Ergonomic Chair Vs Office Chair: What Are the Differences?

Whether you currently work at your home office or commute to a workplace, a good chair can make all the difference. Most workers spend more time sitting in their chairs than lying at their beds. Investing in a proper chair is a crucial thing that directly affects your comfort and productivity in your workspace, so you might as well consider it the most vital furniture in your life.

How can ergonomic chair affect your productivity?

Most people can attest to having suffered some back pain, hip pain, or shoulder pain at some point during their working lives. It’s almost certain that people consider getting a better chair that takes better care of them during those occasions. The problem stems from the risk that a sedentary work-style has on everyone, meaning that a poor chair can have a negative effect on people’s health and wellbeing.

For that reason, people look to acquire an ergonomic chair that can diminish these risks while giving you the benefit of being more comfortable. Compared to the usual office chairs, they have some differences that set them entirely apart in quality and design. Nevertheless, your budget has the final say on the chair you can get, but affording an ergonomic chair increases your quality of life immensely. That fact reflects on any ergonomic chair review, where people find hardly anything left to desire when they finally acquire these chairs.

You might be speculating on what is the exact difference between ergonomic chair and office chair. It’s true that on occasions, people do refer to office chairs as if they were ergonomic chairs, attributing every ergonomic chair feature to your ordinary office chair. They aren’t the same, and there are some differences between them, so to help you clear your doubts, we’re analyzing the two of them to help you decide for yourself.

Ergonomic Chair Vs Office Chair: The Comparison

In simple terms, ergonomic chairs adapt to every user’s needs, while office chairs follow a more straightforward and stricter design. The general differences between an ergonomic chair and an office chair are as follows.

Comfort and Ergonomics

The comfort and ergonomics of these chairs is the aspect on which the office chair and the ergonomic chair diverge the most. Ergonomic chairs, as the name implies, are designed by taking into account ergonomics and comfort. For people who have endured or are currently going through back pains, the ergonomic chair is a massive boon to your body’s health.

These ergonomic office chairs offer plenty of features, such as adjustable seat height and depth, flexible armrests and lumbar support, swivel and tilt functions, and some come with neck pillows. Most ergonomic chairs are either mid-back or high-back height, the former being the typical design. These features allow you to tailor the chair to your every need, as the adjustability lets it accommodate any body shape and size. It also helps you to adopt a more natural posture, preventing back pain and improving your wellbeing over the long run.

Office chairs only offer basic essential features, such as adjustable seat height, fixed armrest, and a swivel base. Other than that, you can remove the armrests if they prove to be uncomfortable while working at your desk, but even some models don’t come with them. The typical office chairs are of low-back height, but there are models available in every size. You have to get the chair that’s best suited for your height as these don’t have the same adaptability as the ergonomic ones.

Ergonomic chairs are made with comfortable, breathable materials that largely depend on the person’s budget. The most commonly used materials are fabric and mesh for both the seat and the backrest upholstery, both having ample padding. Still, some chairs use leather or padded upholstery, making them considerably more comfortable.

The benefit of mesh and fabric materials is a soft, comfortable place to sit while allowing ventilation through the chair’s back, leaving you fresh for the entirety of your workday. Most ergonomic office chairs reviews favor the breathable mesh fabric over the leather upholstery.

Office chairs usually use standard fabric and foam as their seat and backrest material. Some other models use mesh on the backrest, giving you a choice between being more comfortable or fresher.

Customization Options

There aren’t many differences between ergonomic chairs and office chairs regarding style and customization options, as it’s mostly up to each chair’s manufacturer.

Ergonomic chairs usually have more customization options, including fabric and mesh color and upholstery material, but they don’t have too many alternatives. Some manufacturers have multiple back heights available for each chair’s model.

Office chairs compensate for their lack of features with generally pleasant aesthetic designs that easily fit any workplace design. Plenty of office chairs have a wide variety of colors to choose from, but they rarely offer to change the upholstery material. Pitting the ergonomic chair vs. the office chair here favors the latter.

Price

Ergonomic chairs can vary significantly in prices depending on the number of features the model has or the range of adjustability it possesses. The cheapest chairs are around $150, while the best ergonomic chairs can easily go over $500, but the sweet spot is between $200 and $400. When dealing with these price ranges, the wise choice is to check any ergonomic chair review to confirm that the chair is well made.

Office chairs, on the other hand, can be very inexpensive. There are plenty of economical options starting at around $60, but some models that go over $100 implement some particular features such as a tiltable seat.

Ergonomic Chair Vs Office Chair: Conclusion

There are plenty of differences between ergonomic chairs and office chairs. In the end, if your job requires you to sit at a desk for the whole day, an ergonomic chair would be the better choice. Their design features make them very comfortable and fresh. They also promote good posture, helping you both alleviate or prevent back pains.

Regardless, posture is something that you can work on your own, so if you’re willing to compromise a bit on comfort to save money, an ordinary office chair can work as well.