E-WIN FLASH-XL GAMING CHAIR REVIEW

For years I have only ever used standard office furniture you can get at almost any supply store. More often than not, I would pick up a cheap chair and have it start breaking down on me within a year or so. Now, however, many companies have entered the market sporting gaming chairs with a design reminiscent of car racing seats.

It seems almost everywhere you look online you will find someone sitting one of them, and it becomes hard to not notice the trend of people using them. When I was offered to review an E-Win gaming chair, I was both excited to have a new chair but hesitant due to the inherent designs of them. Still, I was hoping this would be a comfortable replacement for my current chair.

First I should probably explain the condition of my old chair. I purchased it years ago from a local office supply store for about $300. What attracted me to get it was that it was comfortable with my height and size. Being 6 foot 5 inches tall, many chairs only support my lower back when I lean back. Likewise I have a habit of crossing my legs while in my chair when using my computer.

Within a matter of a couple of years it took quite a bit of abuse. Between 3 home moves, 6 cats, dozens of people jumping into it, and many drunken gaming nights, the chair began to fall apart. First the chair began to lean off slightly to one side. Soon after the chair began to creek when moving in any direction and over time it became louder. Worse yet, the fake leather laminate would peal off easily and I would have to spend a considerable amount of time finding every piece that came off as it easily stuck to my clothing and arms. Needless to say, it was time for a new chair.

When the new chair was offered, I opted for the Flash-XL series. Being the largest in size I felt it would be the one that would be the most comfortable for me. Within the week it arrived to my doorstep in a box weighting over 60 pounds. Opening it up I come to find everything neatly placed and each piece being well protected from one another, helping ensure the quality of the product.

Using two different key wrenches throughout the assembly and doing it without any outside help, it was one of the easiest chairs for me to assemble out of every chair I had before. While their was a short list of instructions with images, most of it was relatively self explanatory.

The only minor issue I had during assembly was my own fault. The side guards were not labeled and I didn’t notice one of them was a bit larger sticking out to protect the area where I can pull a leaver in order to lean my chair back much like a car seat. Still, I was happy I got the entire chair assembled within 15 minutes.

The overall quality of the chair is fantastic. Despite not being made with real leather but polyurethane faux leather, it still looks clean and is smooth to the touch. The two pillows for both levels of lumbar support are held using a elastic band, and can be removed if needed.

The base of the chair is built to last, as it’s made completely out of dense aluminum frame. Overall, with most of the package offers I am satisfied. However there are a couple of flaws that stood out to me right off the bat.

Looking over each individual part of the chair I only saw one minor flaw with the product. On the side of the chair, between two of the screws on the side of the backing, the leather had a small puncture.

When checking the box for any type of punctures that could cause this, I found nothing that would indicate this would be from an outside source. Lucky, however, I noticed that when I would assemble it, this hole would be covered and protected so the damage would not potentially worsen.

First and possibly my biggest complaint has to do with the plastic arm rests. Despite the majority of the chair being of a superb build and materials, these feel cheaply made compared to the rest of the chair. More often than not they can rattle a bit, and feel somewhat loose. While the looseness is due to the rests being adjustable, it still is a low part to the overall design.

The other issue I have with the chair is the neck pillow. While lumbar support pillow can be adjusted in height, the neck pillow is mostly stationary. Oftentimes, when I want to use it before putting my full back in the chair, I have to pull it up a bit and hold it in place until my head is leaning into the back of the chair. While disappointing and annoying, the other parts of the chair are great.

Part of my skepticism of these types of chairs have to do with how comfortable they are. Almost every one of them, from the many companies I have tried all had the same issues. The seats have always been too narrow, the front of the seat rises up and pushes into my legs causing discomfort, and the back was always too small or overly rounded, causing me to pinch my shoulders together slightly. Far too often these have caused me to turn away from these type of chairs.

Luckily, with the Flash-XL series, most of these problems have been eliminated. First, the back is tall enough for me to rest my head on is fantastic. Despite my minor complaint with the neck pillow, this is overall welcome as it’s usually very hard to find a chair tall enough for myself.

Likewise I don’t find myself having to adjust my upper body in order to sit right or be comfortable. The lumbar pillow is also a great addition and forces me to sit more upright then hunched over the keyboard like other chairs before. Overall my lower back felt great where a few other chairs hurt it, especially sitting with poor posture.

The lower body is majorly comfortable as well. Unlike the other chairs, the Flash-XL does not push up against the undersides of my legs. Likewise the seat allows me to have my legs spread out just enough to not feel uncomfortable. However, on the sides of the seat the chair does have parts that do stand out on it. The memory foam seat does cause pressure when spreading my legs out too far, which does lead to discomfort on the sides. However, within one full day of working and gaming (about 14 hours), my legs felt fine as long as I wasn’t overly excessive with how far apart my legs were.

Much akin to a normal car seat lever, a lever on the right side allows the back of the chair to lean backwards up to 155 degrees. It was nice being able to do this when I just wanted to take a break from looking at my computer, kicking up my legs on my desk and just relaxing for a moment. The complaint I had with the neck pillow did not apply here as with minimal adjustments, it sat perfectly. However, it’s best to lift the lever completely before tilting back as with a car lever it will make a harsh click and fall backwards roughly if you’re not prepared for it.

One thing of note is that the Flash-XL series sits very high compared to most chairs. At full height my feet lightly touches the floor. This is an experience I’ve never had with something, other than a bar stool. Even at its lowest it still sits higher than most office chairs. For myself, where before my legs went under comfortably my desk, now without tucking my legs under the chair slightly can I fit under it. While not a flaw, in a matter of fact I love the chair sitting higher, some people will need to check the height of their desks in order to make sure that they can sit comfortably.

Where at some points I leave my desktop PC to do work sitting on the couch due to discomfort from my chair before, throughout the last several days of use I have not left the chair to go work elsewhere.

While the price of the chair can be steep for some, for myself its a bit more than I usually would have to spend on a lasting office chair. Is the E-Win Flash-XL chair the best chair I have owned for sitting at my computer? Its tough to say but it does stand out as one of the best I have had within the last 10 years.

It’s hard to find a chair that is comfortable enough and fits my size, and this chair does it very well. While I have yet to see how it lasts over the long term, just from what I have experienced with it in my own home I am thoroughly enjoying my time with it.

If you’re looking to check out the various gaming chair options provided by E-Win, head on over to their official website. We also now have a partnership with E-Win to provide a nice 15% discount, just use the coupon code “NicheGamer” at checkout.

The E-Win Flash-XL Gaming Chair was supplied for review by E-Win. You can find additional information about Niche Gamer’s review/ethics policy here.

The Verdict: 8


The Good

  • Overall build quality of the chair is great.
  • Easy and quick to assemble
  • Overall very comfortable and adjustable.
  • Lumbar support pillow helps especially when sitting for a long period of time.

The Bad

  • The arm rests feel cheap compared to the rest of the chair.
  • The neck pillow when sitting up needs to be adjusted to sit right.
  • The sides of the chair can cause some pressure to the legs depending how you sit.
  • Might need to check your desk height.

This is a review post from nichegamer.com.

 

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