Best office chairs 2023: Jump Menu
00. T3's top 3 ↴
01. Best overall: Cherry Tree Executive Office Chair
02. Best luxury option: Herman Miller Mirra 2
03. Best gaming option: SecretLab Titan Evo
04. Best budget option: SIHOO Ergonomic Office Chair
05. Best budget gaming option: Boulies EP200
06. Best basic option: Amazon Basics Office Chair
07. Best affordable but stylish option: Ikea Markus
08. Best dependable option: Office Hippo Leather Look Executive Office Chair
09. Best versatile option: Habitat Orion Faux Leather Office Chair
10. Best comfortable option: NeueChair
11. Best timeless option: Ikea Renberget Swivel Chair
12. Best option for lumbar support: Boulies EP400
13. How we test
The importance of owning one of the best office chairs on the market cannot be over-emphasized. With so many people now working from home at least a day or two a week, making sure your body is comfortable and well-supported while working is crucial.
Because studies have shown that if you are uncomfortable at your desk then you are less productive, and you increase the chances of developing serious health issues, such as repetitive strain injuries, back pain, and joint stresses.
The best office chairs deliver great lumbar support, though, ensuring a great posture, and adjustable armrests and seat heights. It just makes sense to invest in your own health and comfort. As such, we’ve got an entire list of office chairs that offer a range of ergonomic features to ensure your seating offers the best comfort levels you need to focus and get work done with ease.
We've got office chairs at a wide variety of different price points, too, meaning that we feel there is a chair for everybody in our buying guide. Oh, and lastly, if you're a gamer, you may want to take a look at T3's best gaming chairs buying guide, too.
Lizzie is T3's Home Staff Writer, also covering style, living and wellness. She works closely with Bethan Girdler-Maslen, T3's Home Editor, ensuring all the latest Home news, trends and recommendations are covered. Outside of T3, Lizzie can be found mooching around Bath, attempting (or at least trying to) a new DIY project or spending time with family and friends.
T3's top three
The best overall office chair
We think a lot of people are going to like this Cherry Tree Furniture Executive Office Chair – it's comfortable, it's easy to put together, it's affordable and it's going to last. You don't get some of the premium materials or fancy features that more expensive chairs offer, but that doesn't matter a huge amount when it is this comfortable and this good for your posture.
The best luxury office chair
Eight hundred quid may sound like a lot for a chair, but it's less than a MacBook Air, for example – and unlike the Mac, the Herman Miller Mirra 2 will still be going strong a decade or more from now. Its plastic back takes a bit of getting used to if you're coming from fabric or leather chairs, but it's very supportive and exceptionally durable.
The best gaming office chair
As we note in our full SecretLab Titan Evo review, this chair is primarily aimed at gamers and is recommended in T3's best gaming chair guide as the best gaming chair for most people. But, to just siphon this chair off as a product that's only for gamers does it a huge disservice, as its professional, modern looks mean that it can easily manage a home office or even office environment without standing out.
Best office chairs ranking 2023
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The best overall office chair
The best office chair for most people? That's the Cherry Tree Executive Office Chair.
We think a lot of people are going to like this Cherry Tree Furniture Executive Office Chair – it's comfortable, it's easy to put together, it's affordable, and it's going to last. You don't get some of the premium materials or fancy features that more expensive chairs offer, but that doesn't matter a huge amount when it is this comfortable and this good for your posture.
Made from polyurethane leather, the chair is great to sink into at the start of a working session and it's going to keep you well-supported while you get on with whatever it is you're getting on with, be that work or play. There's artificial leather on the armrests as well, so you really feel like you are a chief executive.
Add in plenty of adjustment in terms of seat height and tilt, plus dedicated lumbar support, and it's not difficult to see why this particular model is one of the best office chairs and popular with a wide range of people. We gave it a maximum score of 5 stars on review, and highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their posture and comfort in the home office.
The best luxury office chair
The Herman Miller Mirra 2 is stylish office chair that retails at the premium end of the market.
Eight hundred quid may sound like a lot for a chair, but it's less than a MacBook Air, for example – and unlike the Mac, the Herman Miller Mirra 2 will still be going strong a decade or more from now.
This is the second generation Mirra. One of the T3 team bought the v1 fifteen years ago after it was recommended by a back surgeon, and they're still using it: it enabled them to return to work after back surgery much more quickly than expected, it's survived the destructive attentions of two children and two dogs, and it's kept their back problems at bay ever since. They say it's the best investment they've ever made.
Like its predecessor the Mirra 2 is tank-like in its construction and quite heavy, so you'll definitely need some floor protection if you're on laminate or wooden floors. It's almost infinitely adjustable and provides excellent lumbar support, with a lattice back for ventilation and a strong mesh that's supportive and cooling in warm weather. Its plastic back takes a bit of getting used to if you're coming from fabric or leather chairs, but it's very supportive and exceptionally durable.
The best gaming office chair
As we note in our full SecretLab Titan Evo review, this chair is primarily aimed at gamers and is recommended in T3's best gaming chair guide as the best gaming chair for most people.
But, to just siphon this chair off as a product that's only for gamers does it a huge disservice, as its professional, modern looks mean that it can easily manage a home office or even office environment without standing out.
