The Takeaway:
Non-Mesh
Mesh
Are you shorter or smaller than the average person? Are you tired of sitting in oversized chairs that swallow you whole and make it virtually impossible to get comfortable and get any work done?
If you answered yes to either of those questions, you’re going to love this roundup review. We’ve scoured the internet on a quest to find the best office chairs for a short person on the market today, and we’ve declared two winners in that category.
In addition to that, we’ve found a variety of great chairs tailored to the specific seating needs of shorter people, and our review provides details about a few attractive alternates if you don’t agree with our top picks.
We’ve broken this roundup review into two sections: mesh chairs and upholstered chairs (leather/fabric), because not everybody is a fan of mesh. Either way, this review has you covered.
Before we dive into the specifics of each model, let’s announce our winner in each category and introduce you to the finalists in table format, to give you a high-level view of our top picks.
Before We Get Started
Our two lists are dominated by just three companies, with Herman Miller claiming three of the five spots in the mesh category, and Steelcase and Serta claiming two each in the upholstered category. The problem is that the Herman Miller and Steelcase chairs cost significantly more than the others and may be out of reach for many potential buyers.
We understand that which is why we’ve opted to list the remaining entries in our top ten in each category. The rest of the list (those that didn’t make the top five) is dominated by smaller brands that aren’t as well known, but there are some surprisingly good options out there that don’t cost a ton of money.
Not to worry, we’ll give you the complete scoop on all of them, so you’ll have everything you need to make an informed purchasing decision. We feel confident that lurking somewhere in this review, you’ll find your next office chair, and it will be a perfect fit for you!
Office Chair Upholstery Options
We’re not going to try and change any minds here. Almost everyone who has ever sat in an office chair has a preference for one type of upholstery over the others. Our goal here is to provide a quick overview of the three major upholstery options and the strengths and weaknesses they each bring to the table. With that in mind, here’s the short scoop:
Leather
Leather chairs tend to be the best looking, most elegant designs, but leather isn’t breathable. If you plan on sitting in the chair for several hours a day, the upholstery will make you sweat.
Also, note that bonded leather is real leather but fashioned from scraps that have been fused together. As such, it’s not as durable or supple as other types of leather. After about two years (or less, with heavy use) it will start peeling and cracking. Finally, if you have pets, leather tends to be a poor choice, especially if you have cats. Cat claws can make short work of even the best leather upholstery!
Fabric
Fabric chairs aren’t as elegant looking as their leather counterparts, but fabric is more breathable, easier to care for, and of course, comes in a staggering variety of colors, which makes fabric chairs more versatile and able to blend in seamlessly with a broader range of home or office décor schemes.
While fabric chairs aren’t as durable as mesh, they do tend to hold up better if you have pets, although you’ll want to invest in a lint brush to keep the cat or dog hair off of them!
Mesh
The most durable and breathable of the upholstery options, but the least attractive. Theoretically, mesh chairs can come in as many colors as fabric, but in practice, most mesh chairs are only offered in gray or black. There are a few exceptions to this, but not many. Also note that mesh chairs rarely have padding on the seat back, although many will have seat padding, covered with a breathable mesh fabric.
Assembly Required
Another thing we should point out before we dive into the details of the specific models of the best ergonomic chairs for a short person is the fact that no matter which of these chairs you decide to buy when it arrives at your doorstep, it’s going to come in pieces in a box.
The Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Ergohuman chairs all come mostly assembled and will take less than ten minutes to get ready for first use. The others come entirely disassembled. Assembly times will vary from one model to the next, but on average, expect the process to take thirty minutes or so. If you have a trusty assistant who can provide an extra pair of hands, you’ll probably shave about ten minutes off of the total build time.
Our Selection Criteria
Given that this roundup review is looking at chairs that are specifically designed for shorter people, we’re looking first and foremost for a relatively narrow seat depth (19” or less, and preferably below 18”), and we’re looking for a good height adjustment range that starts at 18” or less and goes up from there.
In addition to that, we want as many ergonomic features and extras as we can get for the money. After all, short people shouldn’t have to miss out on ergonomic design features to get a chair that fits them well!
Now let’s take a closer look at our winners in each category, and the models they beat out to earn top honors. We’ll start with the upholstered chairs:
Best Office Chair for Short Adults 2023 (Leather / Fabric)
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$1,299.00
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$999.00
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N/A
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Overall Dimensions:
24.75” x 27” x 43.5”
*Plus: 24.75” x 31.75” x 42.5” |
Overall Dimensions:
23” x 27” x 39” to 44”
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Overall Dimensions:
30.8” x 27” x 43.5” to 47.25”
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Chair Weight:
48 pounds
*Plus: 45.4 lbs |
Chair Weight:
64.2 pounds
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Chair Weight:
23.8 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
400 pounds
Leap Plus: 500 lbs |
Max. Supported Weight:
300 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
250 pounds
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Recline Range:
96 to 120 degrees Leap Plus: 97 to 114 degrees
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Recline Range:
90 to 120 degrees
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Recline Range:
90 to 120 degrees
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Seat Width:
19.25”
Leap Plus: 22.75″ |
Seat Width:
19.25”
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Seat Width:
21”
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Seat Depth:
15.75” to 18.75”
Leap Plus: 16.75″ to 18.75″ |
Seat Depth:
15.5” to 18.5”
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Seat Depth:
17.75”
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Seat Height:
15.5″ to 20.5″
Leap Plus: 15.5″ to 19.5″ |
Seat Height:
16” to 21”
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Seat Height:
16” to 19.25”
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Our Verdict:
If you can afford it, and if your preference is for upholstered chairs over mesh, this is the one you want, especially if you suffer from chronic back pain.
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Our Verdict:
Highly recommended, IF you can afford it.
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Our Verdict:
With careful measurements, we recommend this chair, but caution potential buyers about its relatively small size.
