When it comes to gaming, one of the most important pieces of equipment you need is a good gaming chair.
Many of us spend long hours sat in our chairs, either gaming or working, just as I am right now.
I am writing this review while sitting in my new Anda Seat X Marvel Captain America gaming chair.
And after already putting a couple of hundred hours into the chair, I can safely say that this chair has made gaming and working much more comfortable.
Let's get more detail about why.
Who Are Anda Seat
Anda Seat has been around since 2007, getting their start as an OEM supplier of chairs to other brands, as well as offering seat solutions for football (China National Football team), Volleyball (China volleyball league), and racing cars.
Since 2016, they have been manufacturing their own chairs and have collaborated with many top entertainment brands such as Fnatic and Marvel.
Anda Seat X Marvel
2020 saw a collaboration between Anda Seat and Marvel, bringing four Marvel-themed chairs in one awesome looking collection.
The models included in the series are:
- Captain America (which I will be reviewing)
- Spider-Man
- Iron Man
- Ant-Man
The Captain America, Iron Man, and Ant-Man chairs come in AD Plus PVC leather, while the Spider-Man chair comes in AD Alpha Linen Fabric, which offers scratch and stain protection.
Featuring cold-cured and super high-density foam, the chairs offer support for the spine and back area during long gaming sessions.
Comfort is helped by their AD memory pillows, which mould to the shape of the body, ensuring ideal posture.
As we all know, maintaining good posture while sitting for long periods of time is important.
Depending on the model, they support heights of up to 6'10" and weights of up to 440 pounds, making them very accessible to most.
The Anda Seat Marvel chairs range from $399-$549/£299-£429 depending on the model.
For more information, you can check out the chairs here.
Right, now we've got all of the technical stuff out of the way, let's talk about the Captain America chair.
Captain America Chair
The reason I chose the Captain America chair to review was primarily because of its weight limit.
This chair can hold a maximum weight of 440 pounds, one of the highest I've seen for a gaming chair.
I not at the upper end of the weight range, but it's nice to have the extra headroom rather than being on the fringe of the limit, after all, a lot of us put on some extra pounds during the lockdown.
The chair is also really wide, thanks to the weight limit alterations, which makes sitting in it very comfortable.
Previous chairs I have owned have felt quite narrow for my body size and got uncomfortable after a while.
Due to my work involving a lot of writing and my love of games, it is not uncommon for me to spend 12+ hours a day in my chair and I have never felt uncomfortable sitting in this chair for long periods of time.
Now, we've discussed the weight limit of this chair, and my weight, let's talk about the weight of this chair itself, because it's not light.
When the courier delivered it, even he struggled to carry it, and couriers are used to lugging around heavy boxes.
Upon inspection, I saw that the box weighed 33.8KG, yes you read that right, the box is rather large too.
Have you ever seen that episode of Friends where the gang have to carry a couch? That is exactly what me and my girlfriend looked like trying to get it up the stairs.
"PIVOT!"
Build Quality
Once I'd brought it up the stairs, it was time to put the chair together and, thankfully, the process wasn't too painful.
However, due to one design flaw (one not unique to this chair), it ended up taking about 30 minutes longer than it should have.
When connecting the seat and the back together you need to screw a metal bracket from one into the other by putting a screw into the chair itself.
Now, this is a flaw in the design that I have seen in every gaming chair.
Inside the chair is the fitting for the screw to go into, the problem is that the leather surrounding it isn't cut to expose it, instead choosing to try and keep it covered.
This makes no sense because by the time the two connect together you can't actually see it.
The extra leather kept catching on the screw and made it next to impossible to screw together.
Instead, we had to take some small scissors to the leather to make a larger hole.
Some kind of washing or pin to expose the hole better and prevent the hole from being covered by the leather would prevent this issue entirely.
So this is something you may need to do, and if you do then don't worry if you need to cut the hole, the leather is incredibly durable, just don't go mad with it because you don't want to rip it.
Apart from this, which as I said isn't a flaw unique to this chair, the build quality is absolutely fantastic.
All of the metal used in its structure feel sturdy, likely due to the high weight limit.
So everything feels very secure, this chair isn't going anywhere while you're on it.
The arms are very wide and comfortable to rest your arms on and they can be adjusted depending on your height.
The leather is quite thick and feels durable to the point that it shouldn't rip without some substantial effort on your part.
Overall, the build quality is second to none and I think you will struggle to find a chair that is built to a better standard than this Captain America chair.
The Extras
The icing on the cake has to be the included Captain America mat.
Each Marvel chair comes with its own themed mat to go under the chair while you are working, gaming, or doing whatever you intend to do with it.
With the mat being the design of Captain America's shield, it looks incredibly clean and smart and just tops off the aesthetic of the chair.
With its Marvel logos and themed design and mat, this chair will turn the heads of anyone that sees it and will definitely make your friends jealous because, after all, no one will have a chair as cool as yours.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I think this is one of the best chairs on the market today.
After previously owning cheaper and more budget-friendly chairs, I can safely say that when it comes to a chair, especially one you will be sitting in for hundreds, if not thousands, of hours, investing in quality is a smart choice.
I have previously looked at similarly priced chairs from a variety of top brands and thought to myself "Why would someone spend that much money on a chair?" Now I know.
When the inevitable time comes when the chair needs to be replaced, which I doubt will be for many years, I will be investing in an expensive chair again. This chair has set a high standard that I refuse to lower.