Best Ergonomic Office Chair Under $150 & $100 Review 2023

Our Pick: AmazonBasics High-Back Executive Chair

Our top pick is simple and stylish, offered by Amazon under their AmazonBasics brand for an almost shockingly low price. It’s hard to beat the functionality and simplicity paired with a trusted brand, like Amazon, so it was virtually inevitable that this chair would wind up being our top pick at this price range.

Ergonomically, it’s got the basics covered, offering adequate head/neck/shoulder support, good lumbar support, ergonomic armrests, and a waterfall-style seat that helps take pressure off of your legs while sitting in the chair.

Unfortunately, none of the chair’s ergonomic features are in any way adjustable, but that’s to be expected, given the extremely low price of the chair.

There are two potential drawbacks to be aware of, however.

First, the chair can only support a maximum weight of 225 pounds, which is a bit on the low side compared to some of the other chairs on our list of finalists. 

Second, the upholstery is bonded leather, and the base is nylon. Both are fine for light to moderate daily use, but neither will stand up well to heavy daily use. The upholstery will show its age quickly, and the nylon base is prone to cracking and ultimately breaking under strain.

On the other hand, it’s one of the few chairs offered in more than one color – you can order yours in either brown or black to make it blend more easily into your home’s décor scheme.

As long as you’re mindful of the chair’s limitations, this is an excellent choice.

Runner-Up: Topsky Modern Executive Office Chair

We were pleasantly surprised with the Topsky Executive Office Chair. You seldom expect to see tiny, unknown brands take design chances, but that’s exactly what Topsky did, and in our view, it paid handsome dividends indeed.

While the design of their chair falls short of being bold, it’s very nearly that and is unquestionably innovative. Inspired by computer gaming chairs, you can clearly see their influence in the design of the seat, which isn’t, but closely resembles, a racing-style seat.

Although the padding is simple block foam, there’s a generous amount of it, which makes the chair a delight to both look at and sit in. Even better, it’s a highly adjustable model.

The headrest height can be tweaked to taste (or removed entirely, if you prefer it), it reclines to an impressive 145 degrees and is lockable in a number of different positions, and features a waterfall-style seat and well-implemented lumbar support.

Sadly, despite its impressive recline range, this model doesn’t come with an ottoman, but it’s easy enough to engineer one once you get the chair put together.

The arms are stationary, which is a bit of a disappointment, but they’re padded and ergonomically designed, which only further enhances the model’s comfort. 

Best of all, it’s got an aluminum base, so it’s designed to stand up well to heavy daily use.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the bonded leather upholstery, which is almost certain to start showing its age long before the rest of the chair does.

If Topsky had the brand history and support track record of Amazon, this chair would have beaten Amazon’s category-winning entry by a wide margin, and that’s saying something.

We have high hopes for Topsky and expect that we’ll be seeing great things from them in the future. In the meantime, we’re proud to award them with a solid second place position in our roundup review.

Budget Pick: Merax Ergonomic Adjustable Office Chair

Merax is a surprising company. They’ve been around for decades and are best known for making CD and DVD jewel cases. You wouldn’t think such a company would have any experience at all in making furniture, nor have any luck selling it, but they’ve got a fantastic design team, and consistently churn out products that are much better than you might expect. They even offer an impressive (2-year!) warranty on the products they sell.

This model is the only mesh chair to make our shortlist in this category. If you don’t like mesh chairs, you’ll probably give this one a pass without reading much of this review, but if you’re willing to take a chance on a mesh chair, you’ll find a lot to like here.

First, let’s get the obvious out of the way. Mesh isn’t as attractive as leather, so this chair isn’t much in the looks department. On the other hand, leather makes you sweat when you sit in it for several hours at a go, while mesh is breathable.

Combine that with the chair’s rugged construction, and you get something that can easily stand up to the rigors of heavy daily use, which is a claim that none of the other chairs on this list can make. Even the ones built with more durable base materials are upholstered with bonded leather, which won’t age well. You don’t have to worry about that here.

It gets better because you can tweak three different aspects of the chair to make it a perfect fit for you. The headrest is articulated, the padded armrests are height adjustable, and of course, the seat height itself can be adjusted to taste.

In terms of ergonomic features, the headrest and lumbar support are incredibly well implemented, with the armrests being good, but falling short of greatness. Finally, although the chair doesn’t recline, it does provide some rocking motion, within the range of 90 to 105 degrees.

We’re continuously impressed by Merax and highly recommend this model.

Notable Ergonomic Chairs Under $150

We realize that everyone’s tastes and preferences are different, so if you disagree with our top pick, and none of the finalists are exactly what you’re looking for, we’ll share with you some of the other models we considered. You’ll find them just below.

Songmics UOBG76B High-Backed Ergonomic Office Chair

This model has a score that’s identical to the Songmics UOBG71B. The reason that it won an honorable mention on our chart has nothing to do with the strength of the 76B’s ergonomic features.

On this chair, the ergonomic features aren’t quite as strongly implemented, but still good enough to warrant a brief mention here. This one is notable for its extra support pillow on the headrest of the chair, which does give it one exceptionally strong ergonomic feature. 

If your main goal is head/neck/shoulder support, and you don’t want, or won’t miss the recline function of the 71B, then this is the model you want. If you want better overall ergonomic support, give this one a pass and get the 71B (assuming you’re down to choosing from between these two models, of course).

