You can wipe down the mesh easily, and if you have pets that shed a lot, a mesh chair like the Aeron doesnt attract as much hair as fabric cushions do. All of the Gestures control knobs are on the right side and easy to access. But that also makes it super sturdy. Most office chairs claim to offer lumbar support, but more often than not its nonexistent. That said, higher-end chairs like our top pick and runner-up are made with highly durable parts and fabrics that should last for many years. Whether it's finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we'll help you get it right (the first time). All testers ran the office chairs through the same basic testing gauntlet, assessing comfort, body support, adjustability, and durability. Most are at a fixed height, which presumes that your torso is the same length as everyone elses.

If youre looking for something more affordable, the HON Ignition 2.0 makes the fewest sacrifices of any inexpensive office chair we tested and is an upgrade to our previous budget pick, the HON Exposure. Priced between the Sayl and the Gesture, its a good option for anyone who is not willing to spend up to a grand on a chair but who still wants something normal looking and comfortable. Plus, premium chairs come with longer warranties (12 years in the case of the Steelcase Gesture and Herman Miller Aeron) that cover any issues outside of normal wear and tear. We found the foam seat too firm, however, and we had concerns that the seat designits Velcroed to the basemay mean its likely to collect dust, lint, and other detritus akin to what youd find under a sofa cushion. The Sayl has all the adjustments you need but doesnt go above and beyond that. That tally doesnt include the nights you have to work late, the weekends youre called into the office, those unfortunate occasions you end up scarfing down lunch in front of your computer, or any late-night gaming sessions you might enjoy. We independently review everything we recommend. You can move the seat depth in and out, change the seat height, and telescope the arms up and down as well as away from or toward your torso. A quick search for office chairs on Google will turn up hundreds of chairs, many of which cost under $100 and can be found at sites like Wayfair and Amazon or in-person at big-box stores and office retailers like Target and Staples. But for around $300, you get a solid chair that will be comfortable for at least a few years. Upon request, the company provided us with a free kit that allows users to screw the lumbar support in place, but this seems like a less-than-ideal solution for a nearly thousand-dollar chair. Overall, we preferred the adjustability of the other chairs, as well as the other size options not available on the Cosm. We also tested the HON Convergence, but we found the seat a bit too squishy, with thinner, less durable fabric; on top of that, the mid- to upper-back support was not as good as that of the HON Ignition 2.0.

The Steelcase Think is similar to the Amia in that while none of our testers found it bad, only one person put it in their top three. If you want a budget chair with a more premium design, the Fully Desk Chair fits the bill. Although the Gesture is a comfortable and well-built chair, its not the ergonomic revolution that Steelcases marketing materials suggestfancy armrests aside, almost any other ergonomic task chair in the $1,000 range will give you similar features and back support. Its a no-frills chair with fixed armrests and a one-year warranty. The well-known Aeron has more limited armrest adjustability than the Gesture, but its also more breathable and just as comfortable and supportive for typing at a desk. When it comes to looks, the Aeron has an iconic design that has been much imitated.

One size C tester found that the Silq pushed them forward in an uncomfortable way and that the armrests dug into them.

Compared with the components of most similarly priced or less expensive chairs, the Ignition 2.0s materials feel more durable and of a higher quality, with less wobbly armrests and smoother-rolling casters. Everyone was able to adjust the Gesture so that it was comfortable for their body and their work, regardless of whether they were awkwardly hunched over a desk taking handwritten notes, breaking ergonomic rules by perching on the edge of the seat, or casually leaning back during a meeting. The armrests also cant be locked into position, so they often swivel out of position when you stand or sit.

If the sculpted foam design appeals to you, the Freedom might be worth trying out for yourself if you can find it at a nearby retailer and if you feel comfortable shopping in person. *At the time of publishing, the price was $1,031.

The seat is upholstered in high-quality fabric and has a firm cushion that feels like it will last a long time, but if you prefer a softer, cushier seat, the Gesture would be a better option for you. This chair demands that you notice it, and if youre into that space-age look, the range of color options allows you to make it fit in or stand out. It has a very firm seat. Its less bulky than the Gesture and easier to move around, and it doesnt collect lint as much. At 5-foot-2, I found it impossible to keep my feet flat on the floor while sitting in the chair at its lowest height, as did 5-foot-4 Wirecutter editor Tracy Vence.

