Blacklyte Kraken review

Since the gaming chair market is somewhat saturated with plush seats and they all look very similar, it is hard for any company to stand out from the competition. Secretlab achieves this by making its chairs from high-quality materials, to a high standard and at a reasonable price. I’ve been using the Blacklyte Kraken gaming chair for the past few weeks to see if the same applies to the Chinese company.

At first glance, the Kraken gives off a distinct Titan Evo vibe, but it’s different enough that it’s not a direct clone. There is clear evidence of forceful design influences, but the main reason I operate Secretlab as a benchmark is Kraken’s price. Blacklyte is asking $519 for their chair, which is also the same price as the Titan Evo if you buy it directly from Secretlab.

Only one size of Kraken is available, recommended for people 165 to 195 cm (66-75 in) high and weighing less than 150 kg (330 lb). I am 184 cm and 70 kg (read: high and slim) and I must admit that its dimensions are not particularly suited to my build.

Not because the Kraken is not very expansive – the seat base is quite wide, filled with dense memory foam and covered with nice PU leather (i.e. artificial leather). The problem is that it is quite low and there is quite a immense gap between the edge of the base and the knees. Tilting the backrest of the chair doesn’t aid because of the immense “panel” that takes up most of the backrest.

Speaking of pillows, the Kraken comes with one for the head/neck that magnetically attaches to the headrest and is actually quite nice. I would prefer it to be larger than it actually is, though, because even with the seatback fully upright, it doesn’t reach my head and neck far enough.

It’s a similar story with armrests. Most of them are ok, but the items available are a bit circumscribed. I wish they could go a little lower and further forward than they currently do. They’re topped with a magnetically attached pad that’s a little too firm for my taste, but where Secretlab offers alternative pads for operate with the Titan Evo, Blacklyte has nothing (so why are they removable?).

The armrests can be adjusted in four directions (movement and rotation in three axes), but this is quite a cumbersome solution, with a lot of play in the mountings. There is actually quite a bit of play throughout the chair, and loosening the recline mechanism to allow it to be tilted further back causes some rather disturbing clunking noises.

It may just be a particular sample that was sent but the build quality was penniless. The seat height adjustment mechanism stopped working after a week and from the very beginning the two levers controlling it were so loose that I thought I had broken them during installation. The lumbar support adjustment mechanism is also starting to fail, the cable is getting stuck in the cover.

Unlike Blacklyte’s Atlas gaming desk, which was very basic to build, the Kraken was a complicated affair, requiring a lot of juggling of hefty parts while trying to fit screws into holes, many of which were partially hidden beneath the material. At least all the fittings came in labeled packaging, so assessing which item to operate during the assembly process was quite simple.

I was disappointed to see that the Kraken comes with a lot of packaging material that is not recyclable. Some of these are unavoidable given the distance a chair has to travel in distribution, but in this day and age, wrapping every item in some gentle plastic isn’t environmentally affable.

But I could forgive all this if the Blacklyte Kraken was comfortable to operate for extended periods of time. In my case, that means spending the day at my desk at work and then a few hours at night gaming.

Unfortunately, this is not the case and I must admit that this is one of the least comfortable gaming chairs I have ever used. A gigantic part of this is that it just doesn’t fit my body size and shape, but I asked several people to try it and none of them found it pleasant to operate.

As with all gaming chairs with a bulky memory foam base, it takes a while to settle in, and my lightweight weight probably delays the process. However, unpleasant lumbar support, a low seat base and too high armrests contribute to the overall lack of comfort.

If the Kraken only cost $250 like the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, I would happily forgive its shortcomings. But what is acceptable for a few hundred dollars is absolutely not worth $500, even considering my unusual body measurements. You may be a better fit for Blacklyte Kraken than me and don’t suffer from any quality control issues, but are you willing to take the risk? For that kind of money, I suspect the answer is no.