Best Ergonomic Office Chair Under 500 – Trying to find the office chair that provides the best value for you can often be an exhaustive search. When searching for chairs that cost less than $500, you have thousands of different options to choose from. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing is that you have a ton of different manufacturers and styles to choose from. The bad thing is that this creates a situation where a lot of the options are going to be really poor options.
People are often looking for the sweet spot with chairs. They want to know how much they need to spend to get into the area of good quality chairs, without having to pay the premium price for name brand chairs. The $500 range will get you into this territory. There are plenty of options that offer solid builds, good warranties and whatever adjustments you may need.
ROUND UP
As long as you know what you are looking for before you begin narrowing down your search, you should be in a good spot. Make sure to understand how each chair can recline and move. Identify which movement style and adjustments are important to you. Make sure you are familiar with the manufacturer and their warranty. Keeping these things in mind will help to ensure that you find the best chair you can for less than $500.
back to menu ↑1.NOUHAUS Ergo3D
Features
- Conforms to your Life: With it’s 3D Adjustable Armrest and Lumbar System, ElastoMesh, 135 Degree Back Tilt, Smooth HydraLift, Dual Castors (and a set of hardwood floor Blade Castors) – it’s easy to think the Ergo3D is from the future, but instead it’s evolved Ergo Seating at its finest and it’s here now.
- Ease into Work, or Play: Mesh Headrest adjusts up and down while the 3D Adjust Arms go forwards, back, sideways, up and down for the best fit to your body. 3D Lumbar Support hugs your back, while the seat lifts up and down for the ultimate custom fit in the office, or in front of your game!
OUR TAKE
Not the prettiest thing to look at, but an amazingly capable and versatile chair offered by a small, but excellent brand. NOUHAUS Ergo3D Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair is recommended for smaller or averaged sized power users, interested in a chair that can stand up to the rigors of heavy daily use.
While aesthetics is a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home décor schemes.
2.Ticova Ergonomic
Features
- 【Adjustable Mesh Chair】You can adjust lumbar support height and depth; headrest height and angle; armrest height, angle, forward & backward; seat cushion height; tilting angle up to 130°and rocking resilience to your personal most comfortable position
- 【Ergonomic Backrest & Seat】Our adjustable backrest can perfectly fit your spine and significantly ease the fatigue and pain of your back. Also, our seat is made of 3 inches high density foam with W-shaped and waterfall-edge design, providing larger support area and disperse pressure on hip and thighs
OUR TAKE
Ticova is a young company that specializes in home and office furniture. The company was founded in 2018, and Ticova trademark owner is located in CUI Kanghua, China.
They don’t seem to have offices in the US or any direct customer service support.
They only sell online through various vendors, so when you buy their products, you must communicate with the official vendor on any issues that arise.
back to menu ↑3.Serta AIR
Features
- PROFESSIONAL AND COMFORTABLE: Ergonomic desk chair with layered body pillows and padded armrests
- AIR LUMBAR TECHNOLOGY: Lumbar cushions pivot when you move to provide back support and help improve posture
OUR TAKE
Enjoy camping or accommodate overnight guests easily with the Serta Raised Air Mattress with a never-flat AC Pump. Offering versatility, portability, and soft, cozy comfort, this inflatable mattress lets you transform any room in your home into a spare sleeping area. Ideal for kid’s sleepovers, holiday guests, and more, this air mattress with a pump features an innovative sensor that monitors air pressure on a continuous basis.
Whenever a loss of volume happens, a silent, secondary pumping mechanism engages instantly, plumping the mattress to maintain consistent firmness and prevent discomfort. This queen-size inflatable air mattress features a raised height that allows sleepers to get in and out easily. With a flocked top, it can be dressed up with sheets, blankets, and pillows to ensure guests stay comfortable. With its onboard never-flat AC pump, the Serta Raised Air Mattress is suitable for use while camping in a recreational vehicle or at a tent site equipped with electrical outlets.
back to menu ↑4.SPACE Seating
Features
- Eco Leather seat with mesh siding for breathability and comfort
- One touch Pneumatic Seat Height Adjustment
OUR TAKE
Is your current office chair ready for retirement? Are you on a budget, and looking for something simple and reasonably comfortable that has the basics covered? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then the AirGrid Petite, offered by Space Seating might be the chair you’re looking for.
It’s far from perfect, and it’s offered by a brand that doesn’t have a lot of market heft, but it’s a sturdy and capable little performer, and as long as you don’t need something optimized for heavy daily use, it’s a good option.
back to menu ↑5.Bowery
Features
- Highly adjustable modern office chair designed for all day comfort
- Poly-cotton foam seat features a 5-position sliding seat adjustment for multiple seat depths
OUR TAKE
Pressure relief is a measurement of a bed’s ability to provide targeted relief to common pressure points. Often, this means relieving pressure on areas like the lower back, shoulders, and hips.
