Herman Miller Aeron Ergonomic Chair
VS.
HON Ignition 2.0 Ergonomic Office Chair
Last updated September 2023
Herman Miller Aeron Ergonomic Chair
8.5
HON Ignition 2.0 Ergonomic Office Chair
7.8
This chair is incredible but only until you give it time.
September 12, 2020
I have spent countless hours and months browsing for a new chair and have narrowed it down to what I see as the top in this market from the industry titans, Herman Miller and Steelcase. The Aeron, Embody, and Leap are what I and I'm sure many others see as the best of the best. However I eventually came to the conclusion that I wanted the Aeron over the others. Why? It is the most utilitarian of any other chair. It brings a sleek, modern, industrial design while seamlessly blending both form and function. It also has the best and accessible third party additions such as the Atlas headrest (which I STRONGLY suggest you purchase as well as it is easily the best headrest on the market and incredibly made.) This chair does away with features that are, in my honest opinion not needed on a chair that yourself will use at home such as seat depth and arm width. These are ergonomic features that are great but with the three sizes you can find the perfect sized chair for your height and weight. Think of it like buying a great pair of leather shoes. If they are the correct size, they are the best fitting and most comfortable thing you own. But because of this I once again STRONGLY suggest you find a nearby seller that carries this chair and specifically the remastered edition as the chair has some size differences from its previous model. This will allow you, just like you would try on clothes, to find the right size for you in person. You could always buy this chair directly from HM or a dealer as well but purchasing through amazon is by far the best option as the delivery is so fast. I had the chair withing a few days after ordering. If I ordered through HM themselves, I would potentially have to wait weeks or even a month. You should absolutely be getting all the features on this chair regardless and since the fully kitted model is all they sell on amazon its the best way to go. At this price range you want every possible feature and adjustment they offer. Now what should you expect if you do go through with this purchase? I will be sincere and brutally honest. It will be uncomfortable. You will most likely experience pain for the first week or two owning this chair. Now I know what you're thinking. Pain? Isn't that what you don't want? Of course but here's the deal. I would easily say 99% of people working from home or have any sort of office space in the homes at all have been sitting in fairly inexpensive chairs without the absolute best knowledge in ergonomics. Most chairs we sit in have regular padded seats or we seek comfort with big cozy armchairs or the classic large executive chair. Yea they are comfortable but they actually lack the right support for our bodies in the long run. For example, it is better we sat in firmer seats that can in turn properly support our pelvis and base of the spine. The classic padded arm chair, executive chair, or basic office chair causes us to sink more into the chair. This doesn't provide the support we need which can lead to back issues. Yes it's comfortable in the moment to veg out but it isn't great for our bodies. We aren't built to sit for extremely long periods of time so we need to have the most support we can get. When I first sat in this chair my butt hurt, it wasn't used to the firmer sit. But gradually over time it went away as my body adjusted and now it is extremely comfortable. I should add that one of the main reasons I was looking for a new chair was to fix the circulation of my legs being cut off from sitting in previous chairs. This fixed that right away. The back support was also uncomfortable at first and took a bit longer for my body to adjust to but it has gotten much better and fixed issues I wasn't even aware of. I thought my posture wasn't terrible for the most part. I consciously sat up straight and looked for proper support where I needed it. But I was actually doing it wrong. Lumbar support is supposed to be right around or above the belt line, not below it. I , for as long as I can remember was putting the lumbar in the small of my back which of course felt more comfortable but, instead it was pushing my lower spine further inward along with causing more tilt in my pelvis. This is called anterior pelvic tilt and actually it is extremely common in people without them actually knowing it. This chair corrected this issue. Now it wasn't an extreme condition of it, but none the less I can easily see that my posture and pelvic alignment has adjusted to a more neutral position within a few weeks of using it. It corrected an ongoing and potential growing issue that I was doing to myself over years of poor seating in just a couple weeks. I attribute this to the PostureFit SL system that provides both support to the mid-back/actual proper lumbar position as well as support to the sacrum providing proper natural tilt to the pelvis. This is something I truly didn't notice or understand till after I figured out what it was doing. The only chair I can honestly say that may do the same thing in some way is the Embody as it does provide that full on back support. But I don't thing it necessarily provides it as strongly which I think is what people actually need. The Leap doesn't have any sort of pelvic support as there is a gap between the back of the chair and the seat pan. There really is only the classic height adjustable lumbar support along with depth tension (which the PostureFit does provide). However as I finally figured out, if you don't know how to properly align your lumbar support and only put it where it "feels good", it could do more harm than good over time. Some things to note, I love the arms on this chair and find them to be the best arms ever made. Yes they are better than the Leap's and by far and away better than the Embody's. I actually think the Embody arms are the worst designed arms of any chair, especially for a chair of that caliber. The seat recline is also something to be experienced as it is unique to Herman Miller chairs and I believe even the Aeron's is even more special. I can honestly go on about this chair for more but the main take away is that, yes this chair is 100% worth the price just for the build quality and ergonomic prowess this thing brings let alone the massive 12 year warranty that covers everything on the chair. Herman Miller provides some of, if not the best customer service for their chairs in the business.
Switching from a gaming chair in my home office
August 15, 2023
I've been using a gaming chair in my home office for years. While it was very comfortable it always felt cheap. It creaked and multiple parts broke, including the stem for the gas piston. While the company did honor their warranty it still meant I spent many days without a comfortable office chair. Finally my dog got his collar stuck on the recline handle and broke it out of warranty. This time I decided to go the office chair route. This was one of the few on my short list and it had 1 day shipping. 21 hours after I ordered it had arrived. Box was in good shape. Putting this chair together was breeze. This chair is very adjustable so I spent some time adjusting everything to my liking. Ergonomically everything fits just right. However, and I suspected this from the pictures, the padding in the seat is quite stiff upon arrival. That meant this chair was uncomfortable.. at first. Now that I've had it over a week, and added the HON headrest, the comfort level is rising. I think over time as the foam becomes less stiff the level of comfort will continue to go up. tl;dr: Upon arrival I probably would have only given this chair 3 stars but it has increased to a 4 after a week of breaking it in. Hopefully my prediction is correct and I can increase it to 5 as time goes by. I'll update if/when it becomes relevant.
