DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair Review

Overview

 

Logically speaking one of the components of any Gaming setup is used far more than any other, and that component is the chair or stool (or whatever you can find) that you sit on. Therefore it was only a matter of time before some manufacturers realised this and started to produce specific chairs for us the PC Gamers of the world. It was at this point or soon after that the Gaming Chair was born, and now there seems to be more and more everyday! We took a look at one a while ago and pcG Iain was pretty darn happy with it to say the least, to be honest I’m guessing he’s sat in his Vertagear SL4000 right now as I type up this review.

And for the first time I’m also sat in one of these so called Gaming chairs, but this time it’s manufactured by DXRacer, a manufacturer who was one of the first to delve into the world of Gaming chairs. This then is the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair (OH/DF61/NWO) from DXRacer’s Drifting Series and comes to us in a black/white/orange colour scheme although others are available.

 

 

 

The DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair was airlifted into pcG headquarters by helicopter, ok that’s a slight exaggeration; but the box really is that big, probably the biggest box to ever arrive here at pcG and that’s always a good start, right!? 😉 The box is pretty plain though and I guess eco friendly with just some red printing highlighting the brand name and some buzz words. Although important: Note the DO NOT CUT and the READ THE MANUAL statements on the box…

On opening the box we can see that all of the parts that make up the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair seem to be well packaged and well protected, although in a somewhat haphazard kind of way!

With the top foam protective sheet removed we can begin to appreciate the task ahead, let’s then first take a look at what we have in the box. First we find what appears to be the seat back wrapped in a plastic bag.

 

 

With the chair back removed we are greeted with yet another protective foam sheet. Beneath this we find the chair’s main base wrapped in bubble wrap and sealed in a plastic bag. Removing the chair’s base reveals yet another protective foam sheet…

 

 

Removing that foam sheet at last reveals a little bit of colour, oooh Orange (ok James calm down!). This is obviously the main seat of the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair (ok that’s it already, I’m fed up of typing that little lot from here on in it’s simply the DXRacer). The arms that are sticking up vertically are protected by a couple of foam pouches, while the seat itself is simply covered with a bit of plastic wrapping.

In the far right hand corner of the box we find the two cushions (lumbar & neck), once the seat and the cushions are removed there’s precious else left in the box. Apart from the small brown box in the bottom right corner that holds most of the accessories, screws, tools and of course the all important manual.

 

 

Looking at some of the main parts that of come out of the giant box, let’s first take a look at the back of the chair. Apart from looking very smart in its black/white/orange colour scheme it’s also surprisingly light. It also appears to be rather well made and the stitching is second to none. I also rather like the embroidered Drifting Series logo in white near the top of the backrest and the DXRacer logo at the very top, embroidered in white and red. Although I’m less keen on the cut-out at the top with its plastic surround…

Turning our attention to the business end, where you put your rear end, we see the same black/white/orange colour scheme, but this time it weighs in at a hefty old weight. There’s a lot of steel parts here making moving this section around a little more awkward. Here you can also see the steel uprights that were originally covered, that will connect the seat to the backrest.

Finally we have the starfish base of the DXRacer, this five legged cast aluminium base has been painted black and seem to be very solid/sturdy indeed. Note the four holes in each leg, these are for the additional foot rests that simply clip into place.

 

 

The DXRacer is shipped with two addition (optional, you don’t have to fit theme if you don’t want to!) cushions, one as a lumbar support (left) and the other for the neck. Both cushions a very thick, especially the lumbar support and both sport the same colour scheme as the main chair.

 

 

Each cushion attached to the chair in different ways. The lumbar support (left) is wrapped around the seat back and simply clipped together allowing it to slide up and down and be positioned for individual preference. The neck support can either simply be pulled over the top of the headrest, courtesy of its elastic band or passed through that black plastic upper section and secured at the back with some kind of strange circular clip!

 

 

Hiding in that small cardboard box we not only have some of the other main parts, such as the plastic arm covers, the plastic hydraulic piston cover and the foot rests. It also houses the DXRacer D Series manual, the ONLY too required for assembly and a spare screw, nut and washer.

At the time of review, the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair is retailing at Overclockers UK for approximately £225 and comes with a 2 year warranty.

 

Specifications/Features

courtesy of DXRacer

* Additional details available here

 

Construction

 

Constructing the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair was actually far easier than I thought, the very fact that the only tool you’ll need is the supplied Allen key is impressive to say the least! All in all construction took around an hour or so, although I was taking photographs most of that time. If you wanted to I’m sure you could put the DXRacer together in around 30 mins.

The manual that comes with the chair is also pretty good, detailing the build over eight easy to follow steps, with both imagery and descriptions in a multitude of languages.

 

 

The first step sees you take the five wheels and insert each one into the ends of the five arms on the main aluminium base. They are quite tight, but don’t be afraid to push, I thought that they would snap/click into place but they didn’t seem to! Just don’t use a hammer.. 😉

 

 

Once all of the wheels are in place, make sure that they are all swiveling and rolling freely, note there are no wheel locks so the wheel should rotate with ease. Once checked you can turn the base over ready for the next step.

