Hey guys, Jarrod here and today we’re going to check out the Aeron office chair from Herman
Miller, so grab a seat and get comfortable, or at least as much as you can without having
one of these chairs!
The Herman Miller Aeron chair is a very comfortable and well made chair that I expect to last
for many years to come.
While not strictly a piece of technology, let’s face it, we spend a lot of time sitting
while using said technology, so we may as well be comfortable.
Prior to picking up the Aeron chair, I would typically buy a generic “office chair”
from a local office furniture shop for around $150-$200.
After 1-2 years the chair would always start falling apart and eventually become extremely
uncomfortable or completely unusable.
Rather than repeating this cycle indefinitely, I began to investigate higher quality chairs
which is when I found the Herman Miller Aeron chair.
I literally spend most of my time throughout the day sitting down, so figured that I should
invest more money into a good a chair that would be more comfortable and last longer,
and this Herman Miller chair definitely delivers.
It comes with a 12 year warranty, is 94% recyclable and is made from 53% recycled materials.
While being fairly environmentally friendly as far as seating options go, the build quality
is solid and it feels very well constructed.
There was no assembly required with this chair.
There are plenty of ways that the chair can be customized to fit your specific needs.
The usual height adjustment option is available as you'd expect in any type of office chair,
allowing you to raise the seat up or down with the paddle shaped lever on the right
hand side.
The height of each arm on either side of the chair can be raised or lowered by simply lifting
the lever on the base of the arm and then moving the arm to the desired height, once
in place lower the lever to lock into position.
The angle of both arms can also be adjusted in or out, while seated simply hold the front
of the arm pad and pivot it to the left or right.
The tilt tension can be adjusted by turning the knob on the right hand side, a clockwise
turn will increase the tilt tension, while a counterclockwise turn will decrease the
tension.
The tilt tension makes it harder or easier to tilt back and forth while seated.
The forward tilt can be modified with the front lever on the left hand side, simply
lean back and lift the lever all the way up and then lean forward to position the chair
forward.
To reverse the change, while seated push the lever all the way down and lean back.
The tilt range can be limited as desired, simply recline as far as you want and then
move the lever on the left hand side up to define the limit of recline, you'll still
be able to move forward but won't be able to go back further than this limit.
The limit can easily be removed by leaning forward and pressing the lever down.
The height of the lumbar support can be moved up or down with your hands to get it into
the right place for your back, it's there to support the natural curve of your spine.
The support can also be pushed in or out by turning the knob on the right hand side.
The lumbar pad can also be removed and turned over as it's thicker on the other side, allowing
you to modify the depth.
In addition to these adjustments, there are also many combinations of material available.
The base and frame finishes available are a graphite base with graphite frame, a titanium
base with smoke frame, or polished aluminium base with graphite frame.
I've got the graphite base and frame here, I did prefer the look of the polished aluminium
base however in my area it came at an extra cost which didn’t seem worth it.
There are also a few different fabric options available as well, so you can customise quite
a lot.
The Aeron chair comes in three different sizes, type A, B and C which are essentially small,
medium, and large options respectively.
The C model is what I have in this video, as I'm a little tall I found the extra depth
good for my longer legs.
According to the website, most people will fit nicely in the B model and I assumed that
I would fall into this category, so I'm glad that I took the time to go into a store and
try them out myself.
If you're looking at this chair I'd definitely recommend trying the different sizes out first
in person before committing to buy, because it’s not cheap and ideally you’ll be using
it for years.
You can get an estimate of the size that’s right for you based on your height and weight
however keep in mind that this is a recommendation.
I personally fall within the B or C area, nearing closer to B territory, however as
mentioned I felt that the C was the right fit for me.
So that’s basically it, in conclusion I find this to be a very comfortable and high
quality chair, it feels great to sit on even after an extended period of time, say 18 hours
for example…
I haven’t had any problems with it at all in the year that I’ve had it so far, and
I’ve found myself wishing for another one at work as I’ve found it difficult to go
back to lower quality chairs, which I suppose may be a downside of having such a good one
at home.
The chair has just about any type of adjustment you could want, allowing for you to customize
it exactly to your needs.
As expected, these type of features do not come without a price, I paid around $1,500
AUD for this chair however I really do look at it as an investment as I should have a
chair for at least 12 years as per the warranty which means I no longer need to buy a new
$200 chair every 1-2 years which could quickly equal more money wasted over the same period
of time for lower quality chairs.
I should also note that the different size types, finishes and materials also cost different
amounts so you could potentially be looking at a cheaper or more expensive option based
on what you’re after.
So what did you guys think of the Herman Miller Aeron chair?
Be sure to let me know your thoughts down in the comments, leave a like on the video
if you found it useful, and don’t forget to subscribe for future videos like this one.