The Never-Ending Struggle to Find a Perfect Office Chair...

I've tested 100's of office chairs, but only two have ever made it into my S Tier.

*Watch Next:*

Lamia vs. Ameap: Which is the best office chair?

Best Office Chair Tier List (30 Ranked For Comfort)

This One Thing Destroyed My Back...

I Picked The Best Standing Desk at EVERY Price

We Picked The Best Gaming Chair For EVERY Price

*Chairs in Video*
Herman Miller Embody

*Desk Setup Links*

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[adiorthotos]

Got the gaming Embody when it first came out, low-key fearing I'm spending too much on a chair and it's been one of the best money I've ever spent. Especially as a 100% home office worker + all the home entertainment happening at the same seat. Never got back pain or any kind of numbness once (vs all other chairs I've used till now).

Regarding the arms, I find the "limited" adjustability to be a feature, not a bug. Less moving parts result in a more robust-feeling and more durable constraction. I'm casually puting a lot of my weight on them when sitting up-down and they don't mind the least. The pads are wide and big enough (let alone perfect firmness) that I haven't missed swivel or fore-aft movement. The "digital" up-down in fixed positions is also a great feature since I can always restore them to the perfect position for me (1 "click" lower from the top). Most importantly it's the only chair of those I've tried where the total distance between the arm pads feels wide enough to match that of my shoulders letting me breath unconstricted and not feel claustrophobic sitting in it.

Now ~2 years later with 8-12h of daily use the fabric on the seat, back and the pads as well as the mechanism looks and feels exactly like new. That's pretty unreal TBH. I would expect at least _some_ cosmetic damage but there's not even that. A "normal" "good" chair of the likes I was buying every 3-5 years would already have it's fabric already breaking up by now and its shape permanently changed into some painful shadow of its former self.

10/10 would buy Embody gaming again

185cm 86kg quite sporty

[CloudMountainJuror]

Is there any chance you guys will get a current regular Embody (with the added scrim foam) to compare with the gaming one? I haven't seen a professional, comprehensive comparison video of those two chairs anywhere yet, and I think you'd be filling an important niche by making that comparison.

[venom]

As someone who has owned both recently I have to say I did not like the Fern at all. Full disclosure mine was leather with the lumbar. I didn't think it was that comfortable and I hated the arm rests. I love my Embody the standard one, not gaming, it took about 3 weeks to get used to it. Even though I will continue to use my Embody I still think my Leap is a more comfortable chair. The Leap backrest is awesome and the arm rests great, not Gesture great but pretty great. The range of motion and adjustability on the Embody are great though, I adjust my back part constantly during the day depending on whether I want to lay back and lounge or sit up and work, that's the number one feature of it for me.

[Stigness]

I have the Embody gaming chair and it makes no noise whatsoever. Also, it seems crazy but if the pressure points in the back annoy you in certain areas, you literally can just take a file, and shorten them. Granted, youd be killing your warranty doing that.

[MKequilibrium]

I've got fern and it's silent when you upgrade the noisy wobbling hand rests. Take them out from the chair base (you need to push from the bottom) and then insert a small plastic (1, 5-2mm thick) in between the base and the arm rest inserts to fill the gap. You can also use a duck tape to tighten the inserts because they are from 2 parts so you could take the arm rests out but since they are not tight the whole arms rests are wobbly and noisy. When you duck tape the two parts together the arms rests are then sturdy and make no noise.

[RC_John]

I have both of these, and my big concerns with the fern is it doesn't seem like the price justification is there, and it's relaxed back doesn't seem to support as well.

[vdosis]

Gaming embody is the best chair I've ever bought, hands down. The one thing that would make it perfect for me would be depth adjustment on armrests.

[XPISigmaArt]

This channel has been very helpful! I'm an office chair newbie, trying to graduate from my uncomfortable GTracing Ace M1. The pleather makes me heat up too fast, the chair itself is too straight for my back. I'm really leaning towards the Fern (the forward tilt sounds amazing for digital art), and now I'm not even sure I need a headrest any more. The Embody and Gesture are also very nice, but I'm so torn on where to go next! (I'm 5'10'', 210lbs)

[PineappleDouche]

I bought an embody last year (non gaming version) and I'm already starting to reconsider it. The seat is not very comfortable after 6+ hours. I'm 5'9 190 lbs and the seat begins to hurt my butt. I also find the backrest to not provide enough support. My wife bought a Fern earlier this year and I'm considering switching. I don't like the material of the seat cushion though.

