In our quest to find the best office chair, we researched the available models, compared user reviews and the manufacturer's specifications on each one, then picked out which chairs we thought had the most potential to win an award. We then bought everything and set each contender against each other in a series of head-to-head challenges. Our testing process was divided into four weighted rating metrics, outlined below. If you want to see how specific chairs scored or which ones came out on top, head over to our complete office chair review.
Comfort
Comfort is likely what comes to your mind first and foremost when talking about these products, and consequently, this is the most important rating metric, responsible for 50% of the total score for each chair. To evaluate this inherently subjective metric, we had a group of judges test out each chair for a few days, then rate each one. In particular, we had each judge compare and rank the comfort of the armrests, seat, and backrest. Finally, we also had each judge decide how long they could comfortably sit in each chair on a given day. We then aggregated all of their opinions and averaged the scores to determine the final comfort score for each product.
Adjustability
After comfort, our next most important set of tests evaluated how adjustable each chair is. This round of tests accounted for 35% of the overall score and was based on five different areas of adjustability: back support, armrests, seat adjustments, reclining tension, and (if possible) configuring the chair to achieve a correct ergonomic position based on standard guidelines. For backrest adjustability, we looked at each chair to see if it had adequate lumbar support and if it had the option to customize the amount of lumbar support.
We also compared and scored each chair based on the user-friendliness and capabilities of the reclining lever and the tilt limiters, such as the different positions you can lock the chair into and the different setpoints for the limiters. Finally, we also compared backrest height — in particular, we had our tallest judge score this, noting which ones were comfortable enough for him and which ones weren't.
Next, we looked at how much customization is afforded to you by the armrests on each chair. Specifically, we awarded points to each chair if the armrests can move up or down, in or out, forward and back, or swivel. We also had our judges rate the armrest adjustability to see if the chair offered enough range of motion to accommodate our largest and smallest testers.
For our seat adjustment test, we had our judges rate the amount of customization available, such as its range of motion up and down and forward and back. In particular, we had our shortest and tallest tester note if they could achieve the correct height and depth to properly place their feet on the ground.
Next, we looked at the tension knob adjustment of each chair. This knob sets the amount of resistance when reclining, and we scored each chair — if it had one — on how easy it was to reach and how easy it was to adjust to find your preferred setting.
Finally, we used standard guidelines for an ergonomic desk setup to see if our judges could successfully adjust the chair to get their body position to match the guidelines. We again made sure that our tallest and shortest testers tried out each chair for this test to ensure that the chairs had enough range of movement (or noted those that did not) for a wide variety of people.
Durability
Next, we evaluated and scored how durable each chair was. While we can't do a true test of durability, as we only bought a single unit of each model and can't test all of them for years at a time, we combed through hundreds of user reviews for mentions of common problems. We gave each chair an overall score based on our assessment of its construction and any damage sustained throughout the course of our testing. Altogether, this trio of assessments accounted for 10% of the overall score.
For the first test of this metric, we combed through all of the one and two-star user reviews for each of these products, both on the manufacturer's site and on major retailers, looking for any commonly encountered problems or issues with components of the chair breaking. We deducted points for any common issues we found that seemed reasonable and well-documented, omitting any that seemed like one-off issues or problems clearly stemming from misuse.
When evaluating warranties, we awarded more points the longer and more comprehensive each warranty is. Finally, we looked for any signs of damage over our relatively short testing period, reasoning that if any of these chairs suffered a component failure or had something break over the few months that we tested, they probably weren't going to fare the best over the multiple year lifespans we would expect from these products.
Ease of Assembly
Last in our testing process, our assembly metric accounted for 5% of the overall score for each office chair. While the assembly process for some of these chairs can be quite tedious, it usually only has to be done once, so even the most difficult assembly processes can usually be coped with. We looked at how long it took to assemble each chair and how many tools were required. We also compared and scored the quality of the instructions included with each product.
