The Ergo G is one of the comfiest chairs we've sat on to date and probably the most endorsed. While it's not going to improve your K/D all on its own, and you might need a loan to afford one, it provides you with plenty of often-overlooked support so you can focus on what matters – being good at video games (and not screwing up your back).
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Comfort
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Customisability
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Features
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Value
If you’re looking to improve your gaming setup and have run out of other things to blow your money on, the Ergo G gaming chair from Ergotherapy is probably the healthiest way to achieve that. Sure, there are plenty of other gaming chairs available for less money. But those perhaps aren’t created with the health and longevity of your spine at the forefront of the designers’ minds.
Before the days of accessible high-speed internet, if you wanted to play games with your friends you’d have to lug everything to whoever had the most available space. That almost never included your desk and chair because you’re not going to convince your parents to rent a van every other weekend. So you just used whatever the host had available. You weren’t thinking about how your terrible posture will affect you later in life and the ergonomic benefits of paying more for a good chair. That was then. The future is now, old man.
Take sitting to the next level
Like your shoes or your bedsheets, it’s usually worth spending a little extra on something you use regularly for extended periods of time. Especially if it might mean fewer problems as you get older.
That’s where Ergotherapy comes in. The South African company usually caters to the needs of corporate lumbars but has branched out with the Ergo G, an ergonomically designed office chair aimed at well-off gamers and streamers.
As far as the chair bits go, there aren’t too many surprises. There’s a place to put your butt, something to support your back and head, armrests on either side, a gas lift for height adjustments, and it rolls around on five twin-wheel castors. The fun comes from the fact that almost everything is adjustable.
Other than the usual office chair adjustments, the Ergo G also allows for an adjustable seat depth because, according to the experts, dangling feet aren’t good for you. The headrest also offers height and angle adjustments and the armrests can be adjusted in pretty much every direction – up and down, left and right, forward and backwards, and can swivel towards or away from you. You could also remove them entirely.
Make your chair your own
Another benefit of the Ergo G gaming chair comes from its customisability. Instead of boring black like every other office chair, this one comes with seven colours to pick from – red, turquoise, green, grey, orange, mustard yellow, and white. Unfortunately, if your branding doesn’t use one of those specific colours you’ll have to settle for your chair being ‘close enough’ as there’s no way to order one with a custom colour from the website.
Additionally, there are places on the headrest and chairback for custom embroidery which could prove beneficial to streamers and those that want their chair to be ‘special’. If you just want that to be text, like your gamer tag, it’s free. But if you want a custom logo that’ll be R500 extra.
To guide you in making those adjustments so that you get the most out of your chair (and don’t make your posture problems worse), Ergotherapy offers Ergo G buyers a consultation with one of its ‘ergotherapists’. They’ll come to your house or office to help you calibrate your chair and give you ergonomic advice based on your posture habits and desk setup.
We’ll admit we were a little sceptical at first (is ‘ergotherapist’ a real job?) but our scepticism disappeared after the consultation. Some of the tips we received were genuinely helpful, not just for this chair but sitting in general, and the adjustments they suggested made a noticeable difference to our comfort.
Please remain seated
One of the only things that caused some concern was how long things would remain peachy. Overall, the chair is well-built and feels sturdy. Although most of the solid pieces are made of plastic, they felt thick enough to withstand regular daily use, provided you adhere to the chair’s 150kg supported weight limit. Similarly, most of the adjustable mechanisms felt robust and gave us the impression they would last, provided you don’t make a habit of taking your rage out on your chair.
The same can’t be said for the bonded leather covering the seat, head- and armrests. This is to leather what chipboard is to wood. We had no issues during our time with the chair but while this type of covering might feel comfy when you buy it, it doesn’t usually last. It’s not a deal breaker but something to keep in mind.
Ergotherapy seems to reckon it will last for at least five years – the length of the guarantee for the Ergo G. Although, it also specifically mentions the guarantee does not include fabric. Whether that’s referring to the nylon mesh back support, the leathered bits, both, or neither is up for interpretation.
The other concern we had was the price. R9,900 seems a little too high, even for an “orthopaedically approved” gaming chair. Ergotherapy’s own NetOne High Back Ergonomic Office Chair, the chair that the Ergo G is based on, is over R2,000 cheaper than the Ergo G and comes with a longer warranty.
We thought there might be more to the differences between them than just the option to pick a colour and add some embroidered text so we asked. But Ergotherapy confirmed that “the only changes between the NetOne and Ergo G are the extra padding and customisability.” We haven’t sat on the NetOne so we can’t say if the extra money for padding makes a R2,000 difference so it might be a good idea to make use of that “30 Day Comfort Guarantee” the company offers to find out for yourself.
Ergo G gaming chair verdict
Putting the chiropractic, orthopaedic, and medical endorsements aside, the Ergo G is a supremely comfy chair for gaming, office work, or any other task that requires sitting for extended periods. There are plenty of other gaming chairs available in South Africa but very few will offer the same level of support, comfort, and range of adjustments for the same price as the Ergo G Gaming Chair from Ergotherapy… except of course for the cheaper NetOne High Back Ergonomic Office Chair from Ergotherapy. But that only comes with a choice of two colours. Yuck.
