Is it time, or maybe well past time, to replace your current office chair?
Are you on a budget and looking for something that covers the basics well and prioritizes aesthetics and comfort?
If so, you’ll like what you read in this review of the Hannah I and II, offered by Serta.
While both Serta Style Hannah Office chairs suffer from one significant shortcoming (which we’ll cover below), the simple truth is that few companies selling office furniture today know more about comfort than Serta. They’re one of the top brands in the business today for a reason. They make great furniture, and their Serta office chairs are pretty solid. These two closely related models are no exception.
In the sections that follow, we’ll go into each variant’s capabilities, and we won’t pull any punches where their shortcomings are concerned, either, so you’ll have all the information you need right at your fingertips to decide if one of these two chairs deserves a place in your home office. Read on, and let’s see what Hannah I and II have to offer!
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Primary Rating:
4.4
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Primary Rating:
4.4
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$165.99
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$351.76
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Value:
4.75
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Value:
4.5
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Comfort:
4.25
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Comfort:
4.5
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Aesthetic Flexibility*:
4.25
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Aesthetic Flexibility*:
4.25
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Brand Reliability*:
4.5
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Brand Reliability*:
4.5
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*While aesthetics is a matter of taste, aesthetic flexibility is a measure of how easily a given design would fit into a wide range of home or office décor schemes.
**Brand Reliability measures the strength and longevity of the brand, which, by extension, measures the level of support you can expect.
Serta Style Hannah Office Chairs I & II – Overview
Serta is best known for its fantastic mattresses, but it also makes a very good line of office chairs. Both Serta Style Hannah Office Chairs variants are attractive, inviting, comfortable chairs that blend easily with any home décor scheme.
Even better, both versions of the Hannah are clad in soft microfiber fabric, which works well in tandem with generous padding to enhance the comfort of these chairs.
We’ll have more to say about that in the next section. For now, we’ll focus on the aesthetic angle. On that front, both versions of this model have an advantage over many other office chairs on the market because both are offered in a range of color choices.
Serta Hannah I Office Chair Colors
For Hannah I, your color choices are:
Serta Hannah II Office Chair Colors
And for Hannah II, your options are:
Serta Style Hannah I vs Serta Style Hannah II
Before we get into the features these chairs bring to the table, we’ll hit the pause button for a second and take a quick look at the core stats that define these two models. Here’s a side-by-side stat comparison:
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Primary Rating:
4.5
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Primary Rating:
4.5
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$165.99
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$351.76
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Overall Dimensions:
28.8” x 24.8” x 40.2”
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Overall Dimensions:
29” x 25.5” x 43”
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Chair Weight:
34.5 pounds
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Chair Weight:
38 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
250 pounds
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Max. Supported Weight:
250 pounds
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Seat Width:
21”
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Seat Width:
21”
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Seat Depth:
20”
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Seat Depth:
19”
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Seat Height:
17” to 21”
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Seat Height:
18” to 20”
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So, here are a couple of things about these numbers. First, these are surprisingly big chairs, given their light weight. That fact reveals one weakness of both models. They don’t support a lot of weight. The two-hundred fifty-pound limit is okay, but it’s not difficult to find plenty of chairs offered by great companies that support a lot more.
The modest weight limit pretty well defines these chairs as a good fit for smaller, lighter people. At the same time, they’ve got fairly robust seat height adjustment ranges. 18” to 20” is the range you typically find on big and tall chairs, and the weight limit isn’t a good fit on that front. If you’re on the shorter side, both chairs might be too high for you, although the Hannah I could work with a low setting of 17. That’s why we included both in our best office chair for short people review.
The problem there, though, is that the Serta Hannah I Office Chair has a deeper seat. Granted, it’s only an inch deeper, but that one inch could mean the difference between a chair that fits you like a glove and one that only sorta-kinda works for you. We recommend taking careful measurements before committing to a purchase and being mindful of the weight limit both chairs suffer from.
Comfortable Padding
Although some of Serta’s chairs feature highly advanced comfort systems, the company opted to stick with the basics here. In addition to the comfortable microfiber upholstery, both chairs feature generous amounts of conventional block foam, which is the standard for office chair padding.
There’s enough of it that both chairs offer a delightful level of comfort, but the Serta Hannah II Office Chair features slightly more padding, which makes it marginally more comfortable. You’ll not notice unless you spend several hours in each one, though, and even then, the differences in comfort level are slight.
