Herman Miller Mirra Chair vs Aeron Review 2024

Are you in the market for a high-end office chair that’s built to last? Are you interested in a model that’s offered by a great company and sports tons of cutting-edge ergonomic technology? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then you’re going to love what you read in this—our Herman Miller Mirra vs Aeron review.

We’ll say right up front that this was a tough review to put together because these chairs are incredibly evenly matched in terms of capability and performance, but after taking an in-depth look at both models, we ultimately have to give the top honors to the mighty Aeron.

We will note, however, that given how close the overall scores are, and given the importance of personal taste and preference, it could easily go the other direction. So if you read this review and reach a different conclusion, that’s completely fair.

In the sections that follow, we’ll step you through what both of these chairs have to offer, so you can decide for yourself. Do you agree with our conclusion or is the Mirra the better choice for you? Read on, and let’s take a closer look!

Herman Miller Mirra vs Aeron Review — Basic Overview

Right off the bat, this is a tough section to judge because tastes and preferences vary. The bottom line is that aesthetics matter, and both of these chairs make a great first impression.

Herman Miller has more than a century’s worth of experience designing furniture, and it shows. These are clearly two well-thought-out and well-executed designs.

The best way to sum it up would be this: the Aeron offers a classic, iconic office chair look, while the Mirra offers a sleeker and more modern look.

If you want an office chair that will blend seamlessly into whatever room you put it in and tend to fade politely into the background, then the Aeron is the chair for you. If you’re looking for a bolder design that makes more of a statement, then you’re going to gravitate to the Mirra.

It’s also worth mentioning that both chairs are highly customizable, though the Mirra does win in this category. There are more decisions a prospective buyer can make on the front end, adding or changing a greater number of individual features, and the Mirra offers more in terms of color selection.

The Aeron takes a modular approach. This model is offered in three variants (A, B, and C), which primarily define the size of the chair and its supported weight limit—model A only supports 300 pounds and is designed with smaller, lighter folk in mind, while B and C both support up to 350 pounds and are built for progressively larger folk.

While the Aeron’s color selection is more modest, that’s not really a surprise, given its more classic/iconic appearance.

Overall, the Aeron’s approach works better if the chair is going to be used by a single individual, and the Mirra’s works better if the chair will be shared by multiple family members or people in the same office.

Although we do like the sleek, modern look of the Mirra, our sense of the market is that slightly more people in the market for a great office chair have a preference for the classic/iconic look, so we give this section of the comparison review to the Aeron, but only by a nose, and again, with the understanding that it very much depends on what you’re looking for in a chair.

Herman Miller Mirra vs Aeron Review — By The Numbers

Aesthetics and color selection will only take us so far, however. To really understand what these chairs bring to the table, we need numbers, so that’s next.

Note that both of these chairs have stool variants, but these are outside the bounds of this review. Here, we’ll be focusing exclusively on the chair chassis of each. With that in mind, here are the raw numbers that drive and define the Mirra chair and the Aeron:

These numbers are really close, and in both cases, we regard them as excellent across the board. Both chairs offer three variations on seat height, with the Aeron sitting slightly higher on its maximum height setting, which is a nod to taller people with longer legs. Note too that the Aeron’s seat is an inch wider, which serves as a nod to folk with slightly wider hips.

The Aeron is the heavier chair, so it’s going to feel more substantial, but the Mirra, being lighter, is easier to move around. There’s no good way to judge this section because each person’s needs are going to be different. We rate the two chairs as being tied, going strictly by the numbers.

Mirra 2 vs Aeron Remastered — Adjustability and Ergonomic Features

This is another incredibly tough section to judge because there are few companies in the office chair furniture business that know more about ergonomic design than Herman Miller, and the design teams behind these two great models put a ton of high-value ergonomic tech into these chairs.

In terms of the armrests, the Mirra comes out slightly ahead for overall adjustability because the Mirra’s armrests are truly 4D adjustable. You can raise or lower them. You can make them wider or narrower, or move them backward and forward, and you can even change the angle at which they’re sitting relative to the seat.

That’s incredible, and it gives you more customization and personalization options than you’ll find on the Aeron, but not by much.

Where the Mirra’s armrests are 4D adjustable, the Aeron’s are “only” 3D. You still have lots of options; you just don’t wind up with quite as many as you’ve got on the Mirra.

In terms of lumbar support, the Mirra offers two options: the TriFlex back or the Butterfly back, while the Aeron only offers the PostureFit SL technology.

Now it’s true that both of the back options on the Mirra were inspired by PostureFit technology, but by design, they were engineered as lower-cost alternatives, which is why in most configurations, the Aeron is slightly—and sometimes significantly—more expensive than the Mirra. 

Yes, it is possible to get a stripped-down Aeron that’s cheaper, but overall, the Aeron is the more expensive chair, and we feel that its ergonomic features are slightly more robust and better implemented. That’s not to say that the Mirra is a slouch when it comes to ergonomics—it isn’t! 

The Butterfly back, in particular, is amazing and wraps you in a cocoon of ergonomic support that you’ll love. Overall though, unless you’re specifically looking for a chair with the most adjustable armrests you can imagine, the Aeron is the slightly better choice here, in our view.

