Serta Works Back in Motion Executive Office Chair Review 2024

Are you on a budget but looking for a great office chair with well-implemented ergonomic features? Have you been frustrated by the search so far?

If you answered yes to either of those questions, you will be thrilled by what you find in this review of the Serta Back in Motion Office Chair.

While Serta is much better known for its mattresses, it also makes a full line of Serta office chairs. Its expertise in the bedding market serves it well here, and its chairs are a cut above the rest in terms of comfort. 

Even better, the company has demonstrated an impressive knowledge of ergonomics, and all the ergonomic features offered in their office furniture are very well implemented. While it’s true that their products cost a bit more than many of the off-brands you can buy, you’re getting a piece of furniture from a respected brand with a track record for excellent customer service.

If that sounds like what you’ve been looking for, keep reading. In the following sections, we’ll tell you about this chair. It’s not perfect, but even if you ultimately decide it’s not for you, we think you’ll agree that this model is well worth taking a closer look at.

Key Features to Consider

Comfortable. That’s the first word that’s likely to come to mind when you see the Serta Back in Motion Office Chair for the first time, and it’s true, but only to a point, which we’ll explain in detail later in this review. It is comfortable, especially if you’re sitting in it for short to medium lengths of time, although if you’re planning to spend all day in it, you might find it a bit lacking toward the end.

While it’s not a flashy or showy chair, it’s also not an unattractive chair, and it will blend seamlessly with most home or office décor schemes. This is made even easier because Serta offers the chair in a modest selection of colors. You can get yours in:

Note that the company offers standard and “refresh” fabric, which is supposedly more breathable. In practice, we noticed little difference between the two, but your mileage may vary.

Chair Specifications

In terms of the basic statistics that drive and define the design, you’re looking at the following:

There are a couple of things worth drawing your attention to here. 

First, given its dimensions, it’s a relatively heavy chair. That’s because Serta didn’t skimp on materials quality. This is a serious piece of furniture, and with reasonable care, it will far outlast its one-year warranty.

Second, the height adjustment range is slightly small, only 3.5”, whereas most office chairs offer a 4” range. That’s hardly a deal breaker, but it’s certainly worth mentioning. The seat height adjustment range is good, making the chair well-suited to all but the big and tall market segment.

The maximum supported weight, however, is a genuine weakness in the design. Two hundred and fifty pounds is quite modest and will make the chair a non-starter for some market segments. This underscores the point that before you purchase this chair, you should take careful measurements and be mindful of the weight limit.

Comfortable Padding

The chair is well-padded and comfortable, but honestly, it’s not as comfortable as many of Serta’s other offerings. It’s fine for short to medium-duration stints of sitting, but if you’re near the top end of the chair’s maximum supported weight limit and plan to sit for six or eight hours a day (or longer), then you’ll probably find it getting less and less comfortable as the day grinds on.

Even so, the Serta Back in Motion Task Chair features impressive cushioning technology based on the company’s experience making bedding.

You will find some conventional block foam in the mix, augmented by layers of thick premium foam, which exists in the middle ground between block foam padding and actual memory foam. This is further augmented by mattress-quality comfort coils, not unlike the springs you probably have in the mattress on your bed. It’s a very good system, but it is somewhat limited by the chair’s modest maximum supported weight.

For similar comfort features, check out our review of the top office chairs for leg pain.

Adjustability

In terms of adjustability, there’s a lot to like here. The seat height adjustment lever is logically placed and easy to reach while sitting in the chair, as are the tilt control mechanism and the tension control knob.

The casters are conventional polyurethane, better suited to rolling on hardwood or tile flooring, but they’ll work reasonably well on carpet, provided it’s not plush.

Ergonomic Features

Where this chair really shines, however, is in the array of ergonomic features it offers. You’ll find three. They are:

Lumbar Support – Back In Motion

While these are exceptionally well-implemented, the lumbar support wins top honors. Here, Serta uses a proprietary technology they call “Back in Motion,” or BIM for short. This technology allows the lumbar support to move with you as you adjust your position in the chair so that it always provides the support you need, no matter how you’re sitting in your chair.

