Sybr Gaming Chair review: A baffling misstep

Born of a collaboration between The Senator Group (owners of the Slouch office chair brand) and British esports group Excel, the Sybr Gaming Chair is the offspring of a match made in heaven. Gaming chairs often sacrifice the kind of top-tier ergonomics you would want from a chair for overbaked luxury or the “gamer” aesthetic, so having the expertise of a company such as Slouch to hand ought to produce devastatingly good results.

Sadly, much of that expertise seems to have been ignored in favour of the aesthetic. The Sybr Gaming Chair trades adjustability and comfort for a garish, plasticky and overwrought design that feels cheap and a little flimsy. It lacks so many of the essentials found on the other chairs I tested for our best gaming chair roundup – and yet, unbelievably, it’s also the most expensive chair I’ve tested this year.

Sybr Gaming Chair review: What does it do well?

Thanks entirely to the cheap materials used in its construction, the Sybr Gaming Chair is lighter than any other one I’ve tested this year (it weighs just 22kg). This makes it easy to manoeuvre and less effort to build, which is a boon given how weighty its closest rival (price-wise) is – the Secretlab Titan Evo ( £469 ) clocks in at an extraordinary 34.5kg. 

The Sybr Gaming Chair has one unique feature: its armrests can fold downwards. I’m not 100% sure why you would want armrests that can fold downwards – I think it’s so that you can move closer to your desk without having to lower the chair – but it does at least demonstrate some level of innovation. The armrests themselves are probably the most premium-feeling aspect of this chair, clad as they are in a rubbery, textured material that feels tough.

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Sybr Gaming Chair review: What could it do better?

That’s it for positives, however. The Sybr Gaming Chair is overly plasticky and uncomfortable to sit on: the synthetic fabric upholstery reminds me of a car seat cover and provides little by way of cooling, heating or extra cushioning. Unfortunately, it also gives the entire chair a distinctly tacky look and feel. This is only exacerbated by the backrest, the rear of which is entirely plastic and adorned with a huge red-, white- or yellow-coloured vent (which looks slightly less ugly on the all-black version).

There’s very little foam beneath the upholstery, too – the backrest is rock solid and the seat bucket is so soft you sink right through it. The backrest is also almost perfectly straight, meaning your lower back isn’t supported in the slightest.

On the adjustability front, the Sybr Gaming Chair offers 11cm of height adjustment and an unspecified degree of backrest recline. The armrests move in two dimensions – up/down and folded downwards – and you can set four “tilt limits” to prevent the backrest from reclining beyond a specific point. Sadly, that’s it: with no lumbar support, no 4D armrests and no other adjustability to speak of, the Sybr falls very short indeed.

To make matters worse, the armrests move with no small amount of effort, and in a few instances the left one got stuck slightly higher than the right.

The final nail in the Sybr’s coffin is the price tag. At £500 it’s more expensive than every other chair I’ve tested this year. To earn that price tag, I’d expect top tier ergonomic design, a suite of adjustment options and a build quality that befits its position at the top of the cost spectrum.

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Sybr Gaming Chair review: Should you buy it?

I hate to say it, but under no circumstances should you buy this gaming chair. The design, ergonomics, adjustability and price tag all work together to earn the Syber Gaming Chair a terrible score – there’s just nothing here that other chairs aren’t doing better, and for less cash. Indeed, I would recommend any of the other four gaming chairs I’ve tested this year over the Sybr. If you’ve got a £500 budget, pick up the excellent Secretlab Titan Evo ( £469 ) and benefit from a chair that’s head and shoulders above this one. Or if you’re on a tighter budget, the ThunderX3 Core ( £340 ) is a unique and well-appointed mid-ranger with all the lumbar support you could ever need.