Chairs can easily become one of the most vital choices you make in your life. A low-cost, uncomfortable gaming chair can lead to all sorts of back pain and health problems, especially if you have long gaming sessions in it. Gaming chairs known for their ergonomics do not come low-cost, so much so that they are often prohibitively pricey.
That sucks, especially considering most of the people who need them the most have probably spent a lot of money on things like medicine and doctors. Mindless fools.
While not a groundbreaking solution in terms of ergonomics, the Matchspel gaming chair from Ikea is a PC throne that offers a lot of customization at a very amiable price.
Following Swedish tradition, the Matchspel arrived at my door, packed in a flat cardboard box, ready to assemble. It’s a fairly uncomplicated setup, and like most up-to-date gas lift chairs, it relies mostly on gravity and a juicy butt to keep you on your feet. I had no problem assembling this chair almost entirely by myself.
Ikea Match gaming chair specifications
Seat Type: Mesh
Arrange: Yes, not full
Weight capacity: 125.2 kg | 276 pounds
Maximum seat height: 59 cm | 23.22 inches
Guarantee: 3 years
Available colors: Gray or black/red
Price: $290 | 129 pounds | 249 Australian dollars
You can choose between black or gray. The black color has a red finish, which is very fitting for ROG gamers, but I opted for a lithe gray to match my desk.
I also wanted to see if it had accumulated dirt, discolored it from sweat or simply from contact. Fortunately, I’m ecstatic to report that both the mesh backrest and faux leather seat still look as gray as the day they arrived, despite recurrent employ, including some lithe sweating during the heat of gaming.
For such an inexpensive place, there are several settings you can play with to achieve your own individual comfort.
When setting up, the instructions recommend leaving some of the screws a bit loose so that the chair back can move a bit with your body, and the lumbar support on this stretched material is quite decent.
The downside is that it is a little wobbly and clamorous when the parts move, but it’s not bothersome. The headrest also has a mesh fabric lining, and its height and angle can be adjusted quite dramatically to accommodate a variety of heights.
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There is one lever under the seat that allows you to adjust the height using a gas lift, as well as the inclination of the chair backrest. The vertical adjustment is fairly standard and quite granular, but the tilt locks in at various set points. The recline also doesn’t recline all the way back, but allows you to lean back just the right way to relax quickly.
When pressed, the lever located under the seat locks the adjustment, so you won’t have to change your comfortable seat during the heat of the game. The armrests are made of standard plastic, but can also be lifted and moved forwards and backwards for even greater comfort.
Buy if…
✅ You want a good bet for low-cost: The Matchspel is a pretty low-cost computer chair considering how pleasant it is and how many adjustment points it has. For the MSRP of this place you could do a lot worse.
Don’t buy if…
❌ You need a lower seat inclination: While it comes with several customizable settings at this price, it forgoes pelvic tilt, which for many can be crucial to health, comfort, or both.
❌ You are a bigger person: The chair is not designed for a load exceeding 110 kg and I think that with longer legs the seat depth would be insufficient. This is not necessarily a choice for the substantial and towering among us.
Despite a fair amount of customization options, especially when it comes to price, my biggest complaint about the Matchspel is still ergonomics, namely the lack of tilt for the butt pad. Honestly, the ability to tilt this chair forward and backward would make this chair something of a holy grail, as it’s not the most common adjustment you’ll find in computer chairs.
If a chair this low-cost had them, I’d be shocked, but considering all the other options, I had some hope.
Unfortunately, for many people, especially women and others suffering from pelvic pain or similar problems, this is a substantial deal and probably the most vital part of the chair that needs to be adjusted.
This could also compensate for the rather firm seat under the buns, allowing it to be adjusted on the fly, especially during long sessions. In the current situation, I notice that after sitting for a while, the pressure begins to turn into slight discomfort.
This somewhat personal (50% of the population) complaint aside, the Matchspel has a fair amount of customization options and is reasonably comfortable, especially for a chair that only costs $290/£129. It is less demanding when it comes to arranging weighty computer chairs and looks appropriate for business in an understated way, especially with lithe gray color options.
It’s a stealth mode for gamers, so you can pretend you’re a pro who hasn’t completely disabled Steam during Zoom calls.