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*Plus: 24.75” x 31.75” x 42.5”
*Plus: 45.4 lbs
Leap Plus: 500 lbs
Leap Plus: 22.75″
Leap Plus: 16.75″ to 18.75″
Leap Plus: 15.5″ to 19.5″
- Exceptional quality and amazingly adjustable. This could almost be considered a therapeutic chair. 10-year warranty.
- Expensive. May be beyond the reach of many who need it.
- The same exceptional quality and the same impressive 10-year warranty are offered on the leap, but not quite as feature-rich, with a correspondingly lower price.
- Although cheaper than the Leap, the Amia will still be out of reach for many who want or need one.
- Great company with a reputation for world-class service and support. Strong ergonomic features, including one innovation. Super easy (and fast!) assembly.
- Not everyone will be a fan of the active lumbar support. Small seat makes it a bad fit for larger, and even some average-sized people.
*While aesthetics is a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home or office décor schemes.
**Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.
Our Pick: Steelcase Leap
Recommended For: Anyone, especially for people who suffer from chronic back pain.
Aesthetic Design
The Leap Chair was built around a very specific design philosophy based on four fundamental discoveries which can be summed up as follows:
These four points serve as the basis for every feature included in the Leap Chair, and as you might suspect, the results were nothing short of amazing.
Chair Specifications
Virtually every element of the chair is adjustable, including:
LiveBack Feature
As good as all that is though, those things aren’t the best part of the Leap’s design. It would be the “LiveBack” feature which, as mentioned in the company’s design philosophy, provides different levels of support for both your lower and mid back (lumbar and sacral regions).
Every time you push back on the seatback, the chair dynamically adjusts to you, providing precisely the level of support you need.
Adjustability
It gets better. In addition to all of that, you can adjust the angle of recline, choosing from five different presets that range between 96 and 120 degrees.
While it’s true that this recline range isn’t best-in-class (some chairs recline 135 degrees or more), it’s sufficient for most people, and honestly, the other superbly implemented features more than make up for it.
Also, you can adjust the precise position of the lumbar support via a simple dial located on the back of the chair. You can also customize the overall firmness via two separate dials (one for the lumbar and one for the sacral region of your back).
In our view, this combination of ergonomic features puts the Leap in a class by itself. Nothing else even comes close, but Steelcase still isn’t done, if you can believe that.
Upholstery
The Leap also comes in three different upholstery configurations: Standard (breathable mesh fabric), 3D knitted fabric, or sewn fabric. Whichever option you select, you can order the material in a variety of colors, including:
And finally, the Leap can be ordered in the following finishes:
A Few Extras
Oh, and let’s not forget about the extras the company offers, like the ottoman, which works with any of the company’s models, and pulls double duty as a low work table.
By this point, if you’re like most people, you’re probably getting pretty excited about buying one. Unfortunately, there’s a catch, and it’s a pretty significant one. This is an expensive chair. True, it’s high-quality, and you get what you pay for, but the simple truth is that the Leap is going to be out of reach for many who want and need one.
Still, if you can afford it, the Steelcase Leap is a fantastic choice and will serve you well. We’d rate this as the best ergonomic chair for a short person on the market today.
Runner-Up: Steelcase Amia
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a great mesh office chair, or anyone who wants most of the features of our top picks, without having to pay full price.
Design & Features
The Amia is the predecessor to the Leap chair, which makes it similar to the Herman Miller Aeron. It’s an exceptional chair by any reckoning; it’s just not quite as good or as robust as the Leap.
Here are the things we think you’ll like best about this model:
However, as good as those features are, they’re not the main selling point of the chair. We’ve saved that for last.
Live Lumbar Technology
The Amia sports “Live Lumbar” technology, which is tucked away out of sight, inside the seatback.
This is a series of panels and slats that not only help support your back (including the ability to adjust the position of the lumbar support, as mentioned above) but also move independently of each other as you reposition yourself in the seat, providing dynamic support when and where you need it most.
Even better, the name is something of a misnomer because the support extends to your mid-back; it’s not limited to just your lumbar region.
Best of all, you can tweak the tension, and thus the amount of support the chair provides so that it’s perfect for your needs. Granted, this takes a bit of experimentation to get right, but is well worth the time spent!
Made from Recycled Materials
Finally, if you’re looking for a “green” option, the Amia is made with up to 97% recycled materials, providing an excellent seating experience for you while being kind to the planet. That’s a win-win!
Upholstery
Like the Leap Chair, you can order the Amia with three different upholstery options: Standard, breathable mesh, or sewn fabric. This fabric can be ordered in a variety of colors, too, including:
Where finishing options are concerned, you’ve got four choices: Platinum, black, merle, or an upholstered outer back.
In other words, the Steelcase Amia not only feels great when you sit in it, but it’s also got enough color and customization options that you can truly make it your own, giving it exactly the “look” you want and making it a natural fit into most any home or office décor scheme.
All that and a ten-year warranty too? What’s not to like! It’s an expensive model but highly recommended. One of the best office chairs for petite frames available.
Value Pick: Serta MyFit
Design & Comfort
Serta knows a lot about comfort. Although they’re best known for making mattresses, they’ve made considerable strides in the office furniture market in recent years, producing a variety of modestly priced, high-quality office chairs. The MyFit is a great example, and a chair that placed a respectable third in our roundup review of the best leather-upholstered office chairs under $200.
The seat isn’t “racing style,” but clearly draws some of its design inspiration from computer gaming chairs, and the shape of the upper portion of the seatback provides exceptional head/neck/shoulder support, which is an important ergonomic design feature that a lot of companies don’t do well.
Ergonomic Features
That’s not the only thing the MyFit has going for it though. It also sports a waterfall-style seat and ergonomic armrests, though these are fixed-position and can’t be tweaked or adjusted in any way.
Active Lumbar Support
The most significant advantage this model brings to the table though and its most potent ergonomic feature is its active lumbar support. The seat is designed in such a way that if you’re not sitting all the way back with your back pressed against the seatback, it will move forward, almost as if seeking you out to provide lumbar support.