The Aerons lumbar-support system offers a fully adjustable dial and tilt mechanism that we found natural to use but a bit harder to manipulate than the Gestures. Compared with the Gesture, the Aeron feels much more durable and harder to breakits mostly metal, hard plastic, and mesh. We tested the X-Chair X3 ATR Management Chair with Elemaxand found that despite a lot of interesting-sounding featuresincluding a flexible lumbar support area, heating, cooling, and massage functionalityit was just an okay chair. The HON Exposure was our previous budget pick. Starting at less than $600, the Herman Miller Sayl represents a good compromise between a cheap budget chair and a high-end chair.

If you cant stomach the idea of spending $300 to $1,000 for an office chair, no matter the benefits, look for a good used deal of one of our picks. Others found the recline, which shoves your crotch into the air as you push back, a little awkward. The sizes roughly correlate to height and weight ranges, and even though you might not find a size that fits you perfectly, you should still look at the size chart and consider what makes sense for you. However, the chairs construction is plasticky; its armrests arent adjustable for height, width, or angle (although they can flip up completely); and with an 18.5-inch minimum seat height, the chair isnt suitable for people who are under about 5-foot-8.

Subscribe now for unlimited access. Weve found that these chairs tend to lack adjustability, which can be a dealbreaker for many people. The Ignition 2.0 looks less boxy than competing budget-priced chairs and is available with a gray or black mesh back. The Aeron comes with a 12-year warranty, the same length as the Gestures coverage, and because of the chairs popularity, you can often find older or lightly used Aerons at a substantial discount. Although the Ignition 2.0s overall comfort doesnt compare with that of the Gesture or the Aeron, it at least gets all the basics right.

This meant sitting in the chairs while typing at computers, playing video games, writing emails, sitting through meetings, and just leaning back to think.

This design encourages you to sit correctly and prevents backaches from extended sitting sessions. You can slide the pads on the armrests forward and back, and angle them in or out.

You can also splurge on options, such as a polished or satin aluminum frame, to spruce it up a little. Some people liked them, but we found in general that being able to manually fine-tune the Gesture led to greater comfort and fit for most of our testers. If you have a home office, finding a chair that makes your desk time more comfortable and better for your health is a worthwhile endeavor. Some chairs lumbar support feels nonexistent, while other chairs have curves that are so pronounced, they might push you uncomfortably forward.

If youre the right size, though, its a good chair at a good price.

But that pricing didnt factor into our blind testing, where our panelists rated it just average across most of the categories, including comfort, back support, and ease of adjusting. The seat and lower back of the chair pivots separately from the upper back of the chaira design created by a chiropractor to support and encourage movement of all 33 vertebrae in your lower spine. (Its such a distinctive look that it was even used in The Hunger Games.) But this chair doesnt have the Gestures cleverly designed recline mechanism or the Aerons iconic looks, and ergoCentricfounded in 1990 and only recently breaking into the U.S. marketlacks either brands longstanding reputation. However, in previous rounds of testing, it was universally reviled. Herman Millers Embody is a strange-looking chair, but when it comes to comfort, its one of the most adjustable, high-tech chairs available. This is a chair that will last, too: Steelcases 12-year warranty (PDF) covers everything that typically goes wrong with chairs, including any problems in the pneumatic cylinders that enable the height adjustment, and the Gesture has proven sturdy in our testing over years of heavy use. The Gestures lumbar and back support is on a par with that of other chairs in this price rangeits excellentbut where this chair stands out is in how comfortable it is to recline in and vary your position. The coronavirus has turned life upside down. Keep in mind, however, that in long-term testing weve found that the Gestures and Aerons seat comfort is better. *At the time of publishing, the price was $545. In testing, we were concerned about the plastic back ripping, but it has been remarkably sturdy.

