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| Features: Articles:
Aeron chair review |
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| Is this the best chair in the
world? |
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egrindstone has just conducted a product test on the Herman
Miller Aeron Chair. About a month ago, Luke Munro from Home Working
Solutions contacted us to see if we at eGrindstone would
like to conduct a product review on one of his Herman Miller
Aeron office chairs. I must admit at the time I didn't know a
great deal about the Aeron chair having only seen them in the
odd Architectural and Design magazine, but the concept of
having us product test one seemed sound, and all the team
agreed to participate in the test. |
| The test |
|
Since there are four of us at eGrindstone (Emma, Neil, Joe
and Todd) we thought it would be best if each person tested
the chair for a period of one week and at the end of the test
period each person would provide their own review. Although we
work from home, we decided it would be best if the chair
remained in our central office where we need to meet once or
twice a week. |
| Unbiased report: |
|
As with all the eGrindstone product reviews we aim to
deliver a realistic 'unbiased' report of the product covering
its performance, its usability, its looks, its value for
money, and how we got on with the product having used it for a
time. |
| Our findings: |
|
With the test completed, here is what each person had to
say about the chair - |
| Emma says: |
| David Dimbleby's
throne on BBC's Question Time is an Aeron chair. Up
until this review, this was my sole sighting of an Aeron
in situ, which, given the parlous state of the nation's
backs, and what I have now experienced when sitting in
one, is a crying shame. At a distance the Aeron might
resemble any other piece of office furniture -
predominantly black, but with what seemed to be some
sort of meshy material for the seat and backing |
| Looks: |
Impressive. The
Aeron emerges in its charcoal (not black) glory from the
box all ready for the off. There is no cheesy looking
carpet-like covering on the seat, just something called
pellicle mesh, that ensures you get maximum ventilation
around the parts of your body that touch the chair. This
mesh also means you get no embarrassingly located coffee
stains on the cover - and that it will look really fine,
even after considerable use. |
| Usability
and performance: |
I've never had a
piece of furniture that comes with a manual - except
Scandinavian ones that have pieces of paper to help you
build it yourself. This manual helps the Aeron chair be
the work-chair that you sit in, rather than on. You do
need the manual just to get the chair adjusted to your
ergonomic requirements - and the seat's height, its tilt
tension, arm height and angle all make for a great
session at your desk. Adjusting it is easy. The Aeron
made the eGrindstone team realise what a true bunch of
aching, ageing individuals we are - the oohs and aahs
were reminiscent of tea/beer-drinkers after the first
seeking gulp. The Aeron 'hits the spot' - ergonomically
speaking. From a teleworking point of view it might well
have had a detrimental effect on our attitude, as we did
all consider meeting up more often, instead of working
at home, - just to get a 1 in 4 chance of sitting in the
chair. |
| Value for
money: |
Over the long-term,
it definitely would offer vfm. Users of the Aeron might
also experience the following side-effects: increased
work productivity levels, as sitting and working would
seem more comfortable and preferable to any
non-addictive alternatives to work. What's more, days
off work due to back pain, wrist-ache or any other
complaint arising from unsuitable seating would
presumably become a thing of the past. |
| Pros: |
ultra-comfortable,
practical (no need to wash it, or try to cover coffee
stains), and stylish, manages a good 4 revolutions per
push (Joe, our 'crash test dummy' felt dizzy after 2
revs!) |
| Cons: |
I'm not very
adventurous when it comes to big buys on my credit card
- and purchasing an Aeron might constitute too great a
challenge for me, and my plastic.
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| Todd says: |
| It's very comfy, it
supports, it reclines, it swivels, it has arm supports
and it looks great. In fact, the chair is so good I kind
of wish I hadn't sat on it now because it makes every
other chair I sit on not just 'pale in comparison', but
it makes other chairs 'feel like a pail' in comparison.
