Chair features

Review by C Boshoff

The Herman Miller ® Aeron ® - Worth The Price or a Yuppy Symbol?

Many people consider the Aeron® the best office chair there is. The question is does this chair deserve the accolades or is it simply a matter of perception.

Let's have a look.

Materials Used

The materials used on the backrest and seat are totally breathable to ensure that any sweat is dissipated away from your skin and that air cools your body sufficiently. The materials used also distribute the user's weight evenly on the chair's surface avoiding the formation of pressure points (read discomfort).

Back support

Besides the backrest material that are flexible to adjust to the shape of the user's back, the chair also comes with lower back or lumbar support. The lumbar support, coming in the form of a pad, is located at the lower back of the chair and can be moved up or down by 4.5 inches. You can also slide the lumber support pad out, turn it around, to adjust the depth of the lumbar support to best fit the depth of your lower back's curve. One side of the pad is 0.75 inches and the other side 1.25 inches.

But you can take this one step further (if you are willing to spend a few extra dollars) and fit what is known as the PostureFit® support. The Posturefit® provides great support to the lower back area below the beltline. The Posturefit® aims to maintain the forward tilt position of the pelvis , in other words it forces you to sit in the correct posture.

Arm Support

You have a choice between fixed arms, height adjustable arms and fully adjustable arms. The height adjustable arms allow you to move the arms 4 inches up or down. The fully adjustable arms also allow you to adjust the arms up or down and further allow you to pivot the arm pads 15 inches outward and 17.5 inches inwards. I prefer the fully adjustable option although it will cost you more.

Adjustability to different body shapes and sizes

The chair comes in three sizes to fit the need of different users. Size A for the smaller user, Size B for the medium sized user and Size C for the larger user. It is important that you choose the right size chair by measuring your body and comparing it to the size chart of each chair before you buy. Many problems users experience can be attributed to the incorrect size chair.

Tilt Control

The tilt system, known as the Kinemat ® Tilt, has been designed to take the body's natural pivot points into account when we are seated, namely the hips' knees and ankles. It doesn't matter whether you lean forward, sit up straight or lean back the tilt systems allows the feet, arm and back support to remain in place through all movements.

The tilt tension is fully adjustable and you can control the amount of resistance the chair allows when you rock back and forth in the chair.

Casters

You have a choice between the standard caster, which is ideally suited for a normal carpet, a caster specifically designed for hard floors or an slightly bigger caster in case you have a carpet with longer hair. The hard floor caster has a rubber coating to prevent damage to the hard floors and for better traction.

Maximum Weight

The chair has been design to carry a maximum weight of 300 pounds.

My take

The good

There is no question that the Aeron ® is a top quality chair and that it deserves all the accolades it receives. The 12 year guarantee is just proof that the manufacturer has full confidence in their chairs. The materials used are top quality.

The chair is very comfortable, provides great back support and I like the feeling of total support the chair provides no matter the degree of recline. The chair moves easier than what I expected for such a sturdy chair.

I also like the look of the chair. Despite the fact that it first appeared on the scene in 1994 it still has a modern look to it.

The bad

The only concern I have is price and whether the high price is justified. I am of the opinion that, at the price, even the basic version should include certain functions, like fully adjustable arms, and that you should not have to pay extra for it. On the one hand I think it is a lot of money to pay for a chair, but on the other hand I think that you can easily spend upwards of 25 000 hours on the chair. If I think cost per hour I suddenly feel much better than the once off cost.

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More reviews

The vast majority of people give the Aeron® the thumbs up, but there are a small minority who are not 100% satisfied.

Most people found the chair very comfortable and love the back support. I also found several comments where people said the chairs' materials were still in tip top shape even after many years of use.

What is interesting is that the few who dislikes the chair, really does dislike the chair. It is understandable if you take the hefty price tag into account. Complaints were mostly about the mesh being too hard and the waterfall edge hurting the bottom of the leg. Interesting to note is that the last complaints were mostly from shorter users. So if you are on the short side, please ensure you choose your size correctly.

The average user rating is 4 stars out of 5.

You can read more Aeron reviews here

Recommended merchants

Criteria used are price, support and integrity

Any Herman Miller® approved merchant will provide you with good service, but if you are looking for a good price online you do not have to look much further than CSN CHAIRS