AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL Review

Gaming chairs come in all shapes and sizes. But if you’re a plus-size person, your options are a bit more confined. While many gaming chairs are comfortable, if you have wide shoulders, are particularly towering, or just need a little extra space, you’ve probably considered something built specifically for a larger frame — like the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 XL.

However, there’s a up-to-date model in town, and it’s the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL. Designed for those who need a lot of space, this sturdy chair has sedate dimensions. The backrest is 86.5 cm high, the arm width is 57 cm, and the lower cushion is 54 cm wide and 51 cm deep. The arm wings are larger than the previous model, and it now has fancy 5D armrests and a 4-way adjustable extendable lumbar support.

All chairs are delivered in sturdy boxes, but my courier laughed when he saw the door frame we would have to push this particular parcel through. It fits, but even by chair packaging standards you can see you are getting a bigger one than most. Assembly is pretty standard with tools and instructions provided, but if you want it to be easier I would definitely recommend asking a friend to assist. Chairs are never particularly effortless to assemble, but the extra dimensions make it more of a challenge than most.

Once folded, you’re left with a huge, but not ridiculously huge, chair. Seeing the XL on the box and the individual components, I was worried I’d be left with something ridiculously huge, but the dimensions here are well-balanced, leaving a seat that will accommodate most people without being too gigantic to fit into your average desk. It’s also a bit attractive, with Enterprise Bridge vibes, accentuated by those wide, swooping shoulder wings and plush side bolsters.

Sitting in a Kaiser 4 XL for the first time is a bit like boarding a plane and realizing you’ve mistakenly been upgraded — there’s a lot more room than you expected, and that’s a nice surprise.

I’m not the tallest or largest human being. Still, while this XL model is made for those who need more space than most, I don’t feel like I’m surrounded by too many chairs when I sit down. My 5-foot-11 frame fits perfectly, and my 5-foot-4 partner doesn’t look too out of place either.

I had a lot of guys of all sizes sit in the Kaiser 4 XL for testing purposes, the largest of whom was 6-foot-5 and built like a proverbial brick house—by which I mean bodybuilder-sized. There were no complaints about the size, which is a good indication that this chair fits the expansive majority of people.

There were no complaints about comfort either. There are a ton of adjustment settings, all of which work well. There’s 135° of recline, accessed via a huge handle mounted on the right side (top marks for not putting that key control under the chair, so you can adjust it while leaning forward) and a retractable, integrated lumbar cushion that can be adjusted using a knob on the side of the backrest and extended and retracted using a lever on the side of the seat.

I’d say the lumbar support here is the best I’ve used to date. It’s effortless to adjust to exactly what you need, and the extendable cushion walks the line between being yielding enough for comfort and firm enough to provide proper, substantial back support.

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Like the previous model, there’s also a magnetic head cushion with some really forceful magnets. It’s nice to throw it on a chair and watch it snap into place with a nice click, and once you’ve got it in place, it takes a real bit of effort to move it. Once you’ve got it in place, it won’t budge, so it’ll support your neck exactly where you put it without moving.

Then there are the armrests, which are 5D. For the uninitiated, that means they can be adjusted up and down, forward and back, left and right, and rotated. Oh, and they split in the middle to fold up.

As for that last point: I’m not entirely sure Why. You can, if you want, raise your arms like you’re doing a T-Rex impression – which doesn’t seem particularly useful unless you have your chair all the way down and a very towering desk. I suppose you could tilt it inwards and employ the upright position to hold the controller in front of you, but in practice it feels a bit awkward.

Still, hold them flat and they’re very huge, slightly yielding and springy, and incredibly comfortable. If you’re someone with slim arms, that’s great news, because testing the Kaiser 4 XL made me wish all chairs had arms this size. They do rock a bit more on their axis than most between swivel settings, though. This seems to be an intentional play in the mechanism, but it could employ some fine-tuning for a more premium feel.

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If I were ordering my own model, I would go for the fabric version, as I find PVC leather chairs to be unpleasantly sticky in the summer and frigid in the winter. I’m not sure how AndaSeat managed this, but the faux leather model I received doesn’t suffer from either of these issues. On sizzling days, it’s chilly and refreshing without making me sweat excessively, while on frigid nights it’s not frozen solid like the rest of my house.

The interior material of the chair also seems pretty tough, and despite getting the white model (insert rant about how touchable white objects are a bad idea here), it’s effortless to pristine. Just be prepared for every little speck and stray hair to get on your nerves — if you’re like me — but there’s a range of color options here that should be less likely to show a bit of dirt.

However, what isn’t as tough is the textured, soft-touch backrest on the back of the chair. It’s pleasantly yielding and looks great. However, my review unit has a nick in the material. I’ll give AndaSeat the benefit of the doubt and say that this could have happened during construction, despite all my efforts to be careful.

However, it does suggest that if you have a space where you expect the back of the chair to come into contact with something, there is a high chance of damaging it if it comes across a acute edge or corner.

There’s also the branding to consider. The back very loudly displays both “AndaSeat” and “Kaiser” in huge, embroidered letters, which are mirrored on the inside of the seat itself. It doesn’t look bad, but it’s a bit gaming-y in a way that lets everyone know you’ve bought a gaming chair, not a super-serious office chair.

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It’s a shame, because I think with less text and less noticeable branding it would be a good candidate for a work chair without advertising your hobbies. It’s a nice item overall, so a more subtle design with less text would fit the overall vibe better.

As for the cons, that’s basically it. It’s even at a good price 539 dollarsconsidering our recommendation for the best gaming chair, the Secretlab Titan Evo, is actually $10 more exorbitant. For that price, you get a much larger chair (at least in terms of size), making it a good deal.

Which leaves me in a bit of a quandary. Does that make the AndaSeat Kaiser 4 XL the best gaming chair of them all? Well, for most people I’d say not really. The Titan Evo seems more resistant to damage and perhaps a little more tough, as we had one that had been hanging around the office forever and it held up surprisingly well. I also think the more subtle design looks a bit better, and if you don’t need the extra space, you might find the SecretLab to be a bit more comfortable for your particular body type.

But if you need a really gigantic, really comfortable chair with great back support, the Kaiser 4 XL is the one to go for. It’s gigantic and has a lot of dynamics, but it’s still quite refined and comfortable for everyday employ with relatively few drawbacks. It may be a gigantic seat, but the value for money here is almost as gigantic.