It’s a cool feature, but it’s one that users either love or despise. Many users have complained about it, and admittedly, it does take some getting used to. The people who love it though, absolutely swear by it and claim that they won’t get another office chair without it.
Mostly, this comes down to how you sit in your chair. If you’re not a “seat percher,” then you probably won’t even notice, but if you are, and you can get used to the somewhat unusual sensation, you’ll probably find that you like having a chair that can adapt to the way you sit in it.
For Short Users
On top of that, the chair is ideal for shorter users, with a seat height adjustment range that starts at just 16”. Be aware, however, that while many models have a broad seat height adjustment range that makes the chair able to accommodate a wide variety of user body shapes and styles, this one is poorly suited to bigger, taller users.
Moderate Daily Usage
Our main complaint about the MyFit is this: It’s unusual to see a cutting-edge design feature, which the active lumbar support definitely is, paired with relatively low-end materials like the faux leather upholstery and the nylon base. It almost feels like overkill, given that the chair wasn’t designed to stand up to the rigors of heavy daily usage.
Still, if you’re only planning to use this chair lightly to moderately, say, no more than 4-5 hours a day, and you’re looking for something custom-made for shorter folks, this is an excellent option.
Also Great: AmazonBasics Mid Back
Recommended For: Anyone who's about 5’1” to 6’ tall and on a budget.
Amazon has entered the office furniture market in a big way, and their products usually wind up somewhere on our list of finalists. They offer good furniture at attractive prices. Sure, they’re a bit bare-bones and don’t provide a lot in the way of extras, but they also keep the price low, which is a fair trade.
Design
This Mid Back chair is typical of what we’ve seen from the other Amazon chairs we’ve reviewed. They’re reasonably attractive, comfortable, and comes equipped with a basic set of ergonomic features. In this case, the chair only has one feature: well-implemented lumbar support.
If it had been equipped with a greater number of ergonomic enhancements, it would probably have moved up a notch or two in our rankings, but don’t make the mistake of thinking this is a bad chair. It’s not. It’s just that it’s basic. Functional.
While it doesn’t sport a waterfall-style seat, it is comfortable and shaped so that it does provide some ergonomic benefit.
Things to Consider
The arms are a weak point – not only are they not ergonomically designed, but the padding is a bit sparse, and you can’t adjust them in any way, which makes the armrests the weakest point of the design.
There are two other limitations to be aware of. First, the chair doesn’t recline, but it does rock slightly, and second, it’s got the lowest maximum supported weight limit (just 225 pounds) of any chair on our list of finalists.
Still Good Value
Given all that, you might be wondering how it wound up on our list of best office chairs for small people. It’s a fair question, and ultimately, it comes down to the value proposition. At less than a hundred bucks, it’s one of the least expensive chairs on our list.
Sure, it’s made from low-end materials, and neither the bonded leather nor the nylon base will stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use, but given its low price, none of those details matter much.
On the upside, you can order this chair in one of three colors: black, brown, or white, which gives this model some added aesthetic flexibility.
The bottom line then is that this is a basic, functional, comfortable chair that’s well-suited to shorter people. It’s certainly not best in class, but if all you need is a basic office chair for light to moderate daily use, buying this one will leave you plenty of money left over for other things, and there’s something to be said for that.
We provisionally recommend it for people on a budget and who aren’t looking for anything fancy.
Honorable Mention: Serta Hannah II
Recommended For: Anyone. Serta knows a lot about comfort and this microfiber upholstered design is exceptional.
This is the second of two models offered by Serta to make our short list, and the Hannah II won top honors in our recent roundup review of the best fabric-upholstered office chairs under $200.
It didn’t place higher here because of the intense competition, and the fact that it’s not as well-optimized for shorter people as some of the other models. It is nonetheless, a chair well worth considering.
Design and Features
Its 19” seat width is just outside the range of what we’d consider being a chair optimized for shorter folks, but it is exceptionally well-padded, and the seat height extension falls just inside the lines.
So, while this is a marginal case that may not work well for extremely short users, it’s well worth considering for people on the upper end of the petite range.
It’s got a full suite of ergonomic features including:
Upholstery
On top of that, it’s upholstered in microfiber fabric which is a joy to sit in, and given the generous amounts of padding, sitting in the chair almost feels like a hug. Put that together with the well-implemented ergonomic features, and it’s hard not to love this chair!
Even better, you can order it in a variety of colors, including:
Note that you can also order this chair with durably woven fabric upholstery, rather than microfiber. True, you give up some of the comfort, but you get a slightly more durable chair that can better withstand the rigors of heavy daily use.
For this one, we’d recommend taking careful measurements to make sure you’ll fit into the chair well, and if you’re planning to use it lightly to moderately, the microfiber option is the way to go. For people looking to buy a chair for heavy daily use, the woven fabric option would be the better choice in our view.
Finally, be aware that although this is a great model, one thing it doesn’t do is recline. It does rock slightly, but you won’t be able to lean way back and kick your feet up as you can in many other models. Even so, this is one of the most comfortable chairs for short people.
Other Notable Fabric/Leather Upholstered Alternatives
There is a certain amount of subjectivity to any “best of” list, and this one is no exception. That’s why we wanted to include the chairs we evaluated but didn’t quite rank high enough to make an appearance on our list of the best petite ergonomic chairs available today. That way, if none of the chairs in our top five are exactly what you’re looking for, you’ve got other options available! Here they are:
NBF Petite Faux Leather Office Chair
Recommended For: Shorter users who weigh 250 pounds or less, looking for a good chair for light to moderate daily use.
Part of the NBF Signature Series, this chair narrowly missed making our top five. It’s an amazing, surprisingly adjustable product, but before we get into its ergonomic features, let’s start by giving you a quick overview of the basics.
