Best Steelcase Work-From-Home Ergo Office Chairs: $450-$1500

Steelcase Leap

Amazon Price: $1,013.22

The Leap’s 1999 debut marked Steelcase’s entry into the ergonomic office seating arena. It’s a mid-back chair with a fabric padded seat and backrest.

The Gesture followed in 2013 with a slightly taller backrest and fancier 360° armrests. Beyond those upgrades, both models serve up a similar lumbar-powered support experience.

Each has a lumbar curve built into the backrest. Both fit my 5’9″ size a touch lower than I’d prefer — but the sliding lumbar support compensates well.

Notably, the Leap’s lumbar slider has a 1″ larger adjustment range than the Gesture. The Leap also serves up more robust recline and seat tilting functionality. Here’s how key functions compare on both chairs:

Key Features

The Leap is Steelcase’s answer to the Herman Miller Aeron. Aesthetically, the Aeron’s sexy mesh and polished steel design blow away the Leap’s plain looks. Functionally, the Leap’s seat is more liberating.

The Aeron’s seat has hard-bladed edges. Those enforce good posture by making it uncomfortable to put your feet up. In contrast, the Leap’s seat allows plenty of room to sit with one foot up or even cross-legged.

Versus the Gesture, the Leap stands out with an innovative synchro-tilt feature. As the user leans forward or back, the seat sync-tilts by -1 to 3°. Concurrently, a vertical seat slider effect also kicks in.

Leaning forward will contract the seat by a few centimeters. That pulls the hips to the back of the chair for closer contact with the Live Back support. Leaning back does the opposite: as you recline, it extends forward.

Summary Of Specifications

Beyond its built-in lumbar curve, the Leap (like all Steelcase models) offers a height-adjustable lumbar slider add-on. It’s worth having.

Whether buying from Smart Furniture, Amazon, or another third party site, make sure your Leap has the lumbar add-on and fully-adjustable arms included!

FeaturesSizingUpholstery Options

• Synchro-tilt: seat pan angle 1°; backrest 98° to 125°; 3-inch forward seat slide.
• Seat: height and depth adjustments.
• Armrests: 4D adjustable (7-11″ height range; 12.75-20″ width range)
• Functionality: 3-position seat and backrest tilt lock; 4D armrests with a huge adjustment range.
• Back support: 3D LiveBack (changes shape to mimic the natural motion of the spine).
• Back support: height and depth-adjustable lumbar (5″ range); 5-position tilt-lock recline.
• Warranty: 12 years on parts, lifetime on the frame.

• Seat width x depth: 19.25″ (W) x 15.75-18.75″ (D)
• Backrest width x height: 18″ (W), 25″ (H)
• Seat height: 16-20.5″
• Arms: 7-11″ height range; 12.75-20″ width range.
• Size rating: 5’4″ to 6’2″ tall; up to 400 pounds

All Steelcase chairs have four upholstery options. Buzz 2 is the default option, while others cost extra.

Summary of upholstery options:

1. Buzz 2: tightly-knit polyester fabric with a coarse finish. Choose from 26 variations.
2. Cogent Connect: softer fabric in an array of fun, bright colors. 18 variations all cost $18 extra.
3. Leather: genuine leather in a few dark color options. 4 variations all cost $470 extra.
4. Elmosoft leather: a softer leather in dark colors with distressed patterns. 31 variations all cost $544 extra.

Steelcase Leap Advice

The Leap is a comfortable chair that delivers dynamic support with plenty of smooth, sophisticated movement options. As with all Steelcase chairs, it pairs a built-in lumbar curve + non-height-adjustable backrest.

The built-in curve is a touch lower than I’d like for my 5’9″ (177 cm) size. But the sliding lumbar overrides that by locking in support exactly where I want it. Its 5″ height range should similarly support everyone within the 5’4″ to 6’2″ recommended size range.

On the downside, I find the Leap’s high price tough to justify. For one thing, its adjustable lumbar + arms + sync-tilt recline formula is ubiquitous — many cheaper ergonomic office chairs serve up a similar kit. For another, its old-school, corpo-style aesthetics are uninspiring.

That leaves the Leap’s 12-year warranty as its main point of appeal. But the Steelcase Think and Series 1 also come guaranteed for 12 years — with similar functionality and lower prices.

Steelcase Leap on Amazon $1,013.22

Fully-loaded Leap chairs (20 colors) also available from SmartFurniture for $1299.

Steelcase Series 1

Amazon Price: $466.60

The Series 1 lacks the Backstop function found on fancier Steelcase chairs. Instead, you can only rock between its 100-120° range, adjust the rocking tension, or lock upright. Even so, it provides superb back support — and is very easy to use.

First, adjust the lumbar support, seat height & depth, and armrests to suit your size. Then, tuck your hips, plant your feet, and prop your torso up with the armrests. It’s that easy to sit with near-perfect posture in this chair!

Given the price, dimensions, support quality, and 12-year warranty, the Series 1 ranks as the best affordable ergonomic office chair for short people.

But its sizing is versatile. For average sizes, it also ranks as one of the best mid-range office chairs on the market. Here’s how it compares with the Think chair:

Series 1 Features

The Series 1 comes with a mesh backrest and fabric padded seat fabric (5 colors). Like the pricier Steelcase chairs, it has an adjustable lumbar, 4D arms, and a seat depth slider.

This chair has excellent lumbar and armrest adjustability — but no lockable backrest recline. You can only rock the chair or lock it into an upright position. That omission gets you an otherwise full-featured Steelcase chair for under $600.

