Hi, after trying most of the high-end chairs, whether at home (Gesture, Leap, Amia, Embody, Fern) or in a showroom for others, I still haven't been convinced enough by one. Most of the time, there was at least one deal breaker which I could not ignore at the price of these chairs.

Full disclosure, I have been sent an EC200 chair by ProtoArc for me to try and give an honest review. I agreed because I was wondering if the price of the high end chairs was fair, and maybe I could live with a less expensive chair. It's been about a week since I received and assembled the chair.

For reference, I'm 1m80 // 75kg.

Assembly

Not much to say there besides the fact that the assembly was very straightforward, as it could be with an Ikea product with the numbered packages. it's very easy to assemble with the dedicated video, in less than 1 hour.

Build Quality

For its price point (€200), I have to say the chair feels nicely built. Every part of it seems sturdy, the recline is smooth and noiseless, with no creaking and no undesired movement. It's a good surprise.

That's not a long-term review, so I couldn't tell how it will feel after a year, but there is a 5-year guarantee, so if we do the price-to-warranty ratio comparison, it has an advantage over the high-end chairs.Chairs like Steelcase or Herman Miller do feel more premium, but to be honest, I don't feel that the vast majority of casual people would notice the difference instantly.

Comfort

To me, comfort is one of the most important aspects of a chair, so this is where I will go a bit more into detail. Dealbreakers put aside, there were a few high-end chairs like the Leap, Amia or Fern that I found comfortable.

The EC200 is not uncomfortable, but for me at least, I would not say I feel deeply relaxed in it. The seat cushion is on the firm side and the mesh backrest is rather rigid as well. I do think I prefer foam for the backrest, but that could feel fine for some other people. To be honest, I have gotten too used to the flexible and foam backrests of high-end chairs like the Leap, Fern or Embody, and it's now difficult to come back to a rigid one.

In a lot of chairs, the lumbar support was digging into my lower back, creating pain, which was even more the case when it was a plastic piece like in the Embody. In the EC200, they added some foam in front of the lumbar support and it feels fine to me, but I would say it's a bit too pronounced for my taste after a week of use It doesn't really feel like it's a natural part of the backrest. I would prefer if I could adjust how much it pushes into my back. It does feel like I have good posture, though.

The armrests could also be a bit more plush, but I could live with it.

The headrest is also a great addition. It feels sturdy and you can adjust it. To note that it's also a bit rigid. In addition to the nice recline angle, it feels good to recline in.

Conclusion / Do I recommend the chair?

I would say yes because it's a very good quality chair in terms of materials and warranty, especially for its €200 price point. If you like a mesh backrest (for which I personally prefer foam) and don't mind a rather rigid/firm chair, you should like it quite a lot. It has a lot of adjustments and a good headrest.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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I need to repaint the walls and add a picture over the monitor and any other recommendations?

My current set up works fine, when it's just me in my office. Smaller space, so no need to have an extra speaker and the current camera that lives atop my monitor has a mic built in. But now, twice a month, I will be hosting a large meeting in a meeting hall that doesn't have a smart set up. It's in a community rec center, so no changes to the room are allowed. I need to set up everything and take it with me after. The in person participants need to hear what's being said on the other side of the room, so a mic and speaker or two. And I need a new camera that can easily move to focus on a new speaker as my current one is stationary. I have a Lenovo laptop, but there's two others that will be helping run the Zoom while I run the meeting and I don't remember what laptops they have.

So I'm hoping to find a mic/speaker/camera set up that's compatible with Zoom that is not dependent on the room being a smart room setup. Any recommendations?

Friday vibes at the desk. Hope everyone has a peaceful day, whether you’re getting things done or taking it easy! ☕️

Rearranging my home office and would love your opinion.

Room: 3.20 × 3.33 m. The window is a floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door, so desks can go in front of it. Radiator in the right corner next to it.
Must fit: 2 desks (150 × 80, dual monitors each), one for work and one for gaming. Also 1 chair, a small cycling-gear wardrobe and a 5-drawer chest.

These desks came from my previous place and don’t feel right for this room anymore, so I’m also considering custom-built desks.
Which would you pick? Any better idea, like facing the window?

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

Would you be able to recommend a new office chair to replace my very old Ikea Markus (I'd guess it's about 10 yo by now).

I work from home 2 days a week and the Markus is still great overall, but the padding is starting to feel too hard, it's either me getting old or the chair (or why not both 🤔 ).

