Recently my Knoll Life chair, which has served me well for over 10 years, finally broke down. It was time to buy a new office chair in order to make my work-from home life as comfortable and healthy as possible. Instead of buying a Knoll, a Haworth Zody (the chair I had before that), or yet another Herman Miller, I opted for a Branch Furniture Ergonomic chair.
Who Is Branch Furniture?
Branch Furniture was founded by Greg Hayes in 2018 with the goal of selling high quality office furniture direct to consumers for fair prices. Classically, buying office furniture has been an awful process if you aren’t buying dozens of chairs and desks. The sellers were always middlemen who were not interested in selling to individuals, so people had to buy lower quality products from Amazon, Staples, and Office Depot. Alternatively you could spend $600-$1500 on a brand name chair from someone like DWR, but this isn’t practical for most people.
Branch wanted to offer professional-grade office furniture to consumers and work-from-home professionals without the hassle and mark-ups. It’s very much like an “Everlane for Office Furniture.”
Why The Ergonomic Chair?
First of all, let’s be 100% clear: The Ergonomic Chair is the name of Branch’s rolling office chair with lumbar support. It is an ergonomic (small “e”) chair named the “Ergonomic Chair.”
After considering the Herman Miller Sayl, the Steelcase Bodi, and any number of other office chairs in the $300-$600 price range, I ended up with the Branch Ergonomic. Why did this happen?
First of all, I was really impressed with the price. I originally went into this purchase thinking I would need to spend $1000+ on an Aeron, Embody, Steelcase Leap, similar high-end chair. After doing some research I determined that the mid-level chairs, like the Sayl would be fine for me. In fact, I had previously used a Herman Miller Setu thought that might be a good pick.
After looking around I learned about Branch determined it looked like a really good deal for $300. Free shipping to my home would be just 2-3 days and the company offers full refunds (less return shipping charges) within the first 30 days if I wasn’t happy with my purchase.
The Ergonomic Chair has a limited warranty of 7 years on “parts and components” which was good enough for me.
Assembly
The Branch chair arrives in a fairly large, heavy box with the chair components inside. You have to assemble the chair yourself, which takes about 15 minutes. All the tools you need are included.
The instructions were quite clear and no technical skill or real strength was required to put the chair together. In fact the hardest part was lugging around the cardboard box before even assembling the chair. After that everything went together smoothly. The chair weighs about 35 pounds, which really isn’t that bad for an office chair — any less and I’d be concerned.
Branch doesn’t include directions, but links you to a PDF and assembly video via an included postcard in the box. This made things easy and saved some paper.
Branch Chair Review
Having used the chair for a few weeks, I have a number of thoughts about it. I’ve been using it full-time, for work and some leisure, so it’s gotten some miles already. Normally I’d want to wait a few months before posting a chair review, but I wanted to put something down while my memories of my previous chair were still fresh.
The Ergonomic Chair’s build quality is good. I wouldn’t say that I’m blown away, but given the price it’s impressive what Branch did. The base piece is a 5-point piece of metal (probably aluminum with 5 casters and no plastic on it is at all. It looks great — really high-end and classy. The wheels are hard, black plastic, not quite as nice as the soft, clear casters that many chairs have moved to, but totally fine.
The arms and some other important components are entirely plastic, so they have a little flex, but they don’t feel cheap. Also I don’t feel like they will break over time — it’s heavy duty stuff.
The seat cushion is pretty nice too – not too hard, not too soft. It’s a mesh-type fabric that breathes well and prevents sliding. I don’t have a whole lot to say about it, which is perfect because it’s supposed to be something you don’t think about!
The seat cushion is pretty nice too – not too hard, not too soft. It’s a mesh-type fabric that breathes well and prevents sliding. I don’t have a whole lot to say about it, which is perfect because it’s supposed to be something you don’t think about!
The back is a lightweight double-layered mesh, similar to many modern office chairs, with some give to it. It breathes incredibly well and looks nice. It has a sort of hammock feel to it as it flexes and lets you sink into it, but you never do back too far. It reminds me a lot of my Life chair, which is great for me.
There is a lumbar support, which is the one part of the chair that I’m not overly happy with. It’s a small plastic piece with a firm pad that faces the small of your back. It can be adjusted up and down but not in and out (though it can tilt to accomodate different backs). For me it’s a bit too far out and a bit too hard. It does work — it keeps my shoulders back and my spine aligned, but it’s just not that comfortable.
The chair has a nice set of adjustments given the price:
- Arms: up/down, in/out, forward/back
- Seat: up/down
- Seat Depth: forward/back
- Seat Tilt: full or lock upright
You are missing some high-end adjustments like seat tilt tension, seat pan tilt, and seat back angle, but those aren’t found on many chairs.
From a comfort standpoint the Ergonomic chair is good. I’m not sore or achy after a long sitting session (for me this would be about 1.5 – 2 hours). This isn’t a lounge chair and it’s not an Eames padded Aluminum Group chair. The Ergonomic chair really does seem to be designed to keep your ergonomic and healthy, even if it comes (slightly) at the expense of being more comfortable in the short-term.
Lastly, the chair has no creaks or groans at all. It’s totally silent while I’m sitting in it.
Verdict
I’ve had a number of office chairs over the years, from $50 Staples chairs to top-of-the-line stuff from Herman Miller, so when I saw a well thought out chair for about $300 I was curious. Having purchased the Branch Ergonomic chair and used it for some months, I have to say I’m quite happy with the value it delivers.
Sure, the looks are a little bit boring (perhaps a bit like the Steelcase Gesture?) and the comfort isn’t best-in-class, but my seating is ergonomically sound and the chair seems to be built to last.
For me, this is an ideal chair for the work-from-home era, where $1000 office chairs simply aren’t practical or necessary.
FAQs
- Where is Branch Furniture based?
Branch is headquartered in New York, NY. Their address is 45 W 28th Street New York, NY 10001.
- Where are Branch chairs made?
Branch doesn't state specifically where their chairs are made but the company has said that they work with manufacturing partners with factories in both the US and China.
- What is the weight limit of the Ergonomic Chair?
The chair supports people up to 300 pounds.
- Branch Ergonomic Chair vs Steelcase Gesture, what's the difference?
The Branch chair looks quite like the Steelcase Gesture, but the two aren't the same. The Steelcase costs about 2x as much and it has a hard plastic back where the Branch has a breathable cloth backrest. The Gesture also supports a headrest as well as a tall stool version, neither of which the Ergonomic chair offers. The Gesture has a lifetime warranty while that of the Branch is 7 years.