Chair Specifications
Ergonomic & Adjustable
The basic stats above don’t even begin to tell the story of this chair though. It’s got a suite of ergonomic and adjustable features that rival some of the entries on our top five list. These include:
Seat Design & Seat Cushion
Although the seat isn’t a waterfall design, it is sculpted and provides decent support. We’d hesitate to call this an ergonomic feature, or if so, it’s the weakest of the bunch, but the company did make some effort on this front as well.
In addition to well-implemented ergonomic features, the padding in this chair is a significant upgrade from standard block foam. This chair utilizes memory foam, which gives you a positively luxurious seating experience.
Upholstery
All of these are features you’d expect to find in a high-end product and had NBF paired those features with better upholstery and an aluminum or steel base; this chair would have certainly made the top five.
As it stands, the upholstery is faux leather which looks decent but will begin showing its age quickly, paired with an ordinary nylon base. Neither of these are capable of standing up to heavy daily usage.
That’s unfortunate because this really is a superb model, but in our view, the low-end materials make it something of a paper tiger.
It’s okay if you only plan to use your chair for a few hours a day, tops, but if you’re looking for something capable of standing up to intensive use, this is sadly not the model you want.
We recommend this chair, but only for light/moderate daily use.
Flash Furniture Microfiber High Backed Chair
Recommended For: Anyone who is 250 pounds or less, in the market for a chair designed for heavy daily use.
Although our top five lists are dominated by big, well-established brands, Flash Furniture has as many chairs featured in this roundup review as Herman Miller does, and more than both Serta or Steelcase, if you look at the top ten, and not just the final five. That’s a pretty amazing feat, given that it’s a small brand that’s not very well known.
The reason is simple: Flash Furniture is a good company, and they make surprisingly high-quality chairs. This one is no exception, and since it’s microfiber, you know that it’s going to be delightfully comfortable.
Basic Specifications
Our favorite aspect of this chair is the fact that it’s very well-padded. That, combined with the softness of microfiber makes it an absolute joy to sit in.
Colors
Even better, the company offers this model in a modest selection of colors, including:
Ergonomic Features
In terms of ergonomic features, the Flash Furniture Microfiber High Back has three excellent ones on offer, providing you with exceptional lumbar support, an ergonomic headrest, and a waterfall-edge style seat.
The stationary arms are well-padded and comfortable but are not ergonomically sculpted. The chair tilts to a maximum angle of 120 degrees, which isn’t best in class but should be sufficient for most potential buyers.
Honestly, though, people who gravitate to this model will do so because they want to maximize comfort. Details like maximum recline angle will only be a deal breaker for a tiny minority.
In terms of comfort, this chair compares favorably with the highest-ranking chairs on our list. In fact, if Flash Furniture had the same brand heft as Serta and Steelcase, this model would have appeared in the top five. It’s a tremendous value for the money and highly recommended.
Work Smart FL660-U42 (Office Star)
Recommended For: Anyone who doesn’t have a lot of money to spend, and who’s looking for a basic office chair for light to moderate daily use.
WorkSmart is another small, not well-known brand. You may have also seen their products sold under the “Office Star” brand. WorkSmart is a division of Office Star, but their products are sold interchangeably between both divisions, which has created some confusion.
In any case, the Work Smart/Office Star faux leather manager’s chair is a good alternate choice in this category, if none of the heavy hitters are exactly what you had in mind.
Chair Specifications
As you can see by the stats above, this chair is something of a rare find, and these figures, in particular, are exactly why we wanted to include it on our list.
Early on, we mentioned that the chairs we were most interested in were those with seat depths of 18” or less, and seat height adjustment ranges that started at 18” or less. This chair violates our own rules, having a 20” deep seat, so why did we include it?
Specifically, because everyone’s body shape and style are different, and the combination of the slightly wider than normal seat, paired with the slightly lower seat height (lowest setting) appeals to a segment of the market that’s small but still important.
If you’re a smaller person, but have longer legs than average, this chair will almost certainly hit the sweet spot for you, though it pays to take careful measurements before committing to a purchase.
Function
Regarding functionality, this is a pretty basic design. It’s got above average lumbar support and above-average head and neck support (this is a high-backed chair), but those are its only two ergonomic features.
Despite its appearance, the seat isn’t a waterfall-edge seat although it does a fair job at mimicking one, and the stationary arms are well-padded and comfortable, but not ergonomically designed, and although the chair rocks slightly, it doesn’t have a tilt range to speak of.
Color Options
Finally, this model is offered in three different colors: Charcoal, Black and Chocolate. Those are the best aspects of the chair, but there are two things to keep in mind about this model that may steer you in some other direction.
Upholstery
First, the upholstery is faux leather. While it looks nice, it’s not going to age well, and it won’t stand up to the rigors of heavy daily use. If you have cats, you can expect it to last about thirty minutes. Second, the base is nylon, which also isn’t designed to stand up well to heavy use.
Understand that we think this is a better than average chair, and for the right user, it could be a great computer chair for a short person, but the right user is someone who only plans on using this chair for a few hours a day. If you need something you can spend a whole day working in, this isn’t the model you want.
With those things in mind, we provisionally recommend it.
Boss Double Plus Mid Back
Boss Office Products isn’t a big, well-known brand, but they make surprisingly good office products, including a range of office chairs that will surprise you with their quality. Although this one didn’t make our list of finalists, if none of those chairs were exactly what you were looking for, this is a great option to consider. Let’s start by taking a quick look at the basics.
Chair Specifications
As you can see, based on the stats above, this is another one of those office chairs for small adults that just barely meets our selection criteria.
With that in mind, it pays to either try one of these out in the showroom before you buy or to take careful measurements to be sure the chair fits you well.
Assuming that it does, you’ll find that this is a surprisingly capable model. Granted, it’s not built to last in the same ways that our top picks are, but then, given the asking price, when it starts to show its age, it’s easy enough to get rid of it and buy a replacement.
Ergonomic Features
Concerning ergonomic features, this chair offers two: Excellent lumbar support and a waterfall-edge style seat. The arms are padded and comfortable, but not ergonomically sculpted or adjustable.
