Now given that you have the best gaming PC, best gaming peripherals, best gaming monitor, what’s left? An awesome gaming chair that is. Honestly, it is often arguable as to why should one pay that much just for a fancy looking chair when you can just get an affordable one to sit on and enjoy your game? We may just have the answer here.
There are quite a few brands of gaming chair available i.e: DXRacer, Maxnomics, X Rocker, Arozzi, GT Omega Racing, AKRacing etc but we have limited options here in Malaysia and DXRacer is probably the only gaming chair which you can find locally a while back. Things are a little different now as we have quite a few brands joining the competition and AKRacing is one of the brand that is invading the gaming chair market in Malaysia.
We have our thanks to Jayacom Information SDN BHD and Ultimate.Zone for giving us the chance to try out the AKRacing Speed Series.
Specification
Overview
The AK Racing Speed series has a fabric based cushion that is made of durable and high quality material. It looks very identical to a racing seat that car enthusiasts would install to their car.
The upright of the seat comes with support bolsters at the sides to keep your upper body in comfort, as well as encouraging better sitting posture during long hours of gaming session.
The base is wide with side support to keep you in the right sitting posture, basically the same function as the bolster on the upright of the chair.
It comes with a head pillow that can be adjusted to according to your needs, providing better comfort for long hours gaming session.
Having a head pillow isn’t just it, as it comes also with an additional lumbar support cushion to give that extra comfort to your back when sitting on the chair. Â
The soft curved armrest pads keep you in comfort and if you find it not that much to your personal liking, you can customise it to other variants of armrest pads from the AKRacing store.
The height of the armrest is adjustable as well to fit the table height of your current setup.
Now here’s what’s makes gaming chair different than the rest of the normal office chairs that you mighty have in mind – adjustable upright / backrest. You can go all the way down to your desired angle.
And yes, you can pretty much sleep on the chair itself without falling as long as the five star base is positioned correctly.
It comes with a class 4 gas lift for adjustable height that can support up to a total of 150KG.
The stable five star base is fully metal. As mentioned earlier, you can pretty much pull the chair down and sleep on it, given that the back of the chair isn’t in an awkward position.
User Experience
The seat itself is a bit tough on the first day, but you’ll get accustomed to it within a few hours, so no worries on that. As it’s fabric based, it is more breathable and you won’t end up sweating your butt that easily compared to chairs with PU leather if you’re not in an air conditioned room that is cold and dry. Try not to spill anything on it though, as you’ll end up having to remove the fabric and foam for cleaning, which can be a lot of trouble.Â
The advantage of having a chair that comes with an adjustable backrest or upright is that you can take a quick nap right on the chair itself with just a slight adjustment. Depending on your weight, going all the way down isn’t really recommended. The chair will hold fine and you won’t fall immediately but overdoing it will definitely make you fall over if the five star base facing the back of the chair is in an open angle – can’t help it, we have to be careful not to overdo it to make sure we got everything right.Â
While the chair is designed to encourage you to sit in the right posture, sitting in the ‘right posture can be uneasy if you’re used to having your legs on the seat, table or armrest. But hey, it’s bad for your spine and it’s not too late to have a change, at least we can definitely feel the difference in just one week.Â
The glides are pretty much okay, moved smoothly on carpet, floor tiles, wooden tiles, but make sure that you don’t have any tiny bits of sand in your room or else you’re gonna damage the rollers for sure. It happens.
Final Thoughts
It’ll definitely take quite a while to get used to the chair, but it’s really comfortable to sit on for long hours once you’ve got the hang of it. The adjustable backrest allows you to sit straight up or lie near flat to a point that you can even sleep on it.
One might think it’s over-lavish and unnecessary to have such expensive racing chair in your room, but if you’re open for a proper chair that has better ergonomics features and cost less than those awesome yet expensive office chairs like Herman Miller or Ergohuman, the AKRacing Speed Series gaming chair is definitely an alternative to go for.
Pros
- Great build quality and looks Â
- Durable cover material that would pretty much last for years
- Comfortable to sit on and it encourages a good sitting posture
- Adjustable backrest for different style of sitting posture
- Adjustable armrest to fit the height of most table
- Removable covers for cleaning
Cons
- Requires cleaning once in awhile as it’s vulnerable to spills and absorbs sweat
- Takes a while to adapt to the chair
- You can fall over while lying near flat if the five star base is not in the correct position
