Thank to COVID my employer has decided to move on and we are now remote first. As I won’t be going back to the office now (I am really gonna miss catered lunches, snacks, drinks, and a video game lounge!) I need something better than this crap $80 office chair I picked up to use at home for a few months.
I am looking at the Herman Miller Embody as a front runner, and also considering the Steelcase Gesture and Herman Miller Aeron.
What what are y’all sitting in that you love?
I’m in a similar situation and will also soon be in the market for a good work-at-home chair, so I’ll be watching with interest!
In the mean-time, I’m typing on a reasonably comfortable sleeper sofa while I’m on the treatment path for my wonky spine.
Off, yeah, those back issues sound legit terrible mate. I hope you heal well and fast! May a super supported office chair be in your future.
Herman Miller Sayl for me. Couldn’t afford the Aeron but I’m quite happy with the Sayl.
I used to work out of a local coworking office before COVID. I loved their chairs they had so I got myself one. Autonomous Ergo chair. It’s a bit of an investment, but totally worth it. And not near as expensive as a Herman or Steelcase. Keep in mind shipping a chair in all this is not picnic either. Mine took about a month or two.
Here’s a link. Full disclosure: it’s my customer link so we both get discounts. https://www.autonomous.ai?rid=1b294d
One of the things I find are neglected in these kinds of discussions are the chair arms.
I’m using a keyboard tray, and my chair arms get in the way of where a mouse would be. So I’m using a full-size board, since the arms don’t interfere with the whole board.
But if you have any sort of serious desk setup, it might be beneficial to have a chair with retractable or adjustable arms. They can really get in the way of whatever setup you are planning.
Ugh, I wish the chair I was looking at was this price. $1500 for the Embody is nuts, but I have a feeling that is the way I will go. #buyitforlife or something like that right?
We have these in my office, I quite like them. If I was int he market for a new one this is probably what I would get.
This is the one I have tbh I’m pretty mixed, I like it but I dunno if I would get it again. The armrests are really nice and it has lots of adjustments, but the headrest broke really quick, the retention doesn’t work anymore and it just sits at the lowest setting, which is fine most of the time, but I wish I could adjust it. I also wasn’t really a fan of the colors on offer when I got mine, I dunno what they have now.
I’m quite short and have shoulder issues, so I had an extra-low keeb tray at work - I straight up removed the arms from my desk chair. Even without the tray, they were too high at their lowest setting… Honestly I’ve yet to find truly homunculus-frienldy furniture…
Herman Miller Aeron is my choice. I grabbed used one (30% of the full price), my only “advice” is to make sure you get the right size. I took too small and was not comfortable at all (eventually replaced with a bigger one, which is with me for four years now), and I love it.
BTW: Because of the “net,” your but will never be hot 
Good luck!
Chairs are tough. The closest I’ve been to comfortable in an office chair is the embody, but I still wasn’t in love with it. I could not stand the aeron.
Not sure what your body dimensions are, but I can at least give my perspective. I’m 6 foot and about 230. My legs are wide because I used to train them a lot. Because of this my legs push up against the outer edges of the seat. The aeron has a bucket type seat with hard plastic making the curve and my legs would always get cut into by that edge. My legs would be numb by the end of the day. The embody was much better but had hard plastic in the front corners of the seat that would push into my legs.
Still looking for a comfy chair. Have a gaming style chair (clutchchairz throttle) coming in to see if that works any better for me than traditional office chairs. I feel like I’ve already sat in the best of the best traditional office chairs because my jobs always gave top notch equipment, so it’s time to try a new thing entirely.
I am 6’2" and 220, but slimming down currently, and my legs are long, but not wide. I very much prefer to sit ver vertical and the Embody’s back incline adjustment seems like it would be what I am looking for.
I have had back pain since entering the workforce from being sedentary; however, I never noticed the Embody ever aggravating my back more than normal (this is a huge deal for a chair). My current WFH chair has turned my spine into a column of hellfire.
oh no! That sounds terrible. I hope you can find a solution that sucks less!
Ha thanks! Mostly my fault for not being as active, so I can’t be too upset about it. Regular exercise is the best fix I’ve found. COVID has just made playing pickup basketball and going to the gym non-starters.
I hear ya there. I just started being more active again after about 3 months of not doing anything. I am making sure I at least get a 30 min fast passed walk in early in the morning, and I try and do some sort of apartment oriented workout in the afternoon when the kids nap.
I watched a few more video reviews and looked at it a bit more and went ahead and ordered the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody. They have a nice 30 day return policy so, in 10 ish weeks when it comes I can try it out for a while and make up my mind.
I stumbled across this budget option a few months ago. Seat’s a little firm, but the lumbar support more than makes up for it.
My employer gave $500 for outfitting your home office + $500 from another ergonomics program.
With those funds (and a little of my own), I could outfit my office pretty well. I don’t think I’ll be going back into the office at all, as they’ve said we’ll have the option to work from home.
The chair I bought was the Steelcase Series 1, outfitted with a headrest and upgraded casters.