Specifications

Buying Advice

Despite its lack of tilt-locking recline functionality, the Series 1 is appealing. The low price gives you the essentials that Steelcase is famous for: super ergonomics, a world-class build, and a 12-year warranty.

Stripping out Steelcase’s Backstop functionality loses you some luxury — in exchange for simplicity. The single dial under the seat lets you lock, rock, or adjust tension. The lumbar support is also easy to use and effective.

But compared to the slick executions on pricier chairs, its candy-colored plastic slider looks and feels cheap to the touch. Even so, knowing that it’s guaranteed for 12 years should put ‘cheap’ concerns to rest.

Behold superb ergonomics, simplified. Why pay a premium for fancy frills when a Series 1 serves up the same quality of back support — for a fraction of the cost?

Series 1 on Amazon $466.60

The Series 1 is also available from SmartFurniture for $561.

Where To Buy Steelcase Office Chairs?

Here are the three common places to buy Steelcase ergonomic chairs:

1. Directly from Steelcase: visit https://store.steelcase.com/
2. Amazon: easiest checkout process and (often) the cheapest prices. Visit the Steelcase Amazon Store
3. Third-party dealers: the best (upholstery color and functionality) customization options for USA buyers. ChairsFX offers Steelcase chairs from SmartFurniture.com.

Are Steelcase Headrests Worth It?

Because of limited adjustability, Steelcase headrests are not worth it. You can adjust the headrest’s angle or the whole unit up or down.

You can also adjust the depth forward, but not far rearward. In fact, the maximum rearward angle extends too far forward. You can see the problems this causes on the Leap chair, which has the same headrest style:

When using steep recline angles of 100° or less, the headrest pushes the neck forward. The pressure that places on the back of the neck feels like being in a headlock.

Even when reclined back to 110°, the Leap’s headrest depth still feels excessive. I find that using it feels brutal and painful. Supporting studies concur; a forced-forward neck is very bad for your spine:

Mid-Back Office Chair Headrests Distort Neck & Back Posture

Is Steelcase Better Than Herman Miller?

Herman Miller kicked off the ergonomic seating era in 1994 with the Aeron chair. Steelcase replied in 1999 with the Leap chair. Since then, both have matured into multinational office furniture giants.

Which brand makes better chairs? Objectively, both are designed to support users into healthy neutral sitting postures. These replicate the 25-45° lower back and 0° neck angles of a healthy standing posture.

The Embody, Aeron, and Gesture chairs all make it easy to meet these biomechanical targets.

However, Herman Miller’s flagships support neutral postures using alternative techniques.

Alternative Herman Miller Support Styles

Herman Miller’s Aeron supports good posture primarily via its ultra-adaptive suspension mesh upholstery. Instead of lumbar support, its Posturefit unit provides secondary, almost inconsequential lumbar ‘guidance’.

Meanwhile, the Embody’s built-in lumbar support is set extremely low — and not height adjustable. As is, it’s unusable for all except ultra-short sizes. Luckily, it’s not needed.

Instead, the Embody’s backrest cups the upper spine to suspend the torso up against gravity. It’s a funky concept on paper that works very well in practice.

Steelcase Cookie-Cutter Ergonomic Formula

Herman Miller’s flagship chairs stand out with avant-garde executions of neutral support concepts. In sharp contrast, all Steelcase chairs use a classic institutionally-defined approach.

That story began in 1972. Then, scientists observed astronauts adopting neutral postures aboard the Skylab Space Station. Over the next 20 years, neutral support concepts evolved into car seats and office chairs.

These days, OSHA, BIFMA, and key peer-reviewed summaries all share similar ergonomic definitions. Adjustable lumbar support + adjustable arms + a reclining backrest =  neutral posture support .

This formula forms the bedrock of the Steelcase seating philosophy. These days, almost every other ergonomic chair on the market (including gaming chairs) relies on the same trio of support components.

Steelcase Vs Herman Miller Verdict

Herman Miller and Steelcase are two of the most influential office furniture brands in the world. Both make world-class ergonomic office chairs. Herman Miller provides flashier support executions to delight the senses; Steelcase serves up traditional support methods.

Bottom line: Herman Miller chairs are more titillating; Steelcase ones are easier to understand, appreciate, and use.

How To Keep Steelcase Chairs Clean?

Steelcase chairs come upholstered in stain-resistant nylon fabric guaranteed for 12 years. I’ve not tested one full-time, but I have worked full-time in Secretlab fabric gaming chairs for a few years.

Sitting in fabric seats leaves oil stains and dust. Over time, that builds up and gets smelly. In a light gray Secretlab Titan fabric gaming chair, visible stains first built up after 6 months.

Since then, I’ve had to do cleanings every 3 months to keep my chair looking like new. On my $550 gaming chair, common household cleaning ingredients help me do a decent clean on demand.

That’s the same cleaning timeline you should expect with any Steelcase chair. However, you might consider more elegant solutions with a fancy Steelcase chair.

The Leap and Gesture chair fabrics both feel tough enough to take a good fabric gaming chair-style scrubbing. But to maintain over 12 years, investing in a little bit more cleaning power is worth it.

Specifically, consider investing in something like a Bissel Little Green Dry/ Wet Vac. After a good scrubbing using household ingredients, let the Little Green finish the job. Check it (or similar furniture wet-vacs) on Amazon:

Bissell Little Green on Amazon $105.99

More About Fabric Upholstery Cleaning: How To Clean A Fabric Gaming Chair