Gamers both casual and hardcore are gaming more hours than ever before. In addition, almost anyone whose job requires them to sit in front of a computer is working more frequently from home especially due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, it’s astonishing that people who sit in front of a monitor for countless hours every day, are still doing so without a chair that can give them the level of comfort that they need. Gamers spend hundreds on upgraded controllers and headsets, yet put up with a chair that doesn’t provide the right level of support and comfort that they should be getting.
However, there has recently been a surge in gamers and home-office workers who are looking to take their work/gaming stations to a new level. Simply put, you cannot have a state-of-the-art gaming station without a high-quality chair to match it. GT Omega Racing has been at the forefront of the revolution in gaming chairs for many years. At the time of writing this review, they have six different series of chairs alone! Amongst one of the most popular is the GT Omega SPORT series, which is inspired by bucket seats found in race cars, but with added touches of comfort and ergonomics to allow you to adjust it fully to suit your needs. It also comes in four different colour variants (black, black/blue, black/red and black/white). Every single one of them looks equally as beautiful, so whatever colour you choose will be fantastic.
I once owned one of the very first GT Omega chairs that the company released many years ago. The progression from what I initially owned to what the SPORT series has become is outstanding. At a price point of just under £280, the GT Omega SPORT series is a long-term investment that any serious gamer should be considering to make.
UNBOXING EXPERIENCE
The unboxing experience is straightforward. The chair comes delivered in two separate boxes; one with the wheelbase and one with the actual chair. It is likely that GT Omega reuses the wheelbase for many of its chairs, hence why they come in separate boxes.
The nature of the 5-point-star wheelbase is such that without proper packaging, the metal could get easily scratched upon transit. However, the chair comes with the wheelbase perfectly secured since it is secured within a mesh that is specifically cut to fit the base perfectly. The wheels are also separated to ensure that they don’t scratch the metal base.
The actual chair has two main parts; the base that you sit on and the back rest. These come together, although each part sits in a separate plastic bag. At first glimpse, it may seem as if you’re missing the nuts and bolts, however after reading the instructions, you’ll realize that the nuts and bolts are already secured to the chair, so you know exactly where they belong. You’ll need to unscrew them in order to build the chair, but at least you know exactly what goes where.
There is also a metal bracket that you need to attach to the base of the chair so that it can connect to the wheelbase. This part is deceptively heavy, but it gives you reassurance that even a 150KG person won’t be falling through the chair.
A huge plus point is that GT Omega doesn’t expect you to have a separate toolkit. Everything in this chair is built with two separate allen keys that are provided. Once you have unboxed the entire chair, there will be a huge amount of cardboard and plastic, but I believe it’s all entirely recyclable.
The entire unboxing experience from start to finish only took 5 minutes – just make sure that you give yourself plenty of room to lay out the large parts and also build the entire thing!
BUILD EXPERIENCE
First and foremost, the instruction booklet is extremely simple to follow. Unlike flatpack furniture you get at IKEA where all of the diagrams and instructions are designed for maniacs, the SPORT series’ instructions are short and well explained. From my recollection, there were only six major steps to follow, although each one could take some time.
Although I built the chair entirely on my own, I would highly recommend that you build the chair with at least one other person. Most of the tasks can be handled by a single person, however there are moments where you need to rotate the chair in order to access the other side. Unless you’re accustomed to lifting 25kg weights at the gym, this may be a challenge for some.
More importantly, one of the first steps is the most difficult. You have to connect the backrest to the base of the chair. This process requires very specific alignment and ideally, someone to hold it in place whilst the other person does the screwing. It took me 20 minutes alone to do that part, but if I had help, I could have completed that within 10. There isn’t much more that I think GT Omega could have done to make this step of the process simpler, apart from perhaps sending the chair with that already built. However, that wouldn’t be practical as the shipment would be much larger, and you wouldn’t be able to transport the individual parts into the correct room in your house easily.
Apart from the first couple of steps, everything else was a breeze. Fixing the armrests, joining the metal bracket to the base and then finally connecting the chair to the wheelbase only took a matter of a few minutes per task. My entire build experience took me 45 minutes from the moment I unboxed it. I could have shaved that time down to 25 minutes if my ego didn’t get in the way of asking someone for a helping hand.
COMFORT LEVELS
Comfort is where the GT Omega SPORT series really shines. Firstly, it is considerably wider than my old chair. With my old chair (it also had bucket seats), the edges of the seat would dig into my back. In reality, I got used to it. However, after having sat in the SPORT series, I realised just how much of a difference a wider chair makes. If you’re on the larger side of life, the SPORT series is going to provide you with the comfortable experience that you require. To give you some context, the base of the chair that you sit on is over 50cm in width!
In addition, the SPORT series comes with two cushions that can be secured onto the back of the chair; one for your head and one for your lower back. The lower back cushion is particularly important to ensure that you’re maintaining a great posture. Anyone who will be migrating from a traditional chair will find this uncomfortable at first, simply because they’re not used to it. Give it a few days, and you’ll never want to sit on a chair without one. The head cushion is also of the highest leather quality. Due to the way they secure themselves on the chair, no matter how much you move about, the cushions will remain tight and in position. The entire chair is also made from signature PVC reinforced leather. The inside of the chair is made of a moulded foam. Together, they’ll provide you with a very comfortable experience without sinking you in.
FUNCTIONALITY
The GT Omega SPORT series is packed full of features that you’d expect in a £200+ chair. Firstly, it lets you completely adjust the height. This is important since different people have desks that vary in height. Some people prefer a very low desk whilst others have a tall one. The height on the chair is fully adjustable using a lever at the bottom.
In addition, the chair can be reclined. This is a feature that other office or gaming chairs will not necessarily have. Whilst most will allow for height adjustment, they often have a fixed back. The SPORT series allows you to decide how much the back reclines, and it can go all the way up to form a completely straight back if that’s what you prefer. There aren’t any predefined settings, so you really can find the right angle that suits your needs.
A key feature that makes the SPORT series stand out is its rocking mechanism. There is a handle at the bottom that lets you activate the rocking feature. This means that the chair is no longer fixed to a reclining point. Instead, as you lean back, so will the chair. It won’t lean back all the way, since you’ll end up falling. However, it goes back a considerable amount of the way – over 150 degrees actually! I found myself using the rocking feature when I watched my comrades try to find money to resurrect me in Warzone. It just adds a whole new level of comfort. The moment you’re back in business, you can pull the lever and go back to your fixed position.
The 4D adjustable arm rests are also highly adjustable. Not only can you adjust the height of each arm rest, you can even swivel the rest itself. If you want it pointing inwards, you can even do that. Most gamers will just stick to the standard setting, but this is a very welcome feature that many other chairs at a similar price point won’t have.
CONCLUSION
Many would argue that spending just under £300 is a lot for a gaming chair. However, its entirely a matter of perspective. A gaming chair is not just designed to be used just for games. It is your chair for your entire workstation, whether that is office work, video editing, live streaming or gaming. We live in an era where people are willing to spend a fortune on gadgets that help them perform well in games like League of Legends, FIFA and Call of Duty. However, without a chair that properly supports your back and gives you increased levels of comfort; you can never fully maximise your gaming potential. It is for this reason why every single major LAN event you’ll see will have gaming chairs rather than regular ones. The GT Omega SPORT series is by far the best gaming chair that I have used to date. If you’re looking to upgrade your gaming workstation to be the best it can possibly be, you cannot go wrong with the GT Omega SPORT series range.