The chair can recline within a range of 90 to 120 degrees, which is not as broad as our top picks but should serve most people well enough. In addition to that, we find it to be a surprisingly attractive chair that will blend in well with most home or office décor schemes, a fact which is helped along by virtue of the fact that you can order it in either black or brown.
Normally, this is the part of the review where we talk about how faux leather is low quality, starts showing its age quickly and is ill-suited for long duration sitting. All of that’s true, but Boss has figured out a partial workaround where the last item is concerned.
They’ve built ventilated mesh side panels into both the seat and the seat back which helps to improve breathability. It’s not a perfect solution, but if you’ve shied away from leather chairs before because of the sweat issue, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the seating experience this model offers.
In our view, it’s the main reason to consider this model as an option – it gives you the elegant look of leather, without the major drawback.
That said, the upholstery is faux leather, and the base is nylon. This isn’t a chair that will stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use. It is, however, perfect for light to moderate daily use. If that’s your plan and what you need it for, this one deserves a second look.
Officient Compact Ergonomic Fabric Chair
Recommended For: Anyone weighing 250 pounds or less, looking for a chair for light to moderate daily use.
Officient is an off-brand that doesn’t get much attention, but this is a surprisingly good chair for the money.
Chair Specifications
Adjustability
It’s a surprisingly adjustable little chair, with the hallmark feature (and the main reason we think most people will consider this model) being the fact that it’s one of the least expensive chairs we’ve found that features a depth-adjustable seat.
Lumbar Support
The lumbar support is very good but falls just shy of being excellent, and the seat tries to be a waterfall-style, and almost succeeds. Even though the seat is imperfect ergonomically, it is exceptionally well padded and comfortable.
The armrests are height adjustable, but not ergonomically designed, and the chair is offered in two different fabric colors, burgundy or black.
Putting all of these elements together, we’d rate this chair as being excellent for short to medium duration daily use. If you need a chair for intensive daily use (say, more than 5 hours a day), the absence of a true waterfall-style seat and the lack of ergonomic armrests will leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed.
Still, depending on what your needs are, this could be an excellent choice, and it’s offered at a price that will leave you with money left over to get other things you’ve had on your wish list for a while. It’s an attractive design that blends in well with most home and office décor schemes. We provisionally recommend it.
Best Office Chair for Petite Person 2023 (Mesh)
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$2,199.00
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$1,619.99
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N/A
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Overall Dimensions:
28” x 27” x 42″ to 45″
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Overall Dimensions:
A: 34.25–38.5" H x 27.5–29.3" W x 27–27.5" D
B: 36.75–41.13" H x 28.3–30.4" W x 27.5–28.3" D C: 40–45.38" H x 28.3–31.6" W x 27.5–28.3" D |
Overall Dimensions:
26” x 24.5” x 37”
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Seat Width:
29.5″
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Seat Width:
A: 25.75″
B: 27″ C: 28.25″ |
Seat Width:
20”
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Seat Depth:
15” to 18”
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Seat Depth:
A: 16”
B: 17” C: 18.5” |
Seat Depth:
17.75”
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Chair Weight:
51 pounds
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Chair Weight:
A: 40 pounds
B: 41 pounds C: 43 pounds |
Chair Weight:
38 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
300 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
A: 300 pounds
B & C: 350 pounds |
Max. Supported Weight:
300 pounds
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Seat Height:
16″ to 20.5″
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Seat Height:
A: Range is 14.4” – 19.3”
B: Range is 15.8” – 20.8” C: Range is 16.8” – 22.8” |
Seat Height:
16” to 18”
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Warranty:
12 years
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Warranty:
12 years
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Warranty: |
Recline Range:
90 to 135 degrees
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Recline Range:
90 to 135 degrees
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Recline Range:
91, 101, and 124 degrees (3 settings)
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Pros:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Cons:
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Our Verdict:
Highly recommended to anyone who can afford it, especially power users who spend hours on end sitting in their chair.
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Our Verdict:
Still on the pricey side at full list price, but if the Embody is too much of a strain on your budget, this is an exceptional second choice. When you can find it on sale, it’s a tremendous value.
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Our Verdict:
It’s rare to say that a mesh chair is good looking, but this one is as beautiful as it is comfortable and adjustable. We recommend it.
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- 12-year warranty, amazingly adjustable, attractive in a futuristic way, and the only chair with its own spine!
- Expensive. Futuristic look might be off-putting to some.
B: 36.75–41.13" H x 28.3–30.4" W x 27.5–28.3" D
C: 40–45.38" H x 28.3–31.6" W x 27.5–28.3" D
B: 27″
C: 28.25″
B: 17”
C: 18.5”
B: 41 pounds
C: 43 pounds
B & C: 350 pounds
B: Range is 15.8” – 20.8”
C: Range is 16.8” – 22.8”
- 12-year warranty, tremendously adjustable, although not to the level of the Embody. Significantly less expensive than the Embody. One of the best office chairs with a short seat depth.
- Somewhat pricey.
- Stunningly attractive, delightfully adjustable, and backed by Herman Miller’s impressive 12-year warranty. One of the best office chairs for short legs.
- Somewhat pricey.
*While aesthetics is a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home or office décor schemes.
**Brand Reliability is a measure of the strength and longevity of the brand, which by extension, is a measure of the level of support you can expect.
Our Pick: Herman Miller Embody
Recommended For: Anyone, especially those who work long hours at the desk.
Herman Miller’s Embody chair is a fantastic piece of engineering that will blow you away. Granted, it’s expensive. You’ll pay more than a thousand dollars for the pleasure of owning one.
On the other hand, with the company’s impressive 12-year warranty, and given the vast amount of adjustability this chair brings to the table, it’s a piece of top-quality office equipment that every member of your household can use, and it’ll outlast just about everything else on the market today (except for other Herman Miller chairs, of course!).