Note that this chair utilizes a nylon base, versus the chrome-plated steel of the 71B, making it somewhat less durable. It’s fine for light to moderate duty, but if you’re looking for a chair that can stand up to heavy daily use, again, the 71B is the better option for you.

Kadirya Mixed Upholstery Executive Office Chair (KD1020S)

The first thing we need to talk about is the reason that the lower-rated Songmics chair beat out this Kadirya model to take the honorable mention spot in our list of finalists.

If we were making a straight-up comparison of office chairs in general, this model would have been in the honorable mention slot, and the Songmics chair would be here. In this particular case, though, our purpose is to zero in on the best ergonomic features, and when you focus on that aspect of the design, the Songmics (narrowly) beats this one out.

Having said that, there’s a lot to like about the Kadirya 1020S, and if the chairs on our shortlist leave you wanting, this one is well worth considering. Here are the most important things to know about the chair:

So, putting all those elements together, where does that leave us?

First and foremost, take a look at the seat height adjustment range. This chair is a poor fit for shorter users but would be an excellent choice for taller, long-legged users.

It’s also ideally suited to moderate use and verges on being capable of being able to stand up to heavy daily use. If the base was aluminum or steel, or if the ergonomic features were even slightly better implemented, it would have easily earned a spot on the shortlist.

The most intriguing aspect of the chair is the upholstery. One of the biggest weaknesses of bonded leather is that, while pretty, it’s just not very durable. This model gets around that problem, at least in part, by utilizing mesh fabric where your back rests against the seatback, and where your rear end touches the seat itself.

That’s a savvy move that will prolong the life of the bonded leather. Unfortunately, the armrests are still bonded leather, and this is the area where you’ll see damage to the leather first. All things considered, it’s a great model; it’s just not the best ergonomic model on the list.

LCH High-Back Executive Office Chair

Seat height can be adjusted between 17.7” and 21.7,” and it supports users up to 250 pounds. Also comes with a 1-year warranty.

This is another interesting model that is well worth considering if the ones on our shortlist left you wanting for one reason or another. Like the Kadirya chair, we just talked about, the main reason it didn’t make the shortlist is that its ergonomic features are good but fall short of greatness.

That said, quantity can be its own quality, and this model has more ergonomic features than any other chair on the list. Those features include:

Again though, the implementation is good, but not outstanding.

In addition to those things, you’ll find:

Given the seat height adjustment range, this model is a better fit for a wider swath of the market, capable of accommodating people ranging in height from (approximately) 5’4” to 6’2”, depending on the length of the user’s legs.

Although it’s got an impressive warranty, the nylon base combined with the bonded leather upholstery makes it relatively poorly suited for heavy daily use. It’s an excellent occasional use chair, however, and is well worth considering.

Viva Office Ergonomic Office Chair

This chair is basically a clone of our top pick, the AmazonBasics chair. Right off the bat then, you might be asking why on earth we’d include a no-name variant of our winner. Well, there are a couple of key differences that make it worth mentioning.

First, there’s padding. The Viva is actually slightly more comfortable than our winner in this category, simply because there’s more padding to be found. The tradeoff, of course, is that nobody’s ever heard of Viva and everybody’s heard of Amazon. Plus, the Viva only comes in one color, and you can order your AmazonBasics chair in two.

Second, check out the small but important differences in the seat dimension and seat height adjustment:

FEATURES	Amazon Basics	Viva
Seat Width	21.5”	19.3”
Seat Height	19” To 21”	18.1” to 21.9”
Seat Depth	19.5”	18.5”

These are relatively small differences, but when it comes to comfort, details matter, and the simple truth is that if you’re shorter, or have shorter legs, the AmazonBasics chair might not be a great fit for you. If you buy it anyway, you’re going to be underwhelmed.

If you’re thinking about buying our top pick, we’d urge you to take careful measurements of yourself and compare them to the chart above. It may be the case that the Viva office chair will be a slightly better fit for you.

Chairs are a bit like clothing in that way. You’ve got to wear them every day (well, most people do, anyway!), and if they don’t fit right, you’re going to be uncomfortable.

It’s important to make sure your office chair fits you like a glove, and that’s the main reason we included the little Viva in our list!

Yamasoro High-Back Ergonomic Executive Office Chair

Sporting mostly black bonded leather with white accents, making it look a bit like a zebra on wheels, its aesthetic might not be for everyone, but it’s got the basics well covered.

It’s generously padded and offers an ergonomic headrest, armrests, and a waterfall-style seat, all aimed at maximizing comfort. In addition to that, the arms flip up, making it easy to store under your desk when you’re not using the chair and making it a natural pick for some musicians looking for a chair to play or practice in.

It also features a tilt and lock function, although the angle of recline is a modest 110 degrees, but perhaps its most compelling feature is the fact that it supports up to 300 pounds of user weight and has a big, comfy seat and a good seat height adjustment range (20.8” to 24.8”), making it an excellent choice for bigger, taller users.

Note that the base is nylon, and the upholstery is bonded leather, neither of which will stand up well to heavy daily use, but at the price, it’s being offered at, it’s easy enough to replace it down the road if it starts showing its age.