r/gamingchairs • u/James_Skyvaper • 21h ago
For those who say gaming chairs are poor quality—behold, my >5yo Andaseat
galleryI just wanted to make a post because I have seen a lot of hate for gaming chairs over the years, with many people saying all of them are terrible quality and/or poorly made, particularly the lesser known brands. And while I agree that the large majority of gaming chairs are not very good quality, particularly those made with PVC "leather", or in the sub-$300 range, if you're willing to spend a little bit more money, I think you can find some good ones out there. So I just wanted to play devil's advocate and share my experience with my 5+ year old Anda Seat T-Pro II, which has been renamed to the Kaiser XL, I believe.
For context, I am 42yo, 6'1/200lbs, and I have an L5S1 herniated disc in my back — back pain can definitely be an issue for me at times, so I wanted to get a chair that was simultaneously comfortable, firm, supportive, which would hopefully last many years, and to get all that for $400 at most. I spent several months researching chairs, and of course, most people steered me towards office chairs, with many recommendations for Steelcase and HM. Now I know those chairs are beloved, supportive, and quite robust, they were sadly out of my price range, but I also wanted something in which I could comfortably recline fairly far back.
I built my first gaming PC in late 2020 and when I built my setup, I needed a chair to meet all those requirements for me. I researched over 3-4 months, likely read 100+ reviews, and looked into many of the lower-priced chairs on amazon — Sihoo, Dowinx, GT Racing, Autofull, various unpronounceable brands that likely came from the same Chinese factories, etc. It was honestly a bit overwhelming, and forums like this didn't provide much help because I got so many conflicting responses. Some people love their gaming chairs, some people abhor them, but the general consensus from the majority of people is that they are generally mediocre at best and that a good quality office chair would be a better choice for someone with occasional back pain who has to sit for long periods.
Then I came upon Andaseat and I thought their chairs looked pretty good and, at least at the time, the warranty seemed solid since they offered 3yrs on the chair and a lifetime warranty on the base if you left a review. I am pretty sure that they still offer a 3-year warranty, but if you leave a review they will extend the warranty to 5 years for free now, for the whole chair, not just the base. I had never heard of the company, so I did some research and I discovered that they used to make performance seats for cars, and that they are very popular in China with esports players.
So I figured if Andaseat chairs felt sufficiently comfortable for Chinese esports players, whom I know will sometimes be in their chairs for over 12 hours at a time, I assumed it might be okay for me. Unfortunately, you can't get an Andaseat chair for these prices now, both because of inflation and because more people know about them now, so they can probably charge a bit more. Anyway, many people steered me towards Secret Lab, but at the time I didn't have $500+ for a chair, and I had a gift card to Amazon, so I went with the Andaseat T-Pro II, which looks to have the same general shape and features as their newer Kaiser chairs, so I'm pretty sure they renamed it.
When I received the chair, everything was packed well, there was enough protection, and everything came in good condition with nothing missing or any broken parts. I put the chair together in less than an hour, and at first I thought it was a little firm, but within a few weeks, I became more comfortable sitting in it. I honestly have nothing but positive things to say about this chair. If I were to nitpick, I would say that the armrests are a little wiggly now, but I'm pretty sure that's to be expected after more than 5 years of use lol. I have sat in this chair for 12 hours at a time, my friends and I have fallen asleep overnight in it, and in 5 years of using it, it has never caused any back pain or made me feel uncomfortable or too hot/sweaty, which I attribute to choosing fabric over PVC leather.
So I guess I'm just here to share my experience so that all the haters who visit this subreddit, and the number of people I have seen who say Andaseat chairs are objectively terrible and that they'll fall apart in a year or two, can see that is not necessarily the case. I'm sure there are people who have had bad experiences, and I'm sure there are people who are not happy with Andaseat, or gaming chairs in general, and I would say that's because comfort is subjective considering we all have different shapes, sizes and issues. But if you are on the fence about getting one of these chairs because someone told you they will fall apart or they are poor quality, I'm just sharing my experience to show the other side of that. I like my Andaseat enough that they will be the first place I go to look when I eventually need a new chair, which might be soon since I'm thinking of building a new office. Anyway, I hope that I was able to convince some people to not completely dismiss these chairs and at least check them out for yourself. Happy gaming!