When customizing your gaming/office setup, selecting the right chair is something you should always put careful thought into. After all, you’ll be planted in it for hundreds of hours. Possibly even thousands of hours (let’s be honest with ourselves), provided you get a comfortable, quality gaming chair. With that in mind, you may be wondering what to buy. We have the Anda Seat T-Compact gaming chair in for review, and we plan to address that very question.
There’s a surprising amount of things to consider when buying a chair, so go ahead and get comfortable for this read. Oh wait, you probably aren’t comfortable. That’s why you’re here.
There are countless brands out there when it comes to gaming chairs. You can try and go with something cheap that looks like a gaming chair, but you’ll almost certainly be disappointed by what you get, and more importantly, how it holds up. I’ve tried everything from the cheap models to the premium brands, and it has to be said that there is a massive difference between them when it comes to materials and build quality.
Anda Seat wants to be on the high end of the gaming chair spectrum, and it does generally well with some models as noted in our T-Pro 2 review. For those that don’t know, Anda Seat started out by making racing chairs for the automotive enthusiast scene and has since transitioned to making gaming/office chairs. The T-Compact is the latest gaming chair from Anda Seat, and it features a similar design to the T-Pro 2. The key difference is that this model is scaled down for smaller people. The seat cushion, pillows, and foam are different as well.
What audience is the Anda Seat T-Compact for?
A common perception is that all gaming chairs come wrapped in brightly-colored PVC leather. If you’re the type that would rather not reveal your gaming hobby to every single person in your online video calls, this might be the gaming chair for you. The Anda Seat T-Compact comes with a durable linen covering that you can select in three different color schemes. There’s black, black and grey, and blue and black. All three models come with black fabric accents made of a suede-like material. Really, whatever color you choose should look fairly low key.
The next thing to consider is whether or not you need a gaming chair. If you work from home and plan to spend many productive hours in your next chair, something like this might not be ideal. Office chairs tend to promote more of a forward-oriented posture that allows the body to effortlessly use a keyboard and mouse for hours on end. Gaming chairs are best suited for those who like to feel more relaxed and literally laid back. This is great if you’re the type that likes to watch entertainment or play with a controller, however, playing on mouse and keyboard can be a little more difficult unless you really fill out the chair.
Is this chair right for you?
The Anda Seat T-Compact is ideal for anyone between 5’6 and 5’10” (165-180mm), give or take some leeway based upon your preferences. People below that height should have an easier time still feeling comfortable, though. As for the weight requirements, Anda Seat lists a maximum weight of 285lbs (130kg). The T-Compact also features a much wider seat cushion, unlike the T-Pro 2, which is advertised for big and tall people. The inner seat cushion measures at 12in wide while the outer seat cushion is 21in. That provides plenty of room for larger thighs or enough space if you’d like to sit cross-legged. The seat cushion is also 19in deep if you’re concerned about longer leg lengths. You can, of course, adjust the height of the chair as well.
Our measurements are slightly smaller than those that Anda Seat advertises on the T-Compact product page.
As for the shape of the chair and how it feels to sit in, it’s quite comfortable for someone at 5’6″ and supports a generally decent posture around the shoulders. Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of lumbar support, and the lower pillow does nothing to help that. It’s too short and just creates a weird hump for you back to wrap around. You’re better off avoiding that and getting your own lumbar cushion that’s more spread out. The pillow feels alright without the lower cushion and definitely helps to support the neck while leaning back slightly.
These chairs also offer a firm feel, so you will need to be okay with that. It’s not enough to be uncomfortable by any means, though. You can easily feel comfortable in the chair for hours on end. In this sense, gaming chairs are far superior to office chairs.
If you’ve seen a gaming chair before, you should be familiar with how the armrests always work. Each is four directional, meaning you can easily adapt the chair to work with your particular desk. As someone with an L-shaped desk, the feature is a marked improvement over my basic office chair. Just keep in mind that the armrests are wide.
Lastly, let’s talk fabric. As already mentioned, this model omits PVC leather for a far more breathable material. Even with your PC churning out plenty of heat while gaming, you shouldn’t feel uncomfortably warm in this chair. That means the only sweating you’ll be doing is when you’re trying to harvest hay faster than the other team in your next Farming Simulator esports tourney.
The seams were uneven on this particular sample, but the stitching was sturdy at least.
