In a Nutshell:
The SIDIZ T80 is a solid chair, but the chief difference between this one and the T50 is the tilting mechanism, and that’s just not worth the extra money. We do not recommend this. The T50 is the model you want instead.
Value for the Money
Comfort
Brand Reliability*
Aesthetic Flexibility**
Overall Rating
4/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Not recommended. The T50 is the model you want instead.
Are you in the market for a new office chair? Are you looking for something that provides a good mix of rugged construction, adjustability, and comfort and can withstand the rigors of moderate to heavy daily use?
If you answered yes to those questions and you’ve been considering investing in a T80, we urge you to read our SIDIZ T80 review before making a decision.
We like this chair. We honestly do, but there are scant differences between this model and the T50, which is also sold by SIDIZ. The T50 offers much better value in our view, so if you like the T80, get the T50, and you’ll have essentially the same chair and save several hundred dollars to boot!
Before we get into the details, we should take a step back and introduce you to SIDIZ if you’re unfamiliar with them. SIDIZ isn’t an off-brand or a tiny company. They are an office furniture giant in South Korea but mostly sell to large corporations, so they’re not a household name. Nonetheless, they are a trusted brand with a rock-solid reputation for quality and post-sales service and support. You can learn more about the brand and its products in our SIDIZ office chair reviews.
By just about every technical measure, the T80 SIDIZ is an excellent design, but as we said, we can’t recommend it. In the following sections, we’ll tell you everything this model brings to the table and highlight the areas of difference between this chair and the T50 so you’ll have all the information you need to make the best decision for you.
Let’s jump right in and take a closer look.
Key Features of The Sidiz T80 Ergonomic Home Office Chair
This is a fairly strong segment of our SIDIZ T80 review. The design team behind this chair has an eye for aesthetics and is masterful at merging function and form.
Like its less expensive cousin, the T50, this chair has a graceful look. A big part of the reason is the seatback shape, which is built into a subtle S-curve that follows the natural shape of your spine. In other words, it looks great and offers an ergonomically excellent seating experience because it’s baked into the design. That’s cool.
Unfortunately, one aspect of the design will not please some potential buyers.
The seatback is mesh.
We’re not overly fond of mesh office chairs, but we will readily admit they have certain advantages, especially when designed like this one by SIDIZ.
Mesh’s big advantage is breathability, and when applied to the seatback of an office chair, it’s a solid choice.
Mesh seats, however, have limitations because they can be uncomfortable if you sit in them for extended periods. SIDIZ understands this, so they opted for a fabric-clad seat with high-comfort foam beneath it.
The seat has enough padding to make the chair extremely comfortable for short to medium stints. Still, if you consider yourself a power user (10+ hours a day in the chair), you may want to invest in additional padding, perhaps a memory foam cushion.
Try the chair out in its default form, but don’t be surprised if you wish there were a bit more padding. That’s fairly common among office chairs, though. Not many are padded with power users in mind!
Before we discuss the raw numbers that define this model, we should discuss another detail.
SIDIZ has a licensing agreement with the Marvel Universe and has been permitted to produce a limited number of Iron Man—and Captain America-themed office chairs.
We’re not sold on the idea of paying a hefty premium to get a Captain America-themed office chair, but if you’re a huge fan of the Marvel Universe and you’ve been hoping to get your hands on Captain America or Iron Man-themed office gear, now is your chance.
You can buy a Captain America-styled T80 from SIDIZ and have a real conversation piece at your office.
If you’re not a big enough Marvel fan for that to be important, we recommend buying a T50 instead of the T80 chair. Let’s look at the numbers that establish the framework for this model.
Chair Specifications
Here they are:
These numbers are exceptional, and our one quibble about the T50 is addressed here.
This model’s seat width is nominally increased, so if the T50’s seat width is not quite enough for you, that may be another reason to consider the T80 instead of the T50.
All the dimensions we see here—from the overall footprint to the seat depth range to the height adjustment range—are slightly increased on the SIDIZ chair T80 compared to the T50.
We don’t feel that any of the increases are sufficient to warrant spending several hundred dollars more unless you can’t comfortably fit into the slightly smaller T50. Still, all these numbers work together very well.
We also love that this model and the T50 are just a handful today that offer adjustable seat depth. That’s an underappreciated feature that can make a huge difference in overall comfort, and we love that it’s included here.
The seat height range is good, but unlike its cousin, the T50, this chair sits slightly higher off the ground, and its entire height adjustment range is in the big and tall territory, making this a good choice for long-legged folk.
Fairly Comfortable and Highly Adjustable
This is the strongest component of our SIDIZ T80 review. In our view, this is where the chair shines.
We’ve already discussed the overall comfort level you can expect from this chair, so there’s no point in repeating it here. We’ll stress again that it’s good but not great.