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| Usability
and performance: |
When sitting in
ordinary office chairs I tend to alter my body position
to fit the chair, but the Aeron is so adjustable you can
alter the chair to fit you. The lumber support is
excellent and it encouraged me to keep from slouching at
the end of the day (which is good news for my back and
perhaps not good news if you are a chiropractor). I'm
not sure why but for some strange reason I think better
when I lean back on a chair and the Aeron even has an
adjustment that lets me do that (recline that is - not
think)! The build quality is top notch and all the
components have a quality feel about them. |
| Value for
money: |
Does the chair offer
value for money? Well, if you look at things in the
medium to long term, I think it does. First off the
Aeron comes with a 12 YEAR guarantee and it's pretty
safe to say that most people will have gone through a
good few chairs in a 12 year period. Secondly, think
about how many hours we spend in our chair: I spend more
time in my desk chair than I do my bed! Well I guess if
we spend that much time in a chair we may as well make
ourselves as comfortable as possible. |
| Pros: |
comfort, comfort,
comfort, quality, style, longevity and guarantee… |
| Cons: |
hefty price tag
when compared to ordinary chairs (but this isn't an
ordinary chair), becoming accustomed to the chair's
quality… | |
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| Neil says: |
| Chairs, how do you
value them? Personally I used to take the tack that, if
you could buy one for £50, then why not? But life isn't
that simple, is it? You pay for what you get, but you
also don't know what you are missing. When we got the
Aeron chair on review I was initially sceptical that it
could deliver "value". It looked fabulous, but a chair
is a chair. Well, not entirely. Having sat on a
selection of Ikea's finest for the past few years I
never really felt there was much wrong with them…until
you spend a day in a proper chair. I think that the
British are funny about furniture (well not just
furniture…) we will quite happily shell out huge sums
for antique furniture, or even mock antique furniture,
but we don't really get modern stuff. If the Aeron was
stuffed with horse-hair, and covered in leather with
finely curved yew legs then we probably wouldn't
question the price, but hey, this thing is made of
plastic… |
| Looks:
|
The Aeron is
fabulously engineered, in a way that only expensive
things can be. As a bit of a motorcycle bore I can
appreciate that to make a bearing costs very little, but
to make an exceptional bearing costs an awful lot more.
The bearings in the Aeron are great - I mean so smooth
that the thing moves effortlessly. This sits alongside a
great choice of materials for the chair. I particularly
relished the "mesh" that supports you. After sitting on
a selection of the UK's cheapest chairs, being able to
walk away after a hard day at the keyboard without
needing a shower is great. Quality cost,s and the Aeron
could not be described as a bargain in the traditional
sense. I'm not really interested in whether the chair is
a design classic or an icon. I've seen stuff in the
Design Museum which may look fabulous but isn't usable.
But the Aeron is a rare beast, it is stylish,
comfortable and utilitarian. |
| Usability
and performance: |
The Aeron doesn't
grab you immediately when you sit in it. It is
comfortable, but not so that you'd think it justified
its high price. No, to appreciate it you have to use it
- try sitting in it all day and then going back to your
normal chair and you really appreciate the value of the
chair. But does it justify the cost? |
| Value for
money: |
Think about it this
way, you would probably spend a good wodge of cash on a
three piece suite, but not on an office chair - well, if
you're spending more time on the sofa than in the office
you haven't really got the hang of this homeworking
lark. The Aeron is very comfortable and adjustable. I
suffer from back problems and anyone familiar with the
sharp cracking of bones that accompanies a visit to the
chiropractor should try the Aeron chair. It doesn't look
as alien as some of the ergonomic furniture available,
but it is comfortable, and it certainly beats being
pummelled by Geoff, my friendly chiropractor. The real
conclusion of this test is that now when I sit on my old
chair it feels like a wobbly bar stool, and as I said at
the beginning - you pay for what you get. |
| Pros: |
Comfortable,
adjustable, excellent build quality and materials. |
| Cons: |
Price. Makes all
other chairs feel cheap, and all your staff will want
one. | |
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| Joe says: |
| "The most comfortable
chair in the world" is no small claim, so this chair had
a lot to live up to. But it didn't really let me down.
Pretty good, considering I was the last person to sit in
it after we'd received it, and the enthusiastic cries
from the others as they each sat in it raised my
expectations almost too high! |
| Looks:
|
It's certainly
extremely stylish, and looks good, and is a million
miles from some of the leathery "executive" chairs out
there, which aren't my cup of tea. It's clearly very
well-made and designed, and the quality of the
workmanship is evident. |
Usability
and performance:
 |
I've done quite a
bit of temping over the years, and sat in quite a few
office chairs, but I would say that this is the best
I've used. There are a huge number of ways you can
adjust the chair, from the thickness of the lumber
support, to the height of the arm-rests. Clearly a lot
of ergonomic research and design has gone into it. One
thing I've noticed is that the chair actually forces you
to have good posture when you're sitting in it - it's a
subconscious thing, but then you'll catch yourself doing
it - pretty amazing, really! |
| Value for
money: |
It IS noticeably
more comfortable to sit in than our other office chairs,
but I would say the main way you will get your money's
worth, will be over the long-term. |
| Pros: |
Looks good; over
the years it should earn its price tag, not least by
reducing the risk of getting back problems! |
| Cons: |
Personally, it's
out of my price range! | |
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| Essential Info... |
| Price: |
£1050 RRP;
£650 from Home Working
Solutions |
| Guarantee: |
| A full
12-YEAR (yes year - not month) guarantee, which is very
impressive! |
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| Delivery: |
| The
delivery was spot on. It was delivered when Home Working
Solutions said it would, and the driver was a nice man who
brought it and offered to unpack it for us. |
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| in use: |
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| The chair
in use at eGrindstone as Todd tries to figure out how he can
get one for his home office |
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