REVIEW – I may not be the gamer I used to be, or even play one on TV, but I do spend a lot of time at a keyboard in front of a monitor. A good fitting desk chair can make a major difference in how you feel, your efficiency and even your mood. I’ve been using a well known, high quality chair for a couple of decades, but had an opportunity to check out a gaming chair from Boulies that’s specifically aimed at a bigger person like myself. Spoiler… it’s great. Read on to find out why.
What is it?
The Boulies Elite Max is a gaming chair specifically designed for larger humans. Boulies targets this chair at individuals from 5’10” to 6’7″ with a max weight of 400lbs. For the metrically inclined that’s 182-200cm and 180kg.
What’s in the team-lift box?
- 1 Base, 2 Armrests, Neck support, Instruction Manual
- 1 Backrest, 1 Seat with tilt mechanism
- 1 Lumbar support, 1 Seat support, 1 Hydraulic cartridge and cover, 5 wheels, 2 Seat rail covers, Assembly hardware
Hardware specs
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Seat Material: Ultraflex PU with 100% cold-cure foam
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Base: Aluminum 5 star with 60mm PU wheels
- Lift: Class 4 hydraulic
- Frame: Steel with multi-tilt mechanism
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Adjustability: Swivels 360° on base, Height adjustable seat, Backrest reclines to horizontal, Rocks 15 degrees and can locked to an angle within that range, Armrests can adjust Up/down, Rotate L/R, Slide In/Out/Forward/Back
Design and features
The Boulies Elite Max Gaming Chair clearly took some design cues from high end sports car seats.
They do a great job of bringing separate materials together in a way that creates visual interest and aids in the shaping of the seating surfaces.
The inside of the armrests have two buttons. The chromed flush-mounted forward button allows you to slide the rest forward and backward as well as angling in or out. The squarish center button slides the rest sideway toward or away from you. Both need to be held while adjusting and released to lock the new position it in place. On the outside of the armrest is a pull lever that lets you raise or lower the rest height.
The tilt mechanism is a full-blown e-brake handle. Make sure to unweight before you pull.
Underneath are two levers and the preload spring. Turn the knob clockwise to increase the preload for more resistance. The right-hand lever raises and lowers the seat. The left-hand lever locks out the forward lean anywhere within the tilt-range.
Setup
Let’s assemble the Boulies Elite Max Gaming Chair. Step 1 is to remove these 12 loosely installed bolts and washers.
Install the left and right armrests first, leaving the bolts slightly loose for you to fine-tune the arm support width when you can sit in the chair. Then place the main support with the logo facing the front edge of the seat before installing and tightening those 4 bolts.
Install the 5 wheels by inserting the wheel’s post into the receivers and pressing until you hear the click and they are fully seated.
Flip the base right side up and then insert the hydraulic cartridge into the base.
Slide the accordion cover over the cartridge.
Place the seat over the base being careful to align the cartridge with the receiver in the seat support.
Place the backrest onto the seat and insert both screws into the right side support as that one is held in place by the mechanism. Tighten most of the way and then rotate the left side support into place and install those screws. Tighten all 4 bolts securely.
Place both side covers and secure with the supplied screws.
Now you can circle back to the armrests. Sit on the chair and decide the width of the armrests. Note that this is the position of the uprights only. The armrest tops themselves have additional adjustability in multiple directions.
Performance
I’m 6’3″, 220lbs and smack in the middle of the fit range for the Boulies Elite Max Gaming Chair. The most immediate things I noticed when sitting in the chair for the first time were the following…
- Depth of the seat – extends right to the bend of my knee
- Width of the seat – plenty of room, even with the arm rests tightened in the narrowest position
- Height of the backrest – stops maybe an inch below the top of my head, so full head support (especially with the neck pillow)
- Lumbar side curvature – I’m roughly a 38 waist and I can feel these if I move left or right (in a good way)
Here are a few more things I’ve come to have an opinion on after a month of use…
- Very comfortable for long sessions in the chair
- I find myself rocking back and forth a lot willingly
- I like the fully upright, almost forward leaning position
- Need to run the seat at full height for my upper legs to be parallel to the floor
- I like the neck cushion but need to have the elastic around the top of the chair, not through the ‘seatbelt’ holes
- The lumbar cushion doesn’t work for me – it pushes me too far forward and leaves a gap behind my shoulders
- Found that I like the armrests straight, fully forward, inboard and down – I’d actually lower them one more click if I could
- The ultraflex PU material can get pretty warm – we’ll see how that works it really hits summer around here
- The recline lever is like an emergency brake and you need to unweight the back slightly before you lean back or you’ll have to pull too hard and then drop like a rock
Overall the Boulies Elite Max Gaming Chair fits me better than anything I’ve used to date including the C sized (Large) Herman Miller Aeron Chair that I’ve had for 25 years. The full upright position is great when I’m really in the zone as my entire back is supported as I focus on my keyboard and screen. I’ve never had a chair that can recline to an almost horizontal position before. It’s actually alarming the first try, especially if you don’t lock the seat angle first because you can go negative to a head down position. The super wide base does a good job preventing a tip over which is exactly the way it should be, but unexpected just the same. Part of that is how far back the base mounts on the underside of the seat which also makes the preload tension adjustment quite a reach down and back when you’re seated.
What I like
- Great chair that actually fits a larger user
- Well padded and very supportive
- Lots of adjustability
Small things I’d change to make it even better
- Add an extra insert on the underside of the seat to mount arm rests further forward if desired
- Slightly more travel in the hydraulic cartridge for us long legged folks
Final thoughts
Think about the amount of time you spend in a desk chair. Whether it’s gaming, working from home or at the office, it’s likely to rival the amount of time you sleep. That means it is money well spent to find a chair that not only fits you but promotes good posture and provides proper support. As a tall guy that isn’t as light as he used to be, the Boulies Elite Max Gaming Chair feels like it was built just for me, and I might just have to move it to work as I spend a lot more time at a desk there. If you have different sizing needs Boulies also likely has you covered so make sure to check them out.
Price: $459
Where to buy: Boulies
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Boulies.
