Singapore start-up Secretlab appeared from out of nowhere over a year ago, to offer sturdy gaming chairs without the inflated price. But rather than simply focus on one model to suit everyone, the two blokes behind the company have spent considerable effort in making improvements to their recliners, and there has been 5 major models, with tweaks in between.
The Throne V2 improved on the original Throne, while the Omega serves as the luxury model, offering plush cushioning wrapped in a soft, PU leather upholstery. Proving yet again that chairs do more than protect your posterior, their latest outing, the Titan, makes tweaks on the comfort offered by the Omega, and now throws in lumbar support.
On the surface, both the Omega and Titan look identical, but there are more than just subtle alterations in the overall chair design. For one thing, the Titan is slightly larger, both in width and height. The cushion for the Titan is also significantly thicker than the Omega, and its shape has also been tweaked.
While the Omega seat is crafted with a slight gradient, such that your posterior slides neatly into the allocated space, the Titan has a flatter seat that feels comfortable, no matter where your ass lands on the cushion. Parking your bottom anywhere offers the same level of soft support, and the larger base means your thighs get ample space to position themselves as well.
The rear support is also physically larger, and also stiffer to the touch. While this might mean less comfort, the backrest, when fully reclined, provides a greater mould of the body, similar to that wrap around feeling you get when resting your head on memory foam. There is an almost full recline to this chair, and the broader support for your body makes this a more comfortable chair to take a snooze in.
I’ve spent the last two weeks seated on this chair, and playing with the new Sony PlayStation VR headset, and the comfort and stability of the Titan is impressive. The wider space gives you plenty of room to move your hands, or to simply place them on the two armrests during some downtime. The wheels roll very smoothly and while VR games do not require movement, the ability to swerve, move back and dodge while on a moving platform made playing Until Dawn: Rush of Blood a lot more fun.
The most curious thing is that while both chairs are black in design, the Titan looks like it has a more blue/grey tint. Combined with the red stitching along the sides of the chair, and embroidered design on the left and right wings of the seat, the Titan comes across as more premium looking than its S$649 price tag.
But the magic of the chair is the lumbar support. Gone is the use of a standalone pillow that can only rest at the base of the rest and seat. A knob on the right edge of the seat allows you to increase the protrusion, and set it back when it is not needed. Here’s the thing. The protrusion itself is rather subtle, so it’s not as if you get a sense that there is something extra supporting your back.
Here’s the catch though. Once you’ve sat on the Titan with the lumbar support in place, you will definitely notice if the support has been reset or removed. The placement of the support takes some getting used to, but the comfort it offers is more than just shoving a pillow there. A slight twist of the knob adjusts the degree of this additional backrest accordingly, allowing users the freedom to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach, to fit more body types.
If you are a larger set person, the bigger space within the armrest of the chair is a boon. But even if you are not, the softer, more malleable cushioning makes this the superior chair to have. In fact, my wife has basically called dibs on the Titan, and has left with me the Omega, even though she knows I am more comfortable with the Titan. I chose not to say anything, because this titanic clash is an attack on Titan that I cannot possibly hope to win.
The other parts of the chair have also received some upgrades. The new chairs, even those of the Omega, now use a much larger set of wheels, or casters. When placed on the aluminium frame, the chair provides a more stable support. The folks at Secretlab recently hosted the Office Chair Race at GameStart 2016 and while they used the Throne V2 as the vehicle of choice, here’s hoping that the finals next year will make use of the Titan.
Oh, and here’s a protip. If you already own an Omega or Throne V2, and want to get the Titan (or any other chair from Secretlab), tell them that you’re an existing customer and that you want the casters of the chairs you currently have upgraded to the newer, larger ones. They should bring along the new wheels when they deliver your new chair to your place.
GEEK REVIEW SCORE
Summary
Like the lumbar support, it is the little things that matter, and will change the way you define comfort while being parked on a chair for the better part of your life.
Overall
9.1/10-
Performance - 9/10
9/10
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Features - 9/10
9/10
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Looks - 8.5/10
8.5/10
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Geek Satisfaction - 10/10
10/10