You cannot adjust the seat depthanother reason picking the correct-size Aeron is so important. We didnt love the lateral armrest adjustment, which doesnt have a lock and thus tended to slip under our hands when standing up out of the chair, but you can opt for armrests that only swivel and lift (and save some money in the process). Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. You can pick between several colors for the back suspension, several base colors, and a number of different-colored seat fabrics. This chair is comfortable across multiple tasksits built for more than just typing at your computer, unlike more basic chairs that are designed to hold you in one upright position. Again, chair size makes a big difference: Our size A and B testers found the chair a bit more difficult to recline in and maintain the tilt angle, but our size C tester said the chair reclined too easily and was difficult to lock into place, even though the chair has a tilt tension control knob. You might not realize it, but reclining in your chair is beneficial. Much like the Haworth Fern, the Knoll ReGeneration was a divisive chair. If you just occasionally sit down to check email or play games, buy whatever chair youre most comfortable in or like the look of.

Although the Embody is comfortable, it has a starting price even higher than the Gestures, it lacks the Gestures arm adjustability, and Herman Miller doesnt provide the fabric variety that Steelcase offers. In our latest round of testing, we found that the sub-$100 AmazonBasics Mid-Back Mesh Office Chair is probably your best bet if youre looking for an inexpensive office chair that offers height adjustability. Before each round of testing, we scour manufacturer sites for new models, comb through older versions of this guide to reevaluate our picks and previous dismissals, and consult ergonomics experts for advice on what to look for in an office chair that would best support your body for short or long periods of sitting. The Gesture also comes in the widest range of fabrics and other finishing options of the chairs we tested, so you can customize its appearance for your workspace. Not everyone has $500let alone $1,000to spend on a chair.

With plenty of adjustability for a wide range of body types, the Steelcase Gesture is the best and most comfortable office chair for most people. Wirecutter editor Ben Keough (who is 6-foot-1) tested the HON Ignition 2.0 and the Fully Desk Chair at the same time in his home office.

But if you lean forward a lot, you may want to invest $100 in the tilt limiter and seat-angle add-on. Our panelists remarked that the gray (called mineral) model we tested looked less monolithic than the black version and might blend in better in some homes. If you cant afford a new Aeron or simply dont want to spend $1,000 on a chair, going old stock or used is an excellent route. As long as you have the right-size chair, the Aeron is comfortable for long hours of work. The Herman Miller Cosm (available in low-, mid-, and high-back versions) is a chair built with the idea that it shifts and moves with you. The arm height is also a pain to adjust: Instead of just pressing a tab underneath the armrest and moving the arms as you see fit, on the Aeron you have to unlock the arm with a switch on the chairs back, move the arm, and then lock it back into place. We tried the Cosms new Leaf armrest design, which is more like an elbow cradle than an armrest; we found it comfortable for relaxing our arms at the chair but not for supporting them when we were typing or reading a book. Gaming chairs, meanwhile, resemble office chairs but generally provide fewer ergonomic adjustments. Wirecutter senior staff writer Melanie Pinola has been working out of her home office for over two decades, writing about technology and productivity for sites such as Lifehacker, PCWorld, and Laptop Mag. The arms dont go down as far as those on the Gesture, Aeron, or Sayl, but many other budget chairs dont provide any armrest adjustments at all, which some of our testers noted as a dealbreaker after sitting in 10 different chairs.

Plus, if the Gesture and Aeron are too boring-looking for you, the Sayl has a distinctive design that draws you in (or repels you) the second you see it. It has a thick, well-padded seat like the HON Ignition 2.0 and premium design features like the Fully Desk Chair, including an aluminum base and a few different color options for the frame and seat.

While most of those chairs may seem fine at first, you'll soon be feeling (and hearing) the consequences of choosing a cheap chair: creaking sounds, deflated foam cushions, and cracking armrests and other plastic parts.

We judged office chairs on seat, backrest, and armrest comfort, as well as the adjustability of the seat and arm height. Three sizes help it fit a wider range of body types and sizes than most one-size-fits-all chairs. For at least one tester, the Steelcase Amia ranked in the top three among office chairs. Since everyone is different, we found chairs that fit a range of body types, but you should always try a chair out before purchasing. If you spend most of your working hours sitting at your desk, the answer is yes. Through multiple test panels involving dozens of Wirecutter staffers trying out office chairs, the Gesture has continued to be a favorite since we first recommended it in 2015. But unfortunately, office chairs that cost less than our budget pick (about $300 as of this writing) are more or less the same: None of them compete with our picks when it comes to all-day comfort, ergonomics, durability, customization, and warranty. Shes thrilled when those topics intersectand when she gets to write about them in her PJs. Although the back is notably firm and supportive, because of its size this chair is best suited to petite people. We now know that any sustained in-chair time can be detrimental to your health, but a bad chair only adds to the problem by putting you in positions that add to long-term risk. The model we tested was fully loaded in leather and a polished aluminum frame, a configuration that retails for over $2,500. If you want to add fully adjustable arms for depth adjustment and inward and outward movement, that costs another $130 or so.

