Build Quality and Initial Impressions
Of course, the build quality of the gaming chair stands out immediately. I’ve sat in a lot of gaming chairs at my local Microcenter, Fry’s (back when it had products in the store), and of course, several at friend’s houses. The Secretlab chair feels heavier. It feels as sturdy as anything. I thought the PU leather would feel cheap, but it doesn’t. It’s soft and feels similar to the leather blends you get in car interiors. Of course, these are only leather to varying degrees anyway, so that could account for that similarity.
Upon sitting in it the first time, I noticed how intuitive the controls are. It makes so much sense and comparatively, it makes options like the Aeron and the ME7ERG look ridiculous by comparison. It feels like the difference between operating a car and a space shuttle. Except that the space shuttle controls aren’t for a space shuttle, they are for a golf cart.
The seating surface feels nice to the touch. Once you sit down, the chair envelopes you. It fit my body almost as though it were custom made for me. It has enough support that I feel like I could bolt one into my Camaro or Mustang and hit the track with it. I’d call the chair comfortable, but that’s not exactly the right description of it.
When you sit in one of these things, you’ll notice that the padding has almost no give to it. If you press on it with your hand, it’s supple and deforms to your touch easily. Sit your whole body in one and it doesn’t feel very forgiving. The back feels amazing, but the bottom seating area is almost hard. I was initially very disappointed and thought I’d be returning it or selling it and buying something else. However, I was committed to giving the chair a full 30-day test run. I was hoping the chair would break in a bit and feel better over time.
Testing Methodology
For testing, I simply used the chair exclusively while working or playing games over a period of 30 days. Well, that was the intent. I wrote this article a bit later than I had wanted so I probably have 45 days of use on this one. I sat in the chair in both correct and incorrect ways and adjusted it until it felt the most comfortable to me.
For durability testing, I’m not doing anything crazy. I’m not shooting it, stabbing, it submerging it in my bathtub. I’m not letting my cat use it as a scratching post either. However, we will take photos and examine the chair for evidence of wear after using it for 30 days or more. We will look for any evidence of breakage and see how the chair is holding up in the 30 days. While I cannot predict how it would hold up over years, a chair that’s starting to fall apart in 30 days isn’t likely to do very well over a protracted period of time. In my opinion, no chair should show any significant evidence of wear and tear in just 30 days.
30 Days Later
Here is the chair almost two months after I received it. Aside from being dusty in places, it’s as good as new. There are no significant wear marks or visual imperfections that I can find on the chair. All of the stitching and mechanical features are working as well as they did the day I assembled the chair.
Comfort
As I said earlier, my initial impression was that the seating surface is rather hard and unforgiving. The chair is far from what I would call plush. It’s comfortable, but not in the same way your favorite recliner or couch is. I can sit in the Secretlab TITAN (and have) for 12-20 hours a day without any hint of discomfort. The chair feels a little hard because it’s so supportive. Its ergonomics keep your spine, hips, and body in perfect alignment alleviating any of the pains which plague users of computers who sit in front of them for hours on end.
If my back is hurting, I can sit in the Secretlab TITAN and get comfortable. The pain will usually subside after a short time. This is a big deal for me as my chronic back pain can lead to periods where I feel like a 92-year-old man with artificial hips and knees when I sit in some chairs for too long and then get up. I haven’t experienced anything like that since getting the Secretlab TITAN.
Support through the back and shoulders is also important to me. I have wide shoulders, which can be a problem with some seating. After hours of use, the TITAN keeps everything comfortable and pain-free. My shoulders and arms are positioned the way I think they should be. As a result of the chair’s ergonomics, I experience no pain anywhere on my body after sitting in the chair for extended periods of time.
After all this time, my thoughts on the build quality and the controls haven’t changed. I still feel like Secretlab did the best it possibly could have with these elements and there is virtually no sign of wear on the chair at all. The seating surfaces look as good as ever. The stitching has held up perfectly and there are no creases or weird lines in the seat materials. The armrests look the same as when I unboxed the chair as well.
Castors, gas piston, adjustment levers, and the associated mechanical elements of the chair have held up well. Everything feels just as it did when I assembled it.
One concern I had is with the fact that the care guide provided by Secretlab basically tells you not to get your skin on the PU leather. What? This is a ridiculous sentiment as it’s almost certainly unavoidable if you don’t want to wear pants 100% of the time. That said, I wear shorts a lot as it gets hot in my office and so far my skin on faux leather contact hasn’t resulted in visible wear to the chair’s seating surface.