Let’s take a closer look at the key, adjustable features here, starting with the seat height range. It spans from 16.5” on the low end, all the way up to 22” at maximum elevation, which means that this chair can accommodate just about everyone, provided you don’t exceed the chair’s 300-pound weight limit.
Adjustable Seat Depth
It’s also one of the few chairs on the market that features an adjustable seat depth, allowing you to set the depth between 15” and 18”. This (seat depth) is the biggest problem most shorter people have when trying to find a chair that fits them.
The dilemma is, if the seat is too deep, and you sit all the way back to get lumbar support, your feet wind up off the floor, and your legs will suffer for it. If you sit on the edge of the seat, you can usually keep your feet on the floor, but then you lose any back support. You won’t have to worry about those types of issues here.
Adjustable Armrests
It gets better because the armrests are fully adjustable, too. Not only can you pivot them in place, but you can also move the arms in closer, narrowing the space between them.
On top of that, the height of the armrests can be independently adjusted, and the chair has a tilt range that spans 90 to 135 degrees.
Articulated Backrest
Best of all, and the thing that makes this chair stand heads and shoulders apart from the crowd is the fact that the Embody has its own spine.
Yes, you read that correctly. The back of the chair contains an articulated series of “vertebrae” that are designed to move with you as you sit in the chair. It responds to your body shape and your movement, giving you a simply unparalleled level of support.
If you want a more in-depth look at everything this chair can do, we encourage you to check out our Steelcase Leap vs. Herman Miller Embody vs. Aeron review.
We highly recommend this model, but given its price, would encourage all prospective buyers to try it out in the showroom before committing to the purchase. It must be sat in to be fully appreciated, but you’ll love it! We regard it as one of the best ergonomic office chairs for a short person on the market today.
Runner-Up: Herman Miller Aeron
Recommended For: Anyone. A solid, venerable ergonomic chair.
The Aeron is the second of three Herman Miller’s products to appear on this list of finalists. This model has been a part of the Herman Miller family for more than two decades and has recently been redesigned “from the casters up” to take advantage of all the things the company has learned about ergonomic design since the model was first introduced.
The Aeron is the predecessor to the Embody. As such, although it’s a brilliant design, it is not quite the equal of the more recent design and doesn’t offer anything in the way of bleeding-edge ergonomic technology. The good news is that it’s a lot less expensive, too.
Notable Features
Here are the key features to take note of in this design:
Configurations
Also note that the Aeron comes in three different size configurations that the company denotes as “A,” “B,” and “C.”
The “A” size chair is one of the best ergonomic office chairs for petites, and the height adjustment range we mentioned above is taken from the stats of that chair. If that range is inadequate, it’s well worth checking out the B or C models to find a better fit for you.
Finally, the Aeron is offered in a modest selection of color schemes, so you do have some ability to customize the chair, making it a better fit for whatever home or office décor scheme you have.
For a more in-depth look at the Aeron, we refer you to our comparison review, where we put the Aeron, the Embody, and the Steelcase Leap next to each other to see how they fare.
Value Pick: Herman Miller Sayl
Recommended for: Anyone under 6’ tall, who doesn’t mind a chair with a low seat back, assuming the price doesn’t scare you off.
Herman Miller utterly dominates this part of our review, claiming three of the top five spots with their amazing Sayl chair. Inspired by the Golden Gate Bridge, the Sayl sports a one-of-a-kind look that makes it a guaranteed conversation starter. There aren’t many mesh office chairs that you can say genuinely look great, but this design is the exception to that rule.
Key Features
It’s much more than just a pretty office enhancement though; it’s also a seriously good office chair that’s backed by Herman Miller’s impressive 12-year warranty (as are all of the company’s products). In our view, here’s what you’ll like best about the Sayl, besides its gorgeous aesthetic:
Color Options
Finally, the chair is offered in a stunning variety of colors, including:
And the frame can be ordered in either black or white. In short, then, it’s a great looking chair you can customize to blend seamlessly with any home or office décor scheme.
For additional information on this design, we refer you to our more in-depth review of this chair.
Ergohuman Mid-Back Mesh Chair
Recommended For: Anyone. The Ergohuman Mid-Back Mesh Chair is a masterful design that just barely qualifies as a chair for shorter users.
The Ergohuman Mid-Back is a remarkable design. The main reason that it didn’t rank more highly on our list is that it just barely meets our qualifications as being suitable for petite users. Even so, barely still counts, and our list wouldn’t be complete if we didn’t give this chair its due.
As we said, this chair only just qualifies as a petite model, with a seat height adjustment range that starts at 18” and goes to 22”. You’ll want to try one out in a showroom or take careful measurements before committing to a purchase. It’s not as expensive as our top picks, but it’s still a pretty pricey chair.
Warranty
You’re paying for world-class quality, however. All Ergohuman chairs are backed by a lifetime warranty, so if this model fits you, it’s literally the last office chair you’ll ever need.
Customization Options
The coolest thing about Ergohuman chairs is the fact that they’re modular. Each chair can be customized to suit your specific needs.
You can, for instance, order an attachable, articulated mesh headrest to give you another exceptionally well-implemented ergonomic feature, on top of the waterfall-style seat, the ergonomic arms, and the two-segment seat back that provides both lumbar and mid-back support to the person sitting in it.
Add-On Features
Other enhancements include an ottoman that pulls double duty as a low work table and a laptop stand that attaches to the chair. The company also sells replacement parts for every component of the chair. It was designed so that if any element wears out, you can simply drop in a new part and keep right on working.
Configurations
Every aspect of the chair can be adjusted, even the back height and the chair can be ordered in a variety of color configurations, including:
The direct link to the company’s website for this model is here: Ergohuman.
If you’re looking for an endlessly customizable chair that will last you a lifetime and assuming your measurements make this one a good fit for you, it belongs on your shortlist.
Honorable Mention: Flash Furniture Mid-Back
Recommended For: Anyone who needs a budget-friendly office chair
Given that every other spot on our top-five list in the mesh category is dominated by big, well-established brands, the fact that Flash Furniture won a spot in their company might seem surprising, if not outright shocking.
