This esports gaming chair is made by the OG gaming chair brand – but how does it stand up to the competition?

It's all DXRacer's fault. If you were wondering why the vast majority of gaming chairs have that sports car aesthetic, it's because in 2001 DXRacer was a company that were making sports car seats. Then in 2006 they produced their fist – and arguably the first – gaming chair. Named the Formula chair, it had all the hallmarks of what today can be recognised as a gaming chair. But where does the Drifting chair fit in to all of this?

Today, the original Formula chair represents the cheapest chair DXRacer sell, at around $300. Then the Drifting series sits above that, at the $390 mark. The next chair up is the Craft series at around $500, so I'd say that the Drifting is DXRacer's affordable/mid-tier option. Right now, that's a very competitive part of the chair market.

For this review I used the Drifting as my only home office chair for around six weeks, becoming attuned to all its features, all its adjustments. But is it worth a spot on my list of the best office chairs for back pain? And with its affordable price tag, will it feature in my guide to the best budget chairs? Read on and find out...

Design & aesthetics

The Drifting chair is a well designed chair. At its core is a sports car-style base that uses leatherette, metal and plastic, with its flared edges, memory foam and 'cooling gel' parts that have become synonymous with gaming chairs. It is, after all, a sweaty business shooting all those baddies.

The designs fall short, however, when you start testing the memory foam lumbar pillow and the 'cooling gel' headrest. Yes, they are both comfortable, but perfect they are not.

You see, the pillow head rest, when fully expanded, only really fits one rung out of three provided. That means you can't adjust it. Also, the 'cooling gel' element of the headrest is, well, a tad oversold. The very back of my head doesn't really sweat that much, so maybe that's why I didn't notice it, but I certainly didn't feel any cooling going on. It was quite the opposite at the other end of things (more on that later).

The lumbar pillow, although made from quality materials, has a nasty habit of falling forward pretty much every time I stood up. That means when I sat back down, I sat on the pillow. That wasn't comfortable, and made the lumbar support part of the pillow redundant.

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I think reviewing the aesthetics of any chair, let alone a gaming chair, is so subjective that I might as well say, 'look at the photos on the page. Do you like what you see? Yes? Then this chair is for you!'

But we're a design site, and I have things to say, so... I'm going to come clean. The classic gaming chair look – which DXRacer pioneered – has never really been my cup of tea. It's a little too masculine and industrial for my tastes. It's certainly not unique-looking like Herman Miller's Embody chair. It's not chic, like Branch's Verve chair. And there's no beautiful curves to enjoy like there are on the iconic, and world famous, Aeron.

What I do like about the look of the Drifting chair is that it's clearly made from good quality material, and that shows. OK, maybe the arm rests let it down a little in that department, but each stitch and staple on show shouts quality, and contributes to the overall look. Whether I like that look is immaterial. I can appreciate that it's well made.

Also this is a good time to mention that, whether I like the look of this chair or not, that has not factored into the final star rating that I've given it. That decision is purely based on design, ergonomics, comfort, assembly and price.

Ergonomics & comfort

Ergonomic chairs are all about comfort with a purpose. A chair can be comfortable without being ergonomic, but rarely ergonomic without being comfortable.

If you want to know what makes a chair ergonomic, I got to the bottom of that, interviewing the director of seating at Herman Miller. To summarise, it's a chair that fits the sitter properly, while also encouraging movement to help blood flow, and supporting your body in the right places (lumbar, arms in particular).

Pretty much all chairs market themselves as ergonomic these days – some more convincingly than others. The Drifting chair is a decent example of an ergonomic chair, but by no means the best. The arms are adjustable (but not particularly comfortable – there's the exception to the rule); the lumbar support is theoretically there in the pillow. But that is not particularly sturdy enough to aid the sitting position of the sitter, so it's a little bit of a stretch to call it ergonomic.

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There is no adjustability to the 'lumbar support', nor for the headrest, so ergo marks must be taken away for that. The best ergonomic chairs encourage micro-movements, and I've yet to find a gaming chair that does that really well. They are usually too interested in offering cradling comfort – which to its credit, the Drifting chair does well.

Seaking about comfort, the Drifting chair does well... ish. The head pillow is firm and comfy, though I’m not convinced by the elastic strap that keeps it in place. It looks a bit cheap, and only really fits naturally under the first pins, not the second or third.

The arm rests, though not made from the most comfy material, rotate so you can tuck your elbows in and they get supported. Especially good when you've got a controller in your hands. And I really like the tilt back that the chair offers. Not only do you have many angle options of recline, there's further tilt when you lean back. It means you don’t feel rigid when reclining.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, the seat of the Drifting warms up after several hours of use, and things get a little uncomfortable. That's a real shame, as modern gaming is all about hours and hours of sitting down (and reclining). Add to that, this will no doubt double up as a main office chair as well, and I think this would be a deal breaker for me, if I was in the market for a new gaming chair.

Delivery & assembly

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The ease of assembly of a chair really comes down to how many pieces the deconstructed chair comes in, and how clear the instructions are to construct it. The Drifting comes in an acceptable amount of pieces, and is easy to put together. But it was let down by the instructions.

I've been putting chairs together and reviewing them for several years now, so perhaps I'm nitpicking, or hyper aware of the details. But I think each customer willing to spend any amount of money towards a big purchase like a chair, deserves instructions that show the brand appreciate and value the buyer. A bit of hand-holding is no bad thing at the assembly stage (as I found out with my review of Secretlabs' Titan Evo chair).

The long and short of it is that some of the screws came pre-installed, but there was no mention of that in the instructions. That meant I had an 'oh shit' moment halfway through the construction of the chair, where I thought I'd have to pause the assembly and wait for the delivery of more parts. It wasn't fun, and it was totally avoidable. Other chairs that I've reviewed, that have had pre-installed screws (and there aren't many that do this), have made it super clear. There's no reason why DXRacer couldn't as well.

Price

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The price of the Drifting chair is $390, though there seem to be deals knocking around $30 off here and there. Is that a good price for what you get? Yes and no.

Yes, as this chair is mainly a good quality chair with some thought to its design, and some nice features. No, as it's flawed, and you can get chairs (though admittedly not gaming chairs) at this price range that don't overheat and do offer decent headrest adjustability.

The DXRacer Drifting chair looks the part, if you like gaming-style chairs. It's comfy to sit in, apart from the arm rests and the wayward pillow. And it's clearly made with quality materials. But overheating for a gaming chair is a big no no. For the price, however, I feel that this is an above average option that many people would enjoy.