It’s close, though, so close that it could easily go the other way, depending on exactly what you’re looking for in your next and possibly last—since these chairs are built to go the distance—office chair.

Herman Miller Mirra Chair vs Aeron — The Ordering Process

This will be a relatively short section, but for the sake of completeness, when comparing the Herman Miller Aeron chair vs Mirra 2, we want to at least touch on this, and once more, we give the ease of ordering to the Aeron by a nose.

This is based almost entirely on the fact that the Aeron has three different model variants—A, B, and C. You pick the one that’s the best fit for you based on your measurements compared to those of the chair, and most of your ordering work is done.

Sure, you’ve got a couple of other decisions to make, but the key decision is embedded in your choice of the A, B, or C variant.

The ordering experience is very different where the Mirra is concerned.

Your first decision there is the type of back you want. That choice does influence a number of other factors in the chair, but even saying that, you’ve still got a number of individual feature decisions to make as you work your way closer to checking out.

Note that this only applies if you’re ordering directly from the manufacturer’s website. If you order on Amazon, it’s about the same for both chairs because most vendors sell pre-configured chairs, so…you pick from the variants and features they’re offering, and you proceed to checkout.

Once more, though, it comes down to what you’re looking for in an office chair. The big strength of the Mirra (reflected in the ordering process) is greater choice and flexibility. Not only do you get more color options, but this chair is designed to serve multiple users better. When you buy an Aeron, you buy it with one user in mind and make your selections accordingly.

Pros and Cons of Herman Miller Mirra Chair vs Aeron

If you’ve read to this point, you may still be on the fence and not quite sure which of these chairs is better.

We totally understand that because, in truth, they’re both so exceptional that it’s hard to pick.

If we had to summarize, we’d say this:

In terms of weaknesses, neither chair has any when you look at them from a technical point of view. Whichever model you get, it’s going to serve you well, and it’s going to last for years. The biggest drawback is the price. Both of these chairs are expensive, though the price does vary depending on exactly which features you order.

On the plus side, part of the reason it’s hard to do a head-to-head Herman Miller Mirra 2 vs Aeron comparison is that, ultimately, they’re built using two different design paradigms.

It’s like comparing a Chow Chow and a Boxer in terms of dog breeds. They’re both excellent dogs, but the Chow is a different sort of animal. It’s a one-owner dog. If you have kids or other pets, the Chow is a poor choice for you because the Chow wants to be your everything. It wants to be the center of your world.

On the other hand, if you have kids or there are several people in your house who love dogs, the Boxer is an amazing choice because Boxers love people. They’ll happily play with just about anyone.

The Chow is like the Aeron chair, and the Boxer is like the Mirra. If you’re buying an office chair just for your personal use, then the Aeron is probably going to serve you (slightly) better in the long run. If you live in a busy household and there will be several people using your chair, then the Mirra will probably serve you (slightly) better.

Herman Miller Mirra vs Aeron Review Conclusion

The simple truth is that there’s no easy way to compare the Herman Miller Aeron remastered vs Mirra 2. Both of these are great chairs, and both can easily be the perfect office chair for the right user.

The “right user” varies a bit depending on which model you’re talking about, but overall, we stand by our assessment that if we have to pick one over the other, we feel the Aeron is the better chair, but not by much.

The real question isn’t which one we like better, though; it is which of these is the best fit for you. Do you agree with our assessment or does your heart belong to the Mirra?

Other Options To Consider

If you’ve read to this point and you’re not sure that either of these is the right chair for you, here are a couple of other options you may want to consider:

Steelcase Leap

Steelcase is the only other office furniture vendor we’ve given a perfect five-star rating to, and in many ways, the Steelcase Leap is the final word in office chairs. It is the chair that every other company tries to beat. It is, simply put, the gold standard.

If you like the chairs we just talked about but are looking for even more, then you want a Leap, even if you don’t know it yet. It’s expensive but, in our view, worth every penny and probably the closest thing to the perfect office chair you’ll ever find.

Herman Miller Embody

At some point, we may do a three-way review comparing the Aeron vs Mirra 2 vs Embody. Like this one though, that would be a tough review indeed because just as the Aeron and the Mirra are very different from each other in terms of design philosophy, the Embody brings an even different design perspective to the table.

Without giving too much away, this is a great chair for gamers or anybody who spends extended periods of time in their chair. As with all of Herman Miller’s top-end products, this one features an assortment of cutting-edge ergonomic features, and one of the many things that sets the Embody apart is the fact that this chair has its own spine.

Yes, you read that correctly, and it’s one of the things that gives the chair a distinctive look that you’ll either love or despise. Either way though, it’s definitely worth a look!

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Official Manufacturer Support

References and Resources:

• Herman Miller, Official Brand Website.
• Office Ergonomics: Deficiencies in Computer Workstation Design, National Center for Biotechnology Information.
• The Home Office: Ergonomic Lessons From the “New Normal”, Sage Journals.
• How to Improve Posture For a Healthy Back, Cleveland Clinic.