Need new cheap, comfortable, high-back chair

john01dav · November 17, 2020

I currently have this chair, and it's the best that I've ever had, but the metal on the bottom has worn through and it is no longer level. I'm looking into getting a replacement bracket which I think would be sufficient to fix it, but I'm not hopeful because this chair was discontinued (and recalled, idk why) a few years ago. It's covering is also shedding, but this is an aesthetic issue so I'm not too concerned about it. As such, I would like to ask for recommendations for a new chair. Ideally it would also be common enough that I can easily find an in-person store (in US) to try it out before buying it. The original chair cost just over US$100, so I don't really want to spend any more than that. Since I'm looking for something of similar quality (This chair lasted ~5 years by my estimation, if not a few years longer, although I don't remember exactly when I got it.), this is reasonable.

The important features are:

Leather is fake, which is an absolute non-negotiable requirement since I'm vegan. This should also make it cheaper since most people perceive dead cow skin as fancy.
The back is tall enough to go a bit above my shoulders (I'm > 6ft tall), so leaning back is much more comfortable than on most chairs.
There's enough padding to make it comfortable to sit in for long periods of time, e.g. all day.
It can move forward, back, up, down, etc. I don't need anything fancy in this regard, but such a system should at least exist.
Price, as mentioned
It lasted awhile, although I'd rather that it had lasted longer. If I can buy a chair now and never have to buy another one again, that'd be ideal.

I *might* be able to squeeze a bit more money, but I'm not even close to rich and US$100 is already a stretch. Still, though, I don't want to be stuck with a miserable chair for the next 5-10 years. Some things to sacrifice to make it cheaper: aesthetics (as long as it's not obnoxious it's fine), quality of adjustment mechanism, fake leather should make it cheaper, and shedding (since this is just an aesthetic issue) is all fine.

EDIT: I don't want to get a used chair for hygiene. I'm fine with most things being used (all of my monitors are used, I have a used hard drive, I've gotten used phones before, a user car, and more), but not anything with fabric components, like a good office chair must have (e.g. hard metal or plastic like in lawn chairs or folding chairs won't cut it).

TargetDron3 · November 17, 2020

$110

I just bought this chair a few weeks ago and love it. Pretty sure the "bonded" leather is just fake leather at this price point. I am thoroughly impressed with it.

I'm 6" and have back and neck issues and this chair is very comfy. Now that I mostly work from home I get a good 9 hours a day in it which it is rated for.

Remember that when looking. chairs are rated in hours a day you can sit in it.

You can spend a LOT more on a chair but honestly, my main office chair that was $1,000 isn't any more comfortable than this chair, even though it has a bunch more adjustments that honestly aren't needed.