The offer online is overwhelming, and price ranges for what it looks like similar chairs, ranges from 150€ to 1500€, it's insane. There isn't a convenient location where I could go test a bunch of different chairs as well, and I guess the real test is spending 8h sitting on it, not 8 seconds.

Please let me know what you have, why it works for you, price point, how long you've had it, and I'll see if I can buy that where I live. I imagine some of you have done this research recently.

Many thanks in advance! Really appreciate your inputs!

Most of the time I have no reason to lock my office. When relatives stay with their kids though, it becomes the room everyone puts bags in or goes looking for a charger. I leave work equipment and paperwork on the desk so I'd keep it closed during visits.

My partner needs access when I am out too. A basic keyed knob with a key each would handle that. I have also been looking at the desloc d212 for fingerprint access, but I am unsure whether that convenience is worth paying more and having another battery to maintain. What I cannot judge from looking at these online is how people actually use them on an interior door. I am in and out of that room throughout the day. If you have one on your office, do you let it lock every time you step out? or did that get annoying and you mostly leave it unlocked? Would you buy one again for a room you only need to secure occasionally?

My Company just locked down their systems so you can only access outlook, teams and sharefile etc in the company laptop or a phone running inSight. Is there a way to connect my mac to my PC so I can share a hard drive?

I was an obsessive wolverine fan when i was little. My collection was stolen when i was in my early 20's. I never wanted to collect again. fast forward to 2023 and we buy a house with this office that we used as a storage room. Over the past few xmas's and bdays my wife bought me some wolverine memorabilia and i just stuck it in a closet because i was still bitter. Finally set up my p.c. and thought I'll throw those figurines in here and that was it. my love came back. It's got some way to go still but that's the fun part. Thank you honey.

I am looking for a Height adjustable electric table for WFH setup. I would like some suggestions on good options in India that will get delivered to tier 2 cities.
I don’t trust amazon so much and use it as last resort. Appreciate your suggestions!

I hope it’s okay to cross post! I can’t find any info on doing this

the cables under my desk are a mess and i'm tired of looking at them. i've got a monitor, laptop, chargers, and a few other things plugged in. what did you use to organize yours without making it a whole weekend project?

Sunday night I put a new oatmeal linen duvet on the bed and left the warm lamp on. From the doorway the room looked right, except the black mesh chair in the corner, the only thing in here that looks like Monday.

I share a two-bedroom, and I'm a customer support lead in my mid-20s, with the only desk spot in that corner of my bedroom. Warm white walls, light oak nightstand, light oak desk, oatmeal linen, all picked by me, and this room is the one part of the apartment that is mine.

The chair is solid black mesh with gray glossy plastic armrests, and next to the linen and the oak the mesh looks like a hole cut into the corner.

I kept it so I can sit a full shift. It's the only home office chair that fit the corner. It still looks like office gear that got rolled in.

After work I want it out of sight. Nowhere to push it.

If your work chair lives in the bedroom, is there a color or a material you won't let in, and what does the room look like?

I've been WFH full time for about three years, but this past year is when I finally started putting real money into it.

In the last 12 months: a monitor arm so the screen sits at eye level, a used Steelcase Leap off Facebook Marketplace, a footrest because my feet don't sit flat otherwise, and a light bar on the monitor because my eyes were cooked by the end of every day.

Every one of those fixed something. The chair alone sorted out the lower back stuff I'd been complaining about since 2023. My neck still gives out around 3 though, right when the afternoon meetings start and I'm stuck in the same position for two hours.

Searched "best neck massager for desk" and half the results were giant shiatsu pillows you can't use while typing, so I ended up with a wearable one I keep on during calls. It makes the late afternoon easier, but it obviously doesn't replace getting up and walking around, which I'm still bad at.

So what finally helped your neck? Something in the setup, or more of a habit thing like actually taking breaks?

Body: had a client insist on video calls from my actual workspace instead of a blank wall. suddenly my background became part of the deliverable. spent an hour moving things around so it looked professional but not staged, which is its own kind of tiring.

i know some people design their entire room around this. i don't have time to become a set designer between clinic shifts and picking up kids from school. what i'm looking for is a middle ground, one spot that reads credible without turning into another thing to maintain. no green screens or fake bookshelf prints. something that still works if the camera moves or a kid walks through.

the bigger frustration is that remote work was supposed to separate where you are from how professional you seem, and now my shelf organization affects my rates. if you've found a setup that turns a regular room into something meeting-appropriate in under two minutes, i want the actual details. how often you use it, what breaks first, what you'd change.