I’m a sim racer with a passion for Motorsport, good racecraft and the tech side of sim racing. I made SIMRACINGCOCKPIT.GG as a place to share my experiences. I hold an International Class C race licence and write for sim racing store G-Performance and Motorsport resource Driver61.com
Featured Image: Razor ENKI Gaming Chair
Do you want to make the most of your sim racing experience but lack the space to accommodate a full racing cockpit? Or, are you looking for a multifunctional seating solution that is as suitable for writing emails at your workspace as it is for doing a hot lap around the Nordschleife? If you answered yes to either of those questions, it sounds like you need a premium gaming chair. The good news is there are lots of desktop sim racers out there looking for exactly the right chair to sit in comfort while pumping out laps at the Nordschleife.
Gaming Chairs: Our Top 5 Choices
- E-WIN Flash XL Series
- noblechairs EPIC Gaming Chair – Spider-Man Edition
- Next Level Racing
- Razer
- Secretlab
- Herman Miller x Logitech G
While it does ring true that gaming chairs can not offer the same level of immersion and stability as something like an aluminium profile cockpit, they can provide you with something bulky sim rigs lack; a space-sensitive answer to your sim racing needs that simultaneously offers a way for you to sit at your workstation in comfort.
How do I decide which Gaming Chair is best for me?
With so many similar-looking gaming chairs to choose from nowadays from umpteen manufacturers, narrowing your options down to seats best suited for sim racing could be a monumentally time-consuming task. Luckily for you, we’ve already gone to the trouble of sourcing a selection of gaming chairs that best meet the needs of sim racers, saving you the time and effort of wading through countless websites, consumer reviews, and online marketplaces.
All the chairs we’ve selected in this post are bucket seat-inspired gaming chairs from market-leading companies that combine ergonomic design, eye-catching style, and high-quality materials, ensuring that you can enjoy playing your sim racing games with the utmost luxury. As with picking any seat for sim racing, there are certain things to look out for, such as adjustability options and the choice of materials but the most important thing to remember is to check that the chair fits your body.
You’ll find that manufacturers provide dimensions for specific parts of the chair, including the size across the shoulders, the lumbar support area, and the space between the chair’s bolsters. It’s crucial to check all these sizes before deciding on any chair, as getting the wrong size will negate any other benefits the chair claims to have.
We recommend measuring yourself like you would when tailoring a suit and keeping these sizes handy when looking for your new gaming chair.
E-WIN Flash XL Series
If size is a consideration, then EWIN’s range of gaming chairs may be for you. For example, the “big-and-tall makeover” of the E-WIN Flash XL is a solid step up from its smaller counterpart.
It’s built for gamers weighing anywhere from 220 (99kg) to 500 pounds (226 kg) at any height (you could be seven feet tall and this chair would be fine). It’s made from E-WIN 2.0 PU leather, so it’s suitable for vegans. PU also means that it won’t fade in sunlight so it will always be easy to keep in great condition. It has a huge 155-degree tilt – which you can lock in place. So if you suffer from neck pain by having to turn your next to look up at a 4th monitor or your TV, you may experience less strain on your neck and spine.
I highly recommend this chair for anyone who spends a large part of their work or leisure time sitting in front of a computer for its ergonomics and comfort.
Psst: If you’d like to get a nice 20% discount on an E-WIN chair, use this EWIN discount code: cockpit
noblechairs EPIC Gaming Chair – Spider-Man Edition
We love this super quirky, totally unique Spiderman influenced gaming chair.
This is the officially licenced by Marvel “Spider-Man” gaming chair which is inspired by another popular Noblechairs design, the Ditko’s classic. It’s suitable for vegans too, because it’s upholstered in 100% vegan PU leather. The padding is dense cold foam. “Friendly neighbourhood” (see what we did there?) ergonomic design including 4D armrests and a 35° recline angle.
We especially love the detailing: stitching of Spider-Man’s suit in the PU leather with spiderwebs on the wings. This would make a young gamer very happy indeed!
Next Level Racing Gaming Chairs
The first gaming chairs on our list of recommendations come from Next Level Racing (NLR), a brand that has firmly established itself as a fantastic sim racing equipment manufacturer. While NLR has produced sim racing cockpits for many years, the company recently decided to enter the much broader ‘general gaming market’ with its launch of a new pair of gaming chairs known as the ELITE GAMING CHAIR and PRO GAMING CHAIR. Both editions come in two material choices – an all leather edition or a combination of leather and suede – meaning there is a total of four NLR gaming chairs to choose from.
