The $1500 Gaming Chair. Worth the Upgrade? | Herman Miller x Logitech Embody Office Chair
This is the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody Gaming Chair. Much like the original Embody, it’s a premium office chair that uniquely use this skeleton, pixel structure to support you throughout the day.
Beyond the purely cosmetic changes like the blue accents and Logitech branding. To me it does feel fundamentally different from the original with the added foam cushioning on both the seat and the back.
And depending on your body and the way you sit, you may like this Logitech version, or the original better. Hi I’m David standing at 5’7 and 145lbs. And here’s my experience on the Herman Miller x Logitech Gaming Chair.
So if you’re not familiar with the original Herman Miller Embody chair. I’d suggest you watch my other review on that first to understand what makes this chair so special. Coming from that review, The most obvious changes are the cosmetic ones.
The blue mesh color used on the back of the chair. Blue accents on some of the buttons. A branded strap attached to the back. These horizontal ridges in the padding. And a Logitech G logo at the top of the seat.
To me, I think all these cosmetic changes aren’t bad. The original chair already looked really futuristic with the different color combinations that appeal to gamers, and this is just another color option in that spectrum.
But I’m glad the changes and branding are subtle enough that even if you don’t like the gaming aesthetic it blends in for video conference calls. The big change with this chair is the additional foam padding.
This chair uses a multi-layer support structure. On the seat of the chair you have the black suspension, with coil springs holding the plastic mesh pixel structure on top. And the back has that skeleton frame holding together a plastic mesh support.
This is same as the original Embody. This Logitech version uses their Sync Fabric that is a polyester material sewn on top of a thin 3mm layer of foam to give it a little extra cushioning. And this padding is used across the entire fabric of the seat and back of the chair.
I believe this thin foam cushion became available on all Embody with their latest fabric choices, which wasnt available on the older version. What’s unique with this Logitech version is under the seat, there’s a second layer of foam cushioning that roughly 1 cm thick.
And on the back they also added about half a centimeter extra. If you had a keen eye, you may have of also noticed those brown specks in the foam. That would be the infused copper flakes that are supposed to help with cooling.
To be honest, I don’t think it actually does anything significant, and to me it feels just as warm as sitting on any other of my cushion chairs. Something also to consider is that this fabric and foam doesn’t breathe as well as a mesh chair or even compared to the Embody with the Balance fabric.
So, if you tend to get warm in chairs, you’ll probably have a similar experience in this one. The added overall foam padding does have the advantage of softening the chair compared to the old original.
If you like to cross your legs once in a while like I do. It’s very comfortable to do that now. And if you’re working from home in your PJs or shorts, like I do, you don’t feel the individual pixel supports as much as you did on the original.
That added second layer of foam on the seat also helps if you tend to have a more active posture with gaming or work. When I engage forward, I put most of my weight on my butt and can feel the benefit of the added cushion support in that region.
I feel like that’s a nice improvement but the only thing I don’t like is the abrupt cut off of the foam. So I can feel this lump between the padded and none padded part of the seat that hopefully will go away over time.
The second layer of foam on the back is also restricted to the center spine region. This makes the back support feel a little straighter, and stiffer when moving from side to side, more inline with feeling you get with a premium mesh chair.
This Compared to the original that would wrap around your back and flex a little more with the pixel structure that really made the Embody feel unique. I’m mixed on this change. I think some people may like this, as it helps open up your chest and keep you upright.
But for my body I find most of my weight is put just on the length of my spine now that can start to fatigue after an hour of sitting, whereas the original would better distribute it across my entire back for comfort over an entire day.
Other than that, I don’t think there’s been any significant changes to the chair. And the controls and adjustments are just like the original Embody. Height adjustment with this blue switch; Rotate the knob to change the tension of the recline; Adjust the seat pan depth with these lift handles; Tilt limiter for the recline; And just like the original you can’t raise or lower the lumbar support.
But instead you just twist this knob to adjust the arch of the back support. And the arm rests are still the same too. Pulling these triggers lets you adjust the height, And unfortunately, they also still use the same clunky mechanism for adjusting them inwards and out.
You’ll also need to consider the price. With this Logitech version having a cheaper retail price at $1500 US, but you can also sometime get the original embody through a dealer at a discount. Overall, even in spite of the hype, I’m glad we still have some innovations like this for office chairs.
The decision between the original Embody and this Logitech version isn’t a clear cut choice, as each will have their own preference. And even myself, am conflicted. I appreciate the softness of the foam that’s more forgiving in a wider array of postures, but also miss the flexible back support in the original that’s muted on this newer version.
But hope you guys enjoyed this one. You know what to do. And I’ll see you in the next video.
