Vertagear SL5800 Gaming Chair Review: Aggressive Style – Tom’s Hardware

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I really wanted to love this chair. It’s absolutely gorgeous, with two-tone upholstery that combines buttery soft microfiber and rich faux leather. The arm rests have tons of adjustability, while the seat rocks and the back fully reclines. It even has an optional RGB lighting kit that streamers would seriously enjoy.

However, the one thing it doesn’t have is adjustable lumbar support. Instead, its ContourMax lumbar is rather aggressive, and though it’s meant to adapt to “each individual’s shape and movement” it hits my frame too low. Obviously, I’m just one person, so I had a couple other members of the family check out the chair. A 6’3” XL person agreed the lumbar support was too much, while a 5’10” slender teen thought it was quite cozy.

Priced at $419 at the time of this review, the SL5800 is part of Vertagear’s line of chairs for “small” gamers, meaning folks under 250 pounds. The SL5800 can accommodate fairly tall people up to 6 feet. A handy chair selection tool (opens in new tab) on their website can help you find a chair that fits your shape.

The chair comes in six colors and has an aluminum alloy base with a steel frame and an array of foamy supports under the upholstery to keep you comfortable while sitting.

Specifications: Vertagear SL5800

Assembly of the Vertagear SL5800

The Vertagear SL5800 gaming chair arrives in a 70 pound box with a slim manual, a hex key, and — a curious addition — a pet hair removal tool.

Chair assembly is fairly straightforward: Snap the wheels onto their sockets and mount the piston onto the wheelbase, then slip four bolts onto the backrest to hold it all together. The neck pillow sticks in place with an elastic band.

Design of the Vertagear SL5800

The Vertagear SL5800 gaming chair has a deluxe design with microfiber upholstery accented with soft faux leather. The chair comes in six color combinations to suit your mood or decor: Midnight Blue, Carbon Black, Black/White, Midnight Green, Midnight Purple, and Burgundy Red.

The SL5800 is designed for ergonomic comfort. Tucked inside the backrest is “ContourMax Lumbar” support, which — while sadly not adjustable — is flexible with four points of contact. The seat cushion has “VertaAir,” which seems to be vertical columns of stout foam tubing that cradles your sit bones while providing air flow.

The upholstery is a breathable microfiber with “coffee ground nanotechnology” to naturally control odor. There’s even silver-coated embroidery thread to neutralize bacterial growth. The downside of the microfiber is that it clings to hair, which is why it comes with a pet hair removal tool.

The chair has a sturdy steel frame with a 10-year warranty and an aluminum alloy base for the wheels. The foam cushioning is made of ultra-premium high-resilience foam.

Though it was not part of my review model, I should mention that Vertagear sells optional RGB LED lighting upgrades to add lights to the holes in the backrest and under the base. These lighting upgrades are separate, and each costs an extra $299 ($229 at time of review).

The neck pillow is made of memory foam and held in place with an elastic strap.

Comfort and Adjustments of the Vertagear SL5800

The Vertagear SL5800 has a comfy seat base with dense foam padding that provides solid support. Everything is soft and smooth to the touch, without any scratchy surfaces to bother those who like gaming in shorts.

The chair has many points of adjustment, with silver-black buttons and black levers that work well with the chair’s overall design. A lever on the side of the seat allows you to recline from 80° vertical to 160°.

A hefty knob on the bottom of the seat adjusts the tilt tension to control how much the chair will rock based on your weight, and a lever on the bottom of the chair locks the tilt mechanism to your desired angle, or lets you rock freely. Another lever controls the chair’s height.

A discrete button on each arm rest allows you to move it up and down, side to side, and pivot for the perfect position. The non-adjustable lumbar support on this model is quite firm.

Bottom Line

The Vertagear SL5800 is an incredibly comfortable chair for gamers who are tall and slender. But while it’s very adjustable overall, I couldn’t quite get it to work for my shorter torso. Vertagear offers a wide range of chairs, but those of us who share our home computer stations with family members of various sizes may not want to buy a chair that only works for one body type. If you’re tall, skinny, and you don’t have to share your computer, the SL5800 might work for you.

The SL5800 retails for $499, but is currently on sale for $419. This chair would look great in both a home office or a gaming den, though preferably one without any heavily-shedding pets. Vertagear has put a lot of work into the chair’s ergonomics with firm lumbar support and memory foam cushions to cradle your spine through long gaming sessions, it just doesn’t work for everyone.