Autonomous ErgoChair Curve Review: All-Day Office Chair Comfort
- Adjustable lumbar support feels great
- Wide, supportive seat
- Reclining feature can lock
- Simple adjustments
- Comfortable to sit in for long periods
- Neckrest was difficult to install and chipped paint
- Have to set lumbar adjustment every time you sit down
- Chair arms are slightly uneven after assembly
- Neckrest may not be high enough for tall people
Autonomous is a well-known brand that makes comfortable, ergonomic office chairs, standing desks, and various office accessories. One of the company's newest products is the ErgoChair Curve, a chair that's designed to match the natural curvature of your spine. For the most part, Autonomous delivers on this comfortable design, providing long-term support for anyone who needs to sit in a chair all day for work.
This $399 chair features a wide, supportive seat that's contoured for comfort, as well as an adjustable lumbar support pad. You can also adjust the armrests in multiple ways, and a flexible mesh material covers the backrest and neckrest, which is both comfortable and breathable throughout the day. However, if you're taller, you might find the neckrest on the ErgoChair Curve to be situated too low to be comfortable.
The ErgoChair Curve isn't perfect, but it's a great value for the comfort, support, and adjustability it provides. There are certainly more things to love about this chair than things it could improve on, but let's get into all the specific details about this ergonomic office chair.
Autonomous provided an ErgoChair Curve for the purposes of this review.
Unboxing and setup: Easy, except for the neckrest
The ErgoChair Curve arrived very well-packed, with many of the pieces covered in an anti-scratch cushion wrap and then in bubble wrap. Assembling the ErgoChair Curve was fairly simple, just like any old office chair.
After attaching the wheels to the base and inserting the gas lift, the two armrests get attached to the underside of the seat cushion. While the instructions here were fairly clear, the armrests are designed to attach in a way that allows you to customize the distance the armrests are from the chair seat, depending on where you hold the armrest in place while tightening.
Sarah Chaney/SlashGear
Because of this, you have to be careful when installing the armrests, making sure that they're even before proceeding. After initially assembling the chair, the armrests were uneven by about half an inch. Despite taking the armrests off and re-attaching them carefully, they are still uneven by roughly a quarter of an inch. It's not super noticeable while using the chair, but still annoying that the assembly doesn't account for this potential discrepancy.
Sarah Chaney/SlashGear
Once the armrests are attached to the chair seat, you attach the back piece to the seat and slide everything onto the gas lift. The final and most difficult instruction is to install the neckrest at the top of the chair. There's a thin plastic piece at the base of the neckrest that's supposed to simply slide into the open slot at the top of the chair's back, but it didn't go in smoothly at all. It took a lot of effort to push the neckrest into place, likely due to some hard plastic that wasn't filed down enough, and it chipped the white paint at the top of the back piece.
Build quality: A heavy, sturdy chair
For the most part, the ErgoChair Curve from Autonomous is a well-built, quality chair. The biggest build quality flaw is the thin paint that chipped while installing the neckrest. With the neckrest installed, the chipped paint isn't really visible, but if you ever wanted to remove the neckrest, the damage is clearly there.
Sarah Chaney/SlashGear
The chair's frame and base are made using hard nylon plastic that's easy to clean and holds up well over time. During setup, there were a few spots where it seemed like the hard plastic could've been shaved down for a smoother finish, but a lot of those spots are on the chair's underside, hidden from the eye.
Below the chair seat's polyester fabric, there's a molded foam cushion that's contoured for comfort. Similarly, the lumbar support pad is covered in a light gray polyester fabric. The backrest and the neckrest are both adorned with a breathable mesh that's slightly flexible.
While most chairs have a gas lift that allows you to customize the chair's height, the ErgoChair Curve's gas lift felt notably smoother than many other chairs. The chair's overall weight is 39.4 pounds, and it can support a weight capacity of 300 pounds.
Design: Simply attractive
The ErgoChair Curve is quite an attractive chair, with a nice balance of striped breathable mesh on the backrest and neckrest, a white frame, and solid dark gray fabric on the seat and the lumbar support cushion. Even the wheels are decorated to match, with a black outer ring and a light gray center to accent the chair's gray color scheme.
If the Cool Gray color scheme isn't your thing, the ErgoChair Curve also comes in an All-Black option. The All-Black chair still has a slight two-tone look to it, but it's more subtle than the Cool Gray. The striped mesh backrest and neckrest, fabric seat, and plastic frame are all slightly different shades of black or dark gray.
Sarah Chaney/SlashGear
Regardless of which color you go with, both chairs come with a unique design element: protective back fins. There's a hard piece of plastic extending off the back of both the neckrest and backrest, covered in a striped material to match. The purpose of this hard plastic fin is to protect your walls and the chair if you accidentally recline or swivel into a wall or piece of furniture.
