Get Comfortable: Autonomous Ergo Chair 2 Review
Disclosure: Autonomous provided the Ergo Chair 2 for this review, which I've been using for a month. They had no review or approval of the review I've written. Many thanks to them for the review sample.
Get 8% off your purchase of an Ergo Chair 2 on the Autonomous website with the code "26WSGF". That's not an affiliate code of any kind. We don't make anything off your purchase.
Intro
Most PC gaming reviews focus on the hard technology side of things – CPUs, graphics cards, displays, memory and other components of a PC build or laptop. We often forget that no matter how fast or attractive our hardware is, if we aren’t sitting in a comfortable chair while we’re using it – we won’t have an enjoyable experience.
Work surfaces, proper lighting, comfortable home or office chairs, and proper ergonomics are key to enjoyable and healthy computing – especially over long hours. With many of us now working remotely, we’re spending more and more time in the computing spaces we’ve created at home.
I was in need of a new chair to correct ergonomic issues that were beginning to impact my health. I wanted a comfortable reclining office chair, with breathable fabric, that offered good neck/head support and proper ergonomics. In looking online, the Ergo Chair 2 by Autonomous seemed to be a popular and well-reviewed option. I reached out to Autonomous and they graciously agreed to provide a review sample.
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Features
The Ergo Chair 2 features a cushioned seat with fabric cover, and a supportive mesh back, to help ensure comfort. The fabric seat cover, the mesh back and mesh headrest, are all breathable.
The Ergo Chair 2 comes with a dozen different adjustments to help you dial in your ergonomic fit. Most of the features listed below are demonstrated in the video to the right, from the Autonomous YouTube channel.
- Headrest height
- Headrest tilt
- Back angle
- Back recline tension
- Back recline lock
- Seat tilt
- Seat slide in/out
- Adjustable lumbar support
- Hand rest height
- Hand rest in/out
- Hand rest forward/backward
- Chair height
I’d also like to mention that the seat recline function includes a safety lock feature. When you recline and set the lock, the seat engages a stopping mechanism. If you sit up and release the lock feature, the seat doesn’t come crashing forward. You have to lean back to disengage the seat back, and then you can ease it forward. This is a great feature to prevent injury to the sitter (children in particular) and prevent damage to the chair.
Assembly
The chair comes well packed and protected. Assembly is an easy affair, right in line with what you’d expect in assembling an office chair. In short order they are:
- Attaching the wheels and gas lift piston to the base.
- Attaching the arm rests to the seat
- Attaching the control mechanism to the seat
- Attaching the back to the seat
- Setting the completed seat onto the base
Autonomous provides a few nice touches to help with assembly. The front of the chair is clearly marked with a sticker, which makes aligning parts easy. They include extra bolts and washers in the assembly hardware, but section them into a separate area for easy identification. They also include a hex wrench with a large T-handle, versus the tiny L-shaped wrench that you see in many products.
I completed the assembly by myself while watching an episode of “The Mandalorian”. If you had a second person to help balance and steady parts, and weren’t distracted by Baby Yoda, you could easily get the chair assembled in under 30 minutes. If you'd like, you can watch a build video from Autonomous on their YouTube channel.
The Ergo Chair 2 has an excellent build quality. Everything bolts together easily and tightens snugly. Each piece has a nice heft to it, reinforcing the feel of quality construction. The completed chair is just under 50 pounds, and is easy to roll - even on carpeted floors.
Performance
Simply put – the Ergo Chair 2 by Autonomous performs great. The Ergo Chair 2 is easy to adjust and has a plethora of adjustments available. The chair is comfortable, even when sitting for long periods at a time. This is in no small part due to the breathable fabrics that prevent sweat and provide cushioning support.
I’ve previously had a chair with both a mesh seat and back. Over time, the mesh seat lost its support and sagged. I think the foam seat and mesh back is a good combination, which should stand up better to long-term use.
The chair provides a lot of good support for back, neck and head – without creating any pressure points that can cause discomfort. This aspect stands in stark contrast to the DX Racer chair that I’m replacing.
The front of the seat on the DX racer curved upward, which only served to create discomfort on my outer thighs. The “wings” on the back of my DX Racer created pressure points on my shoulder blades, which cause serious pain in my shoulders and arms.
Both the lumbar support and the neck support pillow on the DX Racer were uncomfortable, either due to their size or positioning – or both. In the end, I never used either.
The Ergo Chair 2 is essentially the antithesis of my experience with the DX Racer. My favorite part of the Ergo Chair 2 is probably the headrest. It is easy to adjust and provides great neck support in any sitting position – particularly when reclining. After lacking it for so long, it’s amazing to finally have good head and neck support.
The lateral arm rest adjustments are easy, as there are no button presses required – you simply grip the arm rest and move it to your desired position. The fit is tight enough that they don’t move unintentionally. Between the seat and arm height adjustments, the chair can fully roll under a standard height desk – something the DX Racer couldn’t do.
I do wish it had the leg rest from the Autonomous Myo Chair, or at least have it as an option. That feature would make kicking back and watching “The Great British Baking Show” on the TV in my bedroom/office, easier. But, I’ll just have to do with a separate footrest.
But make no mistake - the Ergo Chair 2 by Autonomous is a star performer, and it’s the most comfortable and best performing chair I’ve had to-date.
One thing I would advise you to do – and this is advice I give anyone who purchases any chair – replace the included wheels with ones made from rollerblade wheels (Amazon Link). They are much easier to roll due to their larger diameter and ball bearings.
The rubber rollerblade wheels won’t scratch a wood or laminate floor like the hard plastic ones will. With rollerblade wheels you don’t have to worry buying a chair mat for your floor, dealing with it getting dirty, being too small, or moving around on you.
Conclusions
The Ergo Chair 2 is exceedingly comfortable and has more than enough adjustability to dial in your specific needs. It may take a little time to find the best fit, and I encourage you to purposefully play with the adjustments over a few days or weeks.
There are so many options for tweaking the fit, you might forget some of them are there. I’ve been using the chair for a month and was still able to find even greater comfort while reviewing the controls and making adjustments, while writing this review.
The breathable fabrics are wonderful, and the mesh back and headrest provide cradling comfort. The breathability is especially welcomed in Texas, as the warm climate makes sweating a constant issue.
They only concerns would be, how does the chair hold up to longer term use? The lumbar support, headrest and lateral arm rest adjustments are friction mechanisms, with no buttons or latches. This makes for easy adjustment, but it could create issues in the future if they wear poorly. Only time will tell.
The Ergo Chair 2 has an MSRP of $419 but is often available for about $50 less. At either price, the chair is a great value, and I highly recommend it. Office chairs should be considered a long-term investment, like a monitor. The Ergo Chair 2 is available with a white frame, grey mesh and seat colors in black, grey, "evergreen", "red apple" and "baby blue". It's also available in an all-black version.
I find the chair to be stylish and have an elegant modern look, but appearance is always subjective. It is certainly less imposing than a racing chair like the DX Racer, when placed in a bedroom home office. The Ergo Chair 2 blends in much better, rather than standing out. This may be something appreciated by your significant other.
Given the length of time you’ll have a chair, spending the extra money to upgrade from the basic chairs found at large retailers, to the Ergo Chair 2, is a good investment. The extra cost will amortize out to just a few dollars per month over the life of the Ergo Chair 2. I believe your health and comfort are certainly worth that. The Ergo Chair 2 from Autonomous is Highly Recommended.
