Given the reputation AndaSeat holds, including our own recent experience with their Kaiser 3 gaming chair, it was hard not to take notice when they released a new line of chairs at the start of this month. This time they didn’t simply make new chairs, but they teamed up with Hasbro to release a line of Transformers-themed chairs! That said, we had to give these chairs a test ourselves and I am definitely glad that we did.
What’s In The Box
Inside the box is everything you need to put the chair together. Separated, you have the back of the chair, the base of the chair, and the wheelbase. Then in a smaller box, you have the wheels, a few of the screws, and an alan wrench. Also, you have your lumbar pillow and a magnetic head pillow. Then, of course, you have a little book that provides a step-by-step process to build the chair and the only reason the book has any real thickness to it is that the instructions are written in multiple different languages.
The chair comes pre-assembled which turns out to mean that the hard stuff is done for you. All you really do is take the preset screws out of the sides of the chair’s back, slide the back of the chair onto the base of the chair - which has a bar holder so you can’t mess up the alignment, and then screw the back of the chair again now that it is connected to the base. Pop in the wheels to the wheelbase, put the pump bar in the center, screw on the base connector to the bottom of the chair, and put the chair on the wheelbase. In this whole process, all you need is your alan wrench that is included in the box.
Altogether, putting the chair together by myself took less than an hour. The hardest part was that the screws that go into the side of the chair’s back didn’t want to work at first. I had to take the back off of the base and screw the screws all the way in on all sides, unscrew them again now that I confirmed the fit, and then hold the whole thing on its side while screwing it because of how much it fought me on it. Other than that setback, it felt like putting a giant lego piece together - simple and sturdy once complete.
Aesthetics and Build Quality
Depending on which character seat you went with would change the aesthetic of the chair. Going with a personal favorite, I snagged myself the Bumblebee-themed chair and so I have a black and yellow chair that sticks out like a shining trophy in front of my RGB-lit computer space. Not to mention that the lumbar pillow isn’t the standard small lump at the bottom but rather a slightly curved pillow that has the chosen character’s headshot on it is a very nice touch. Even the lettering for the head pillow is matching to the color design.
Since it uses a re-dense moulded foam for the chair, it does feel a bit hard to the touch but that also gives it the sturdy feeling that I prefer in a chair. All the soft aspects of the chair come from the velvet-covered lumbar pillow and a soft, squishy headrest pillow. Here’s a quick list of the build aspects:
Upgraded top-grade PVC leatherette
Premium velvet-covered lumbar pillow
Re-Dense Moulded Foam
Flatter Seat Wings
Class 4 Pneumatic Gas Lift Cylinder
Specs and Special Features
The Transformers-themed chairs currently are only available in Large size which are recommended for users less than or roughly near 5’9” in height and weight no more than 200 lbs. The weight recommendation is based on a rocking load weight, so as long as you don’t expect to use the rocking feature too much, it shouldn’t be a problem. I am a roughly 250 lbs guy myself and have had no issues using it or any of its features.
Speaking of features, here are some of the cool aspects of this chair:
Ergonomic Design - these chairs are designed to be used for long periods of time and are fitted to be both comfortable and able to potentially prevent health issues caused from sitting poorly for too long.
Reactive Rocking Function - it is able to rock back and forth, but it will always push to have the base level with the ground below it. This means that when you lean back, you will be holding the weight to push you backward on your feet and when you aren’t doing so the chair will return to its upright position.
Recline and Lock - these chairs have a motion range from 90-160 degrees. There is a handle on the side of the chair that you can pull to adjust where you want it and when you release the handle, it will lock in its set reclined state.
Easy-Build Quality - as I stated above, the chair comes slightly pre-assembled. Along with that, it has quick assembly features so you can simply slide into, screw in, and snap on all the parts of the chair together. They also put into MagClap on the screw covers so that they hold in place without any extra, typically revealing, parts or screws.
Magnetic Accessories - as is pretty standard for all AndaSeat chairs, the head pillow has a magnetic back to make it easy to adjust, place, and remove from the chair.
What It Could Have Done Better
The arms of the chair are pretty basic. While the flat style is comfortable, it definitely could have benefitted from a 4D style that allowed the arms to move more than just up and down. I personally like to have my chair arms pointed outwards rather than staying straight.
Other than that, I just hope to see it come in more size options so a wider range of users can get a chair of their own.
Verdict
AndaSeat’s Transformers-themed gaming chairs are pretty amazing and so aesthetically pleasing, especially if one of their chair options happen to be your favorite character from the series! Comfortable to use and an aesthetic that upgrades the dynamic of your gaming and/or work area. These chairs definitely have what it takes to last and I look forward to using this chair for years to come!
AndaSeat’s Transformers-themed gaming chairs are available now for $399.99 each.