Indeed, during T3's testing of the Titan Evo it was used for both gaming and work, with the chair supporting our reviewer perfectly for the weeks it was on test – he even wrote the chair's review in it.
Not only does the Secretlab Titan Evo come in a variety of premium faux leather upholstery finishes, but it also comes with buckets of advanced tech that don't really see on many office chairs. These include a magnetic head pillow and swappable armrests, as well as a clever, built in to the backrest, 4-way lumbar support system.
Basically, you get one heck of an awesome chair for your spend, which while is more than a fair few of the other chairs in this list, is arguably very justified if your office chair needs also extend to gaming.
The best budget office chair
The best office chair for most people? That's the Cherry Tree Executive Office Chair.
We've already mentioned how you often need to pay top dollar to get the best office chair, but that doesn't mean there aren't some very good value bargains out there as well. If you can't afford one of the top-end models, consider the SIHOO Ergonomic Office Chair.
For a start it's comfortable to sit in, which really helps, with a solid mesh backing and lumbar support. Plus, every aspect of the chair is adjustable, from the armrests to the height to the level of tilt (if you need to lean back away from the desk for a while).
The build quality and use of materials might not quite match the chairs that cost five times as much as this one, but this is a very solid entry down at the budget end of our best office chairs list.
For even more information on this chair be sure to consult our full review.
The best budget gaming office chair
Another great affordable office chair option is the Boulies EP200. The Boulies EP200 strikes a great balance, packing in tech without looking out of place. The chair has integrated lumbar support adjustment in the back panel which is easy to adjust to your requirements, plus it comes with 3D armrests, seat height adjustment and adjustment to pull the seat away from the backrest.
With its sleek design and comfort levels, the Boulies EP200 is a great value solution for improving your office environment. It packs a wealth of gaming chair know-how into an unassuming frame, making it perfect for office and home use alike.
The best basic office chair
The best office chair for those shopping on a tiny budget is the Amazon Basics Office Chair.
Yes, sure, the Amazon Basics Office Chair doesn't have the fancy features, the luxe material finish, and the best support options out of the chairs in this list, but it is a rock-solid office chair that is incredibly cheap and looks clean and professional.
Indeed, the price is so low that you could buy 10 of them for the price of our premium office chair recommendation, which really puts its value in perspective. Need to kit out an entire start up office? With the Amazon Basics Office Chair, you're covered.
A one-year warranty is included, and the chair swivels through a full 360 degrees, which is ideal for multitasking. Amazon pitch this chair as useful in more than just an office setting, too, with the garden and kitchen suggested.
The best affordable but stylish office chair
The Ikea Markus is an affordable all-rounder of an office chair.
Does IKEA have good office chairs? The answer is yes! IKEA has a better range of office chairs than you might expect, and the IKEA Markus is our current pick as the one you should check out. It's not the cheapest the Swedish firm offers, but it's got just about everything you want.
That includes a high, mesh backing with lumbar support, optional armrests, and easy height and tilt adjustment. You can lock a tilt in place if you want to sit back and avoid work for a while.
From our testing, this chair can really stand up to hours of use while keeping you comfortable, and you can't ask any more than that. An easy choice for one of the best office chairs around today.
To see how this chair compares to our number one office chair choice, be sure to take a look at T3's Cherry Tree Executive Office Chair vs IKEA Markus comparison feature.
The best dependable office chair
Simplicity, affordability, clean lines... there's lots to like in this Office Hippo model, which won't cost you much at all considering how many years of sitting down you're going to get out of it. There's plenty of padding in an artificial leather style, and plastic armrests for when you're tired of typing.
It's nothing fancy – there's no dedicated lumbar support here, for example – but the build quality is solid, and this is an office chair that won't let you down. The back is of a reasonable height as well, so it's not going to dominate a small room or overwhelm a desk in the same way that a chair with a tall back might.
You just get the one black colour here and you'll have it set up well inside an hour (which admittedly isn't great if you're trying to avoid doing some actual work). For a straightforward, affordable chair, it's difficult to beat this for value.
The best versatile office chair
One of the reasons we like the Argos Home Orion is that it looks more expensive than it actually is – it's actually relatively affordable when you look at the market as a whole, and especially considering how many years you're going to get out of it.
It does all of the basics you need an office chair to do, and is very comfortable to sit in, even as your working sessions drag on through the day (or the night). The armrests definitely help, and it's worth noting that these aren't removable – if you don't like armrests, don't buy this chair.
The faux leather look combines well with the chrome-and-black stand and castors, and the Argos Home Orion moves around very nippily on all surfaces. The tall back (which stretches as high as 128.5 cm) ensures good support for your back and neck, too.
The best comfortable office chair
Winner of the T3 Award 2023 for best office chair, the NeueChair is the perfect combination of gaming comfort with office styling. It offers an impressive range of adjustments so you can customise the height and depth of the chair to get exactly how you want it.
Comfortable to sit in all day, the NeueChair company has taken its skills in the gaming chair market and applied them superbly with this award-winning office chair. Despite the controls being a little tricky to find at first, it's a great chair for support, comfort and gives a professional look, whether you're in your home office, gaming room or office building.