In a Nutshell:
The Flash Furniture Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair is a capable, inexpensive little chair. Recommended for anyone up to about 6’2” if you’re lightly built enough to meet the chair’s modest 250-pound weight limit.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
3.6/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Anyone up to about 6’2” if you’re lightly built enough to meet the chair’s modest 250-pound weight limit.
Are you in the market for a new office chair? Are you on a tight budget without a ton of money to spend? If you answered yes to either of those questions and you’re looking for something basic and inexpensive that gets the job done, then you’ll like what you see in this review.
Flash Furniture isn’t one of the Titans of the office furniture industry, but they make consistently good furniture. Our roundup reviews often mention them, where their products regularly steal the spotlight from much bigger, more established brands. Click here to read about their other products.
The Flash Furniture Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair is a good example of their work. It’s well designed, basic, doesn’t try to do too much, and even manages a pleasant surprise. What’s not to like about that?
In the following sections, we’ll tell you everything this little chair can do and quickly point out its weaknesses. This isn’t a perfect chair, but it might be perfect for you, depending on your needs. Let’s jump right in and take a closer look!
Key Features of the Flash Furniture Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair
Chair Specifications
Let’s start by closely examining the core statistics defining the Flash Furniture Mid-Back Vinyl Swivel Task Chair. Here they are:
A couple of things jump out at us right away when we look at these dimensions. First, the maximum supported weight paints this as a chair for average-sized folk, or taller people with light builds. The seat height range supports this idea, as it strays into Big and Tall territory. It’s got the height to accommodate tall users but lacks the robust frame to support big ones.
Second, and another indication that this chair wasn’t designed for bigger folk, check out that tiny seat width! Before you purchase this one, you’ll want to take careful measurements to verify that you’ll fit properly into it.
If your measurement reveals that this chair is a poor fit, don’t worry. In this segment of the office furniture market, there are lots of options to choose from.
Available Colors
The chair is designed along purely conventional lines, and you shouldn’t have any special problems blending it in seamlessly with whatever your home or office décor scheme might be. Even better, this model is offered in various fun colors, making that task even easier. You can pick from:
We’re not huge fans of the quilted design, but if you like it, you’ll have one more reason to love this little chair.
Adjustability and Comfort
Aesthetics aside, let’s get into the details and talk about what the Flash Furniture Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair can actually do. As you might expect, the answer is not much, given its selling price. It’s built on rolling casters, so you can move around while sitting in the chair. And, of course, the presence of those casters, coupled with the chair’s light weight, makes it easy to relocate from one room to another.
It also swivels and can be adjusted in height. That’s it. The armrests are fixed in their positions, and the chair does not rock or recline. This is a bare-bones task chair that offers basic functionality.
Having said that, the chair does offer one surprise. It has a single, well-implemented ergonomic feature: a waterfall-edge style seat.
We love it and honestly hadn’t expected to see any ergonomic features. What’s great about the company’s inclusion of that one, in particular, is that if you plan on spending several hours a day in the chair, the seat design will make it more comfortable. You won’t have to worry as much about your legs falling asleep on you. It’s also a good fit if you suffer from poor circulation in your lower extremities.
Comfort-wise, the chair is only modestly padded. As a task chair, it’s not really meant for eight or more hours a day of constant sitting. If you only need a chair for shorter stints, or if you have an active job that sees you sitting for short periods of an hour or two, then up and moving around for a while before returning to your seat, this is ideal.
If you’re looking for something designed to stand up to the rigors of heavy daily use, this isn’t the chair you want for the following reasons:
That’s not to say this is a bad chair! On the contrary – it’s a very good chair for the right user.
Assembly is Required (But Help is Available!)
As with most office furniture, if you order the Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair, it will arrive at your door in a large box, and you’ll have to put it together before using it. Interestingly, an expert assembly service is available for this model!
Granted, if you order the service, you’ll wind up paying almost as much for it as you do for the chair itself, so it’s probably not worth it for this model, but interestingly, it’s offered. If you’d rather not be bothered with the assembly, you can outsource that if you like (and are willing to pay the fee).
If you opt to put the chair together yourself, though, you’ll find things pretty straightforward. The instructions fall short of stellar, but they’re clear enough that you shouldn’t have any problems, and everything you need to complete the assembly comes with the chair itself.
If you’re doing it entirely independently, expect the process to take about thirty minutes from start to finish. If you have someone to assist when the chair arrives, the two of you can probably knock it out in twenty minutes or so.
Pros and Cons of the Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair
There’s nothing bad to say about this chair. It is exactly what it looks like a very basic, no-frills task chair. If that’s what you’re looking for, this is one of the better ones for the money. If you want something that offers a variety of advanced or cutting-edge features, this isn’t the chair you’re looking for.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to set expectations when shopping for furniture like this. This chair isn’t going to make your back feel better magically. It doesn’t feature bleeding-edge ergonomic technology, and it’s not loaded with features.
It’s a basic task chair. It’s reasonably well-padded, rolls and swivels, and moves up and down. The designers even managed to fit in one basic ergonomic feature, a waterfall-edge style seat, but that’s it.
In our view, the ideal user for the Flash Furniture Mid-Back Quilted Vinyl Swivel Task Chair is someone who:
The more these apply to you, the happier you’ll be with this model.
For its price, it’s a tremendous value, but it’s important not to expect too much from a little chair like this. If you’re on a budget and looking for a decent seating solution, this model is above average. We recommend it.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
- Flash Furniture, Official Brand Website.
- Seat Depth Adjustments for Your Office Chair, Verywell Health.
- Stroll Around the Office to Restore Blood Flow to the Legs, Health24.
- 50 Home Office Design Ideas That Will Inspire Productivity, Architectural Digest.
- Office Ergonomics: What it is, Why it Matters & What You Can Do About It!, Office Interiors.