In a Nutshell:
This is an extremely low-priced, basic office chair ideal for people on a budget. The Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Chair is 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.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
3.8/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
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.
Are you low on funds?
Do you need an office chair, not for hours and hours of endless use but for light to moderate daily use? A reasonably attractive and comfortable casual office chair without breaking the bank?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then you might want to consider the Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Chair.
This is a relatively unknown brand. One of the endless legions of brands importing their wares from China for resale here. As such, this is not, and will never be, a great chair. It’s lightly constructed and made from relatively low-quality materials. Yet, despite those limitations, it somehow manages to shine a little, which is no small feat for a value-priced chair like this. Click here to read our Office Star chair reviews.
We don’t say that to discourage you, only to set expectations. You’re not going to find a high-end chair at this price. It’s not going to be feature-rich and built with world-class components. That chair doesn’t exist.
This one does, however, and it’s a cut above what we were expecting to find. If you’re curious, read on, and we’ll tell you about it. Even if you decide this isn’t your chair, we think you’ll be as pleasantly surprised as we were.
Key Features of the Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Chair
About the Office Star Brand
As we said at the start, this is a tiny off-brand with no real brand heft or recognition. So, if you buy one of these, don’t expect anything like post-sales support. Then again, given the extremely low price of the Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather chair, if something goes wrong with it, it would probably be more cost-effective to toss it out and replace it.
Aesthetics & Design
At first glance, the designers cared a bit about aesthetics because the FL660 tries gamely to look stylish. It doesn’t quite get there, but the designers, who may not know anything about American tastes, deserve a nod of recognition for gamely trying. It’s not an unattractive chair, but it falls just short of the classy, refined look the designers have sought.
Color Options
It’s good-looking enough that you won’t have any problems getting it to blend in fairly well with most home décor schemes. Even better, the company offers the chair in three colors: Black, Grey, and Chocolate, so you’ve got some options there that make blending it with your existing décor even easier.
Chair Specifications
Let’s look at the basic stats that define this model to get a better sense of it:
As you can see, this is a lightly constructed chair that doesn’t support a ton of user weight. The designers seemed to understand this, and they selected a gas lift for the chair that allows the seat height to be positioned as low as 16” and as high as 20”.
At the lowest setting, this is a great chair for shorter users. At the highest setting, it’s good for users about 6’1” or 6’2” in height, provided they’re of light to medium build.
Upholstery
Before we move on to features, we have to say a few words about the upholstery. It’s PU. It looks like leather but isn’t as strong or as durable. If you use this chair lightly to moderately every day, you can expect the upholstery to last about a year before it starts peeling and cracking.
If you insist on using the Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Chair heavily daily, the upholstery will probably start showing its age in about six or eight months. It’s just not designed to last long-term, and the frame isn’t durable enough to warrant having it reupholstered when that starts to happen. You’re better off just buying a replacement.
In addition to being less durable, PU also lacks breathability. The more time you spend in the chair, the hotter and sweatier you’ll get. This fact also marks the design as best suited for casual (light to moderate) use. You won’t be comfortable if you try to spend the whole day sitting in it.
Comfort
There’s enough block foam padding for short-ish durations to offer a comfortable seating experience. However, note that the Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather chair is not blessed with extraordinary padding either. So, again, the longer you sit in it without getting up to take a break, the less comfortable you’ll be.
The armrests are padded, though, which is something you only sometimes find in chairs offered at this price range, and that does add to the comfort of the chair—as does the reasonably well-implemented lumbar support, the surprisingly well-implemented head and neck support, and the seat that tries to emulate a waterfall-edge style but doesn’t quite succeed.
Even so, it’s close enough to provide some ergonomic benefit, and we rate it as an admirable attempt.
Adjustability
The only adjustability options are height adjustment and 360-degree swivel. The chair doesn’t recline back, so there’s no tilt and lock function, but it does rock slightly.
Assembly is Required
You probably won’t be shocked to discover that the Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Managers chair won’t arrive at your doorstep fully assembled and ready to use. You’ll have to put it together yourself.
That process isn’t difficult, but the low production quality will somewhat hamper your efforts. This means that the holes where the fasteners go aren’t going to line up reliably as they should. It may require a bit of wrestling and finagling to get everything in place.
Also, note that the chair arms attach to both the seat and the seatback, so you’ll reach a point early on in the assembly process where you’ve got to hold onto all three pieces and get everything to line up while simultaneously inserting the fasteners.
At that point, you’ll probably offer the chair a few colorful expletives and wish you had another pair of hands. Going solo, expect the process (including cursing) to take about 30 minutes. You can cut that to about 20 if an assistant is standing by.
Expert Assembly Option
Of interest is that this chair offers expert assembly, and despite the challenges we mentioned above, we don’t recommend it. The fee for the expert assembly is almost as much as the chair itself, so you’ll come close to doubling its price if you pay to have someone put it together for you.
If money’s tight, and that’s why people look at furniture like this, the added fee for expert assembly is probably an extravagance you won’t afford.
Pros and Cons of the Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather Chair
When looking at a chair like this, setting expectations is important. This is about as basic as it gets in office furniture. The Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather Managers Chair isn’t and will never be great.
On the other hand, it’s reasonably comfortable if you use it for what it was designed for (light to moderate daily use), and they’re practically giving it away, so who cares if it’s not the ultimate office chair?
It’s reasonably comfortable, reasonably attractive, and functional. That’s about what you’d expect in a chair offered at this price range, and this little chair delivers on those points. That’s a good thing.
Most people who give furniture like these poor reviews have unrealistic expectations. This model won’t disappoint you if you keep yours in check.
We don’t recommend making any changes. Anything we could list would increase the price of the chair, taking it out of the budget category, so as a budget chair, we think it’s fine as it is.
Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Managers Chair Conclusion
As long as you understand the limitations of the Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather chair, you won’t be disappointed in it. It absolutely won’t support more than 250 pounds of weight. It absolutely won’t stand up to the rigors of heavy daily use.
If you’re under 250 pounds and looking for an office chair for casual use, and money is a major limiting factor, this model is at least half a step above what you typically find in the budget section of the market. On that basis, we provisionally recommend it.
Recommended Reading
Flash Furniture Microfiber High-Back Chair Review
Our assessment of the Flash Furniture Microfiber High-Back Chair reveals an ergonomic chair for heavy daily use.
Boss Double Plush Mid-Back Executive Chair Review
A hidden gem in the world of value-priced furniture, read our Boss Double Plush Mid-Back Office Chair review to find out why.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Office Star Products, Official Brand Website.
- Choosing the Perfect Office Chair for Home or Office, Sit Healthier.
- How to Choose the Right Office Chair, Blue Crown Furniture.
- How to Fix an Office Chair That Sinks, Office Furniture Improvement Blog/Office Chairs/Office Desks Melbourne.
- How to Choose the Right Office Chair, AJ.