 

 

The next step is to fit the five plastic foot covers to the base. I was a little disappointed with the colour of these as they’re not white, more of a cream colour to be honest. But in their defense they do match the colour used on the chair itself as this is not really white either… The plastic foot rests simply clip into position (although again it’s tight) at the end of each arm, via the four holes provided. NOTE: make sure you have the correct orientation, the larger (fatter) end of the plastic foot rest should face outwards, away from the centre of the chair.

 

 

The final task to finish the base is to attach the hydraulic piston and its associated plastic cover. The large end of the piston is simply inserted into the hole on the centre of the base, no real pressure is needed as you’ll be sitting on it soon enough! The three piece cover is then simply slid over the top and rests on the top of the base of the chair. And that’s it the base of the chair is complete. 🙂

 

 

The next task is to fit the chair back to the seat itself, this is done by way of four screws, two per side. As the screws were already in the chair they first needed to be removed, but be careful not to drop any of the washers. The seat back just needs to be positioned long enough to get the screws in place not forgetting the washers (large washer first, then spring washer and screw). You may want someone to help you at this point just to position the chair back, while you get the screws into position. DO NOT tighten one screw or one side first, just do all finger tight first to ensure the chair back/seat is properly aligned. Finally you can tighten the screws. There’s no need to tighten them too much, as the spring washer will stop it from loosening…

 

 

Once the chair back is secured to the seat you can attach the plastic covers shown above left. These covers simply clip on, but be careful to lineup the clips themselves and the holes, not forgetting that there’s a clip at the very bottom of the cover also. The covers are a simple piece of plastic but they actually do a good job of cleaning up the overall aesthetics. The chair is now effectively also complete, you’ll like the nest step… 😉

 

 

The final step (before you can actually sit on the chair) is to attach the control unit to the base of the chair. The four screws and the washers for this are already attached to the chair (two at the top and two at the bottom) and need to be removed. BUT, be careful not to drop the washers, as it’s easy to lose them down inside the chair’s cushion as I did! Luckily it was retrieved without too much effort.

With the screws removed the control unit can be attached, note the orientation of the unit (the main lever is on the right when sat in the chair). Again the order is flat washer, spring washer and then the screw. Again just tighten each screw finger tight first, to ensure a good alignment and fit. Then you can tighten the screws, tight!

At this point you’re pretty much done and you can sit in the chair. I would just like to point out that the build was very simple indeed and did just require one tool, the supplied Allen key. Also the build quality of the chair was very good indeed, and I had no issues with alignment of any holes/screws during the build.

 

First Impressions

 

 

As you can see the assembled chair looks pretty darn good, especially if you like the colour scheme, although others are available. As this is the first Gaming chair I have seen I was unsure what to expect, but I have to say I’m pretty impressed with the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair.

 

 

The next task is to decide whether you want to fit the optional lumbar and neck cushions, well as you can see I did! The lumbar support cushion simply wraps itself around the back of the chair and clips together, this allows the support to be moved to any position on the seat back. The cushion itself is nice and thick and really supports the lower back well. The neck cushion fits either by just stretching the elasticated band around the top of the chair or by threading the band through the plastic gap and securing it with the supplied clip. I opted to do the latter as it simply looks better and is held in place better.

 

 

As you can see there are three images above that help to show off some of the finer details of the DXRacer chair. The first images shows the embroidered DXRACER logo found at the very top of the chair on the headrest. The second image is of the Drifting Series logo found in the centre of the backrest. Both of these logos were well aligned and also the embroidery was of a high quality. The final image is of the little red RXRacer tag found on the right-hand side of the seat. All of these touches help to give the chair a little touch of class.

At this point I’m more than impressed with the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair, it’s well made and features high quality materials and craftsmanship. To be fair at this point it almost seems to be worth every penny of its asking price of around £225.

 

Hardware Performance

 

CHAIR ADJUSTMENT

 

 

The DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair has plenty of adjustment; seat height, arm height, backrest angle (up to 170 degrees) and chair tilt. The handle on the right side of the chair allows the angle of the backrest to be adjusted. This goes from approximately 90 degrees all the way down to 170 degrees. Sleeping in the DXRacer is really and option then! 😉 One thing I was less keen on is the plastic moulded handle that seems to feature a rather thin design and feels rather horrible in use, it’s also a little awkward to get you hand onto the handle, leaving just a few fingers free to operate it.

The handle that sticks out from the control unit allows the chair back to be locked or not and raises/lowers the seat height. The handle can be pulled out to unlock the backrest (effectively enable the tilt function) and pushed in to lock. Lifting the handle up and down simply raises the seat up and down. Note that these functions are clearly marked on the handle itself.

Finally we turn our attention to the knob on the base of the chair. This controls the tilt mechanism of the chair (not the backrest) by loosening this control knob you can control the ease at which the whole chair tilts. I did actually use this feature as it allowed me to stretch out a little in between Gaming sessions or rounds, without getting out of the chair! 😉 Note for this tilt function to work, you must pull the lock handle out thus allowing the chair to tilt.

