If you’re going to find a better chair to replace your current office chair, Steelcase Leap may be a great one. Read this Steelcase Leap chair review of FittingChairs to learn more about it.
Steelcase Leap chair review snapshot
Steelcase Leap Chair
This chair has earned many loyal customers over the years who demand serious comfort and support over long stretches at the computer.
Steelcase Leap chair review: What’s special about its design?
Now, let’s see what’s special about the design in this Leap Steelcase review.
Color range
Steelcase covers its Leap chairs in dozens of different colors in either fabric or leather, so you can custom order this model to fit in with any type of color scheme and design you have in an office.
Colors range from basic black to bright oranges and yellows to deep blues and grays if you choose fabric covering, while leather colors are limited more toward neutral and darker colors.
Design overview
The Steelcase Leap is a sleek-looking office chair with a plastic outer shell, an exposed outer frame, and several options when it comes to color, fabric and configuration choices.
One of the signature design characteristics are the parallel slats on the backrest (for lumbar adjustment), sleek rectilinear armrests, and overall modern and simple design.
Upholstery on the Leap Work, Stool and Plus models is available in fabric, leather, vinyl or 3D knit options.
The Leap is made with a passive seat edge to reduce pressure on the bottom of your thighs when sitting.
This design feature improves blood circulation and makes a very noticeable difference in overall comfort, especially if you’ve been sitting for a while.
Unlike other chairs with the waterfall front seat edge, the Leap doesn’t just sag down a little in response to your weight.
Instead, the passive font edge flexes up to 1.5 inches for full relief, but still maintains its overall firmness, cushioning and shape.
Backrest
Another special about the design that our Steelcase Leap review want to mention is the backrest of the chair.
The backrest portion of the chair is designed with Steelcase’s patented LiveBack technology. This feature allows the chair to move and respond to the changing shape of your spine as you shift and modify positions throughout the day.
The base
With the Leap, you’ll get a nice and sturdy base that comes in standard black plastic or polished aluminum.
This base is the foundation for a chair that can hold up to 400 lbs.
Plus, it’s built with a safe and smooth pneumatic height adjuster and dual-wheel casters.
The wheels are 2.25″ in diameter and come standard in the hard nylon version. This type of wheel works especially well on carpeted floors.
But if you have hard floors or use a chair mat, you can opt for the soft wheel casters instead.
Material
The frame is available in polished aluminum, platinum, or black, all of which look stylish within the overall design of the chair.
You can select the design of the arms, headrest, and wheels, allowing you to customize the Steelcase Leap to fit what’s needed in your office.
The backrest and seat cushion are made of polyurethane foam, providing a good mixture of comfort and support.
The material in the comfortable seat cushion feels very durable, which should allow it to keep its shape throughout the workday.
The top layer is high-performance and breathable knit (similar to mesh textile), followed by a solid fabric that matches the outer color of the chair (to blend in), with a final under-layer of polyester cushioning to provide increased comfort.
And the Leap chair is almost 100% recyclable, which is a great bonus feature.
Read this article to know more about comparation of Steelcase chairs and Herman Miller chairs for getting your own office chair perfectly!
Steelcase Leap chair review: How can it help you improve your health?
Keep reading the Steelcase Leap chair review to find out what are the ergonomic features of this chair.
Height adjustment
The Leap is equipped with a heavy-duty pneumatic height adjuster that gives you a smooth 5″ range of adjustment.
Also, the Stool version of the Leap actually comes with an 8″ height range (from 22″ to 30″) which works really well if setting up at a high desk.
Finally, the Leap Plus comes with a shorter 4″ height adjustment range, with an option to upgrade to a 5″ adjustment range if desired.
Backrest adjustment
The standard Leap work chair model comes with a 5-point variable backstop. You can lean back and lock the backrest into place in one of five different positions.
To do this, you just rotate the handle (located below the seat on the right side) up or down and lock yourself into place at the desired reclining position.
With the 5 stop points, you get a broad seat to backrest angle range of 96˚ to 120˚ (or 97˚ to 114˚ with the Plus model).
Plus, you can increase or decrease the upper back tension on this chair, as well as control the lower back firmness with simple knob turns.
