Best Office Chair for Short Person Review

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.

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.

As good as those features are, however, 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 all the way 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, which means that it provides an excellent seating experience for you while being kind to the planet.  That’s win-win!

Upholstery

Like the Leap Chair, you can order the Amia with three different upholstery options:  Standard fabric, breathable mesh fabric, 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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.