While not clearly stated by NLR, it would appear that the material choices on the ELITE LEATHER & SUEDE EDITION and the ELITE LEATHER EDITION gaming chairs are slightly more premium than what is found on the PRO LEATHER & SUEDE EDITION and PRO LEATHER EDITION, which is reflected in the price.
Nevertheless, besides materials, the ELITE and PRO editions offer a solid structure and attention to detail. The armrests can move in four directions, providing ample adjustability, while the back of the chair can be adjusted to suit your lean angle. The base is made of solid metal to give more stability, and the wheels allow you to move around easily, as expected with this style of chair.
However, one significant difference between the ELITE and PRO gaming chairs lies in the sizing. On the ELITE models, the distance between the bolstering at the shoulders is 45 cm, while on the PRO, the same dimension is 49 cm. A similar pattern follows down the entire chair, with the ELITE edition offering an overall snugger fit than the PRO, so this could be a deciding factor if you’re torn between them.
Another great selling point of the ELITE and PRO gaming chairs is their compatibility with NLR Wheel Stands. This compatibility allows you to slot the front wheels of the gaming chair into the wheel stand, meaning that if you want to race with a set of pedals, the chair will not slide backwards as you push down on the brake, for example. The list of compatible NLR Wheel Stands includes the Wheel Stand DD, Wheel Stand 2.0, Wheel Stand Lite, and Wheel Stand Racer.
Razer Gaming Chairs
Our next recommendations come from Razer, a company known for designing high-end gaming-related equipment. Razer offers two gaming chairs in its product roster – ISKUR and ENKI – each with its own subdivisions of material choices as well as options tailored to your height and weight, meaning you have a total of thirteen options to choose from. To keep things simple, we’ll only compare the ISKUR model to the ENKI, and let you decide which materials and size suit you best.
The ISKUR gaming chair is Razer’s flagship model, which helps you maintain optimum gaming form when playing sim racing games. As one of the most customisable gaming chairs on the market, the entire IKSUR range focuses on providing you full-range support and helps you maintain a correct posture, thus minimising muscle fatigue. Its classic look has probably been the inspiration for most of the gaming chairs we see for sale today, yet it somehow retains a superior aesthetic over many of its competitors.
As the new kid on the block, the ENKI gaming chair boasts a plush finish thanks to its cushion density, resulting from years of data collection by Razer from gamers using its chairs. Thanks to this research, the ENKI gaming chair has been built for optimal weight distribution, allowing you to enjoy a comfortable gaming experience for longer. If you want to learn more about the science that has gone into this chair, we suggest reading more here.
Again, it’s important to stress that size outranks all other considerations, so if you fancy buying a Razer gaming chair, check your measurements before deciding on an ISKUR or ENKI. Also, it’s worth mentioning that there are a ton of add-ons available for Razer gaming chairs, but for sim racers, the most notable is that Razer chairs allow you to swap out the wheels for a set of caster studs, which allows the chairs to be more functional when using a pedal set.
Secretlab Gaming Chairs
If you’re still not sold on the NLR or Razer products, then perhaps the gaming chairs from the industry-leading Secretlab will be more to your tastes. Unlike the two previous brands, Secretlab is a specialist in the gaming chair and desk industry and, as such, offers a plethora of models with varying specifications. Therefore, we’re only going to focus on the best-of-the-best the company has to offer, but make sure to check out all the options available in your county if you like what you see here.
As the newest offering from Secretlab, the TITAN EVO 2022 was the proud winner of PC Gamer’s Best Gaming Chair of 2022 Awards, which is certainly something to take note of. By blending innovation, style, and comfort, the TITAN EVO 2022 uses several pieces of proprietary technology to achieve a new level of personalised full-body support and unparalleled performance. Just within the TITAN EVO 2022 range, the level of configuration options is off the charts, including colours, materials, and even swappable armrests.
If you’re looking for a gaming chair that will double up as an office chair, this would be our top recommendation as the level of ergonomic design features that have gone into this chair is astounding. What’s more, Secretlab has its own sizing calculator which can help you find the perfect chair for your weight and height.
Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody gaming chair
I’m a big fan of Herman Miller office chairs – they’re known for their ergonimics. If you’ve got a bad back or need to work on your posture (neck pains? that’s posture) then a Herman Miller for the office is like a Ferarri for the circuit. But check this out, Herman Miller has gone into partnership with Logitech to create the Herman Miller x Logitech G gaming chair:
It’s an extremely comfortable gaming seat for daily use, so if you’re sitting in your gaming chair during prolonged use, either gaming or working, this is a very nice thing to own. While it’s very pricey, it’s very much “built to last” with a 12-year warranty. 12 years! In gaming, that’s forever.
On that note, if it’s warranted for 12 years the cost of it at over $1200 is justified. If you’ve got that much cash to spare.