Well, this is awkward. Remember just a few weeks ago when I could hardly contain myself while I sang the praises of IKEA's quality office gear? I stand by everything I said about IKEA's superb balance of affordability and quality, but I was reminded on my most recent trip to the Scandinavian superstore that this balance has plenty of nuance.
This time around, I was on a mission to see which reasonably priced chairs at IKEA could stand their own among the best office chairs. However, after about an hour of tasteful loitering and plenty of sitting, I could only find the confidence to recommend three chairs out of the dozens that were on display on the second floor. Why is that?
Ultimately, I found that IKEA's trend toward budget-friendliness led the brand to make some tough decisions regarding the designs of its chairs. If you ask me, a quality office chair is spacious, sturdy, and adjustable, and most of the chairs I tried had, at best, only one or two of these qualities. Sure, they all looked totally chic, but I couldn't fathom spending a full workday perched atop them. Many of them seemed like they were made for children. And so few of them had good armrests, if any.
All of that moping aside, I was surprised to find a few diamonds in the rough. These three chairs may not have been the prettiest or most avant-garde out of the options available, but as someone who tests office chairs for a living, I'd much rather pick them over the alternatives, at least for comfort's sake.
To see how each of these budget-friendly chairs managed to stand out to a dejected chair seeker, read on for a quick look at each of them.
1. CENTERHALV
Let's start off strong with my favorite of the chairs I tried, which is actually the first one I approached when I entered the eerily lit display room full of tiny pretend offices. I picked it out from quite a distance away because I saw something on it that nearly no other chair in the whole room had: an adjustable lumbar support mechanism.
Plenty of the chairs in IKEA's lineup have lumbar support engineered into the contours of the backrest, but the adjustability this chair offered was unmatched. It was fully exposed behind the mesh lining for ease of access, it didn't feel too intrusive (a common complaint I have for stiff lumbar supports), and I didn't need to wrench it too much to make it move.
Alongside all of that, the chair had several more adjustment points all over, including on the armrests. Most of the chairs in this display area that did have armrests had skinny, fixed ones that felt like they'd snap if I leaned on them. However, the CENTERHALV's armrests were several inches wider than the others and had vertical and horizontal adjustment.
Other neat tweaks you can make to this chair include tilt resistance and caster locks. It's still not much, but for a $240 chair, I've seen far worse. At least this chair feels sturdy.
2. STYRSPEL
While I was initially concerned that this gaming chair would be too flimsy for long-term use, my expectations were subverted after just a few seconds of sitting in the STRYSPEL. Despite looking like it could fold under you, this chair was surprisingly supportive, and the mesh backrest even had contoured lumbar support that held its shape as I leaned into it.
This STRYSPEL has a particularly wide back, too, which is often a rarity among these types of chairs — most of them had teeny tiny backrests that rounded up around the shoulder blades, which I thought felt awkward. This wide backrest makes the chair great for gaming, because there's a bit more material there to cradle you while you lean back. Similarly, the angle-adjustable headrest is a plus.
I also couldn't help but notice the intriguing design for the base of this chair. I was initially worried that the extra bars that span between the casters would make this chair more difficult to maneuver, but I was glad to see that they didn't get in the way of my feet nearly as much as I thought they would.
Is this one of the best gaming chairs in the world? Probably not, but at only $370, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than many of the ones we've tested and recommended. The bright purple is a nice touch, too.
3. HATTEFJÄLL
As it's clear IKEA wants to balance form and function with its furniture, I figured I would forego my traditional testing standards and find the best example of where I believe IKEA wants that balance to lie. Enter the HATTEFJÄLL, a sleek, goatskin-lined chair with a design so understated that I quite literally walked right past it. Only on my second pass did I see this thing lurking in its dark corner though.
This chair is the most expensive of all the options I'm going to recommend checking out here: it's $420. I believe much of that cost comes down to the materials used, because there isn't much adjustability to work with here. You get your standard height adjustment for the seat and armrests, but that's about it. The tilt resistance auto-adjusts with your weight too, which is a nice touch.
What ultimately stood out to me about this chair (eventually) is that the contours of the seat cushion make it surprisingly cozy for such a small chair. It curves upward on the sides, which I found gives you a great feeling of sinking into it without taking away your ability to climb back out. I also tend to shift my weight from side to side throughout the day, so I could see this design coming in handy for maintaining support.
I do think you can get a much better office chair for this price in terms of functionality, but I also recognize the importance some people place on aesthetics. This chair looks freakin' cool, dude, and I could easily see it completing the look of an office already filled with statement furniture.
"Form over function" still has its wins
IKEA, if you've gained sentience and you're reading this, I'm sorry for being so hard on you for your chair selection. But I have to be honest: it was pretty underwhelming.
That said, I was happy to see that not every chair I tested was a letdown. I can see a place for many of these options in a well-decorated college dorm or first home office, but I'm too spoiled by other office chairs that are more comfortable for the same price.
Luckily, the best part of going to an IKEA is that you have the freedom to try these chairs out for yourself. Sure, you may look a little strange sitting contemplatively in 20 different office chairs, but so did I, and I doubt anyone remembers that I was there. And there's no better way to find out if a chair is a good fit for you than trying it before you fork over your hard-earned chair money.
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