Anda Seat Fnatic Edition Gaming Chair Review

Take a seat.

Gaming is a tough gig. You and I both know it. The stamina required to look, unblinkingly at a hi-res monitor for multiple hours, pressing buttons, pulling triggers and moving analogue sticks with split-second efficiency is far beyond most modern athletes, while the acumen required to instinctively know every route, every tactic and every possible outcome for an encounter is the kind of thing military strategists work their whole lives to attain.

Given that it’s clearly the hardest hobby, you need to look after yourself, and the folks over at Anda Seat have crafted a gaming chair in collaboration with Fnatic that’s going to keep your posterior performance, and your posture, in peak condition.

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Gaming chairs are heavy. It’s always something of a surprise when they arrive and the box has caused the courier to have some kind of lumbar region episode. The benefit of that is that you can be certain that the components Anda Seat have used are going to be strong and robust, and once you start putting the thing together there’ll be no doubt in your mind that it’s going to be able to take a serious amount of parking, sitting, or taking the weight off.

Before you can get to the sitting part, you are going to have to put it together. Anda Seat have included everything you need in the box, including tools, so there’s no need to go searching around for your toolbox or that Philips screwdriver that lives at the bottom of the draw in your kitchen.

It is entirely possible to put it together by yourself – I did – but connecting the backrest to the base of the seat is difficult without someone else to help. A bit of brute force might also be needed to get the caster wheels onto the five-star base, and you’re then going to have to lift the chair portion up onto the wheels too. Once you’ve secured it all together though, the remainder, including the covers that hide all of the mechanisms, are simple and easy to attach. That second person might speed things along a touch, but it’s all a relatively straightforward process that’s going to result in a fully functioning, exceptionally cool-looking gaming chair.

The Anda Seat Fnatic Gaming Chair wears its gamer credentials all over in a style that’s likely to be marmite to some. Personally I think it looks fantastic, with bold and bright looks and credible styling that match up perfectly with Fnatic’s eSports outlook. There’s Anda Seat and Fnatic logos all over the place as well, to prevent anyone watching your latest Twitch stream from being in any doubt where your chair came from.

It’s got a deep, chunky backrest that has a huge black Fnatic logo embossed onto the back, while a smaller Anda Seat logo is stitched into the headrest. There’s also two open sockets built into the backrest, aping the look of a racing car bucket seat, though they also perform a function as strapping for some of the chair’s optional cushioning runs through them.

You’ll want to be using that additional cushioning from day one; the lumbar support alone has to be one of the most comfortable additions I’ve come across in a gaming chair. When it’s combined with the memory foam head pillow, you’ll feel perfectly supported throughout you time in the chair.

Where some other manufacturer’s pillows and cushions aren’t held on in a particularly clear, obvious, or useful way, the offerings here fit perfectly into the curvature of the chair, while the thick elastic straps and chunky clasps are built to last. They do have the effect of making the chair look a little like it’s wearing a pair of braces from the back, but I actually kind of like that.

The seat itself is well foamed and sprung, with huge, thick foam cushioning for you to perch upon, and it’s no word of a lie to say it’s the comfiest gaming chair I’ve had the opportunity to sit in. If you also find yourself needing a short snooze, it reclines to a frankly ridiculous, near-horizontal, position, while somehow staying resolutely upright.

The only mild disappointment with the Anda Seat Fnatic Edition Gaming Chair is that they’ve not used real leather, opting instead for premium PVC leather like you’d find in a BMW’s interior. The advantage is that it’ll have kept the cost down – it still has an RRP of £399.99 – it’s easy to clean, and it’s liable to be plenty durable in the long term.

In terms of control options Anda Seat have covered every possible base. From 4D armrests – that’s armrests that go up and down, forward and back, left and right, and rotate on a central axis – to hydraulic height adjustment and variable reclining angles, you will be able to find a position and height that’s just right for you.

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