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 you with a good mix of rugged construction, adjustability, and comfort that’s capable of standing up to 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 spending your money.
We like this chair. We honestly do, but there are scant differences between this model and the T50—also sold by SIDIZ. And 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 first take a step back and introduce you to SIDIZ in case you’re not familiar with them. SIDIZ isn’t an off-brand or a tiny company. They are an office furniture giant in South Korea, but they mostly sell to large corporations, which is why 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.
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.
An Overview of The Sidiz T80 Ergonomic Home Office Chair
We’d rate this as a fairly strong segment of our SIDIZ T80 review. The design team behind this chair not only has an eye for aesthetics, but they’re also masters at merging function and form.
Like its less expensive cousin, the T50, this chair has a graceful look to it. A big part of the reason why has to do with the shape of the seatback, which is built into a subtle S-curve that follows the natural shape of your spine. In other words, it not only looks great, but it offers an ergonomically excellent seating experience because it’s baked into the design. That’s cool.
Unfortunately, there is one aspect of the design that some potential buyers aren’t going to be thrilled with.
The seatback is mesh.
We’re not overly fond of mesh office chairs, but we will readily admit that they have certain advantages, especially when designed the way SIDIZ has designed this one.
The big thing mesh brings to the table is breathability, and applied to the seatback of an office chair, it’s a solid choice.
Mesh seats, however, have limits because they’re just not comfortable if you have to be in the chair for extended periods. SIDIZ understands this, which is why they opted for a fabric-clad seat with high comfort foam beneath it.
There’s enough padding in the seat that the chair is extremely comfortable for short to medium stints in the chair. Still, if you consider yourself a power user (10+ hours a day in the chair, say), you may want to invest in some additional padding, perhaps in the form of a memory foam cushion or the like.
By all means, try the chair out in its default form, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself wishing there was perhaps a bit more padding. That’s fairly common among office chairs, though. Not many are padded with power users in mind!
Before we talk about the raw numbers that define this model, there is another detail we should bring up.
SIDIZ has made a licensing agreement with the Marvel Universe and has been permitted to make a limited number of Iron Man and Captain America-themed office chairs.
Personally, 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 to you, our recommendation about buying a T50 instead of the T80 chair holds, and having said that, let’s take a look at the numbers that really establish the framework for this model.
Here they are:
These numbers are exceptional, and in fact, the one quibble we have about the T50 is addressed here.
The seat width is nominally increased on this model, so if the seat width of the T50 is not quite enough for you, then that may be another reason to consider the T80 in the place 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, but all of these numbers work together very well.
We also love that this model and the T50 are among just a handful of models on the market today that offers an adjustable seat depth. That’s an underappreciated feature that can really make a huge difference in terms of 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.
The SIDIZ T80 Ergonomic Office Chair Is Fairly Comfortable, But Its Real Strength Is Adjustability
We regard this as being the strongest component of our SIDIZ T80 review. This is really where the chair shines in our view.
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 just 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 to be a bit wanting and will find value in investing in a seat cushion to provide a little more.
In terms of adjustability, though, that’s where both the T50 and the SIDIZ T80 ergonomic chairs really shine.
Almost everything about this model is highly adjustable.
Let’s start with the tilt mechanism because that’s the key area of difference between this model and the T50.
The tilting mechanism here was co-designed with ITO design studio Germany and engineered by SIDIZ.
It makes it possible for the chair to support your body more closely, just a 3.2mm gap from your back.
We like that, and we love German engineering; we just don’t think that those things are worth almost doubling the price of the chair over.
We should also point out 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 of tilt/recline.
That’s more intuitive than the numbers associated with the T50, but 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 also adjust the tilt tension so that it takes relatively more pressure applied to the seatback to get it to recline. This is a nice touch that allows you to customize the chair for 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.
On top of that, the SIDIZ T80 chair offers a two-stage lumbar support system and an adjustable height lumbar plate that’s located on the back of the seat. Unless you’re a contortionist, you’re not going to be able to 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.
SIDIZ T80 Home Office Desk Chair Even Has 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 for either width or angle adjustment, but there are only a very few that 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 in the case of the headrest, there are only two adjustable features: height and angle. Even so, if you take the time to tweak everything that’s adjustable on this chair, it’s going to fit you like a glove, and that’s simply superb.
Some Assembly Is Required Before You Can Actually Use The SIDIZ T80 Office Chair
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 is very high on these chairs, 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 some 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, there’s not a thing in the world wrong with this chair.
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.
Provided that 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 in which that wouldn’t be the way to go.
SIDIZ T80 Review Conclusion
If you like this chair and you’re 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 who are 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 a lot less money, so if you like what you see here but you find yourself 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 talk about chairs made for heavy daily use without singing the praises of the Flash Furniture Hercules. This solid steel beast of a 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 talked about, 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.