I have three kids at home ranging from 18 to 21, and with the pandemic situation, they’ve all been spending way more time sitting in front of screens. Their college and high school programs are all online. And then there are the video games. They all had basic task chairs for their desks, which were fine for an hour or two of use, but 2020 has proven a basic chair is not enough. So they have been investing in upgrades. The latest arrival was a pretty cool one that I thought was worth sharing with GeekDad readers: the Secretlab OMEGA Dark Knight Gaming Chair.
Packaging and Assembly
I’ve been the one to assemble the various chairs that have come through the house in recent months. From my perspective, the Secretlab OMEGA chair is the most impressive—by far. At least when it comes to packaging and assembly.
The last gaming chair I assembled cost about half as much but was the most popular model on Amazon. It seemed like a decent balance of cost and capability, but the packaging and assembly experience both left a lot to be desired. It took way too long to unpack, and when everything was finally on the floor, one critical bolt was missing. Fortunately, I had an extra in my hardware collection, but it was an ignominious start. The instructions were printed in tiny text on a photocopied slip of paper. It wasn’t fun to put together…
The Secretlab OMEGA arrived in a reassuringly heavy but (relatively) compact box. Inside there was no wasted space, but everything was perfectly packed and protected. It was all organized, and the company included the nicest pack-in tool kit and hardware assortment I’ve seen in a long time. They also included a big, detailed instruction sheet that you can set on the floor and easily follow, step by step.
Assembling this chair took less than half of the time of the first one, and there were no head-scratching moments when I was wondering if something was on backward. Secretlab has this down to an art.
Comfort, Adjustability, and Durability
At 5’11”, my son is at the upper height range for the OMEGA, but he found it was plenty large enough. I’m six feet and too close to the 240-pound recommended weight limit, and I found it quite comfortable as well. Any larger, and that means moving up the company’s TITAN series, at additional cost.
The chair features padded PRIME 2.0 PU leather with a reclining and locking back, height adjustment, arms that can be adjusted up/sideways/forward and back, with an aluminum five-wheel base. It comes with a generous memory foam lumbar pillow and a head pillow that’s filled with a combination of memory foam and cooling gel. It’s comfortable, even for extended gaming sessions. The Dark Knight theme (basically an all-black treatment with the Batman logo front and back for an extra $30) apparently also looks cool for those Zoom sessions
In terms of durability, this is a new arrival, so that’s speculation. I can say the hardware and brackets were solid, and the bolts were double the size of the ones on the previous gaming chair. The whole thing feels extremely solid. The chair also comes with a five-year warranty, which is reassuring.
Recommendation
The Secretlab OMEGA gaming chair starts at $419, which puts it in the mid-range for gaming chairs. Special editions cost a little more (the Black Knight is $449). Other extra cost upgrades are available, such as NAPA leather or SoftWeave fabric for those who prefer cloth.
As I mentioned, I can’t speak to the durability—ask me about that in a year—but I can say this gaming chair is a breeze to assemble, solidly built, and very comfortable.