It’s fine if you spend 4-6 hours a day in your chair, but if you plan on spending longer than that, you may find the padding lacking. In that case, you will find value in investing in a seat cushion to provide a little more.
The T50 and the SIDIZ T80 ergonomic chairs shine in adjustability, though. This model is highly adjustable in almost every way.
Let’s start with the tilt mechanism because that’s the key area of difference between this model and the T50.
Tilt Mechanism
The tilting mechanism was co-designed with ITO Design Studio Germany and engineered by SIDIZ.
It allows the chair to support your body more closely, with just a 3.2mm gap from your back.
We like that, and we love German engineering, but we don’t think those things are worth almost doubling the price of the chair.
We should also note that the tilt mechanism has been changed slightly, and each “step” of the tilt settings has been standardized to around 8 degrees of tilt/recline. So, at step 1, you get 0 degrees. Step 2 offers 8, Step 3 offers 16, and Step 4 offers 24 degrees.
That’s more intuitive than the numbers associated with the T50. Still, the differences are enough to be noticeable to anyone sitting in the chair (the settings for the T50 are 6, 13, 19, and 25 degrees, respectively).
Like the T50, you can adjust the tilt tension so that it takes relatively more pressure to get the seatback to recline. This nice touch allows you to customize the chair exactly how you use it.
It’s a small thing, but it makes a tremendous difference. We love it, and we think you will, too.
Lumbar Support
On top of that, the SIDIZ T80 chair offers a two-stage lumbar support system and an adjustable height lumbar plate on the back of the seat. Unless you’re a contortionist, you cannot adjust the position of the lumbar plate while sitting in the chair, but it’s well worth taking the time to tweak it so that it hits your back perfectly.
A Couple Of Extras
Although we could talk about the spectacular armrests of the SIDIZ T80 highly adjustable ergonomic office chair, we decided to break them out and give them a special mention here because they are incredibly, almost insanely adjustable.
Not only are they padded and ergonomically shaped, but you can adjust them for height, width, and angle.
Many office chairs allow for height adjustment. A few allow width or angle adjustment, but only a few allow for all three. And that’s exactly what you get here; it allows for next-level customization and personalization. You can configure this chair for exactly how you sit, and that’s awesome.
The headrest is similarly designed, except for only two adjustable features: height and angle. Even so, if you take the time to tweak everything adjustable on this chair, it will fit you like a glove, and that’s simply superb.
Some Assembly Is Required
Almost every office chair on the market today requires assembly before first use, and the SIDIZ T80 executive office chair is no exception.
Fortunately, the production quality of these chairs is very high; all of the pieces fit together seamlessly, and the instructions are quite clear. From unboxing to taking a seat for the first time, the process should take no more than twenty minutes, and you can probably cut that down if you’ve got an extra pair of hands standing by on the day your new chair arrives.
SIDIZ does a great job here, and you won’t be disappointed.
Pros & Cons of SIDIZ T80 Chair
As we said at the start, from a technical perspective, this chair is perfect.
It’s got a great set of features and is both delightfully comfortable and incredibly adjustable.
Our only issue is with the SIDIZ T80 price.
If you’re not in the market for a Captain America or Iron Man chair, you can get virtually the same features and functionality for several hundred dollars less if you opt for the T50 instead of the T80. We can’t imagine many situations where that wouldn’t be the way to go.
SIDIZ T80 Review Conclusion
If you like this chair and are not in the market for the Captain America or Iron Man variant, save some money and get the T50. We can’t recommend this model except for Marvel fans interested in the limited edition variant.
Other Options To Consider
If you’ve read to this point and have decided that this isn’t the chair you’re looking for, here are a couple of other options to consider:
Recommended For: Users weighing up to 300 pounds who need a chair designed for heavy daily use.
Minus the Marvel variant, this is 95% the same chair, offered for much less money. So, if you like what you see here but are balking at paying the asking price, get the cheaper T50. It won’t disappoint.
Recommended For: Anyone who spends several hours a day in their chair. This thing is virtually indestructible.
We can’t discuss chairs made for heavy daily use without praising the Flash Furniture Hercules. This solid steel chair can support an amazing amount of user weight and was designed with heavy daily use in mind. This chair lacks the insane adjustability of the one we just discussed, but there’s not much you can throw at it that it can’t handle.
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
- SIDIZ Office Chair, Official Brand Website.
- SIDIZ T80 Ergonomic Home Office Chair User Manual
- Why Is a Good Office Chair Important?, Ur Design Mag.
- Bad Enough Ergonomics: A Case Study of an Office Chair, SAGE Journals.
- Choosing an Office Chair That Won’t Kill You, Outside Online.