Razer Iskur V2 Review: A Gaming Chair Made For The Long Haul
- Comfortable
- Durable build
- Adjustable every way you could want
- You can easily take a nap in it
- Considerable cost
The chair you sit in every day is far more important than you probably realize. It makes sense; the average American sits between 6.5 and 8 hours per day, according to the CDC. So when it comes to a chair that you sit in every day for work or for gaming, comfort is important. It's the reason why Razer brought along a medical doctor to CES 2024 when showing people the Iskur V2 Gaming chair. The doctor gave everyone a "prescription" for how to best set up this particular chair when they got home — for proper posture and comfort.
Gaming sessions are equally important. A good game will have you camped out in front of your TV or computer for hours at a time, or dozens of hours if you happen to be a teenager. In situations like that, comfort and durability go a long way toward determining how much or how little pain you're in after a 10-hour shift in front of your computer.
If properly set up, a good chair can make those hours float by with nary a sore muscle at the end of the day. This review was written after two weeks with an Iskur V2 gaming chair review sample provided by Razer.
Some assembly required
The first thing you need to know about the chair is that it's fairly large by chair standards. If you imagine what a typical gaming chair looks like, you'll probably imagine something similar to the Iskur V2, complete with the high back that is one big piece in the box. There is some assembly required when the chair comes out of the box. It comes with a large instruction manual that walks you through building the chair step by step, but you may not even need it — the pieces all go where they look like they should. The round peg goes in the round hole and all that.
You start with the wheels that snap into the metal base with a satisfying clunk. The hydraulic piston settles neatly into the middle and slots into the bottom of the seat. You attach the arms to the seat using the included Allen wrench and then slot the back into the seat, with two bolts screwing in on each side. Then you attach two covers to go over the brackets holding the back to the seat and you're pretty much done.
The only step left is to slide the pillow over the top of the chair and tighten the elastic that holds it to the chair and that's it. You have a fully assembled chair ready to go.
Built strong
The chair is extremely sturdy and feels very sturdy everywhere. There is a little bit of give when the seat of the chair is locked in place (as opposed to allowing you to lean back). It's hard to be sure if that's by design — it feels more comfortable to be able to wiggle it just a little bit as you move throughout your day (accidental 2 in a Room reference).
The chair leans back like the passenger seat in a car back to 152 degrees which is almost too far. You may have the urge to take a nap in your gaming chair after a long session, and that's fine, but when you tilt the chair all the way back, it's easy to scare thinking you're about to flip, but it's also easy to impress that you...don't.
Even when you're on the wrong side of 300 pounds (which, by the way, is the recommended maximum weight for this chair), this chair holds your frame firmly in place, regardless of how much you tilt it back. The wheels also plow confidently through carpeting, though you'll be well served to have a mat you can roll on, just to prevent wear and tear.
Adjustable everywhere
One of the most impressive parts about the chair is how you can adjust it to find your perfect comfortable fit. Razer upgraded the seat, making it wider to accommodate wider butts. The lumbar adjustment can be set in protrusion and height, meaning you can get the support exactly where you need it. Like most chairs, you can adjust the height of the seat as well. The good doctor at CES recommends keeping your knees at a neat 90-degree angle with your feet flat on the floor.
The armrests in particular can go basically anywhere you want them to go. Razer calls them 4D armrests for that very reason. The armrests go up and down, slide laterally in and out, and rotate in and out as well. Put simply, you can put your arms anywhere they want to go and the armrests will be able to account for them. The lateral movement in particular is a nice-to-have because most chairs don't do that. Regardless of your size, you'll be able to find a comfortable setting by moving the arms in and out as needed. It's really slick.
Adam Doud/SlashGear
The only part that isn't adjustable is the height of the back. That's not too much of a problem since it's a high-back chair, but the memory foam pillow that you strap onto the headrest can hit you on the back of the neck when you're not laying back relaxed. A strap-on pillow like that is a sort of industry standard, but it would be nice if it could be attached more securely and if it could accommodate taller people more comfortably. That's a pretty minor complaint though.
Great looking with premium materials
The Iskur V2 chair comes in two materials — vegan leather (read: polyurethane) and fabric. This review sample is the former, and it feels sublime. It's extremely soft and supple with great support. The stitching in particular has a hexagonal pattern to it that exudes a gaming feel. The only break in the black colorway is the green "Razer” stitched on just to the right of your head. All the rest is a soft black color that looks really nice.
The vegan leather chair comes in black or green, while the fabric seat material comes only in Dark Grey. Both are water resistant while the cloth adds oil and dirt resistance. The chair comes with a three-year warranty.
The leather covers the high-density foam that gives you all the support. The knobs and levels all give just the right amount of feedback, so you can tell when they're engaged. Once you release the buttons and they snap back, they slot in with a solid thunk. When you settle down into the chair you can feel all the support where it needs to be. It's a great experience.
Even when you tilt the chair back for a nap, it feels solid and comfortable. You will be tempted to nod off when you do so, and the memory foam pillow might just get you the rest of the way. Just remember to set an alarm for when your break is over.
Iskur V2 Gaming chair price, availability, and final verdict.
All this premium quality does not come cheap. The Razer Iskur V2 retails for $649 which might seem like a lot, until you circle back to that 6.5-8 hour statistic. On the high end, that's one-third of your day that you're spending in this chair. On some days, it's probably more. So, is that a lot to spend on a chair? Sure. Is it too much? That's really a decision you have to make.
This chair is a wake-up call compared to most office chairs out there. This chair won't single-handedly solve your back problems, but it can (and probably will) help. This isn't a medical device, to be sure, but it's super comfortable and extremely supportive. It's like a best friend you can sit on.
The only thing that's missing, that would be nice would be a leg rest to pair with the 152-degree layback. If you're going to lay back and take a nap in this chair (which, make no mistake, is very possible) it would be nice to have support for your legs as well. That's not out of the realm of possibility for a gaming chair, so, considering the price, that's not a lot to ask for.
Beyond that, you'll get an awesome gaming chair that you can sit in for hours at a stretch and be perfectly comfortable when you get to the end of your day, or the end of your game — whichever comes first. But keep in mind: all this comes at a cost.