After all, the chairs this little model is competing with cost hundreds, and in some cases, more than a thousand bucks, and this one can be had for about a hundred. How is it possible that this chair can hold a candle to those?
It’s a fair question, and the simple truth is that while Flash Furniture doesn’t have the brand heft that Herman Miller and Ergohuman have, the company makes astonishingly good furniture. Sure, it’s not as adjustable as the chairs offered by the big boys, but for the money, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better value.
Key Features
The Flash Furniture Mid-back has the basics well covered, with a 17” deep seat (19” wide) and a short person-friendly height adjustment range that starts at 17.5” and goes up to 22.5”.
Unlike the other chairs in our list of finalists that offer modularity, stunning aesthetics and high degrees of adjustability, this model sticks to the basics, but it handles those basics very well. You’ll only find three ergonomic features here: A waterfall-style seat, sculpted, ergonomic armrests, and lumbar support.
The height of the armrests is adjustable, but none of the other ergonomic features are, and the chair has a more limited tilt/recline range than the other chairs in our top five.
Color Options
On the plus side, this model is offered in a modest selection of colors, including:
The seat cushion is moderately well-padded, featuring two inches of block foam with breathable mesh fabric stretched over it.
If you don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend, and you’re looking for a great mesh chair designed with shorter people in mind, this is the one to get. Sure, it doesn’t come with a 12-year, or lifetime warranty, but given the modest price you can pick it up for, honestly, who cares? This is a great little chair. You won’t be disappointed.
Other Notable Mesh Alternatives
If you didn’t find exactly what you were looking for in our top five mesh office chair picks, we wanted to round out the list and show you the contenders that didn’t quite make our cut. The perfect chair for you just might be waiting for you in this section.
Modway Edge Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a budget-friendly ergonomic office chair.
This unassuming model, offered by Modway, only narrowly missed earning a spot in our list of finalists. It’s a great product offered by a surprisingly good company. Granted, Modway can’t provide the same level of service and support that bigger brands can, but they make remarkably good office furniture, and this chair is a great example of that.
Chair Specifications
Regarding basic stats, here’s a quick rundown of the chair:
Colors
One of the coolest things about this chair and the main thing that sets it apart from the competition is the fact that you can order it in a variety of colors, including:
It’s a decent-looking unassuming design, and that fact, combined with the color options means that it will blend in well with virtually any home or office décor scheme. That’s a good thing.
Key Features
Concerning functionality, it’s got three noteworthy ergonomic features: A waterfall-style seat, lumbar support, and ergonomically sculpted armrests that flip up when you don’t want or need them.
Unfortunately, none of the ergonomic features are adjustable, but that’s not much of a surprise given the chair’s modest price.
Good for Multiple Users
The Edge’s impressive maximum weight limit coupled with its seat height adjustment range makes it a great choice if you have several people in your household who intend to use the chair because it can accommodate users ranging from about 5’1” to perhaps 6’3”, depending on the length of the user’s legs.
Seat
The only thing we don’t like about this model is the fact that the seat, although generously padded, is vinyl covered.
Vinyl is a poor substitute for leather that doesn’t hold up well over time, starts showing its age quickly, and makes you sweat when you sit on it for extended periods.
Combining it with mesh is simply a bad fit because mesh is breathable and designed to allow for comfortable, sweat-free, long-duration sitting. The seat works directly against that, and in our view, Modway and their customers would be well-served by switching to a mesh fabric upholstery for the seat.
This would allow them to retain the generous padding but provide a level of breathability that would complement the seatback, rather than work against it. This fact, more than anything else, is what kept the Edge out of our top five.
Even so, it’s a surprisingly attractive, comfortable chair, and if you only plan to use the chair lightly to moderately, it will serve you very well indeed.
Flash Furniture High Back Office Chair
This is not the first time a chair from Flash Furniture has found its way into one of our roundup reviews, and in fact, a close cousin of this chair earned an honorable mention, making our short list of top contenders. Flash Furniture is a plucky little company that makes great furniture, and if they had more brand heft, their products would easily be stealing top spots from the bigger, established brands.
As things stand, they’re constantly nipping at the heels of the big boys, and sometimes even stealing the spotlight. This model didn’t make our top five in the mesh category, but it came close, and if our top picks aren’t exactly what you’re looking for, we highly recommend this chair. Let’s start by taking a look at its basic stats:
Chair Specifications
Two things kept this model out of our top five.
The first is that Flash Furniture doesn’t have the brand heft that our top contenders bring to the table. That means you can’t expect the same level of post-sales service and support.
Second, this is not what you’d call an attractive chair. The designers obviously opted to focus almost exclusively on function and didn’t pay much attention to form. It’s not outright ugly, but few people will be wowed by its appearance.
Functionality
Concerning functionality, however, there’s a lot to like here. Not only can the seat be lowered to make it suitable for shorter folks, but the upper end of that range makes it a good fit for taller people as well, so if you’re looking for a chair that can be used by several people in the same household, this is a great option.
Ergonomic Features
The Flash Furniture Mid-Back offers four different ergonomic features, all of them well-implemented:
As long as you don’t push too close to the chair’s upper weight limit (250 pounds), given the presence of mesh upholstery throughout, you can expect this chair to stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use.
If you do begin to approach this model’s upper weight limit, the nylon base may not withstand heavy use for very long but should be fine for moderate daily usage. This is an unexpectedly strong design, offered by a great company. It will serve you very well.
Alera Aleet 4017 Etros Petite Office Chair
Recommended For: Anyone interested in a low-cost, highly adjustable mixed mesh/fabric office chair. It’s designed for petite users, but versatile enough to appeal to a broad swath of the market.
This is a surprisingly adjustable, surprisingly great petite ergonomic office chair. Had it been offered by a brand with more heft, it’s easy to imagine that it could have made our short list.
