I’m a standing desk evangelist. I imagine in standing desks a lot that when you and I have been to fulfill and get speaking and I have been to seek out out you’re employed at a desk, I’d attempt to persuade you to stand at it as a substitute.
I stand virtually all day, swaying and rocking on my two ft like a foolish individual to maintain my posture upright and to maintain my deep veins from thrombosing. You’d by no means discover me in an workplace chair, not to mention a type of premium workplace chairs that price upwards of a grand.
So, when Sihoo requested me to take a look at their Doro C300 Professional workplace chair with a $700 MSRP, I informed the beautiful PR rep to not trouble. I wouldn’t use it, I informed them. However they insisted, so I acquiesced… and now right here I’m.
I’m sitting in Sihoo’s Doro C300 Professional as I write this. A chair I mentioned I’d by no means use, one which I by no means even would’ve thought-about paying up for. And but, now that I’ve truly tried it, I believe I in all probability would. And it’s all due to one standout characteristic that I didn’t understand was lacking from each different low-cost workplace chair I’ve tried.
A historical past of ineffective workplace chairs
Like I mentioned, I’ve largely eschewed workplace chairs. Not sofas, thoughts you, and I really like a very good chaise lounge once I’m off the clock. However for workplace work? They all the time appeared extra bother than they’re price.
I’m a brief man — measuring up at a diminutive 5’4″ — and so most chairs are a difficult match for me, not to mention workplace chairs. They’re sometimes too tall, each by way of distance from the ground and within the size of the higher again portion. So even once I sit in an workplace chair with lumbar assist, it’s usefully mounted and woefully out of attain of my precise backbone. In the meantime, my ft are left dangling and scrabbling for a footrest.
I’ve tried a couple of of these “gaming” chairs through the years with their foolish lumbar pillows, however they’ve by no means supplied sufficient precise assist and people continuously shifting pillows worsened my ADHD-driven fidgeting.
Worst of all, workplace chairs have all the time led to me sitting with poor posture, which led to again ache, which made my hours in entrance of my pc insufferable with aches, pains, and common fatigue.
I’ve tried firmer chairs, too, with extra inflexible elements and utilitarian designs that power me to sit down correctly. However these chairs typically left me with stress aches and different pains. With out getting an excessive amount of into the weeds right here, I’m positive you recognize the soreness that may come from sitting too lengthy on a floor that’s far too exhausting.
All of which simply drives me again into the open arms of my standing desk. If nothing else, it at the very least encourages me to maintain my higher again straight and my arms away from slouch-inspiring armrests. It’s one of many essential equipment which have helped alleviate my again ache.
After years of success with standing desks, I had resigned myself to staying vertical whereas I work. Lately, I even use a stability board (amongst different important work-from-home equipment) whereas I work to get some further core train in. I stand whereas I work, I stand whereas I sport, and typically I even stand to eat. It’s simply simpler and higher for me.
I all the time thought workplace chairs weren’t price their bother or worth tags. How significantly better might a $700 chair truly be over a $200 chair, anyway? Seems, that extra cash is price it.
A begrudging workplace chair assessment
The Sihoo Doro C300 Professional arrived in a very gigantic field and with a number of the most sturdy cardboard packaging I’ve ever seen. It was heavy. My children made forts out of it for days afterwards, and it withstood their constant battering higher than most toys and video games I’ve gotten them.
That sturdy packaging protects this surprisingly heavy chair. The bottom of the Doro C300 Professional is product of mesh, however the inner building makes up nearly all of its general weight, so placing it collectively on my own proved to be fairly the problem. (Make sure you have some assist when you aren’t prepared to grunt and sweat your method by it solo.)
Sihoo
The hefty weight in the end results in an impressively sturdy chair. Positive, the plastic arms and headrest are much less premium they usually have a little bit of flex to them, however they’re comfy and have simply sufficient give.
That positional flexibility doesn’t prolong to the seat itself, although, which is extraordinarily sturdy and load-bearing however edged with exhausting plastic throughout. This instantly put me out as a result of I couldn’t tuck my leg beneath myself as I’m wish to do in workplace chairs.
However it did power me to sit up and correctly. Huh… Perhaps an workplace chair can encourage higher posture with out being stiffly uncomfortable?
Jon Martindale / IDG
However what about my again? That’s the place all my points have all the time lain. I’ve had workplace chairs with mounted lumbar assist earlier than, they usually’re all the time out of attain. Absolutely this could be the identical?
Truly, no. This one has a built-in lumbar assist that may shift up and down a few inches as you lean into it, and you’ll manually regulate the again of the seat, too. Doing so strikes the lumbar assist with it, giving it higher flexibility. I additionally discovered the power to regulate the depth of the seat helps quite a bit in lining up every part simply as I would like it.
Jon Martindale / IDG
And my goodness! What a distinction that makes. Is that this what I’ve been lacking all these years? The flexibility to sit down in a chair with out it hurting my again? Who’d have recognized.
The backup I didn’t know I needed
Till I examined this chair, I figured I’d be standing for the remainder of my days throughout PC-based actions, at the very least till my knees gave out once I reached geriatric standing. However now, I’m not so positive.
Standing at my desk continues to be higher for my posture and vitality ranges than sitting. However with the Sihoo Doro C300 Professional, I’ve another choice for once I get drained or when my ft begin to harm. This chair provides me the assist my ailing again wants whereas serving to me keep good posture.
It isn’t excellent, after all. I eliminated the headrest as a result of I felt it inspired me to lean my head ahead greater than was comfy. And the armrests can’t fold away fully, which will get irritating at instances. For its strong design, the exhausting plastic in all places doesn’t have the premium really feel that its price ticket would recommend.
There’s additionally the specter of Herman Miller and Steelcase chairs that my cash-rich colleagues sit on like thrones. These promise even-more premium chair experiences — at even-more premium costs — that maybe now I’m extra tempted by than I used to be earlier than.
All that apart, the Doro C300 Professional is proving a wonderful companion. I now have one thing I’d gladly fall again on once I don’t wish to stand anymore however received’t additionally destroy my again and counter all that onerous work I do flamingo-legging all through the day.
I wouldn’t have purchased it. However now? I’d seemingly pay to switch it if somebody stole it away. So, please don’t. It’s nonetheless very costly.
