AndaSeat T-Pro 2 review: a comfortable gaming chair for taller people
The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is a sensible-looking fabric gaming chair for bigger folks
The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is a comfortable, wide-set chair that feels great to the touch but it’s build materials are let down by a lack of care in design. It’ll suit some people, and aims for taller gamers, especially if you’re looking for a fabric chair that doesn’t look too ‘gaming chair’ but at this price, you’d expect it to deliver more.
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Premium materials
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Very comfortable
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Premium Price
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Awkward build
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Poor tools
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Stability issues
Why you can trust T3
Welcome to this T3 review of the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair, one of the many excellent chairs to make it onto our best gaming chair list. I’ve spent a few days with this chair now and I’m here to tell you all about it.
Of course, gaming’s not just about where you’re sitting, building out your whole setup is important. You want the best gaming mouse, the best gaming keyboard and the best gaming headset – you want the best all around. But you’ll be using it from the comfort of your chair, so you do need to make sure you’ve got that right.
I’m reviewing the blue & black model of the T-Pro 2, but there are also grey & black and just black models. My quick round-up of the AndaSeat? It’s a decent chair that is comfortable in use and the materials here are good. But from setting it up, to using certain features, there are some disappointing design misses that let it down. Especially in this price bracket.
AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair Review: Package and Setup
When the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair arrived at my house, in its plain cardboard box with AndaSeat branding, the first thing I had to contend with was the weight. It’s a very heavy package at 33.3 kilos. That’s the heaviest box I’ve received, and whilst I was able to manfully drag it up the stairs, I’d advise sensible people to open the box and carry it piece by piece to wherever it needs to go.
When you first open it up you’re greeted by the chairs wheelbase, instructions, neck pillow and a small box that holds the tools you’ll be needing to set this up, as well as the castors, piston and piston cover.
Under that, we first see the back of the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair, wrapped in branded plastic, which sits on top of the chairs seat and other components. Everything is well packed with foam sheets, plastic wrapping, bubble wrap and cardboard.
The instructions for the AndaSeat are some of the nicest I’ve had to deal with. It always surprises me when expensive chairs skimp on the instructions so it’s nice to see a glossy book, with pictures of an actual chair as well as written instructions. I always knew what I was supposed to be doing.
Once we’ve got everything laid out, it’s time to build the chair. The first thing we are told to do is assemble the wheels. This just means plugging the holes of the star-shaped base with each castor. This was more difficult than I’ve experienced and even after a fair bit of shoving, one wheel was still not fully in.
Even once the chair was fully built, that one wheel remains less flush than the others, it’s only about a centimetre and I’m not sure how much it affected my experience with the chair in truth but it’s a little disappointing. Lastly on this step, we just have to slide the piston into the central hole and pop the telescopic plastic covering over it.
Now we have to attach the armrests. I found the fabric on the T-Pro 2 snagged or blocked every bolt I tried to screw in. This made this first step a somewhat arduous process, but it is worth saying that the holes on the armrest fixings are wide so you can get a bit of extra width for your arms once it’s completed.
I think part of the issue here is that none of the holes and blots on this chair seemed to quite fit. They do, eventually, but of the 16 short bolts this chair uses, on almost every one of them I had difficulty getting them to thread together.
When attaching the seat to the chair I ran into a similar problem. Having to give up on one of the bolts (that I was trying to screw back into the hole it came out of), in the hope I could use it later when attaching the chair mechanism (it was difficult but I managed it).
Then there are the side covers, which don’t quite fit snuggly but the plastic will bend over the metal as you screw it in. Unfortunately, the massive hex key that AndaSeat supply was slightly misshapen on the thinner end (and possibly too big anyway), so it didn’t actually fit in the bolt. Luckily, I had a hex key of my own, but this is a real misstep for a chair this price.
Finally, we add the chair to the wheels, and we have a completed AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair. This is the fifth gaming chair I’ve put together in the past few weeks, the longest it’s taken me to assemble on previously was 45 minutes, that was the first one.
This took me twice that, and while I could perhaps concede I was unlucky with the parts supplied, I don’t think it should be this difficult in this price range.