4D adjustable armrests
Each armrest on the Leap can be adjusted in 4 different ways to find the optimal position depending on your size, the recline and seat pan angle, and your desk or table height.
First, you can adjust the height of each armrest with a range of 4″. And you can adjust the width of the two armrests up to 4.5″.
Another feature is the option to change the depth of each armrest. Specifically, you can retract up to 3″ from the default position.
Finally, you can pivot the arm caps within a 30-degree range for ideal placement.
Lumbar adjustment
Leap chairs come with adjustable lumbar support with a 5″ height adjustment range.
You can change the location of the lumbar support by using the tabs on the side of the chair and sliding up or down.
Seat adjustment
On the Leap, you can adjust the depth of the seat by 3. You can also adjust the angle of the seat pan from -1˚ to 3˚. On the Plus model, the pan adjustment range is 0˚ to 4˚.
Tweaking both the depth and angle of the seat can help you find a sitting position that opens up your hip angle and takes pressure off your legs, leading to better blood flow and comfort.
Headrest
On the Leap chair, which has a pretty high back that provides ample upper back and neck support on its own, the addition of a headrest can elevate the comfort and support of this chair.
The headrest option is only available on the standard model with a black plastic outer shell and fabric on cushion inside. You can adjust this vertically with a 2.25″ height range.
Steelcase Leap chair review: Customer reviews
Here are some Steelcase Leap chair reviews from customers on Amazon. You can see more here.
Positive Steelcase Leap chair reviews
Review from Riotta m. Scott: “The best desk chair I’ve ever used.”
My boss bought this model for my team five years ago, and it still looks/feels as good as new; nothing rattles around or feels like it needs to be tightened, and that has never been the case for me in all my years being chained to a desk 40 hours a week.
When I began to work half the day from home, I noticed that I always had body aches by the end of the day. I decided to invest in the Leap chair for my home office, and I don’t regret it a bit. My body feels so much better at the end of the day now!
I bought the Amazon Prime model, which only comes in black (unfortunately) but with Prime I could pay in installments. That made it a little easier to spend a thousand dollars on a desk chair. I was super pleased when it arrived in an enormous box, and was already fully assembled.
Show more +Leslie H. Brown: “Excellent Quality Desk Chair.”
I work on a computer that sits on a desk, and I finally decided to spend the money for a quality desk chair. I read many online reviews and visited various company websites to compare my options, and finally settled on the Steelcase Leap; so I ordered this one from Amazon.
The chair arrived brand new, sealed in a Steelcase box with instructions on how to open the box to allow the chair to be pulled out more easily.
Original protective material was easy to remove, and the Steelcase hang-tag explained how to use the various settings to achieve the greatest comfort and ergonomic support.
Plus: No construction required! It was a relief to not have to put the chair together, and you can see why it ships pre-assembled: The chair is quality crafted and solidly built, with strong components that would not be easy to assemble at home.
And, plus, it’s just easier. I would not hesitate to buy this chair again, but I don’t expect I’ll need to any time soon!
Show more +
Negative Steelcase Leap chair reviews
Daniel Lee: “Does not look like new.”
I bought this steelcase leap v2, new sold and fulfilled by Amazon.
It was hard to believe this was new product or maybe steelcase quality control is really bad.
There was dust all over the wheels and knobs. grease mark under the seat.
If this is really the new one and quality of steelcase. I will not buy steelcase product.
Frank Wen: “Wrong item shipped.”
I received a Steelcase Gesture instead of Leap. In addition, the chair received has really poor quality – doesn’t look like a new one, more like a refurbished model. Really disappointed.
Show more +Should you buy Steelcase Leap chair?
Is Steelcase Leap worth it? Steelcase Leap office chair isn’t a cheap purchase. It doesn’t save some money but its high-quality build, ergonomic design, and solid warranty help justify the premium price.
If you are seeking for a better office chair to replace your current chair with a highly adjustable, ergonomic solution for sitting at a desk all day, then the Steelcase Leap chair is a piece of gear for your office that you should consider investing in as this Steelcase Leap chair v2 review has mentioned above.
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Hope that this Steelcase Leap chair review of FittingChairs can help you consider different features before deciding to buy it. Good luck with your purchase!
