Teleworking has become a daily routine for many people, and when you have to spend many hours a day sitting in a chair, you need it to be as comfortable as possible to avoid pain and other consequences. In the current market, gaming chairs prevail at quite affordable prices in many cases, but we also have the usual ergonomic office chairs, so what kind of chair should you buy to telework from home?
Modern science tells us that sitting in fixed positions for long periods of time is bad for your health; However, in the current era of computing the norm is precisely long periods of time sitting in front of the screen, so the use of a chair that is comfortable and ergonomic is almost mandatory. What type of chair best meets the needs of people who need to telecommute?
Advantages and disadvantages of office chairs
The main advantage of office chairs is that, unless you go to very high-end models or ergonomic chairs, they are usually cheaper than gaming chairs and, in fact, for less than 50 euros you can already buy a relatively decent chair. Traditional office chairs offer armrests that can only be modified in height and also the backrest is not reclining; it only allows to adjust the height of the seat and, in some cases (not all), they have a rocking function.
Of course, there are many types of office chairs, but those that we can consider affordable are quite limited in terms of versatility and beyond having wheels and adjusting the seat height, they are quite “fair” in characteristics. Many of them are more advanced and do have a reclining function and even lumbar adjustment, but in these cases they match and even exceed the price of gaming chairs. In fact, the most expensive ergonomic office chair you can buy exceeds 1,000 euros, and we are not talking about chairs with real leather but the typical black plastic with a mesh, similar to the one you see in the image above.
Advantages and disadvantages of gaming chairs
Gaming chairs generally have an aggressive aesthetic with designs inspired by racing car seats, but obviously not all of them are like that and you can also find quite elegant and minimalist models. In any case, every self-respecting gaming chair has seat height adjustment, height of the armrests (many also allow 4D adjustment that adds angle and separation), they are reclining, they have a rocker function and of course they also have wheels to move them. .
The biggest problem with gaming chairs is that except for the highest-end models such as the Noblechairs Epic or the SecretLab Titan, they do not have lumbar or cervical adjustment and instead include cushions for this purpose. This, although obviously makes them more comfortable than a fixed chair, they still have the problem that it puts a fixed element that we cannot modify (unless you buy another cushion on your own).
Gaming or office chair, which is better for teleworking?
The meteoric rise of gaming chairs in recent years has altered the dominance of the ubiquitous office chairs. Gaming chairs have a striking look, thick padding and adjustable components. Office chairs have a more discreet appearance, durability and low prices, but which type is better if you need to spend at least 8 hours a day sitting in them?
Contemporary ergonomic chair guidelines clarify some points: A reclining-back chair reduces lumbar disc pressure and muscle activity. Adjustable armrests help offset the weight of your arms, and sitting with a pelvic rotation that supports the curve of your back is ideal. Given these realities, how do gaming and office chairs compare?
Design and aesthetics in the chair: you do not care to telework
As we have said before, gaming chairs are characterized by striking aesthetics and designs inspired by racing cars, while office chairs have a more elegant or minimalist look that does not stand out for anything. In this regard it will depend on you and your preferences, because for example if you do videoconferences for business meetings you are not interested in seeing a brightly colored chair as it would give a too informal look, although as we have said before there are many gaming chairs with much less striking and even minimalist aesthetics that could alleviate this.
In this regard it will depend on your preferences, of course, but of course you have a choice so this is not a pro or a con.
Comfort: the key aspect for teleworking
Comfort level is probably the single most important factor in a telecommuting chair, and this is especially true if you are spending many hours sitting in it. Therefore, you need a chair in which you can sit comfortably, without forcing your posture, for many hours at a time and for this it is necessary that it has versatility in the sense that it allows you to adjust certain factors such as height or recline.
What we mean by this is that to begin with, do not even consider buying a chair for teleworking that does not allow the backrest to be adjusted or you will regret it sooner rather than later. If it also has a better than better balancing function, and the one with adjustable armrests, we consider that it is also a must. Obviously, if you have the most ergonomic and versatile chair on the market and you do not sit properly, you will continue to have pain and problems, so you must also bear in mind that ultimately this is something that depends on you.
If in terms of aesthetics and design we said that it was something that depended on your preferences, in terms of comfort we consider that gaming chairs are much better than office chairs, since they provide much more versatility. Yes, there are ergonomic office chairs that have nothing to envy to gaming, but all things being equal we are talking about chairs that cost a lot more money because any low-end gaming chair has (almost) everything and will cost you just over 100 euros.
Price
At the price point, as we have said before, most chairs designed for gaming have all the features and comfort that you are going to need and they start from quite cheap prices, since for less than 200 euros you already have more than decent models that you they will be more than enough to telework comfortably without pain.
Now, the cheapest chairs you can find are office chairs because for about 50 euros you already have quite decent models, although it is true that you have to give up many features such as the reclining backrest or the height-adjustable armrests.
Our recommendation, as users who spend 8 hours or more a day sitting in front of the PC, is that you do not hesitate and that you invest money in a gaming chair, since it will give you all the comfort and ergonomics you need for less money than one. office chair (with this we say that if you are looking for the functionality of a gaming chair in an office chair, you will have to spend double the money).