A few months back, Logitech announced that they were teaming up with Herman Miller, a company known for its super comfortable yet overly expensive chairs. This team-up would result in the pairing releasing several gaming-themed products, with the first being a gaming chair.
It was great news for sure, as this would be Logitech’s first foray into the world of gaming-themed furniture. Yet, at the same time, I worried that teaming up with Herman Miller would result in items that may be out of the price range for many gamers.
With today’s official reveal of the first product, the Herman Miller x Logitech branded Embody Gaming Chair. It looks amazing, with its slick color design, its crazy ergonomics, and it looks like it stepped out of a sci-fi movie. That said, my fears were confirmed as the price of this chair was way outside of what I expected, retailing at $1500.00. Ok, it’s technically $1495.00, but you get the point.
Yep, fears confirmed, not sure why I expected anything less.
I’m in the camp of understanding how important a quality chair is, especially if you spend a lot of time playing video games or working on a PC. I do happen to do a lot of both, with writing articles or creating video, playing games on my PC or consoles, or doing some sort of complex, complicated troubleshooting required of me from my 9-5 gig.
Right now, I do use a “gaming racing chair” and one that I’ve been looking to replace. Again, being completely transparent here, I have looked at some of the refurbished Herman Miller chairs, as they’re some of the best out there. They also happen to be out of the price range that I’m willing to spend on them.
Now, I’m not here to point fingers at Logitech or Herman Miller, laugh at them, or anything like that. This chair looks quality, and you get for what you pay for (or is that the other way around?). I fully understand the reason for the pricing, and to be quite honest, I had already braced myself for the sticker shock, much like you’d do when buying a new car. However, I do have a problem with the messaging of this expensive chair catered towards gamers and gaming.
I get it, Logitech wants in, and this is a fast way into this specific sector, yet simply saying it’s a gaming chair doesn’t cut it for me. Simply showing a video that shows the chair in a gaming room doesn’t work for me. Tell me why this is a gaming chair first and the benefits of owning this chair. Does it massage my back or my neck? Does it keep me attentive? Can it fetch me a cup of coffee or Red Bull? Why should I spend an outrageous amount of money on this chair without knowing the benefits of it?
Not me personally, as I’ve done the research on the Embody, and it’s a good chair. I’m referring to those who didn’t know anything other than the gaming chairs that several companies have been pushing for years. If you’re reading this and you’re curious, please do read up on the Embody.
OK, being completely blunt, I feel that this may be a bit of a rip-off, but hear me out before you decide that my viewpoint is, well, busted. As of this moment, you can already purchase an equally comfortable Herman Miller chair, the same Embody (though I’d rather have an Aeron) at that, for less than what is being asked of for the Logitech/Herman Miller team-up. Yes, the very same chair, minus the snazzy color scheme.
Call me old-fashioned, but If I’m spending that kind of money on a chair, then I want to test it out first. Granted, that could hard to do, thanks to Covid-19 and the current state of the world. But it’s also pretty hard as there are no stores that carry Herman Miller chairs (that I know of), much less this chair. For $1500.00, you damn well better believe that I’m going to what to sit in it for and test it out before I hand over the cash.
Bringing up the car thing again, when you purchase a car, the first thing the salesperson says to you is “Let’s go for a drive” and hands you the keys. That’s what I want, I want the keys to the chair. I want to sit in it, I want to play with all the things and see if it’s worth my money.
Granted, there are more than several influencers out there right now trying to sell you on the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody. Some of them might be actual fans of the chair, others could be doing it just because they’re required to do so. Some of you may be buying what they say, and that’s pretty ok. I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money, it’s not mine. Still, at the very at very do your research before you spend your money. You can get something that’s equally as good or similar for less money.
In the meanwhile, If I happen to either find someplace to test out the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody or, by some grace of some entity, convince my wife to let me spend that much money on it (that’s never going to happen), I’ll be sure to let everyone know.
