The rapid shift to “work from home” (WFH) driven by the COVID outbreak left many unprepared for comfortable working over often longer than a normal 8-hour workday. Demand rose for critical components: laptops, video cameras, and speakerphones. Many overlooked the most important component: the chair. My industrial engineering education helped me appreciate ergonomics and I acquired an Aeron chair long ago, but time has not been kind to that chair or to my body. The Aeron chair became uncomfortable, especially when used for long periods of time. When ProtoArc offered to let me try an ErgoChair 100, I jumped at the chance. After using the chair for more than a week, here are my thoughts on the comfort, quality, appearance and value of the ProtoArc ErgoChair 100 (EC100).
Comfort
Comfort, especially when sitting for long periods of time, is the most important factor of a WFH chair. Although the Aeron chair is ergonomically designed, it was uncomfortable for me for 2 reasons: poor lumbar support and uncomfortable seat cushion. The Aeron has an adjustable lumbar support, which is nice, but it’s positioned behind the surface of the chair, which limits the effectiveness. And the depth of the chair causes a gap between the lumbar support (chair back) and my back, making the lumbar support useless and me uncomfortable after about 20 minutes. a hard but flexible plastic mesh covers the seat back and serves as a seat cushion on the Aeron. Although this material has great airflow, it feels as hard as plastic or wood after only a few minutes.
On the ErgoChair, the lumbar support is in front of the seat back and well positioned for my barely above average height to feel comfortable. The lumbar support cannot be adjusted, but the design supports comfort for people at multiple heights. The headrest is adjustable up and down, as well as tilting forward to backward, which provides comfortable support after a long day – or a short night. The ErgoChair’s foam-padded arm rests easily adjust up and down but do not have fixed positions, which can make leveling the arm rests tricky. The padded seat cushion is covered with a high-quality mesh fabric that breathes.
Appearance
Although it’s not my primary concern, appearance matters to some that I might interact with in a web meeting and to others in my household. Out of the box, the ErgoChair’s sleek, modern design is appealing and professional. The neutral gray works in most environments, and the chair also comes in an all-black version.
Quality
How long will the chair remain comfortable and look good? For almost $1000, I expected the Aeron chair to last a long time. The warranty helped justify that purchase, but having to go through the lengthy process of fixing various issues meant not having a chair for a long time. The arms broke – twice – and I sent it for repairs once. The pleather cover tore when coming in contact with the desk. The chair mechanism and base are top notch.
The ErgoChair uses a high-quality base, but the adjustment mechanism is not as well-made as the one on the Aeron chair. The soft plastic material on the arms will definitely fare better when contacting the sharp edge of the desk. I could not bolt the lumbar support onto the chair because the nuts were misaligned (a manufacturing issue that will hopefully be correct in future batches). The biggest issue is the mesh material, which I expect will rip with normal usage (I cringe when my belt catches on the material as I adjust myself up or down in the chair).
Value
The ProtoArc ErgoChair is roughly 1/4 of the cost of the Aeron Chair. It’s very comfortable, attractive and fairly well-made, making it a great value. I look forward to many years of productive use, though I recommend the all-black model for long-term use to hide stains (I haven’t spilled coffee on the grey ErgoChair…yet).
