Office Star Work Smart FL660 Faux Leather Manager’s Chair Review 2024

Are you low on funds?

Do you have a need for an office chair, not for hours and hours of endless use, but for light to moderate daily use? Sort of a casual office chair that’s reasonably attractive and comfortable, 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, somehow, despite those limitations, it manages to shine a little, which is no small feat for a value-priced chair like this.

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 simply doesn’t exist.

This one does, however, and it’s a cut above what we were expecting to find. If you’re curious to know more, read on, and we’ll tell you all about it. Even if you decide this isn’t the chair for you, we think you’ll be as pleasantly surprised as we were.

Overview 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 in the way of 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 simply toss it out and replace it.

Aesthetics & Design

At first glance, you can tell the designers actually 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 by any means, but it falls just short of the classy, refined look the designers seem to have been going for.

Color Options

In any case, 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 does offer 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 chair is a great choice for shorter users. At the highest, it’s good for users of about 6’1” or 6’2”, provided that they’re of light to medium build.

Upholstery

Before we move onto 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. That means that 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 on a daily basis, 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 a lack of durability, PU also suffers from a lack of breathability. The more time you spend in the chair, the hotter and sweatier you’ll get. This fact also marks the design as one being best suited for casual (light to moderate) use. You simply won’t be comfortable if you try to spend the whole day sitting in it.

Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather Chair Features

Comfort 

For short-ish durations, there’s enough block foam padding to offer a comfortable seating experience. However, note that the Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather chair is not blessed with extraordinary amounts of padding either. So, again, the longer you sit in it without getting up to take a break, the less comfortable you’re going to 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 that it does provide some ergonomic benefit and we rate it as an admirable try.

Adjustability

In terms of adjustability, about the only thing on offer is height adjustment and 360-degree swivel. The chair doesn’t actually 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 especially difficult, but you’ll find that your efforts are somewhat hampered by the relatively low production quality, which 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 you have an assistant standing by.

Expert Assembly Option

Of interest, this chair does offer 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 the main reasons people look at furniture like this, the added fee for expert assembly is probably an extravagance you won’t be able to afford.

Pros and Cons of the Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather Chair

When looking at a chair like this, it’s important to set expectations. This is about as basic as it gets in the world of office furniture. The Office Star Work Smart Faux Leather Managers Chair isn’t and is never going to be a great chair.

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 on those points, this little chair delivers. That’s a good thing.

Most people who give furniture like this poor reviews have unrealistic expectations. As long as you keep yours in check, you won’t be disappointed by this model.

We don’t really have any changes we’d recommend making. Anything we could list would increase the price of the chair which would take 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 you’re 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.

Officient Compact Ergonomic Fabric Chair Review

We looked into the versatile Officient Compact Ergonomic Fabric Chair and found what this little chair has to offer.

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Official Manufacturer Support

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.