See our shortlist of top-rated office chairs for back problems.

Posture-Correction Tilt

The Serta Works also utilizes posture-correction tilt, which moves your pelvis forward as you shift in the chair, keeping your spine in a neutral position at all times.

Waterfall-Edge Style Seat

The waterfall-edge style seat is also well-implemented, which adds to the chair’s comfort and helps ensure that as you spend more time sitting in it, you won’t suffer that pins and needles sensation in your legs because the seat is cutting off your circulation. Not every company gets this right, so kudos to Serta for a job well done here.

Head, Neck, and Shoulder Support

Finally, the excellent head, neck, and shoulder support enhance the chair’s overall comfort. If you lean back to take a short break from work, your head will be cradled in a way dissimilar to the pillow on your bed. It’s delightful.

Armrests

The only aspect of the chair that leaves us somewhat wanting is the armrests. They’re well-padded and comfortable and even height-adjustable, which is fabulous, but they’re not ergonomically designed.

Given how well the chairs’ ergonomic features were implemented, we dearly wish the company had offered ergonomic armrests, but again, this is more of a nit than a genuine weakness. You’ll still find them quite comfortable, and the fact that they’re height adjustable makes them even better.

Double-Stitched

The final point in this section of our Serta Back in Motion Chair review is small but well worth mentioning: Serta Works offers double stitching throughout. That’s fantastic and speaks highly of the overall quality of the chair you’ll get if you choose to buy this one.

Some Assembly Required

As with most office furniture, it won’t come assembled. You’ll get a large box, and your chair will be in several sizeable pieces. Fortunately, Serta’s products have high production values, so there’s no worry that the pieces won’t fit together as they should. They will.

The instructions aren’t as good as they could be, but they’re not horrible either. Overall, you won’t have much trouble with the assembly, although if you’re doing it on your own, there will be a couple of moments where you’ll struggle.

Total time to assemble averages about 25-30 minutes, and you can shave about ten minutes off of that if you have an assistant handy.

Pros and Cons of the Serta Back-in-Motion Chair

There’s a lot to like about the Serta Works chair. In our view, its best features include:

We’d like to note here in our Serta Works Executive Office Chair With Back in Motion Technology review that the chair’s two weaknesses are self-selecting, so this model will either be a great fit for you, or you’ll give it a pass because you can’t comfortably fit into it, either because the seat won’t adjust high enough for you, or you weigh more than the chair’s maximum supported weight limit.

Also, note that Serta also offers this chair in bonded leather. While stylish and attractive, we don’t consider leather quite as well suited for heavy daily use because it’s not as breathable. Spend more than about two hours at a stretch in the chair, and you’ll start to sweat. 

In addition, this chair variant is clad in bonded leather, which is real leather but doesn’t stand up well to the rigors of heavy daily use and is prone to cracking. As such, we regard it as slightly inferior to the fabric model. For those interested in it, here’s the link to the bonded leather model, and here’s how we’d rate that variant:

Serta Back in Motion Chair Review Conclusion

We really like the Serta Back in Motion Office Chair. However, given its seat height adjustment range and relatively modest weight limit, it’s narrowly focused. Therefore, before you spend any money, you’ll want to take careful measurements to ensure you’ll fit comfortably in the chair.

Assuming you do, we highly recommend it for anyone looking for a great, well-priced ergonomic office chair for light to moderate daily use, and provisionally recommend it for anyone in the market for an office chair designed for heavy daily use. The farther you are from the chair’s weight limit, the better suited it is to heavy daily use and the more comfortable you’ll find it.

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Official Manufacturer Support

REFERENCES & RESOURCES

• Serta, Official Brand Website.
• The Advantages o​​f Office Chair, Nevi7uwsco.
• Why Executives Need a Good Office Chair, Chair Health.