 

ARMREST

 

 

The armrests themselves are a little basic but comfortable enough, I have to confess that being a Gamer my arms spend most of the time at a keyboard and mouse anyway. But the height of the armrest is adjustable, always good if you want to slide the chair under a desk as I do.

Adjusting the armrest is just a simple case of pulling up on the lever (above right) and either pulling up or pushing down on the armrest. One thing that I did notice though was the fact that the armrest wobbles (left/right) and on this chair the left one wobbles more than the right. Although not really a problem I would like to see this improved as it lets the chair down a little.

 

COMFORT

 

The first and most important point about this DXRacer chair and no doubt other Gaming chairs is the simple fact that the chair really wants you to sit in a specific way. But what do I mean by this? The answer soon becomes obvious when you sit in the chair for the first time as it’s likely to feel pretty strange, and maybe unlike any office chair you may have sat in before. This is down to the ergonomics and the way the chair is setup, especially if you have the lumbar support cushion in place.

With my old chair (one of the those large executive type chairs) it was a chair built for comfort and was a good chair to lounge around in, slouch in and to some degree sit in! But it certainly was not a chair that promoted good posture. The DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair is the polar opposite, it features great ergonomics and high density hard foam padding, that supports you’re backside and more importantly your back. As soon as you sit in it, you feel like you should sit up straight (it’s just like being back at school!), but you also realise that this is no bad thing, especially as you’re likely (as a Gamer) to sit in this chair for some time.

I’ve now been sat in this chair for a couple of weeks, and put simply I would never go back to my original office chair again. I now sit so much better at my PC and am far less likely to slouch or crane over the keyboard and I (and my back) feel better for it!

For me I found the best comfort without the lumbar support, especially over long periods of time. With the lumbar support in place I found it hard to get my bum at the back of the seat. The neck rest only comes into play should you want to tilt back in the chair or put the back rest down for that chill out time! 😉

Overall I cannot fault the comfort of the DXRacer chair, as long as you understand that by default the chair wants to promote a more upright style and that will take a bit of getting used to. Although one thing I will say; is that if you’re much bigger than me (approx 5’11” and 182 lbs) then the chair might start to feel a little tight, especially around your bum! 😉

 

Final Thoughts

 

Once you’ve sat in a Gaming chair, one as good as the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair then you’re not going to want to sit in anything else. Not only does it look damn cool, and not only is it comfortable, it also helps to promote good posture too! So there you go, a PC Gaming product that’s good for you, need I say more…

The DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair (OH/DF61/NWO) arrived at pcG in what must be the largest box we have ever seen, now that’s always a good start right!? 😉 The box unfortunately was a little drab, just being a plain brown cardboard box, but at least it’s eco friendly eh! Delving into the box it became obvious that the parts were all well packaged and protected, albeit in some sort of haphazard way.

As we effectively just have a box of parts the first task is (somewhat obviously) assembly, those put off by this certainly needn’t be as assembly was in fact extremely easy. The manual is both clear and concise and also in a variety of languages. In fact the only tool you need is the supplied Allen key, add to this the fact that there’s actually only eight screws that need to be installed, all of which are actually pre-installed in the correct positions. Assembly time for me was just over and hour, but I’m sure if you wanted to (and you weren’t taking photographs!) it would be closer to 30 minutes. The final task is to fit the optional lumbar and neck cushions should you wish to use them or try them out.

Once the chair is complete, it’s soon quite obvious why a chair such as the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming Chair costs over £200, this is a seriously well made chair and far better than any office chair I have had before. The only one minor quibble I had as far as quality goes, was that the left armrest wobbled (left/right) rather too much and more than the right. Although to be fair it only wobbled if you physically wobbled it…

The most important aspect of the chair though is obviously the comfort. Now although I’ve described this in detail in my review I will again touch on an important aspect of comfort here in the Final Thoughts. And that aspect is this; this chair the DXRacer is like other Gaming chairs that we come across in the fact that not only is it comfortable it also promotes a particular way of sitting, and this may at first seem strange. As the chair by default will see you sat more upright that normal, this is not a chair for slouching in, posture is what it’s all about. So it’s not just comfortable it’s also different and that’s different in a good way, although at first it may not seem like it.

Of course there’s lots of adjustability too, with both height adjustment of the seat and the arm rests, as well as seat back angle and a tilt function for the chair. The fact that the chair can be reclined to 170 degrees means that a quick nap might not even be out of the question. To be honest there’s very little here to complain about other than the slightly wobbly arm rest and maybe the price…

Overall then the DXRacer Drifting Series Gaming chair is as good as any Gaming chair we’ve seen so far, it really is just down to personal taste and maybe even colour schemes. I for one would be more than happy to pay £225 for a chair as good as this, especially knowing how much use it was going to get…

 

Verdict

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Many thanks to DXRacer for providing this sample for review