Chair Specifications
Here are the basic stats for the chair:
Notable Features
There are several surprisingly cool features about this chair. In no particular order, they are:
Things to Consider
Honestly, we’d only change two things about this chair: We’d add a waterfall-style seat and give it padded, ergonomic armrests, which would give it a trio of excellent ergonomic features.
Even without those things though, this is a great chair, offered at a great price. If none of the other options you’ve read about so far are right for you, this would be a great option to consider.
Note that the controls will take some getting used to. While many models are opting for a more streamlined approach, using one, or perhaps two levers to control all of the chair’s functions, this one uses three different levers. Until you get used to reaching down and feeling for the “right” one to control or adjust whatever feature you want to change, expect that you’ll grab onto the wrong one!
Space Seating AirGrid
Recommended For: Taller users who weigh 250 pounds or less, looking for a chair for light to moderate daily use.
With a height adjustment range of 18” to 23” this one may not work for extremely short people, but if you’re short to average-sized (say, 5’3” to about 6’2”), this range, combined with its 18” seat depth (19.5” wide) should serve you well enough.
Two things set the AirGrid apart and make it well worth considering.
One, it’s super easy to assemble. Where most budget-priced furniture takes 30 minutes or slightly longer to put together, you’ll have this one assembled and ready to go in 10-15 minutes.
Second, it’s made in Taiwan and is surprisingly durable. Although the maximum recommended weight limit for the chair is 250 pounds, we suspect it could probably stand up reasonably well if you exceeded that (although we don’t recommend it!).
Ergonomic Features
Where ergonomic features are concerned, you’ll find a well-implemented, though non-adjustable lumbar support and a sculpted seat that’s reasonably well padded, although we wish this design featured a waterfall-style seat, which would have given it two very good ergonomic features. Sadly, that’s not the case.
The height of the armrests of this model are adjustable at the touch of a button, which provides a nice, unexpected benefit not normally found in chairs offered at this price range, though again, we wish the armrests had been ergonomically sculpted, even if it added a few bucks to the price of the chair.
Upholstery
The main thing we don’t like about this one is the seat. For whatever reason, Space Seating decided to upholster the seat with leather. In our view, this is a bad move. Leather and mesh don’t mix well. The mesh seatback maximizes breathability, which supports long-duration sitting, but the leather seat will make you sweat, and works against the idea of using this chair for long periods.
Worse, the seat upholstery is “Eco Leather” (read: fake) and does not age well. Expect it to start peeling and cracking after no more than two years of use. Less than that if you use the chair for several hours a day.
Limited Tilt / Rocking Motion
Finally, this isn’t a big deal, but it’s something to make a note of. This model doesn’t have much range of motion in terms of tilt or rocking. If you’re looking for a chair, you can recline back in, put your feet up and relax; this isn’t the chair you want.
Even so, this is a great option for those who don’t need to be in the chair for several hours a day and are looking for something with a splash of elegance. The leather seat admittedly gives this modest little chair a classier look than it would have without it.
Based on the above, it’s easy to see why this model didn’t make our short list, but for the right user, it could be an excellent option.
Note: The armrests can be left off of this model if you’d prefer to have a chair with no arms.
Aurora Petite Mesh Office Chair
Recommended For: Any shorter, smaller person on a budget, looking for a decent office chair.
The little Aurora, offered by cubicles.com rounds out our collection of notable mesh office chairs designed for short people. It’s cute, petite, and delightfully low-priced, making it a great option for people on a budget.
Chair Specifications
Here are the basic stats for the chair:
This is a basic, but a perfectly functional little chair. It only has one ergonomic feature (lumbar support), but it is very well implemented and helps make the chair more comfortable than you might think, given the modest amount of padding in the seat (just 2” thick). It doesn’t recline, but it does rock slightly.
Color Options
Our favorite aspect of the Aurora (aside from its extremely low price) is the fact that it’s offered in a variety of bright, fun colors, including:
Features & Function
If you’re on the lighter side of this model’s 250-pound weight limit, then the nylon base should hold up fairly well to periods of heavy use, and the breathable mesh seat back will make sitting in the chair for hours on end a reasonably comfortable experience.
The only thing we don’t really like about it is the arms. They’re cute, but unfortunately, they’re neither padded nor ergonomically designed.
Although the photos make it look as though they’re adjustable, we can confirm that they are not. We would love to have seen 1-2 additional ergonomic features, perhaps the armrests and a waterfall-style seat, but at the price this chair is offered at, we can’t really call those complaints.
The bottom line is that this is a decent chair, offered at a fair price, and it’s downright cute. There’s a lot to be said for that.
Best Office Chairs for Small Adults in 2023 Conclusion
And that brings us to the end of this roundup review. We absolutely stand by our top picks in the two categories of the best office chair for a short person and feel that the Steelcase Leap and the Herman Miller Embody are the very best office chairs for short adults in 2023.
That said, we readily admit that any list like this is going to have a subjective element to it, so our top picks might not be the best choice for you, which is why we made sure to provide a broad cross-section of alternate options. We feel certain that somewhere in this review, you’ll find your next office chair.
Shorter, smaller people have very specific needs where office furniture is concerned, and we understand how frustrating it can be to find a great work or gaming chair, given the dominance of massive pieces of furniture. We hope that this roundup review will help streamline and simplify your search, even if you find yourself disagreeing with our top picks.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Steelcase, Official Brand Website.
- Ergohuman, Official Brand Website.
- Herman Miller, Official Brand Website.
- Serta, Official Brand Website.
- AmazonBasics, Official Brand Website.
- NBF, Official Brand Website.
- Flash Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Boss Chair, Official Brand Website.
- Officient Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Modway, Official Brand Website.
- Alera, Official Brand Website.
- Office Star, Official Brand Website.
- Cubicles, Official Brand Website.
- How Much Does an Office Task Chair Cost?, Office Interiors.
- 6 Tips for Picking the Right Office Chair for Your Employees, Office Designs.