The best racing office chairs for work and play

Tried and tested by Adam Binnie: "The Secretlab Titan Evo is the benchmark when it comes to gaming chairs, with 3 million sold worldwide. And not just to gamers either - the manufacturer claims as many appear in corporate Zoom calls as they do Twitch streams.

"Aesthetically this makes sense – the winged backrest is a bit sportier than your usual office chair, but the styling is much more subtle than some of its racing seat rivals. The Anda Seat Kaiser 2 I’ve tried before had cutouts for harness belts in it, for example.

"So multipurpose is the point here, whether you’re shopping for your home office or gaming station. The same goes for your chosen posture, with all sorts of cross-legged and reclined positions supported. I’ve been testing all of these claims for the past three months.

"The first thing to get your head around is the slightly bewildering choice of upholstery options – starting with SoftWeave Plus fabric or NEO Hybrid Leatherette in relatively plain colours. Then there are the eSports and special editions, including tie-ins with F1 teams or shows like Game of Thrones. There’s even a Minecraft version.

"My test chair has fabric upholstery and despite initial concerns of how hard it’ll be to keep clean compared to leatherette, it’s actually holding up really well. Secretlab ships a special fabric wipe in the box for upkeep, and you can buy more from them directly.

"It arrived in a huge box and took the best part of 30 minutes to assemble, which isn’t too bad, and it’s an easy (and actually quite enjoyable) build, where you get to know your new chair and feel the quality of the materials used.

"Once assembled and on first sit, the special cold-cure foam is quite noticeably firm. This is a big contrast to other gaming chairs we’ve tested, which are often more armchair-like. After several hours I found the firmer structure was much more supportive and comfortable in the long run. Ultimately this may come down to personal preference, but it’s definitely worth trying for an extended test.

"The pebble-shaped seat base means you can sit cross-legged or with one leg under you, unlike rival chairs I’ve sat in, which often feature bucket-seat style bolsters that only allow an upright position. Again, the ability to shift around throughout the day means I stayed comfier for longer.

"You can recline the backrest 165-degrees to almost horizontal, which offers a position to suit everyone, and it feels completely stable throughout the range of motion. The seat base tilts as well so you can get the exact hip angle you want. However, the thing that really differentiate this chair from other gaming set ups is the four-way lumber support system.

"Gaming chairs usually ship with a lumber support cushion, but these never do the job, frankly. The internal L-Adapt system in the Titan Evo moves both up and down and in and out so you can get it right where you want it, and also flexes as you move, rather than just being a hard lump in your back. It’s brilliant - and promotes a much better posture than I’ve experienced elsewhere.

"The armrests have a solid metal construction and are topped with a soft rubber material, which you can switch out easily for a memory foam upgrade (the tops are cleverly held on with magnets and just pull off). They move in and out, forward and backwards, and also rotate, so you can easily get them where you want. Same for the memory foam pillow, which is held on with magnets for huge positional micro-adjustment, plus there’s no ugly strap or Velcro on display.

"Standard castors are supplied with the chair, and they move around smoothly on carpet, but you can upgrade these to larger wheels for wooden floors, or a set of solid blocks if you don’t want the chair to move at all.

"Altogether it’s a brilliantly supportive chair, with extremely high build quality that you’d hope given its admittedly punchy asking price. If you’re shopping for purely for an office, then the Titan Evo’s cost does put it up against ergonomic alternatives from Herman Miller, but for gaming and multipurpose use, the Titan Evo is our favourite in this test."

With a nice thick and extra soft PU faux Leather, the cold foam density is there to give you breathability and comfort. Cold curing foam is meant to maintain its structure for longer as the air pockets inside act like little springs, getting the foam to bounce back into place once you get off it.

The way the foam is made to a specific shape also gives it an advantage, normal foam padding is cut from a larger piece so its shape isn’t structural, as opposed to cold foam.

A weight limit of 120kg and a sophisticated rocking mechanism means the chair will recline to 135 degrees.

Neck and lumbar supports are included with the wheels are made for soft and hard floors, allowing you to roll around from office desk to gaming desk with ease.

Not the most subtle of gaming chairs to also be an office chair but it will offer you support in places you didn’t know you needed. The body-hugging seat is made from a metal frame with hardwearing faux leather covering long-lasting high-density foam.

The chair will tilt back a full 170 degrees, enough to make you think you’re lying down, with a fully adjustable back cushion and neck pillow, you may just fall asleep there, handy for when you’re working super long hours, we guess.

The caster wheels are styled like car alloy wheels, don’t get too excited though because, instead of 22-inch rims, you’ll likely be rolling on around two-inch alloys. They don’t come with an option for spinners either, unfortunately.

Four-way adjustable armrests will help you get just right as you settle into a long day of work or gaming

We get it - you want to be in a chair that makes you feel like you’re in a racing car, right? Well, Sparco makes the Torino Gaming Chair.

If you’re not competing on the latest driving game at least you can be comfy at your desk with this one, more comfortable than you would be sitting in a race seat for many hours of the day, anyway.

It comes with 3D armrests with multidirectional movement, several different ranges of adjustment and an anti-tip device with the backrest lock at 150 degrees.

Designed with motorsport in mind the Corsair T1 Race is built on a solid steel frame construction which will recline a full 180 degrees for those moments you want to stretch right back and get angry at computer games. This comes with a tilt lock so you can adjust your overall angle at ten-degree increments.

The 4D armrests are adjustable up and down, forwards and backwards and will swivel inwards for arm support using a controller, keyboard or steering wheels.

The seat also comes with something racing drivers don’t get, pillows. Neck and Lumbar support pillows are wrapped in microfibre fabric for comfort all day long.

While the name of this makes us think of an angry cabbie shouting at cyclists, the chair is actually a bit more sophisticated than that. Think of this as a sports version of the above Corsair T1 Race, with a wider seat, taller back and deeper seat cushion, it’s a bit plusher.

A perforated PU leather seat back and cushion offer breathability while using a steel frame for durability like the Race version.

Unlike the Race though, the Road Warrior will recline to 170 degrees and you’ll be able to adjust your tilt angle with 17-degree increments. Slightly less control over where you exactly need your seat to be but still there is an option.

A British-made racing-style office chair where the lumbar support even comes on what looks like a seatbelt for a five-point safety harness. Along with a headrest pillow, the armrests are adjustable and the wheels are soft grip to help your chair from wanting to skate around on laminate flooring to rolling wheels.

The black and red design with the B, which looks a lot like a three, reminds us of Daniel Ricciardo driving at Renault. So, if that was a moment in time you’d like back, then this chair is for you.