Throne of games — EWin Flash XL Gaming Chair review

When you work a desk job for as long as I have, you end up trying a lot of office chairs. From top-of-the-line Aerons, to off-the-shelf low end Office Depot generics, I’ve sat in them all. My experience has largely been that the differences between the high and low end chairs don’t tend to feel they warrant the price hikes, so for personal use at home it’s just been easier to defer to whatever is available in my limited price range, suffering through a long succession of back-numbing lackluster seating experiences. Considering how often I sit at a desk, working and gaming, the thought has occurred to me more than once that maybe I should give my backside more comfortable accommodations. Unfortunately, there is a vast array of desk chairs available with a wide range of price points and very little opportunity to actually sit on one and try it out. Cost does not necessarily equate to comfort, and dishing out big bucks for the latest testament to ergonomics may leave you sore in more ways than one.

I’ve never really been sold on the value proposition of gaming chairs; they have generally seemed overpriced, gimmicky, and inferior to even standard office chairs. When EWin told us they wanted to send us one of their Flash XL Gaming Chairs, I’ll be honest, I didn’t get my hopes up too high. I’m very happy to say that my fears were unfounded.

It should come as no surprise that an extra large chair comes in a big heavy box. The good news is that it’s a very durable, thick cardboard box, so there was little chance of the contents being damaged en route.

Assembly of the chair took roughly 30 minutes, with the hardest part being the first step of attaching the back to the seat- I had to pull the reclining lever and bear down hard on it to draw the arm that gets screwed in to the back far enough to clear the cushioning of the seat, and then painstakingly line up the screw holes. Once that was done, it was pretty much all about putting the wheels and hydraulic stem in place, as everything else came assembled in the box and even the two pillows were already set in place. Allen wrenches were provided in the box and there was no need to break out my own tools.

Let me impress upon you how large this chair is when assembled:

At a variable height of roughly 48” and a width of 22.8”, the EWin Flash XL is less a chair and more of a throne. At half elevation, my wife’s legs dangle off of it like she was a child. It is, in a word, MAGNIFICENT. I’m considerably taller than she is, however, and being able to adjust the lift much higher than most chairs is a welcome change (Now I just need a taller desk!). The “4D” adjustable armrests are a treat as well- horizontal angle, height, and positioning controls allow for specific customization according to where my arms fell. It is also possible to recline the back to a point almost level with the seat, but at that point the center of gravity makes things a little sketchy, so I wouldn’t plan on taking any naps like that. The only feature that my smaller chair had that I would have liked to take advantage of more with the EWin is the ability to use the tilt back to recline a bit at will. Technically, the chair can tilt back, and even lock into a tilted position, but the girth, weight and height of the chair make it less of a relaxing activity and more of a chore, and ultimately superfluous due to the overall comfort of the chair once I adjusted the various settings to my satisfaction. In fact, my one little gripe is that the chair’s size makes it harder to maneuver than smaller office chairs. That added scale and build does come with a trade-off.

So the Flash XL is sturdy and highly adjustable, but is it comfortable? Thankfully, this is where the chair really excels. The high density memory foam is firm at first but once you sink into it a bit it really feels like you are floating a few feet above the ground. I never once felt the steel frame underneath. The roomy seat flanked on either side by the plush side cushions keep you in place without the constriction I found in previous gaming chairs I’ve sat in. The entire chair is wrapped and neatly stitched with a soft polyurethane leather that I was concerned wouldn’t breathe well if things got sweaty, but I haven’t noticed any issues so far. The lumbar and head pillows are very plush and easy to adjust once seated as they are held in place by elastic straps. That said, if you aren’t on the large or tall side, you may want to remove them, as they are positioned to fit the scale of the chair and may not be comfortable.

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This Flash XL gaming/office chair was graciously provided to us for review by EWin. For a limited time you can get 15% off your chair order with the code GamingTrend.

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