren't drawing as much press coverage as they once did.

One of the most comprehensive and useful reviews we found is published in Slate.com, where reviewer Seth Stevenson and seven staffers try six chairs over several weeks. We also appreciated an older review in The Wall Street Journal, where five office chairs are put through a battery of real-life tests. We also found some good casual comparisons of office chairs in Wired magazine and in Money magazine.

MyBusiness magazine has also published a good article, but testing isn't as specific or thorough as it is at Slate.com or The Wall Street Journal. As you might expect, reviewers test chairs mainly for comfort, using a wide variety of testers of various sizes and weights. Adjustability is also examined in reviews, as well as build quality.

We also found a good number of in-depth owner reviews for a few chairs on Amazon.com, specifically the Herman Miller Aeron (*Est. $950 and up), the Herman Miller Mirra (*Est. $650 to $850) and the Raynor Ergohuman Mesh (*Est. $600 to $650). Regardless of ratings for a given chair, reviewers universally emphasize the importance of taking a chair for an extensive test before committing to a purchase. Ergonomic chairs come in a variety of designs and sizes, and as one reviewer noted, "the right size is critical to comfort." It is therefore important to check on the retailer's return policies in the event that you need to exchange one chair for another.

Some pricey office chairs are downright "unsittable" according to Slate.com's testers. Although we found good reviews for other Steelcase office chairs, editors didn't like the Steelcase Cachet (*Est. $400). With a seat and back made entirely of hard plastic, the Cachet is "glorified lawn furniture," writes Seth Stevenson. Similarly, though we found good reviews for other Herman Miller chairs, the Celle (*Est. $450 to $650) isn't reported to be as comfortable as others. Stevenson calls the Celle, with its hard seat padding and a stiff back, "unforgiving." One plus is that its seat is wider than most, making it a plausible pick for heavier individuals (or those who just like a more generous seat area).

In addition to issues of comfort, reviewers and users also wonder about cost. How necessary is it to spend upwards of $1,000 for a quality ergonomic chair? TheHumanSolution.com, a chair retailer, provides an informative article on this question, which outlines the key functions of a true ergonomic chair (adjustability, lumbar support, etc.) and offers recommendations for chairs that meet these criteria costing approximately $500.