Hi everyone my name is Myxo. In this blog, I’m going to review the Secretlab 2020 Series Titan gaming chair, and I’ll tell you why this may be the best gaming chair on the market. The good folks at Secretlab reached out and ask if I would be interested in sharing my thoughts on the Titan. Given Secretlab’s popularity in the gaming chair space, I couldn’t say no to the opportunity.
For the past 5 years, I’ve been primarily using a Herman Miller Embody chair in my home office. I also own a Steelcase Leap Version 2 which I’ve used on and off throughout the years. Being that I haven’t sat in a gaming chair since owning the Embody, I felt this would be a perfect time to compare and contrast a gaming chair to these ergonomic heavyweights. While the Secretlab Titan is an industry leader, the gaming chair market is very different than the ergonomic office chair market. One of the biggest differences being their price point.
The Titan arrive to my door in a large box, with its contents well packaged. The included poster style instruction manual was very convenient and easy to follow. Assembling the chair took me roughly half hour.
Upon completing the assembly, I gave the Titan a quick test drive and was pleasantly surprised. The Titan is a firm but comfortable chair with plenty of premium features typically found in high end office chairs.
I chose to review the chair in the Black3 colorway with the softweave fabric. I felt the stealth look of the Black3 was the sharpest looking chair of the bunch, and aesthetically, it definitely did not disappoint. I personally don’t like too much branding on my chairs, and the Black3 camouflages most of the branding into the softweave of the fabric.
This is a premium material that looks and feels durable, and is soft to the touch. The softweave is much more breathable than its leather counterparts.
As mentioned, the Titan features all the adjustments you’d expect from a chair in this price range which includes hydraulic height adjustment, backrest recline adjustment, multi tilt lock, tilt tension control, lumbar adjustment, and 4D arm rests.
The ability to rock in the Titan is my favorite feature of this chair. While the Embody features a similar recline mechanism, what sets the Titan apart is the headrest. You can kick back and fully relax in the Titan with full head and neck support. The Titan also includes a removable head pillow for added support and comfort.
The Titan is a firm chair, but in my experience, firm cushions retain their shape and support longer than pillowy ones. Secretlab uses cold-cure foam in their chairs as its primary technology to reduce and absorb pressure points while sitting in the chair. The Titan offers the firmest sitting experience of the chairs in this review but is still comfortable.
The seat on the Embody employs a rubber support system as its cushioning technology. This provides a floating like quality which is a stark contrast to the dense foam of the Titan. The Leap uses cushions on its seat and backrest that are firm, but are less firm and dense than the Titan. I personally prefer a less dense foam pad for the seat; however, this is a matter of user preference. All three chairs are very comfortable and supportive.
What sets the Leap and Embody apart from the Titan is the backrest technologies used. The backrest of the Titan is a ridged barebones design which encourages proper posture while seated. The Titan model features an adjustable lumbar support knob built into the backrest that can be dialed in to provide noticeable support customizable to your liking.
The backrests of the Leap and Embody offer technologies that both conform to the curvature of your back and spine to provide a truly ergonomic experience. While I would say the Leap and Embody are superior in this regard to the Titan, they both cost 3 times the price.
A cool feature found only in the Titan is the ability to fully recline the chair. You can adjust the backrest to various positions with a pull of the adjustment lever on the right side of the seat base. If you’re in the mood for a power nap, the backrest can be almost fully reclined which allows the user lay down in the Titan.
The 4D armrest adjustments on the Titan are best in class. The arms adjust up and down, can move forward and back, side to side and can angle in and out – all at the push of a button. The Leap offers the same 4D arm adjustments as the Titan; however, most of the adjustments don’t lock into place like they do on the Titan.
You can sit fully crossed legged in the Titan with no issues. Fully pretzel and half pretzel are equally comfortable. The same can also be said of both the Embody and Leap chairs.
My only major criticisms of the Titan are the arm rests can’t be adjusted low enough to tuck in the chair underneath my desk like I can with the Leap and Embody. A work around was to adjust the height of my standing desk to accommodate the chair. Lastly, there is a slight gap where the backrest meets the seat cushion. This doesn’t affect the usability of the chair, but it does detract from its premium aesthetic.
The Titan offers well implemented features which makes this chair an easy recommend for me. From its rocking ability to the multi-armrest positioning, to its backrest reclining ability, this chair does it all, and while providing a comfortable sitting experience. Despite this chair being marketed as a gaming chair, I’ve used it for the past few weeks as my full-time office chair and I still recommend it for its comfort and value. While the Titan won’t be taking the place of my Embody, it will definitely be sticking around in my office for when I want to kick back and relax or game in the world of VR.