BranchErgonomic Chair - A Versatile Desk Chair with Adjustable Lumbar Support, Breathable Mesh Backrest, and Smooth Wheels - Experience Optimal Comfort and Support - All Black

I’ve had this thing for about a month now. Multiple of my work-from-home friends have sat in it and said “I want a new office chair now.”It has a lot of adjustment options for practically every part of the chair from the cushion height to the armrests height and width. The chair is light and easy to move around while also feeling very steady at its base. The back of the chair feels like it has multiple layers that make it both sturdy and easy to melt into, and the weird lower-spine support thing is absolutely divine.Admittedly, I do have some desk-attached armrests and a footrest that helps (I’m 6 foot, I got height issues) but I can get the chair to a good height to where the footrest and armrests are just more of a preference thing than a necessity. And I also had to buy the headrest (which is ridiculous that it’s sold separately)If I could just get myself to sit in it correctly instead of going “shrimp mode” I’d probably have less back issues… 🦐

I looked at a lot of different ergonomic office chairs, hoping to find a nice balance between price, comfort, durability, and style. It's tough to do staying under the $400 range. I decided on this Branch Ergonomic chair based on reviews and its style. Having lived with it for a month, here are my thoughts:Assembly was remarkably simple. And the build quality seems good, except for the armrests as noted below.It looks great in my opinion. If you like how it looks in pictures, it looks the same in real life. I have the pebble with white frame. I think it's more stylish than the other sub-$500 ergonomic chairs.I find that it is comfortable, especially the seat (I'm coming from a Knoll Life chair with a thin foam seat). But the chair is not very adjustable. The lumbar support, that I felt would be important, slides up and down but does not adjust in or out to increase/decrease pressure. So depending on your body it may not do much at all. It also does not adapt to reclining so even if it applies some support when upright I find it disappears when I recline at all. So for me I find that the lumbar feature of this chair doesn't accomplish much at all. That defeats a lot of the 'ergonomic' aspects of the chair and makes me question whether I should have chosen a different chair. I think more advanced chairs do a lot more to adapt to your body as you recline in the chair; I find that this chair doesn't do much of that at all.The levers to adjust chair height and recline lock are lower than I'd like - you can't use them without leaning out of a normal seating position so you have to make those adjustments then return to normal position to evaluate, rinse and repeat. The recline tension knob is even harder to reach, but it seems like once you get that dialed in you don't have to mess with it very often.One compromise I made in selecting this chair is not getting 4D (or even 3D) armrest adjustment. I do wish it had that. And even in the planes that they do adjust, they armrests do not move all the way into the position I would like (I wish they could slide further back, or even more inward). Also, as others have noted, the armrests do not have a lock in the forward/backward adjustment. This is a problem, as I find that I frequently will put my weight on the armrests (to change my position in the chair, for example) and the armrest will rapidly slide forward under that force. That sucks. Also, the armrest supports are plastic and if you put weight on them they flex. For me that's a minor issue.The backrest alternates between two meshes (in my color selection it's a tight-woven light grey and a more open mesh dark grey). The tight-woven (light grey) fabric is smooth and soft. The open mesh (dark grey) material is suprisingly rough and catches a little bit on my clothing. Really surprised to find that Branch used a mesh that feels noticeably hard on your skin even through your shirt. Maybe other color fabric choices are different, if so I'd recommend one of those because this backrest feels a little annoying when it shouldn't feel like anything at all.I am someone who desperately needs a headrest and while Branch does offer one for this chair it wasn't an option when I purchased the chair from Amazon so I wasn't able to get one. That would make a big difference in my comfort.I'd have preferred blade wheels to the rather cheap plastic casters that come with this chair.My previous chair (Knoll) was quite old and was causing me pain. I can definitely say this Branch chair is significantly more comfortable. There is some disappointment in the lack of (for me) lumbar support and the rough mesh on the backrest, and I do wish the armrests were more adjustable. But for a relatively low-priced ergonomic chair that really does look good it's a pretty good deal even if it isn't the ultimate ergonomic chair. Now, if I can just get a headrest for it.

This is my first ergonomic chair I’ve owned for home use. And I have never had a chair that goes low enough to fit me until now! I did a lot of research and decided on this because of the quality, adjustment features and price range. I’m 5’0 so I’m really short but this chair sits low enough for me. I keep it at the lowest setting. Looks great with my Flexispot E7 desk, I got the beige/tan chair. I’m used to sitting in Herman Miller chairs at work but they are always too big and don’t truly fit my small frame. This is super comfortable and the best fit I’ve ever experienced. I love the adjustable seat (seat slides out a few inches) so I can sit cross cross applesauce if I want too and still have enough room everywhere. And the adjustable arm rests were a must have for me. The armrests are not squishy, pretty firm. I decided to buy padded armrest covers but now that I have it I’m not sure it’s completely necessary to add on. The armrests still fit under my desk. I also like that I can lean and tilt back in the chair which I was never able to do in bigger chairs because they were too big. And I like that you can lock the position. The backrest isn’t too high for me either. The adjustable lumbar support is nice but it’s not aggressive at all. It’s just enough support for what I need. The wheels surprised me because they roll easily and smoothly with minimal effort on 2 layers of carpet! I’ve had other chairs that were problematic on carpet and even on a plastic chair mat. I even had a chair without wheels because of that; but I still missed being able to roll even if it was only a few inches here and there. I don’t have to worry about that anymore! I’m happy with the amount of cushion on the seat, very comfortable. The breathable mesh back is nice and the mesh is strong.The chair was packed well in a large box but I was able to get the box upstairs on my own. It was easy to build on my own and only took a few minutes. I suggest reading the instructions before watching the YouTube video because the video leaves out a few important details.It was such a challenge to find a chair that fits petite people as most chairs are designed for taller people. And I read countless reviews and most people don’t mention their height or there were very few reviews where the person was 5’3 or under. I think this chair would be great even for people much taller since I am happy with the lowest, smallest settings of the chair. Overall, the chair still feels spacious but not overly so. This chair is well made and high quality. I can see it lasting many years and it comes with a warranty!