Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair review — it improves posture, but is it right for you?

Note: The Sihoo team pointed out there was an error in the left armrest's installation, but after correcting it, our experience and review of the chair remains the same.

The Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair, if personified, would be my acrimonious, ruler-wielding, habit-wearing, grade-school teacher: a nun who’d often scold me for my poor posture. “Sit up straight!” she’d tell me, slapping her ruler on my desk. Grumbling under my breath, I’d begrudgingly straighten my spine into a less — well — convex alignment. 

Mirroring my grumpy teacher’s personality, the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair isn’t the sweet, warm, cuddly slab of furniture that will hug your buttocks with plush coziness. Instead, it will employ tough love with its excellent lumbar support, helping sitters rectify that unbecoming Hunchback of Notre Dame slouch. 

The chair is highly adjustable, allowing users to recline the backrest up to 123 degrees. You can also modify the backrest to be positioned lower or higher, depending on your height. Sihoo claims that the chair is most fitting for folks between 5'5 and 6'2, and as a member of the 5'5 and three quarters club, I can attest to that claim.

However, there’s room for improvement. There are more foibles to consider before purchasing this minimalist, mesh chair, so without further ado, let’s take a deep dive into this review and discover whether it’s worthy of landing on our best office chairs page.

Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair price and configurations 

You may be wondering, “What’s the least I can spend to snag a Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair?” The answer to that question is $314 (on Amazon), but you’ll have to forgo the fabric-wrapped cushion in favor of a mesh seat. If you value your buttocks, don’t do that — treat your caboose to a cushion-adorned chair, the one I’ve reviewed, for $359.99.

You can also purchase the chair on the official Sihoo Office website, but I’d suggest keeping an eye out for discounts on Amazon. As of this writing, I spotted a “lightning deal” for the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair, dropping its price tag to $305 — yes, that’s with the seat cushion. 

Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair design  

The all-black Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair has a minimalist, austere, clinical appearance — it’s the type of chair you’d find in a corporate boardroom or a medical office. No, it’s not wrapped and padded with luxe materials like premium leather or Italian-imported chenille. Instead, it has a bare bones design with a breathable, mesh backrest, making it easier to clean in environments where sterilization and disinfection are of utmost importance — a plus in a world that’s evolving to be more health-conscious.

Looking at the back of the mesh chair, two striking parts may catch your eye: the ergonomic, taco-shaped headrest and ultra-curvy, extended lumbar support. I’ll discuss the comfortability of this duo in the following section. The onyx seat cushion is nothing to write home about. It has a ho-hum, tightly woven design, and is made of polyethylene and polyester.

Black double armrests wrapped in polyurethane (PU) leather flank the cushion; they’re too short for my taste. They’re about 10 inches in length — the armrests on my time-worn office chair are at least 20 inches long.

Breaking away from the all-black monotony is the aluminum alloy chair legs with smooth-running, PU-wrapped castors. Overall, the build quality of this chair is excellent — durability is seemingly one of its strengths. Sihoo says the “long-lasting chair” keeps wear and tear at bay, and I believe it.

The Ergonomic Office Chair’s dimensions are 29.9 (L) x 15.4 (W) and 25.6 (H). It weighs 40 pounds. According to Sihoo, it can handle up to 330 pounds of human.

Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair comfort   

As mentioned at the outset, the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair isn’t going to coddle you, so don’t expect a cozy, cushy reception. When I first sat on the chair after assembling it, it was as if it wagged its finger furiously and said, “Aht, aht, aht! Straighten that posture, missy!” My spine automatically uncurled itself from my poor habit of hunching, thanks to the lumbar support that promotes straighter alignment and complements the inward curvature of my lower back.

The mesh backrest is ideal for workers in warmer climates — nothing is ickier than sitting on a hot pleather office chair and feeling your skin unstick from the backrest like a stubborn bandaid. It’s, indeed breathable, allowing your back to remain cool and well ventilated, even as the temperature starts to climb.

I also dig the chair’s adjustability. One can easily customize the height and angle of the armrests — you can also bring them closer to your body or push them further away. The recline-friendly backrest can tilt to a maximum of 123 degrees, allowing you to kick your feet up to relax or read a book. Easily accessible via a lever, the backrest also has a three-gear height adjustment feature. Satisfying my attention deficit, the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair lets me swivel around a full 360 degrees over and over again while I conjure up new ideas for Laptop Mag. The headrest is another adjustable feature, allowing users to increase its height by two inches.

Regrettably, one thing I don’t like about the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair is that it feels somewhat stiff. The seat cushion is unforgiving. Sihoo claims that it’s “spongy,” but it feels more like an ultra-firm mattress. To be fair, I’ve spent less than a week with the Sihoo-branded chair, so perhaps the sitting experience will become softer and more cushiony as I “break” into it.

Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair assembly

Scrolling through the Amazon comments for the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair, a common complaint is that the instruction manual isn’t clear. 

As such, I was bracing myself for a confusing, incomprehensible installation guide, but surprisingly, it was more intelligible than I anticipated. On the plus side, there’s a well-labeled parts list with an illustration for each item, including the “lever mechanism” (for modifying the chair’s height), the handy hex wrench, and a variety of screws and washers. As such, while you’re reading the step-by-step instructions, you know exactly which item the manual is referring to just by matching the illustration with the physical part.

I also appreciated that screws and washers, both coming in different sizes, were packaged, grouped and labeled for users’ convenience. For example, a group of screws for the armrests were labeled “M6-30.” In the manual, I was told to “use four M6-30 screws” to set up the armrests, so it was easy for me to quickly grab the tools that I needed to assemble the chair — without fretting over whether I had the right parts. By the way, there are some spare screws and washers — just in case you accidentally lose a few while putting the chair together.

I do have some gripes, though. The illustration that accompanies each step in the manual could be less ambiguous — the visuals should be larger and the depiction of where the screws and washers must be clearer. Also, some of the commands aren’t accurate. For example, in the first step, it tells you to “screw the castors” into the metal base. My dad and I tried screwing the castors in, twisting with all our might, but it refused to go in. It wasn’t until my dad jammed the wheels into the legs — and they finally locked into place — that we realized “ram the castors into the holes” would be a more fitting command.

This assembly couldn’t be easily accomplished solo. For example, someone would need to hold the armrest in place with the seat cushion, ensuring the holes are aligned, while another tightens the screws with the provided hex key. In the end, it took my father and I 45 minutes to assemble the chair, from pulling the parts out of the box to finally putting the sturdy, assembled chair in an upright position.

Was the assembly a frustrating experience? Not really. Did I enjoy it? Heck no. Spare yourself from the manual labor and purchase the $49 expert assembly option featured on the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair Amazon page. A technician will do all the work for you — and you don’t have to lift a finger.

Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair warranty

Sihoo offers a three-year warranty for the Ergonomic Office Chair. If you have an issue with the quality of the chair, Sihoo says that customers shouldn’t hesitate to contact its team. 

The company promises to provide users with free replacement parts for three years.

Bottom line  

After spending some time with the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s ideal for three consumer niches: 

• Health-conscious businesses seeking an easy-to-clean, breathable chair for their employees in environments where sterilization is essential 
• Office workers seeking a sturdy, solid, durable chair that is tailored for improving posture 
• Consumers who prefer a minimalist, ultra-firm, understated chair — and don’t mind shorter armrests 

If you’re on the hunt for a cushy, velvety chair that hugs your every curve, the Sihoo Ergonomic Office Chair isn’t what you’re looking for. You’d be better off checking out our best gaming chairs or best office chair pages for an option that feels as if you’re sitting on a cloud.