VR might occasionally push you to stand up, and even occasionally flail your arms about, but generally speaking, gaming is done while seated. The sedentary gamer can often sink into a sofa for hours upon end, but your hip, back and neck aren’t going to thank you for it twenty years later. What you need is a chair, but in gaming circles, not just any chair will do. While there’s plenty of options out there, with faux leather and logos emblazoned across them, these are the Ford Focus’ of the gaming sphere, when what you’re really looking for is a Tesla. The Sihoo Doro S300 is a thoroughly modern take on the gaming/office chair, and it’s also the most comfortable one I’ve ever tested.
The Sihoo Doro S300 looks like it’s come from a spaceship or, as several visitors have noted, a dentist’s surgery. Our white and chrome review unit certainly looks futuristic, but there’s also a clinical tone to the sweeping aluminium lines of the central spine and the armrests. The chair itself is fashioned from separate pieces of Italian velvet mesh, stretched across glass fibre frames, with a central base unit, two lumbar pads – one for either side of your back – and a topmost shoulder/headrest.
As with all gaming and office chairs, the S300 arrived as a series of separate components which you need to put together yourself. Unlike some previous builds – I’m looking particularly at the Secretlab lineup – this is a chair you can put together on your own, but an extra pair of hands could be useful as the main unit is relatively heavy thanks to its prevalent use of actual metal.
All of the tools and screws you need are included, and the instructions were clear enough that I didn’t have to puzzle over them for very long at all. All in all, it took less than half an hour from opening the box to having a fully built chair in front of me.
While the chair immediately screams quality, that is something that’s reflected in the price, commanding a hefty £800 pricetag – though there’s currently a launch promotion that drops it to £700. While that cost is obvious in the majority of elements and materials the chair has, I was disappointed by the bog standard, cheap-feeling casters, and their lack of texture or grip on the floor.
Otherwise, the S300 feels fantastic. The mesh is incredibly soft, comfortable and breathable, and assisted by the separate support units, there’s plenty of airflow to be had around your body making the S300 perfect for lengthy gaming sessions that can otherwise slow cook your back and backside. Compared with the leather and leatherette chairs out there, it’s a huge upgrade, and if you naturally run a bit hot I don’t think there’s a better gaming chair out there if you’re looking for cool comfort while retaining meaningful support.
Sitting in the Sihoo S300 you can immediately feel just how supportive it is, with the mesh and floating lumbar units conforming to your body. Just like a memory foam mattress, it adapts to your position and movement, but there’s also a series of controls to adjust the level of support you receive. You can adjust the degree of support from the lumbar units, altering their angle and how far they protrude, and I was able to find the perfect fit for my lower back.
Both the lumbar units and the seat unit are spring-loaded, so they continue to move and adjust with you as you naturally move and shift about. That level of control extends to the whole chair, and beneath the right-hand side of the seat, you’ll find controls for the height of the chair itself, the depth of the seat, the level of lumbar support, and finally the control to adjust the backrest.
The backrest has three positions, starting from a fully upright position. The second setting allows you to lean back into the chair, and this was the one I found most comfortable for everyday use, allowing a certain degree of relaxation, while retaining all of the support in the key areas.
The final setting allows the S300’s backrest to recline to nearly horizontal, and this is ideal if you’re hoping to nab a power nap before an intense round of Apex Legends. There does appear to be a version of the chair that also boasts an extendable footrest to further maximise the relaxation, but that wasn’t present in our review unit.
The one element of the S300 that I wasn’t immediately sold on was the armrests, but after spending a great deal of time sat in the chair I now absolutely love them. The reason I didn’t immediately fall for them was the fact that they can move around quite easily. While they do lock into position, getting up out of the chair can cause them to move around, and at first I found them overly finicky and even a touch annoying.
However, you soon find that the ease of adjustment is ideal, and as I changed seating positions, or gaming types, you can quickly put them exactly where you need them to be. Playing with mouse and keyboard? You can place them directly underneath where your elbow naturally falls for a spot of extra support. Shifting across to some handheld play on the Nintendo Switch? Easily my favourite things to do was quickly pull the handrests in close so that I could play while fully supporting my arms. It doesn’t get much better than that.
The Sihoo S300’s price is going to be the sticking point for many people, not least because you can buy at least two, if not three chairs from a manufacturer like Secretlab or Andaseat for the same price as the S300. However, none of them can hope to match the cool temperatures you can maintain while gaming or working in the S300, or the stunning metal design and build quality.
