Steelcase Gesture Vs Herman Miller Embody: What Would You Choose?

Sometimes I sit for long hours and was starting to feel strained. Between herman miller and steelcase, I opted for steelcase.

• It is very adjustable. The knobs and switches allow you to adjust seat depth, level of recline and resistance of the recline. Nothing complicated it is a very simple chair to use.
  -Very comfortable for me. I no longer feel strained after long hours. Used to need a pillow for my bottom before but I don’t need it on this chair. My lower back doesn’t feel strained after a long time. The the backrest adjusts to your back pretty well too.
  -The arms are amazing. My main selling point for gesture really when I saw those arms I really wanted the chair. Very adjustable and easy to use. The rubber on the arms is this soft yet well built rubber. Its not uncomfortable to lean all your weight on them. I used to need pads for my previous chairs but not for this one. Some people might still prefer pads tho.
  -Chair rolls pretty well on carpet.
  -The padding on the seat and back is really comfortable and like I said I don’t feel for extra padding. Its also breathable and doesn’t get overly hot unlike some synth leather chairs.
  -Well built. Its surprisingly heavy and looks made to last. I see A picture of a broken chair in one of the reviews but the carrier really had to drop the ball for that to happen.
  -Its nice looking and not overly big or bulky unlike some of those tall “gaming” chairs.

Overall am satisfied, I feel its money well spent. For reference am 6’0” tall and weight 188 pounds and fit just right on the chair.

This is my first experience with a 1k plus office chair. I have disc issues and constant back problems that I have been able to control through chiropractic, massage, and honestly the use of this chair. I have to sit 8 plus hours a day at my job and I definitely feel this has improved my overall feel compared to the cheap chairs I had previously used. Tons of options to make the chair feel how you want it to, arm rest move, different tensions on everything. Is it worth $1000+? To me, it has been more than worth it. To you, maybe not. But, from my perspective, I could not recommend this chair enough if you are in the market for this sort of thing.

I only had the chair for two days and had to return it because of back pain it induced in me. This hasn’t happened with office chairs that ranged from $80 to $400 that I’ve used over the years. The chair is pretty solidly built and well packaged and came fully assembled. I didn’t expect the arms to be non-locking. that means they can move around very easily, which is good and bad. But no doubt the worst part of the chair is that it was simply incredibly bad for my back. The lumbar support is not adjustable, and was just sticking into my back. Leaning back on the chair to have more of the upper portion of my back against the chair was not particularly comfortable, even with the firmness of the back loosened entirely. In other words, there was no way I could get comfortable with the lumbar support. I actually developed back pain while using this chair! Had to return it.

I ordered the Steelcase chair after reading a number of reviews which cited it as being one of the best possible chairs you can buy. After having it and trying to use it for about three weeks, I’ve decided to return it and buy a different chair. I used a level on the chair seat, and despite adjusting it in every way possible, the pitch of the actual seat angles forward several degrees. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue if the back of the chair could angle slightly forward as well at its standard, upright setting – but the back of the chair when its in a neutral position actually only touches the very bottommost part of my lumbar spine. I assume this may be to encourage users to always sit upright, and not rely on the back of the chair for support? But it actually becomes very uncomfortable over long periods of time, as I couldn’t ever fully relax back against the chair without being tilted oddly. I found over time that, in order to actually have my back make contact with the back of the chair when it’s in its upright position, I’ve either had to lean backwards so far that it makes typing feel bizarre, or, I’ve had to sit cross-legged, in order to prop myself up a little in the front so as to have my back make some contact with the back of the chair.

I’m not sure if perhaps the production quality has gone down, or if people were just reviewed on the initial impression, but it’s quite uncomfortable for sitting for long periods with proper posture while typing. I don’t personally have long periods of time to lean all the way back in my chair and rest while at work, so I need something that actually allows me to type while having some level of back support. For reference, I’m 5’7.5″, 160 pounds, and tried the chair at multiple heights and seat distance settings from the back of the chair,, and still had this issue.

Again, I think the production quality may have just gone down, or the one I received just wasn’t properly leveled. I’ll be returning this product.

Months of working from home during COVID-19 was leaving me with daily back pain. Although I was using a reasonably ergonomic chair (the IKEA Markus), it wasn’t cutting it for me.

Now, just over a month after switching to this chair, my comfort at my desk has been restored, and my back pain minimized. The chair helps me maintain good posture, even while sitting for up to 10 hours per day. Also, though I am not one who sits very still (I definitely squirm and wriggle in my chair), I have yet to find any position that is uncomfortable.

Some other details: I am tall (6’3″), so finding an ergonomic chair for my size was tough. This one fit the bill perfectly. In fact it was even better than the Aeron at my normal office, which can dig into my shoulders when sitting in it for an extended period of time.

The only thing I wish was an option was a headrest. Not that I normally even lean my head back, but it would have been “nice”.

In short: it was a pricey chair, but worth every penny.

It took me over a year to decide to spend this much money for a chair. It finally took an appointment to see a surgeon to convince me that a $100 chair is actually more expensive than a Herman Miller chair. So, I spent the money and bought a Herman Miller. It does not feel like a pillow. But sitting on a pillow turns out to be bad for you. After one month sitting in the Herman Miller, many of my medical problems simply went away. I remain amazed. Don’t misunderstand. You have to get used to the different pressure points. Some people send it back for that very reason. But, just get used to it. That is what is healing you. The chair is known for the “spine” back. It feels simply wonderful and my lumbar tilt went away. So, yes, it is worth the money. Period.

I wanted an ergonomic chair, and after reading articles and reviews, I decided on this chair. I just got off the phone with customer service because this chair came unassembled. I would have gladly paid for assembly, but that is not offered with this chair. I have spent the last 2 hours trying to get this thing put together. Directions are very difficult to understand. I am not able to get the back properly installed. According to customer service, this chair is supposed to come fully assembled, but one of the answered questions says it doesn’t come fully assembled. I have asked for a replacement, but if it is not fully assembled, back it will go. I am not holding my breath.

I picked this chair up cause it gets rave reviews EVERYWHERE and I needed a better office chair for my back pain. So you can imagine my surprise when I found this to be one of, if not THE most uncomfortable chair I’ve ever sat it.

Maybe I just have an extra sensitive back, but I could genuinely feel every “pixel” (thats what HM calls the design, but its basically just the points where the chair’s “spine” connects to the back rest). It felt like having a bunch of pieces of plastic putting pressure on a ton of different points on my back (cause it was). Spent a week sitting in this chair for 8+ hours a day, constantly adjusting it, getting help from an ergo expert, etc with no luck.

I had a similar issue with the Leap v2’s lumbar slider, so I suppose it really may just be that my back is weirdly sensitive. It felt like a strip of plastic digging into my back even at the lowest tension setting (because it IS literally just a strip of plastic). Thankfully, with the Leap I was able to just rip the lumbar slider out and was left with an amazingly comfortable chair that still had lumbar support.