Serta Hannah I Office Chair
Ergonomic Features
Both chair versions are further augmented by a quartet of well-implemented, though entirely non-adjustable, ergonomic features. Both variants offer a waterfall-edge style seat, good lumbar support, and good-verging-on-excellent head and neck support.
In our view, the head and neck support is better on the Serta Style Hannah I Office Chair because you can recline back in that model. On the other hand, the Hannah II doesn’t offer a recline function, so you don’t get as much benefit or enjoyment from the pillowed headrest. Even so, it’s a great feature addition on both variants.
Serta Hannah II Office Chair
In addition, both versions of the Hannah offer well-padded, though again, non-adjustable armrests. While we would love to have seen some level of adjustability on at least one of these features, given the low price these chairs offer, we can’t really complain about that.
Adjustability
On the adjustability front, both chairs stick strictly to the basics. You get swivel and height adjustment, and on the Serta Style Hannah I High-Back Office Chair, you get a tilt and lock feature that allows you to recline back a bit, but that’s it. If you’re in the market for a hyper-adjustable chair, these aren’t the models you want. Then again, given the price, that’s not entirely unexpected.
Assembly is Required, But…
Unsurprisingly, neither of these chairs will arrive assembled at your doorstep.
Fortunately, Serta generally does a great job with its assembly instructions. Plus, the production value of its chairs is high, so you won’t find yourself in a situation where the holes don’t line up the way they should, which is a fairly common issue on low-priced chairs offered by off-brands and imports.
That’s unfortunate because those types of issues needlessly complicate assembly, but again, you don’t have to worry about them with either of these.
Of interest, you can order the Hannah I with expert assembly offered for an added fee. Unfortunately, the added fee is almost as much as the chair itself, and given that it’s not hard to put the chair together, we can’t say we recommend it.
The expert assembly option is unavailable for the Serta Style Hannah II for unknown reasons. Still, even if it were, we wouldn’t recommend it for the same reasons we mentioned above. These chairs aren’t enormous and don’t require much effort to assemble. Even if you’re doing it solo, it will only take about 25 minutes to complete, and adding a second pair of hands will cut that down to 15-20.
Pros and Cons of the Serta Style Hannah Office Chairs
In our view, the single biggest negative for Hannah is something that both chairs have in common: They’re relatively lightly built and only support a relatively modest amount of weight.
Granted, the 250-pound max. supported weight limit makes either model a good fit for a broad swath of the market, but if you’re even marginally on the heavier side, these chairs just aren’t going to work for you.
That’s unfortunate because the Hannah is a great chair, offered at a wonderfully low price. We even listed it among the best office chairs under $200.
There are a couple of differences between the two models that we don’t quite understand or agree with.
For instance, the Hannah I reclines back to a maximum of 120 degrees, while the upgraded chair downgrades this particular function. The Serta Style Hannah II High-Back Office Chair Microfiber offers no recline at all (but keeps a slight ability to rock). That’s not a complaint; it’s just a minor nit that left us scratching our heads.
Honestly, weight limit notwithstanding, we like everything about both models. There’s a reason Serta is one of the biggest names in the American furniture market, and both of these chairs demonstrate that admirably.
Serta Style Hannah Office Chairs Review Conclusion
Both Serta Style Hannah Office Chairs are exceptional and are great examples of Serta at the top of their game. While they have much in common, we judge the Hannah II as the slightly superior version of the chair. Some subtle differences may be important to smaller subsets of users, which could easily cause the Hannah I to be regarded as your chair of choice.
We highly recommend both models, but we advise taking careful measurements before purchasing to help you decide on the best overall fit.
Recommended Reading
AmazonBasics Mid-Back Office Chair Review
Our AmazonBasics Mid-Back Office Chair review details why it offers tremendous value for the money.
NBF Petite Ergonomic Chair Review
Our evaluation focuses on the NBF Petite Ergonomic Chair, a gem for shorter users seeking comfort and functionality.
Serta Style Amy Office Chair Review
Our evaluation highlights the Serta Style Amy Office Chair, which offers top-notch upholstery and ergonomic support.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES:
- Serta, Official Brand Website.
- Do I Need Armrests on My Chair – Addressing the Myth, Corrigo Design.
- Six Office Chair Features You Can’t Do Without, Worksite International.
- What Are the Pros and Cons of Microfiber Upholstery Fabric?, WiseGEEK.
- 5 Interesting Facts About Office Chairs You Should Know, Miller’s Supplies at Work.