Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) review

Before the Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) arrived, I was sitting on a crappy chair I bought at Staples that gave me cramps. Then I was graced with the soft fabrics and foam cushions that Secretlab provided. I have been gaming for hours upon hours without an issue ever since, from raiding bases in The Division 2 to tearing up dungeons in Dragon Quest XI. 

For $379, the Secretlab Omega offers a stylish Cookies & Cream design, a comfortable soft-weave fabric, a big ol’ memory foam lumbar pillow, a number of configurations and a wild five-year warranty. 

I’m bummed there’s no strap for the lumbar pillow, and that the head pillow is a bit stiff, but the Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) is one of the best gaming chairs I’ve tested.

Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) price and configuration options

I tested the Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric Cookies & Cream 2020 Series gaming chair, a mouthful that sums up to $379. If you’re unfamiliar with Secretlab, here’s how these chairs work.

Secretlabs develops three types of gaming chairs: Omega (Height: < 5’11; Weight: < 240 pounds), Titan (Height: 5’9 to 6’7; Weight: < 290 pounds) and Titan XL (Height: 5’11 to 6’10; Weight: 220 to 390 pounds), each of which has a different type of customer in mind. Since, I’m 5’7 and under 240 pounds, I went with the Omega.

The “SoftWeave Fabric” simply denotes what kind of upholstery the chair is made of. There are two additional options: Prime 2.0 PU Leather ($359) or Napa Leather ($749). Our model is self-explanatory (it’s quite literally a softweave fabric) but the difference between the other two is that one is artificial leather and the other is the real deal. I’m sure you can figure out which is which.

Now, that brings us to the “Cookies & Cream” portion, the color of the chair. The SoftWeave Fabric model also comes in Charcoal Blue and even a D.Va (an Overwatch character) themed one, which looks pretty badass. The D.Va model is priced at $399, which is $20 more than our model. Chairs with different upholstery will have different colors as well.

Finally, “2020 Series” obviously marks the year, but this particular model isn’t out just yet. The Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric will be shipping out May 29 at the time of writing, but it’s on its last pre-order wave, so you might want to order fast before stock runs out.

The Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) comes with a three-year warranty that can be extended to five years if you share a picture of your Secret lab chair.

Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) design

As mentioned earlier, the Secretlab Omega is wrapped in a softweave fabric that’s lathered in a Cookies & Cream color palette, so it kind of looks like an Oreo -- crispy black on the outside, deliciously creamy in the center.

There’s a neat Omega symbol stamped on the center of the chair. If you’re a God of War fan or just a fan of the Greek alphabet, I imagine you’ll appreciate this design as much as I do. And on the headrest you’ll find the Secretlab logo. These same logos are also featured on the back of the chair, but the Omega logo is actually spelled out.

The included neck-support pillow wraps neatly around the top part of the chair with a strap, while the lumbar-support pillow is placed at the bottom of the seat. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a strap, so I always have to readjust it whenever I sit down.

Secretlab outfitted the Omega chair with full-metal 4D armrests. Four-dimensional armrests lets you lift them up or down, tilt them side to side, move them forward and back, and shift toward and away from you. The levers on the outside controls the height of the arm rests, the button on the inside controls horizontal movement, and the button on the armrest itself controls vertical movement and tilt. Regarding the design, the armrests are black and feature a neatly-engraved Secretlab logo on each armrest.

Under the seat, the Secretlab chair features class 4 heavy-duty KGS gas pistons, which is fancy-chair speak for: it can steadily move up and down (lever located on right-hand side). Meanwhile, the multi-tilt mechanism underneath the chair allows the chair to… well, tilt (lever located on the left-hand side). You can adjust the tilt tension with the knob underneath the chair as well as the backrest recline with a lever on the right-hand side of the seat.

The chair has a five-star ADC#12 aluminum wheelbase accompanied by XL PU Caster wheels, which moved smoothly across my apartment despite the thick carpet. It didn’t necessarily glide, but I had no problems getting from one side of the room to the other.

Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) comfort

Underneath the softweave fabric upholstery is what Secretlab calls Cold Cure Foam, a patent-pending foam manufacturing mix and procedure. That’s a fancy way of saying Secrelab has proprietary comfort, and it most definitely is comfy.

Meanwhile, the fabric that lays over top of that foam is made from dense 350GSM short-yarn. According to Secretlab, it’s made from a process of meticulous grinding to create a “unique ultra-soft and fluffy texture.” To Secretlab’s credit, the fabric is incredibly soft.

The backrest is 31.5 inches tall and 21 inches wide, while the seatbase is 14 inches wide (excluding sides) and 19.3 inches deep. The backrest curves outward slightly, as if it’s about to give me a hug. If you ditch the lumbar pillow, your back will be caressed by a soft yet steady foam that’s packed into the backrest.

The seat has a U-shape going on, but the sides of the U aren’t high enough to stop me from sitting cross-legged. If you’re not a fan of the U-shape design, you could always spring for the Titan model, which has a flat seat. The Omega's seat itself wasn’t too soft or too firm -- it hit a happy medium.

Meanwhile, the lumbar pillow made from memory foam offered a great amount of support for my lower back, allowing me to sit up straight for a longer period of time than I normally would. To top that off, it’s a great size too. While I liked the size of the memory foam head pillow, it was a little too stiff for my head, as I had to put pressure on it to get my head to sink in. 

The armrests are made from PU padding, which is firm and comfortable. I’ve noticed that the button to slide the armrests horizontally are incredibly sensitive, so if my arms lean against the inner part of it, they’ll slide outward.

I was pretty satisfied with the tilt tension which allowed me to lean back with very little effort.

Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) assembly

Unlike most instruction manuals, Secretlab goes big, literally. When I opened the box, there was a giant sheet of paper the size of the box detailing the assembly instructions. I didn’t even have to use my glasses to read it. Unfortunately, what should have taken maybe 40 minutes, took 1 hour and 30 minutes and required two people to fully assemble.

The beginning was simple. First, I attached the 5 casters to the wheelbase and then inserted the hydraulics piston with its sleeve over the base.

The next step was attaching the backrest to the brackets on the seatbase, which required me to simply screw in four M8 screws. I nailed three out of four until the very last screw wouldn’t budge. I spent about 15 minutes trying to get this screw to properly fit into the chair, but the alignment of the backrest and seatbase was just slightly off. At this point, I called over my fiancée to help push the chair down so I can properly align it. Another 5 minutes went by and I still couldn’t get it. My fiancée then covered the screw in grease and attempted to screw it in with a power drill -- no dice. Finally, after the umpteenth try, I somehow successfully screwed it in with the provided Allen Wrench.

After that fiasco, all that was left was to attach the side covers, screw in the tilt mechanism, line up the lever handles, then finally insert the assembled wheel base into the tilt mechanism.

As long as you don’t get screwed (heh) in the screw lottery, this should be an easy set up.

Bottom line

For $379, the Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) provides you with comfortable padding and fabrics, a stylish design that’s liable to make you look cooler than usual, a number of configurations and a nice five-year warranty (as long as you share your purchase on social media). However, it's tough to look past the strapless lumbar pillow, a stiff head pillow and that one annoying screw that cost me 40 minutes of my life.

If you're looking for a gaming chair with a much quicker assembly and a stylish design, consider the Alienware S5000 Gaming Chair ($399). But keep in mind, that chair has issues of its own. The tilt is a little too resistant, the seat is too narrow for some and we saw discoloration on white material.

But overall, the Secretlab Omega SoftWeave Fabric (2020 Series) holds up a great standard for gaming chairs that’s tough to beat.