How’s the build quality?
The long-running stereotype about gaming chairs is that they are cheaply made, but Anda Seat has some solid products with durable materials. For starters, there’s a lot of thick metal in this chair. Unlike a lot of other brands, Anda Seat chairs feature metal bases, and the company supplies some pretty hefty screws for its chairs that don’t strip even under heavy torque. The powder coat paint doesn’t scratch either.
With that said, so do several of the other top brands that also non-coincidentally share nearly identical features. As I pointed out in my other Anda Seat chair review, the city of origin is Guangzhou, China. It’s a major industry hub, and there’s likely a good deal of parts that come from the same place no matter which brand you go with. Manufacturers are slowly getting away from the cut and paste approach to gaming chairs, though.
The good thing about this is that consumers can at least expect a degree of standardization between brands, and Anda Seat does a good job with its custom implementations for the most part. Nothing negative can be said about the frame, base, or wheels of this chair. The armrests feel a little cheap and have a small degree of play, but are good enough for what they are built for. Everything slides and adjusts in a satisfying way, and the chair feels solid overall as long as you screw everything in tight.
The fabric feels thick and sturdy, and the metal upholstery rings underneath do reinforce confidence that the build quality will hold up, but there are issues with the seams on the review sample we received. Aside from a few ripples along the outer edges of the chair, there are also some uneven measurements that result in a few extra millimeters of fabric that make everything seem slightly off. This includes the Anda Seat logo, though it’s really only noticeable upon close inspection. Despite delays, the product itself still seemed a little rushed. Fortunately, these are just minor aesthetic complications, as the actual stitching is very good.
Unlike other designs, I was unable to reach my hand under the fabric to access the cushion area and get a feel for what kind of material was in there. For the T-Pro 2, it was the same high quality foam that was found inside of the pillows. I compared the feel of the T-Pro 2 to the T-Compact, and I can’t say I feel any difference. The marketing also suggests it is made of the same material, and I was reluctant to tear apart a $400 USD product over something I’m fairly certain of in this case.
Speaking to the assembly process, it’s very straightforward and easy to follow. Anda Seat provides a high quality instruction sheet that’s easy to follow, along with a basic tool for tightening the screws. There are really just two things to consider when assembling this product. Assemble the Anda Seat T-Compact gaming chair in the room you intend to use it in, as it is quite heavy. Second, don’t strip the screw threads. Take the time to line everything up.
There are a few other things I’d like to point out. The wheels glide easily across carpets and floors. The recline handle is easy to grab and adjust to specific positions. And despite its large size, it still manages to squeeze through a standard US door frame. That’s good design. What’s not good design, is the small mountain of plastic I have leftover from the packaging. While the T-Compact I received didn’t suffer from any shipping damage, the pile of leftover plastic foam felt excessive and wasteful.
Finally, it’s worth pointing out that you get a two year warranty with your Anda Seat purchase. You can get that extended up to six years for free, though, if you give the company a shoutout on social media and complete additional registration steps. This is a nice perk, similar to what Secret Lab does. It also shows that the company has confidence in the longevity of its product. Just follow these instructions to obtain the extended warranty. Based on the research I’ve done, Anda Seat honors its warranties too.
Should you buy the Anda Seat T-Compact?
The Anda Seat T-Compact gaming chair comes up a little short due to some fumbles with seam alignments and awkward pillows that only make it less comfortable. Despite this, the base chair is quite comfortable and well made. It works best for people of average heights and accommodates a range of different weights. If you like gaming chairs in particular, but need something that doesn’t look too crazy for an office setting, this is a product you’ll generally like. The comfort of this chair should feel just as good if not better than some of its competitors that appear to have thinner cushions, though the imperfections in the fabric seams may be enough to turn some away. However, at the very least, the fabric will hold up better than PVC leather and prevent heat buildup. Just be careful not to stain it with food or drinks.
At the price of $400 USD, it still feels a bit steep for a gaming chair in general. Decent mesh office chairs can be had for far less money if you’re into those. However, only gaming chairs offer the level of comfort that lets you truly kick back and relax, potentially justifying the added cost. Anda Seat also runs semi-frequent sales on its products that can make the prices easier to swallow. You can buy the Anda Seat T-Compact gaming chair from the company’s website or get it through Amazon.
Published: Aug 13, 2021 01:00 pm