AndaSeat X-Air Series Mesh Office Gaming Chair
design
The X-Air Pro is pretty unique, by AndaSeat’s standards anyway. While all of the brand’s other chairs like the Kaiser 4 feature a very similar solid-back design, the AndaSeat X-Air Pro pokes holes in everything with a fully mesh construction. It’s a style that I’m sure will divide opinion, it certainly makes the X-Air Pro more of a feature piece in a room as this cyborg-looking chair really stands out.
Assembly was fine and while not as slick as the experience constructing the Secretlab Titan Evo, I didn’t have too many problems and it all came together in about 20 minutes. I tackled it alone but it’s quite cumbersome so I’d suggest trying to have an extra pair of hands if possible.
The AndaSeat X-Air Pro is available in three colourways, the most simple ‘Space Black’ that features a simple black frame and mesh, ‘Celeste’ that retains the black mesh but sports a funky purple frame, and ‘Twilight’ which combines off-white mesh with a pink and blue structure. I’ve been testing the Celeste variant and it’s drawn a fair few comments from visitors. The rear frame looks like something straight from Subnautica, the chair equivalent of an alien exoskeleton and a feature that introduces more of a gamer vibe than the front of the chair does. AndaSeat’s website suggests this back panel is replaceable and customisable but there’s currently no way to buy extra back panels that I can find.
The metal base is a pretty standard affair though the same can’t be said of the AndaSeat X-Air Pro’s 5D armrests. Now I know what you’re thinking, that sounds like a lot of Ds and you’d be right. It is a lot and frankly, it’s too many Ds. AndaSeat has a thing with trying to re-invent the armrest it seems and like the Kaiser 4’s split armrests they’re yet to hit the mark. There’s simply too much movement going on with the X-Air Pro’s armrests to the point they become irritating.
Annoyingly, I actually appreciated how many different positions each armrest can be moved to and first impressions were good. There’s plenty of customisation on offer and I was able to move them into a position that was just right. The problem is that once you find the perfect spot there’s no way to keep them there. These are the closest things to free-flowing armrests you’ll find on a chair because resistance is very low and there’s no locking mechanism. It means any time you knock or nudge the armrests they move and they move quite a long way. On multiple occasions I innocently leaned on them as I tried to adjust my body position and nearly fell sideways out of the chair as the AndaSeat X-Air Pro’s armrest all but disappeared from underneath me.
The AndaSeat X-Air Pro’s headrest suffers the same problem as the armrests, albeit without the extra Ds. It’s great to see it included as standard, it has a decent range of adjustment both vertically and in angle and it’s surprisingly comfortable to rest your head against – it just never stays in the same place. The tilt is the biggest culprit here, at all but the lowest angle any level of force from your head will simply push the headrest away from you, rendering it all but useless. Given a headrest is likely to be dialled in once and then left where it is it feels like a massive oversight to not be able to screw this firmly into position.
performance
I’ve worked my way through a few chairs recently, from the classic Secretlab Titan Evo to the 2024 Boulies Master Series and even a few of AndaSeat’s other options. These were all ‘traditional’ gaming chairs though, boasting various unique names for foam in their cushions and all rocking largely the same silhouette. The AndaSeat X-Air Pro stood out as a result, everything was a new experience here from the materials to the overall shape.
A couple of weeks of sitting later and I’m still not completely sure if I like the X-Air Pro or not, it has good and bad days – an unusual trait for an inanimate object. The main seat cushion is wonderful and by far the highlight of the X-Air Pro. I wouldn’t go as far as to call the mesh fabric soft, but I was concerned it would feel rough or abrasive and it doesn’t. It offers a really pleasing amount of give that almost feels trampoline like, while still remaining taut enough to be supportive and the very nature of mesh fabric means it never felt hot or sticky to sit on.
The upper portion of the backrest is similarly good for all the same reasons. Again the material isn’t harsh and there’s enough give and spring in it to mean that you’ll sink in far enough to feel comfortable and welcomed without being swallowed up. The tilting mechanism is one of the best I’ve used on a gaming chair because this back panel moves independently of the seat. There’s a nice enough amount of tension here too so I was able to recline a little without needing to tilt right back or feeling like I was fighting against the backrest.
There’s a dealbreaker to the AndaSeat X-Air Pro though and it’s what will stop me adopting this chair as my daily driver – the lumbar support. I’m not a huge fan of lumbar beams, bars, cushions or panels at the best of times and am yet to find one on any gaming chair I actually feel makes it more comfortable or supportive. It means AndaSeat has come up against a tough boss battle with me in this area but I’m not convinced many people will enjoy the X-Air Pro’s solution. Despite its marketing suggesting ‘dynamic’ support, my experience was that this large panel is very fixed and very intrusive as a result. It seemed to dig into my back and actively make me bend my spine to fit around it, not nice. There’s no way to adjust or remove it either, it’s very much a one size fits all situation that sadly doesn’t fit.
summed up
I’m in a strange position with the AndaSeat X-Air Pro, figuratively and literally, and it’s all down to that lumbar support block. Yes the arm and headrests are annoying but these complaints were somewhat cancelled out by how comfortable the main seat and back panels are thanks to that perfectly balanced mesh fabric. If AndaSeat had simply extended the same backrest right down until it met the seat this would have been one of, if not the best gaming chair I’d tested.
AndaSeat didn’t do that though, it tried to get overly clever with a lumbar support system that just feels out of place and ruins the experience entirely as a result. At $449/£329 I get the feeling this funky addition was intended to be a value adding USP, something to set an already unique mesh gaming chair apart but for me it’s the downfall of the X-Air Pro. If you’re used to chunky lumbar support this could be your dream chair but for the everyday user I think it’ll be a pain in the back.
