
If you had $1,000, how would you spend it? Car repairs? Debt payment? Upgrade to your gaming rig? Savings? Small remodel to the house? May I interest you in a new gaming chair?
Paying $1,000 for a chair sounds a little absurd to me, but if it’s a chair that’s ergonomically sound and I’m going to sit in it a lot, if I think about it as a furniture purchase instead of a gaming chair, I can justify it a little more. But it’s still a steep price, particularly in this economy. When I think of a $1,000 chair, it better be perfect. The Mavix M9 Gaming Chair almost gets there, but it has glaring problems. It looks great, and its sturdiness gives me confidence that it will last for years. But certain pieces don’t feel like $1,000, and it degrades my enjoyment and comfort as much as I think it should degrade the price.
The Mavix M9 nails the most important part of a modern chair—the ergonomics. There are a ton of ways to adjust each component, so sitting in it supports whatever your needs are for your hips and back. As one who suffers occasional lower back pain after sitting in some chairs, I haven’t had any pain after using the M9 the last two weeks. It took thoughtful adjustments on my end—Mavix includes helpful videos to set the chair for good posture—but now that it’s adjusted how I want it, if I’m starting to feel pain in my back, it’s a me problem.

The fabric, Mavix likes to call “M-Breeze,” is firm but allows my tush to create a personal pocket that doesn’t sink too low. It takes time to break in, but the more I sat in this chair, the comfier it felt on my backside. The fabric also performs as advertised in keeping my body cooler. I’m naturally warmer, so previous chairs would make me hotter and block the pores on my back. I don’t have that problem with the M9.
My sample came with a heating and cooling mechanism, as well. Living in the Bay Area means strange weather fluctuations, so I was able to test both features, and unfortunately, they hardly made a difference. I couldn’t feel the heat at all, and I only felt the cool air when my back was sweaty. There is also a massage mechanism that feels like weaker hot-tub bubble jets against my back. There are low and high settings, and only the high was worth using, but it didn’t massage my back. I should also mention that my sample was missing the USB-A cable needed to charge the pad.
The adjustable backrest easily lets me lean back when I’m thinking about my word choices, pondering my next Borderlands 4 build, or taking a 20-minute nap. Without a footrest, I can’t imagine reclining all 127 degrees, but I appreciate having the option. It also features the same fabric as the seat, and with or without a shirt, it doesn’t raise my temperature.

It seems like the price went into the fabric and ergonomics, which are obviously important, but in my opinion, ergonomics includes the comfort of the whole body, meaning the entire chair. I say that to say the 4D armrests hurt my elbows. I can’t tell what material they’re made of, but it’s hard. If I don’t lay them perfectly on the armrest, I unconsciously slide my elbows off and let my forearm lie on the edge of the armrest to avoid the pain. It’s especially disheartening because I feel the most pain when I’m sitting in the chair correctly. Even as I type this, I sat up in my chair because I realized I was slouching, set my elbows down for support, and can feel the pain as they sit squarely on the armrest. They only need some cushioning. If the armrest design is about cost, I’d substitute paying for the massager to have the same seat and backrest fabric on the armrest.
Adjusting the armrests feels cheap. I have to use extra torque to move them forward or backward, which doesn’t allow for precision. And moving them left or right feels like I’m going to break them. Adjusting the headrest is just as bad. Mavix says the headrest is difficult to move, so it doesn’t move on its own. Fine idea on paper, but I can’t adjust it accurately because it gets stuck, and it can mess up the vertical placement of the backrest, so I have to adjust that again. It’s not a well-thought-out design.
Rolling the M9 on a hard floor is fluid, and I like how the wheels aren’t too slippery, so you don’t slide from one end of the room to the other, but it’s awful on carpet. I try to pull the chair forward, but the five wheels laid out in a star shape work against each other. It feels like pushing a shopping cart with wheels that won’t cooperate. It doesn’t help that it’s a 60lb. chair, and that weight is pushed right into the wheels, so it’s just heavy.

It’s a beautiful chair, though. My sample is the all-white chair, which brightens up my room by contrasting with my dark desk, consoles, and PC. The Mavix logos are eloquently etched into the fabric, and it feels great to the touch. Mavix intentionally wanted to create a design unlike other gaming chairs, and they pulled it off. The white grabs attention, but wouldn’t be disruptive in an office. Unfortunately, there were light brown smudges on the edge of the top of the backrest when I pulled it out of the box—very noticeable because it’s white—but I hope I don’t have to figure out how to clean something like spaghetti sauce or coloring. The M9’s fabric is supposedly spill and stain-resistant, but I have a four-year-old. I hope she heeds my warnings that this chair is not her canvas.
Mavix M9 Gaming Chair
Good
From a purely ergonomic perspective, the Mavix M9 is a good chair. I love the assortment of adjustments I can make, and the fabric and seat don’t contribute to additional body heat. It’s also very comfortable and beautiful. But the armrests feel cheap and literally hurt my elbows, and the headrest needs a better adjustment mechanism. It doesn’t feel like the whole chair was designed in harmony. I’m positive $1,000 can feel better.
Pros
- Comfy on my tush and back
- Doesn’t increase my body temperature
- Can easily lean back
- Looks great
Cons
- Armrests hurt my elbows
- Armrests and headrests feel cheap
- Moves poorly on carpet
- Massage, cooling, and heating are weak
This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.