With gaming culture rapidly approaching a $230 billion industry, it’s not surprising to see companies tack on the gaming label to push new products. Sometimes a marketing gimmick is just that, but other times these products shine when combined with the vigorous physical demand of playing video games for hours on end. When it comes to Secret Lab’s TITAN Gaming chair, is it a struggling marketing gimmick, or something truly worth the investment?
Secret Lab TITAN Gaming Chair Review
I’ve been eyeing up a new chair for my office for some time now. Ye old faithful lasted me a good five years, but the permanent imprint of my butt, alongside bits of the leather covering that the kids had chewed on, really took away from the appeal. Being an excitable child trapped inside an adult body, I couldn’t simply pick up a $50 chair like a normal person. So, I decided to make the plunge. Although it was not an easy decision, the top tier products in this ever growing gaming chair niche often cost more than the console I’m playing on. Heck, some of them will buy you a decent enough PC. But after much deliberation, and more importantly approval from the better half, I decided to pick up a Secret Lab TITAN.
The Secret Lab lineup of gaming chairs offers various different products, catered towards the larger and smaller frames of the famously varied gaming audience. I opted to pick up the Secret Lab TITAN as the websites handy weight suggestion tool made it painfully obvious I’m a fat slob and didn’t have much alternative. There was also the small added bonus of the TEMPO/STORM blue and white version being my favorite color scheme and available at 20% off.
So I’d made my choice, paid the £349 (just under $500), and eagerly awaited the delivery. Unfortunately Secret Labs UK work with DPD as their distribution partner. Whether it be through Amazon or a third-party vendor somewhere, I’ve never had a DPD delivery go smoothly, so it was no surprise that the delivery was a little late. I wouldn’t fault Secret Lab for that, but with the TITAN arriving missing the majority of the important parts, that was on them. Missing the entire contents of the “toolkit” it was meant to come with, my epic new Secret Lab TITAN sat in a messy pile in the corner of my office for a few days.
Despite the initial hiccup, the customer service response tea, was fantastic. Quick to remedy the problem the team were apologetic and even sent me a complimentary leather cleaning kit, which will be a great substitute for the wet wipes I’d otherwise use.
Minor delivery and annoying missing parts dilemmas aside, how’s the chair?
For the DIY challenged, you’ll be happy to hear the chair is relatively straightforward to set up. It took me just under an hour, but that was after attaching pieces the wrong way round and using the wrong screws twice. This in full view of clear instructions, with colorful pictures and even a scan code to a video that I watched twice. There’s no level of idiot proofing that works when I’m putting together flat-pack furniture but I would imagine the vast majority of people will have no issues assembling the Secret Lab TITAN within 10-15 minutes.
It was safe to say that, by this point, I was expecting my backside to feel like I was sitting on a cloud after all the kerfuffle. However, I was not overly impressed at first butt contact. The TITAN felt tough, resistant to my shapely curves. And within a couple of hours, my back felt sore and stiff. The built in lumbar support felt exaggerated, the armrests out of place and the upright positioning of the chair just not quite right. That’s where the difference between a $50 chair and a $500 chair comes into play.
The lumbar support, a small pocket of cushion at the lower of your back to help improve posture, is entirely adjustable to the point where you can practically remove it. I’ve found myself increasing it slowly over time, which I cannot argue – has definitely improved my sitting posture. The arm rests are adjustable in 4D, meaning you can move and rotate them in almost any combination of directions you please. One setup works perfectly when I’m sitting to attention on my latest run of the fantastic Slay the Spire, while another works when I’m sitting back watching a movie. The same can be said for the backrest incline. I have no idea why you would need to lower in to practically a sleeping position.
While initially unimpressed, as time goes on I’m becoming more and more attached to the single most expensive piece of furniture in my household. The Secret Lab TITAN gaming chair is undoubtedly a quality experience, matching every claim boast by boast from the official product description. Whether or not it’s for you is down to the $420 price tag (if you purchase it from the US). If you’ve got the money, you won’t be disappointed. But I wouldn’t go selling your first born.
Now, please excuse my while I continue to play around with these stupidly versatile armrests.