(For reference, a chair that lowered to only 18 inches from the ground was too tall for me, and Im 5-foot-2. For most people, we suggest these options: The above combination puts the price at roughly $1,400 directly from Herman Miller at this writing. In fact, the Aerons mesh has a springiness and breathability that some of our testers preferred over the feel of the Gesture and other chairs for long hours of work. If you want a more stylish budget chair and can live with wiggly armrests, the Branch Ergonomic Chair is another option worth considering. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Its hard to get all-day comfort in this price range, but the Ignition 2.0 is an exception. This chair might do in the short term, but youll have to plan on replacing it soon if you want to invest in a chair for the long term. Our testers all agreed that the Gestures recline was one of the most comfortable among all the chairs we tested: You push back, and the chair retains the recline angle rather than forcing you to continue pushing back with your feet or your core to keep that angle, as most other chairs do. And since 2015, weve found that the Steelcase Gesture is the best office chair for most people.

You cant really fix a chair that doesnt recline or reclines only slightlyor, worse, forces you to lean forward in your chair.

To be clear, we dont recommend buying it: We think youd probably end up replacing it sooner than youd prefer (within its one-year warranty), because our panelists found it uncomfortable for long sitting sessions. After sitting in various other office chairs during testing, going back to the Gesture was, as one panelist put it, like going to the spa. Our panelists scored the Gesture highest across all of our criteria, and its made of high-quality materials that should outlast its generous 12-year warranty. Do so on a Gesture, and you might totally forget your legs are crossed until you stand up.

If you find one used for a good price, if you prefer the look of the Leap, or if you just dont need the arm adjustability of the Gesture, the Leap might serve you well. You can adjust the tilt tension as well as how far the Sayl tilts back, but it takes a few turns of the tension knob before you really notice a change, and one of our size C testers found that the chair was too easy to lean all the way back. Our petite-size testers had difficulty sitting in the chair comfortably and getting full back support because of the seat-pan depth. The Steelcase Silq boasts an adjust-to-your-body engineering design similar to that of the Herman Miller Cosm, but we found the chair to be less comfortable for sitting for long periods of time than other, comparable chairs. You can customize the Gesture so that its comfortable to sit in no matter what youre doing. The Autonomous ErgoChair 2 combines a mesh back and a foam seat for a decent (about $360) price. The best office chairs provide great lumbar support, with extra padding for the natural curve in your lower back. For previous versions of this guide, we also tested and dismissed the following office chairs: The Steelcase Leap was once our pick for the best office chair and later became our runner-up. If our top picks are out of your price range, the Herman Miller Sayl provides similar comfort and durability for nearly half the price.

Because it has been around so long, we know that the Aeron is durable enough to last a decade or moreand you can probably find a lightly used example at a steep discount at an office-furniture liquidation store. The Ignition 2.0 is one of the most comfortable chairs weve tested retailing for less than $500, and it has many of the adjustments generally reserved for more expensive chairs. The breathability of the mesh means most people wont overheat or find a gross sweat stain on their back on hot days.

(Wirecutter editor Thorin Klosowski has had a classic Aeron for over a decade and has moved with it many times, including twice to different states, and it still looks brand-new.). Many of these parts are easy to replace yourself; unlike the Gesture, which hides its moving parts, the Aeron wears its skeleton proudly. The effect is subtle enough that youll probably learn to ignore it after a while, but it could be grating for some. Expensive chairs can also be bought secondhand (often in like-new condition) at significant discounts, making them more accessible to more people. She has contributed to print and online publications such as The New York Times, Lifehacker, and PCWorld, specializing in tech, productivity, and lifestyle/family topics. It typically costs about the same as the HON Ignition 2.0 but is a bit more adjustable and has an aluminum base and a more Herman Millerinspired design. In an ideal ergonomic world, you would set your arm height once and leave it there, but most people dont sit perfectly all the time, and many people switch tasks throughout the day.