Ergonomic features: Lumbar support feels fantastic
Before getting into this section, it's worth noting that "ergonomic" refers to something that makes your work environment more efficient or comfortable. An "ergonomic" item can provide long-term comfort or even relief, but it's not necessarily going to fix your back issues or neck pain.
With that said, the ErgoChair Curve features an ergonomic back that supports the natural curvature of your spine and a lumbar support adjustment that makes long-term use more comfortable and supportive. While you're sitting in the chair, you can reach behind you with both hands to slide the lumbar support cushion up and down.
This support felt amazing and resulted in less back pain at the end of a workday, but unfortunately, there's no way to lock the lumbar support in place. When you're not in the chair, the lumbar support usually slides back down to its starting position, so you have to re-adjust it to your preferences every time you sit down.
The ErgoChair Curve's well-padded seat also provides nice pressure for your lower half, and after using the chair for a week or two, there's no sign of any indentations starting to form. Then, throughout the workday, the neckrest doesn't get used a lot, but when you lean back in the chair for a short break or to play games, the pressure and support from the neckrest is fantastic. The only thing that would make the neckrest (and other adjustable pieces) better is the ability to lock an adjustment in place.
Adjustability: Easily customizable
The ErgoChair Curve can be adjusted in multiple ways, making it easier to customize the chair to your personal preferences. Adjustable components include the armrests, neckrest, and lumbar support cushion, and you can also adjust the chair's height and back tilt angle.
This chair has 3D armrests, which means they can move up and down, forward and backward, and angle slightly right or left. The lowest height of the armrests is 10.5 inches above the chair seat, and they can raise up to 14 inches. The armrest height is the only adjustment that is locked in place once you set it. There are multiple notches to adjust the armrests forward and backward, but because you can't lock this setting, it's easy to accidentally push the armrest out of your preferred spot.
Although the armrests can angle in and out, there's only one setting in each direction. It'd be nice if the armrests could angle in more to accommodate for holding a controller while playing games.
The neckrest can be raised or lowered, supposedly enough to accommodate heights between 4 feet, 9 inches and 6 feet, 4 inches, but a 5 foot, 8 inch tester thought the neckrest was too low. If you have a tall torso, the neckrest will likely hit your shoulders and not be comfortable over long periods. You can also adjust the angle of the neckrest, but this adjustment doesn't lock and can occasionally move out of the desired position during use.
Sarah Chaney/SlashGear
The seat height can be adjusted between 18.5 and 22 inches, and the gas lift that operates this adjustment is incredibly smooth. Then, the ErgoChair Curve has a tilt range of 18° and you can lock the chair in a fully reclined position or somewhere in the middle of reclined and upright.
Overall comfort: Excellent support
After using Autonomous' ErgoChair Curve for about two weeks, it's clear that the chair is supportive and comfortable enough for long-term use. The molded foam seat cushion is flexible but provides enough support, and it's wide enough to accommodate sitting criss-cross or sitting with one leg up on the chair, which is worth noting if you're the type who finds it difficult to sit in a chair like you're supposed to.
While it's a bit annoying to have to adjust the lumbar support every time you sit down, it's worth it for the relieving support it provides. Taking a break throughout the work day by fully sitting back and taking advantage of the lumbar support and the pressure from the neckrest was incredibly nice.
Fully reclining in the ErgoChair Curve is an even more relaxing experience. If you have short arms, it can be a bit awkward to reach the mechanism to lock your reclining position, but once you're locked, it's a comfortable position to play games in. The back of the seat lifts to provide extra support to your back and the curved mesh back fits in all the right places.
Should you buy the Autonomous ErgoChair Curve?
Overall, the $399 ErgoChair Curve from Autonomous is a solid mid-range option if you're looking for an ergonomic office chair. It has an attractive design, offers plenty of simple adjustments to customize the chair to your body, and provides exceptional comfort through the wide, plush seat, flexible mesh backrest, and adjustable lumbar support cushion. Plus, if you play video games frequently, the locking reclining position is an absolute win.
While it is comfortable to sit in for long periods, it might not be the best option for everyone. If you're taller or have a longer torso than most, the neckrest might hit your shoulders and feel more like a nuisance than a comfort.
The ErgoChair Curve also might not be your cup of tea if you want more armrest adjustments. These 3D armrests can adjust up and down, forward and backward, and left and right, but if you want more flexibility, you'll need to search for an office chair with 4D armrests. Otherwise, if simple adjustments sound preferable, the ErgoChair Curve would be a great chair for you.