Ultimately though, the construction of any gaming chair will be a distant memory rather quickly. My first impression of the constructed AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is that it looks great. It has an air to it that means, yes, this is for gaming – but it will also look great on a work zoom.
The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair will look great in any environment you place it, while it’s also worth noting that the fabric upholstery, with velour accents, feels great to the touch as well.
AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair Review: Performance and Features
So, the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is aiming at the premium gaming chair market. So what we’re looking at here is comfort, aesthetics and features.
Starting with the cushions, the velour headrest and backrest are very soft and comfortable. Like most gaming chairs the AndaSeat doesn’t let me move the headrest far enough down for my preference, but I think I may be the only one in the world who prefers them at neck height.
The backrest doesn’t strap in or around and just sits on top like a normal cushion. To be honest I think I prefer this way of doing things as I’ve always found the elastic-strap approach a bit fussy. If you like them though, you should know this doesn’t go that way.
The armrests on the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair are fine, if nothing special. Most gaming chairs have the same features, you can rotate them, slide them in four directions and move them up and down. In terms of look and feel these aren’t far away from the Epic Series real leather chair from Noblechairs, but they aren’t as solid.
They rattle when you use them, and the buttons are sticky, requiring either a hard push or making fussy adjustments in how you push them to make sure they find their groove. They just don’t feel very premium.
Under the chair, you’ll find two handles. One controls the seats lift and the other is where you can turn the rocking feature on and off. Between them site a central dial that augments the extent to which the chair will rock.
These handles work perfectly well but sit directly underneath the fixtures for the seat’s armrests, with about 1.5-inches of clearance. It means that they can be awkward to find and control properly, especially if you like your armrests set wide.
I’ll also say that even with the rocking feature turned off and the central dial turned as tight as I can get it, it still rocks a little bit which can be a bit of an issue when you’re fully reclined.
The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair has a full recline that goes back 160-degrees. The handle that controls it is intermittently clunky, but that can happen to a lot of chairs and I’ve known that sort of thing to settle down over time.
This seat is recommended for people under 150kg, with a max load that AndaSeat states as 200kg. Those are actually great stats for a gaming chair, but I’m about 64kg, and when I’m fully reclined in this chair, it tips over.
Now, there are some things to consider about this. AndaSeat also recommends that this chair is used by people between 180-210 cm. Which roughly means, people between 5ft 11 inches and 6ft 10 inches. Tall people.
I’m 5ft 10 inches, or roughly 177cm. So, I’m under the recommended for this chair, and maybe it’s a factor, but I can plant my feet firmly when reclined. It might also be something to do with my one raised wheel or the still slightly rocky chair, but it’s definitely worth thinking about.
It’s worth saying here tough, AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is easily the most comfortable gaming chair that I’ve sat in. It’s soft, well-padded and outside of a little bowing in the fabric of the headrest, well upholstered.
I’ve used it for everything from, writing this review to falling far too deep into Stellaris, to watching Netflix and taking zoom calls. It has supported me well. I do have some concerns about its recline, but, I don’t tend to do that outside of a test anyway. As a standard chair that looks and feels nice, while also being comfortable, it actually does well.
The frustrating thing is that almost every individual part of this chair is of premium quality, it’s in the design, in how they all fit together, where it lets itself down.
AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair Review: Price and Verdict
This is the hard part, the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair is in the premium gaming chair market at an RRP of £449/$499, although it can be found for cheaper. That’s putting it up against the likes of the Razer Iskur, Epic Series from Noblechairs and the SecretLab Titan Softweave. That’s tough competition.
It is often found cheaper than that though, and our widgets should be able to tell you about the latest deals, so if you can pick it up with a good discount, then it makes sense as a purchase (as long as you’re the right height).
Ultimately, this wide set chair is designed for larger, taller people. So, if that’s and you want a comfortable chair, that doesn’t have all the flashy go-faster stripes of your average gaming chair – and you can pick it up at a discount, then the AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair may well work for you. If you’re shopping at RRP though, there are better packages out there.
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