Yep. We’re doing this – it’s our first review of a gaming chair – but this one has all the bells and whistles you won’t find in any other gaming chair.
A gaming chair is not just any chair for your computer setup. It’s one that will cradle your behind and support your back while you game endlessly into the night. Back in June, Acer made an announcement that took the gaming world off guard – the launch of a collaboration with OSIM to bring a new type of gaming chair; one that will massage the pain of gaming away. Thus, the Predator X OSIM Gaming chair was born.
Cushy Comfort in Elegant Black with Some Design Kinks
The Predator X OSIM gaming chair is one of the more comfortable gaming chairs we have had the chance to try. It’s well cushioned on the bottom and has pretty decent lumbar support. We say pretty decent but the lumbar support comes in the form of a lumbar pillow which doesn’t have any attachment to the chair. That said, it can’t be attached to the chair cause it’s get in the way of the massaging mechanism. The headrest of the Predator X OSIM gaming chair is also attached pretty loosely to the chair it literally slides into a slit in the back of the top of the chair.
The gaming chair comes in black accented by the Predator cyan. It’s made of a pseudo-leather material which is most likely polyurethane (PU). While the finish looks good, the material isn’t very breathable. This was most apparent with the lumbar pillow and the headrest which tend to get a little bit warm after about an hour or two. However, if you’re in an air-conditioned room, you’re likely not to feel it.
The biggest design flaw in the Predator X OSIM Gaming Chair is the length of the adapter cable. The cable is short and tends to get tangled around the wheels of the chair. It wouldn’t surprise us if you would need to replace the adapter over time. Of course, you can easily remedy this by not plugging it in unless you want a massage; but that pretty much defeats the purpose of having a gaming chair that massages you. OSIM will also need to figure out better cable management when it comes to this chair. As rolling up and down will cause problems with the adapter in the long run.
Hitting all the Right Spots with OSIM
Now we move on to the highlight of the chair – the massage. The massage portion of the chair is powered by OSIM’s massage technology. You access the control by pulling back the right arm rest. This will reveal the controls. You can choose from three preset massage programs by pressing the middle button and whether you need a upper or lower back massage with the button beside that. If you want to take full control of the massage yourself, you have the option to do that as well.
The massage from the Predator x OSIM gaming chair can be pretty intense. For most people, it will hit some of the problem points along your spine. The OSIM mechanism starts off really strong poking into the spine and adjusting after that. That said, when you’ve adjusted to the pressure, the mechanism hits all the right spots. It managed to release a few of the large knots I had in my shoulders and even relieved a few aches in my lower back. It massages in two modes: pounding or in circular motions. When you use the automatic setting, it will alternate between the two to get the knots out.
While the massage is good, the risk of having a massage chair you use as your daily work or gaming chair is that over work your back muscles which can make you pretty sore. So, just don’t over do it.
A Novel Idea with A Pricey Proposition
The Predator X OSIM Gaming chair will set you back about MYR4,899 but it’s available at a discounted price of MYR2,799 at the time of writing. It’s not too bad when it comes to massage chairs, but it is a little bit on the pricey when you look at other gaming chairs. That said, you are getting a massage chair foremost.
All in all, the Predator X OSIM Gaming chair is a novelty. While it would be nice to have a chair like this, it seems a little bit of an overkill. That and the cable management issues make us say wait it out. If the partnership continues into a second iteration, it’s likely that OSIM would have worked out some of the kinks in the design. However, if you are in the market for a gaming chair and a massage chair, this may just be the chair for you.
