AndaSeat T-Pro 2 Gaming Chair Review

As the human race is forced to embrace a more sedentary lifestyle in light of recent events, a lot of thought has to be put into where we choose to plant our posteriors. If you’re a hardcore gamer or just a newly-home bound office worker, comfort has almost certainly entered a state of renewed importance for you, so you may be looking for a more serious throne to keep the inevitable backaches at bay.

Fortunately for us all, racing car seat and gaming chair specialists AndaSeat have come through with the T-Pro 2. AndaSeat’s latest is a sizeable, soft and sturdy sitter that will keep you comfy as you fail to hold yourself accountable to the “just one more turn” rule in a game of Civilization that has already run over schedule by several hours.

While I’ve certainly become comfortable sitting and playing in gamer chairs during events over the years (remember those?), this is the first time I’ve owned one for extended office use. In the past, I’ve utilised various mid-tier ergonomic thrones from Ikea, third-party Amazon sellers and the like. They served me well, but always featured lacklustre aspects that have only gotten more frustrating with time.

Like searching your symptoms online, Google can make anyone a sceptic about anything nowadays. I must admit that based on what I had read, I was slightly cautious of the benefits of gaming chairs, particularly compared to the seats built purely for office ergonomics that I was used to. But a lot of these worries have been wiped away as I’ve gotten comfortable with the T-Pro 2.

In regards to my use case, I’m a freelance journalist in games. That makes me an office worker who spends most of his time writing during the day — which should make me skew towards pure ergonomics, in theory. But, I’m also privy to gargantuan gaming sessions, and nobody wants to sit at 90 degrees for long periods of time after-hours. I want a seat that is going to embrace me like a loving parent when I’m 30 hours deep into the fetch quests of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

This is where I think the T-Pro 2 shines. It’s a hybrid. When I’m working during the day, I crank it right up to my back, with the delightfully soft Lumbar cushion forcing me into an upright position, my head kept forward by the neck pillow. But when my body tires and I want to engage in some Valheim and chill, I simply yank the lever on the side to push the seat back, all the way until I feel cradled in its loving arms.

The sturdiness of the entire product is absolutely undeniable, and as a consequence, the support it offers when you do lean back and get cosy to watch YouTube is truly divine. You can push the chair from 90-degree reading mode to 160-degree sleeping mode, which sounds absurd but just wait and try it and you will eat your words.

I’ve never flown First Class but I imagine this is what it’s like. I think a lot of it has to do with the fabric and the foam. Most gaming chairs are covered in leather, but the T-Pro 2 bucks the trend with a fabric-lined outing, supported by high-density foam padding internals that hold their shape but still provide serious comfort. The “4D’ armrests are highly adjustable and comfortable too. They make it very easy for you to sit at 90 degrees, with your hands arched and ready to dole out WASDamage.

I do think they could have benefited from a small coat of fabric or foam, though. The armrest material has a sponginess to it but it still feels a little too firm compared to the rest of the build, particularly the extremely soft velour back and neck pillow, which are my favourite parts of the package. I’m considering bringing the neck pillow with me for the next time I’m in transit, it’s that good.

The only demerit here is that because of the wide jutting head partition at the top of the seat and the lack of adjustable elastic on the pillow strap, you can’t pull the pillow down very far. Its placement can be rigid, especially if you’re of smaller stature, at which point it may become more of a skull support than something that helps your neck. This is a testament to the sheer scale of the chair.

The T-Pro 2 is ‘Super King Size’ according to AndaSeat, and it shows. I’m 5”10 and the recommended range of height is 180 CM to 210 CM, so I’m on the lower end of the scale. It means that my feet dangle a little while sitting in it at its lowest, but I have an ergonomic footrest I’ve been using for years (I highly recommend getting one regardless of your chair type!) which gives me a firm plant and completes my setup nicely. I really can’t complain about the comfort, but keep this in mind if you’re interested but of a smaller height than me — you may want to check out another model.

Assembly-wise, it was a breeze outside of a few small setbacks. The setup journey was simple and solo until it came to fixing the back of the chair onto the seat itself, via some screws into the fabric. It wasn’t easy, as you can’t really view the holes to put the screws in through the side panel without another person helping you. The same can be said for attaching the chair to the base, which is going to take some serious heavy lifting. Regardless, AndaSeat’s instructions are well-made and you get all the tools you need in a nifty packet. It took me all of 30 minutes to get it together — it’s very straightforward.

One great benefit is the aesthetic of the T-Pro 2 too. I picked the black edition to keep it as reserved as possible, as I wanted to escape the gaudy gamer symbols and tacky branding conventionally associated with this type of chair. Because of the dark fabric and sparse logos, nobody can see anything silly in person or during a Zoom meeting — you’ll just look like you’re serious about comfort.

But serious comfort also comes with a serious price. The RRP for the T-Pro 2 is $549.99 (roughly £390) though it is discounted at present to $499.99 (roughly £350). It’s an unfortunate reality of the gamer chair market that they are all so expensive, but this is a sturdy, well-made piece of kit that lives up to its price tag.

If you’re hyper serious about ergonomics, you’d probably end up spending a grand on a Herman Miller anyway. Buying office chairs is something of a rabbit hole to begin with really — as long as you know your budget vs comfort metric, you will be able to make an informed decision here. In looking at the market and comparing this seat with its competitors, this feels like a fair price. The 2-year functionality warranty will help you if you run into any issues, too.

Summary
The AndaSeat T-Pro 2 really does feel like a remarkable comfort upgrade from my previous seats, and its observed build quality tells me that I won’t be replacing it any time soon. With cosy pillows, superb adjustability and a sleek, reserved aesthetic that isn’t ringing any alarm bells, this chair is a wonderful hybrid that provides solid ergonomics for work but also extreme comfort for gaming.
Good
  • Remarkable comfort and adaptability
  • Seriously sturdy build quality
  • A sleek, reserved aesthetic that is rare in the market
Bad
  • The neck pillow is tricky to adjust
  • Gamer chairs are still mighty expensive
  • Some of the Assembly will be tricky solo
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