The Bowery Hybrid scores well for pressure relief for most sleepers. The top comfort layers of foam provide good contouring, helping to relieve pressure. Underlying support from the pocketed coil layer ensures that the spine stays properly aligned by preventing sleepers from sinking too far into the bed.
back to menu ↑Best Ergonomic Office Chair Under 500 – BUYER’S GUIDE
back to menu ↑1. Manage Expectations
It is important to understand that $500 is a mid-range price for an office chair. This may seem like a lot of money to some and it may not seem too bad for others. Regardless, you need to know that because you are buying a mid-range chair, there will be some areas of the chair that need to be sacrificed to keep the chair at a mid-range price point.
The sacrifice may be on the quality of the parts. Things like the casters, padding or upholstery may be lower quality. Maybe the chair lacks adjustments. It may come with a short warranty. Whatever it is, you need to be aware that some things will not be top of the line and you need to know which areas you are fine with sacrificing.
back to menu ↑2. Warranty
The difference in chair quality in this price range can be pretty drastic. This also applies to the warranty on the chairs. As an example, the warranty coverage periods for the chairs on this list range from 2 years all the way up to a lifetime.
You need to make sure that you know what the warranty is for the different chairs you are considering. A warranty can add a lot of value to a chair. One chair may cost $50 more than a similar model but if you get an extra 5 years on the warranty it may sway your decision on which model to choose.
back to menu ↑3. Understand how office chairs move
There are a handful of different ways that an office chair can recline, or tilt and some chairs do not recline or tilt at all. In this price range you will see every kind of tilting and reclining mechanism. If reclining is important to you, then it is important to understand the different types and which ones will work for you.
The most basic tilt is called swivel tilt or center tilt. This means that the seat tilts from a point right underneath the seat. This is the most basic tilt function. It is the most difficult to recline and it will raise your knees as you rock back in the chair.
A knee tilt mechanism will allow you to rock back with the recline point being right behind your knees. This allows your butt to sink down when you rock the chair, which keeps your knees in place. This provides a more ergonomic position and knee tilt mechanisms are much easier to recline and rock in than center or swivel tilt.
The final type of tilt to cover is synchro-tilt. This is the most common type of mechanism used on ergonomic office chairs. A synchro-tilt mechanism will tilt the seat as the back is reclined but it will be at a smaller ratio than a knee tilt or swivel tilt mechanism. Instead of keeping the back and seat at the same angle through the recline, the back will move back at a 2:1 ratio as compared to the seat. This allows the back angle to open up, which allows you to stay in an ergonomic position through the entire recline.
back to menu ↑4. Know your adjustments
Before you decide which chair you are leaning toward, you need to know which adjustments are important to you. Chairs in this price range can vary greatly in terms of adjustability. Some chairs may only have a couple adjustments. On the other hand, you can find chairs in this price range with all of the adjustments you could ever ask for. As long as you know what adjustments you absolutely need, it will be much easier to narrow down your search.
back to menu ↑Frequently Asked Questions
back to menu ↑What is the Best Office Chair Under $500?
All 6 chairs featured in our list are excellent choices in the $500 range, giving you excellent ergonomics and quality not found on lower end budget chairs. However, choosing the right chair for you from these excellent candidates come down to your specific requirements and style preferences.
For people looking for an mid back ergonomic chair that doesn’t stick out, the Hon Ignition and Sidiz T50 are the obvious choices there.
The Browery is my go-to choice for those of you that can’t find comfort in a mesh or leather backrest- the elastomer material may just be the ticket for long term back comfort for you.
For people with upper back and cervical spine problems, the Sunnow chair is the smartest choice with the separated 3 tier backrest.
For the executive office or those we crave the supple feeling that only genuine leather can provide, the Forbes Executive Chair is unrivaled in those respects.
back to menu ↑WRAP UP
One thing that we are consistently asked at BTOD is which office chairs provide the best value. While people recognize that brands like Steelcase and Herman Miller make some of the best chairs, many find them too expensive. We are often asked which chairs we recommend in the $300-$500 range. This is a popular range because you are investing enough to get some good quality options, but you don’t have to break the bank with a name brand chair.
We have put together this list to give you our picks for the best chairs under $500, the best chairs under $400 and the best chairs under $300. Hopefully this list can provide you with an option that meets your needs, at your price point.
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