[Woupsme]

My choice was between these two chairs.
I ultimately went with the Fern (it's on its way) because of the extra lumbar support.

I am, however, 6"2 (188 cm) and hope I won't have to pull the seat all the way to the front and have the gap issue.
Fingers crossed and I'll know in a few days.

Thanks for your videos. They've been really helpful in finding a new chair.

[formulaic]

I got the gaming embody two weeks ago. I chose between it, the aeron and the Steelcase Gesture after trying all in showrooms. I was surprised to find the embody to be so comfortable for the thirty mins I spent with it in the showroom, and the styling that had originally drawn me to it made me decide to go for it over the gesture and aeron which I both found to be a little conventional.

Having now used the embody for two weeks I actually am finding it pretty uncomfortable. I initially had some issues with blood circulation to the legs (tingling feet) while reclined and playing videogames despite being of average height. Then I started to notice just how hard the back actually is under that thin layer of foam, especially the lumbar support (I think it's actually sacrum). Because I can't return it anymore where I live, I've now put a blanket over it and this is helping quite a lot (though rather defeating the whole styling part of the chair). This is much more comfortable for me, although I still find my back becoming uncomfortable after longer periods of sitting (though I no longer directly feel the shape of the lumbar support pressing into me).

I've basically decided I have poor posture which is why this ergonomic chair is causing me issues where my previous unergonomic chair didn't, so I'm now trying to fix that by both adjusting my standing posture to pull back in my pelvis a little and create a straighter back and by continuing to use the chair, which hopefully is pushing my spine towards a better posture over time. The dream is to be able to remove the blanket before summer kicks in next year!

I think if I were in America I would have returned the embody and tried the fern based on this video.

[StygianWolf]

That gap the Fern makes when sliding the seat depth out is identical to the gap the Leap V2 makes when doing the same. That and the identical seat dimensons which I feel are too small for me is why I will likely go with the Embody.

[MKequilibrium]

JUST BE AWARE that Embody chair is of of the loudest chairs ever made. So not usable when you do voiceovers/streams etc. because every movement will be recorded.
I've got fern and it's silent when you upgrade the noisy wobbling hand rests. Take them out from the chair base sleeves (you need to push from the bottom) and then insert a small plastic (1, 5-2mm thick) in between the sleeves and the arm rest inserts to fill the gap. You can also use a duck tape to tighten the inserts because they are from 2 parts so you could take the arm rests out but since they are not tight the whole arm rests are wobbly and noisy. When you duck tape the two parts together the arms rests are then sturdy and make no noise.

[mikec]

Two questions came up during this review. Can the Atlas Headrest you mentioned in an earlier review be added to the Embody? Also, has anyone attempted to switch the armrests between the Fern and the Embody since that seemed to be the biggest complaint?

[Mark-pivj]

Too bad in Europe only the mesh variant is available of the Fern. So I'm going for the Leap or Embody...

[yoloseabassswaggins]

Could you make a tier list for $300 chairs specifically, or maybe on the next tier list the price tag could show up next to the chairs name on the list?

[Nalera]

I bought the fern without the lumbar and it was honestly terrible. Very loose mesh with no lower back support, killed my back over 3 weeks and I ended up sending it back. The build quility in general isn't that impressive either, the arms are super wobbly, there's a huge gap in the back of the seat and the mesh feels scratchy and not premium.

[Cathartic]

Can you guys please add the TCentric Hybrid to your reviews?? I am wondering how it matches up to these chairs but barely any reviews on the chair!

[StardustLegacyFighter]

The Aeron is almost perfect for me, but there are a few minor issues I have with it.

I prefer it over the Mirra 2 and Embody, despite the other two having very handy seat adjustment mechanisms.

That being said, it's been absolutely amazing for my home office setup for both work and gaming.

[Azalis]

I mostly use my PC for gaming and even then, mostly with a controller and I'm wondering how all these recommended chairs are for controller gaming? It's a completely different posture for me than typing where I like to lean into my chair and even put my feet up on an ottoman sometimes and I've never found a chair that's great for this, and I usually just end up back on my couch playing console games.