You have probably given more thought to the mattress you sleep on than the chair you sit on. That’s fine! Sleep is extremely important. But if you spend several hours—more than eight, if you’re like me—at your desk, it’s a good idea to give the humble chair more attention. Finding the best office chair is not just about finding a comfortable seat. The right materials can whisk away body heat, and adjustability options can tailor the chair to your body. We’ve spent the past two years sitting on more than 55 office chairs, and these are our favorites.
Be sure to check out our other buying guides, including the Best Laptop Stands, Best Work-From-Home Gear, Best Mattresses, and the Best Window Air Conditioners.
Best for Most People
Branch Ergonomic Chair
A good chair often means one that offers a variety of adjustments. Branch’s Ergonomic Chair fits this criterion. It’s surprisingly easy to assemble in minutes (the instructions are great), and there are tons of little tweaks you can make to dial it to fit. You can push the armrest back and forward, up and down; the seat can extend out or be pushed in; you can lock the recline. There’s even adjustable lumbar support. The chair does all this while managing to look sleek—there are several colors to choose from—without an outlandish price. (There’s no headrest, but you can pay to add one.)
It doesn’t keep my back as upright as I’d like, but the double-woven nylon mesh backrest feels nice to lean against. The seat is made of high-density foam—it’s firm yet comfy—and it doesn’t trap heat as much as other foam seats I’ve tried. It’s a great chair for a variety of body sizes; my 6’4″ self enjoyed sitting on it, as did my 5’1″ partner. Fair warning though: Pet hair tends to cling to the upholstery, and I’ve noticed the fabric on the front end of the seat tends to pill quite quickly.
Branch just announced the Ergonomic Chair Pro, which improves on the original in almost every way. However, it will not replace the Ergonomic Chair and will act as an upgrade option at $499. I’ll be testing it very soon, so stay tuned.
Runner-Up
Branch Verve Chair
Take everything about the Branch Ergonomic Chair and upgrade it a notch—that’s the Branch Verve. It looks more elegant (especially in the lovely Coral and Cobalt colors), it keeps my back straighter, it’s quite comfy, and it can make nearly the same adjustments with a higher level of polish. Nearly. The armrests only go up and down, which is limiting. I also wouldn’t have minded if the seat was a smidge wider—folks who need a wider seat may want to look elsewhere.
After more than a year, Branch finally released a headrest for this chair, but disappointingly, it’s only compatible with newer versions that have screw holes under the top of the chair’s frame. That means if you bought the Verve when it originally launched, in 2022, you’re out of luck. The company sent me the new version, and I installed the headrest—a very simple process—and I still really like the chair overall. The headrest doesn’t go as high as I’d like, but this won’t be an issue for most people, as I’m a 6’4″ man.
I try to sit on these chairs for several weeks if not months, but I rarely can sit on one for years as I have so many to test. However, I have a friend who owns the Verve who said that after more than two years, the chair started to sink whenever he sat on it. Thankfully, he says Branch’s customer service was very responsive and promptly sent him a new cylinder.
If you come across these chairs, we recommend you save your cash and go for one of the picks above.
Vilno Nobel Kneeling Chair for $250: It’s a freakin’ kneeling chair! It was easy to put all the wood pieces together, and the seat cushion was surprisingly plump. This is what’s known as an active chair, meant to keep your body moving and keep your posture straight. It feels effective for the first few hours, but unfortunately, rocking in the chair tends to cause it to move around on the floor, so I frequently had to fix my position. Worse yet, my shins and knees grew fatigued, and I started feeling some pain after a few days. You can’t adjust its height, so it needs to be paired with a standing desk so that your palms don’t rest on your desk.
Herman Miller Vantum Gaming Chair for $895: Initially, I liked this chair. I liked how I could keep myself in a super upright position, which made me feel more engaged in what I was doing. The mesh backrest also disperses heat quite well. However, the overall build quality feels cheap and doesn’t scream Herman Miller (nor does the asking price, which has since dropped by $200). The headrest isn’t great either—I’ve nearly broken it trying to move it up and down. As I kept sitting, it was the back support that disappointed me the most. You can feel the lumbar support on your lower back, and not in a good way, almost like it’s digging in. At least it didn’t give me back pain.
Flexispot C7 Lite for $270: While this chair is simple to assemble and looks good, it feels flimsy. The entire back flexes and warps whenever you move, and the lumbar support is barely connected to the rest of the chair, meaning it audibly scratches against the main section of the back every time you adjust and hardly feels like it provides any actual support. The footrest bends whenever weight is put on it, and the foam seat cushion collects crazy amounts of pet hair. It feels like just a few extra screws and supports would have made this a good chair, but in its current state, there isn’t enough material to make it feel sturdy. —Henri Robbins
Flexispot C7 Office Chair for $350: It wasn’t too difficult to put this chair together, and it comes in a fairly compact box despite its size. However, the lumbar section juts out so much that within two days of sitting on it, I had back pain. You can adjust the seat to mitigate it, but it didn’t solve the problem. It’s not just me. My 5’1″ wife did not enjoy sitting on the C7 either.
Steelcase Series 1 Office Chair for $498: WIRED reviewer Louryn Strampe says her biggest issue with the Series 1 is with the armrest—the tops slide back and forth and side to side, which could be a good thing, except she managed to pinch her arm every time she moved. There’s no way to lock them in place, so while she felt supported, her arms weren’t. The seat is also pretty curved, which can feel like you’re trapped in one position as you work throughout the day.
Flexispot Sit2Go 2-in-1 Fitness Chair for $350: This seems like a good idea since it lets you get some exercise while sitting at a desk. I felt virtuous pedaling away while checking my email. The problem is it’s just not very comfortable. (I could not sit on it all day.) It also feels like a cheap low-resistance exercise bike, so you’re getting the worst of both worlds. You need a standing desk to accommodate it.
Sihoo Doro S300 Chair for $800: Former WIRED reviewer Medea Giordano tested the Doro S300, which, in white, looks like it came straight out of the Space Force situation room. She found it comfortable. There are several adjustments you can personalize, like seat depth and recline angle. You can recline quite far, but she says she wished there was a footrest to enjoy the lowest recline position. She typically prefers a cushy gaming chair, but she says she had no trouble sitting on this chair all day—the dual lumbar support helps too. However, the headrest is too low for her to lean against even at its max height, and the arms move too easily. Simply placing her arms down pushes them out of position. It’s also a squeaky chair and overpriced.