DXRacer Craft Custom Gaming Chair Review

DXRacer is THE original gaming chair. Every streamer had one and every gamer I knew wanted one. Not content with being the company that launched a thousand ships, so to speak, DXRacer has launched a fully customizable luxury chair. But is the juice worth it? Find out in our review.

Features

Current price: $479 (DXRacer always lucky)
High quality leather material
memory foam
Heavy metal frame
Ultra premium molded foam
Recommended height/weight: 5’7″/200lbs
Maximum load: 250 lbs.
Maximum height: 6’0″
Gas lift class: 4
Pedestal: 27.5″ Aluminum Pedestal
Casters: 60mm caster/PU
Adjustable rear angle: 135
Adjustable headrest: Yes
Adjustable lumbar cushion: Yes
Package size: 31.89″L x 28.94″W x 14.37″H
Net weight: about 56.04 lbs.
Meets/Exceeds ANSI/BIFMA Standards: Yes

For those of us who have spent time on the internet researching our first (or fifth) custom PC build, we know that in addition to the CPU and GPU, the bread and butter of your interaction is the mouse and the keyboard. Wars have been fought over which brand is best, which keyboard switch is best, which keycaps are best, etc., as they make up the overwhelming majority of our touch interaction with the gaming rig. Yet for the people who will argue into the wee hours of the knights over red versus blue and Kaihl versus cherry, we spend remarkably little time worrying about what we’re going to park our butts in – literally. . Whether it’s long or short gaming sessions, doesn’t our behind deserve to be as well cared for as our fingers? Why should keycaps be the only things you can visually customize with your own personality? DXRacer is here to answer that question with a resounding “not on my watch”. Enter the new line of DXRacer: DXRacer Craft – the result of 20 years of chair development and the knowledge of a number of professional gamers and leading gaming companies.

For this review, we’ve been sampled from a selection of pre-designed chairs to take for a test drive – after all, it doesn’t matter what the design IS since we’re asking a few questions that deal more broadly with the features of the Craft. Is it comfortable? How adjustable is it? Are the materials of high quality and how are logos and designs incorporated into said material? While I admit it would have been absolutely amazing to have the opportunity to design my own chair from scratch, I am in no way unhappy with the chair provided in their off-the-shelf catalog; in my case the “Lucky Always” design which is what you will see images throughout the review.

Before I get to the meat and potatoes, I want to quickly thank DXRacer for the ease of assembly. I have assembled a few different racing chairs from many other companies and this was, by far, the easiest time I have ever had to assemble a chair. All the holes matched perfectly, the handles were already attached to the base, and my absolute favorite feature, the metal hinges that attach to the backrest have little slats to align the base perfectly with the hinges. If you’ve ever assembled a chair, I’m sure you’ve experienced the difficulty of getting the back to cooperate while desperately trying to secure at least one screw. For me, it usually ended in a few minutes of swearing, a scraped finger, sweat, and feeling utter disgust at whoever did it. DXRacer solved this problem perfectly and I sincerely hope that it will spread with other brands – it’s a stroke of genius.

The first thing I do after I finish assembling a chair is sit in it. The main concern for me is whether it’s comfortable or not. Material quality and aesthetics don’t matter if you can’t stand being in the chair. I am extremely happy to report that the DXRacer Craft is perhaps the most comfortable chair I have had the pleasure of sitting in. They really took to heart the idea that if you spend hours in a gaming session, you deserve to be comfortable while doing it. It’s the first computer chair I’ve owned with adjustable lumbar support, for example, and it’s a feature I didn’t know I needed until I got it. As someone with a complex back injury, I’ve found that even if something is comfortable one day, it can be horrible the next. I find myself adjusting the lumbar support day to day and wondering how I ever lived without this feature. The seat cushion is just soft enough that it won’t hurt after a long gaming session and just firm enough that it doesn’t feel like I’m sitting on a pillow. As a tall, strong individual, it can be difficult to have a cushion to maintain comfort after a while and I have yet to find that end point with the DXRacer Craft. The memory foam neck pillow is just the icing on the cake at this point and the extremely adjustable armrests (four control points) are the nuggets

Assuming that my back is pretty happy with its share of demands, it was time to move on to how my (scary, I know) eyes and skin felt about it. The armrests are made from a black rubbery material that seems quite resistant to oils and sweat coming off the skin. With previous chairs I’ve found it tends to become clear exactly where your arm was – especially after a long gaming session – and that doesn’t seem to be the case with the Craft series. The vast majority of the chair is made from soft leather. It is quite comfortable on the skin and visually pleasing on the eyes. It lacks the harsh sheen of traditional leather and simultaneously retains the visual quality of genuine leather.

The creme de la creme, however, is embroidery. Typically you will see seams where two colors meet, but DXRacer has taken it a step further and designed all the text and graphics on the chair with different colored seams and the effect is absolutely stunning. If there was one feature that indicates the quality of the product, it would be the stitching. Scouring the chair, I have yet to find a single skipped or misplaced stitch – a fact that lends enormous credence to the luxury claim. I’m impressed every time I look at the back of the backrest and the level of detail DXRacer has been able to achieve with simple stitching on decals. There’s nothing I know of on the market like it – it’s truly one of a kind.

Final Thoughts

DXRacer has once again led the way and I doubt it will be long before we see other companies follow suit. Not only does the readily available catalog feature designs that anyone can appreciate, but the fact that you can contact DXRacer and work directly with them to create your own custom chair is simply breathtaking. DXRacer sacrifices nothing in the name of customization and aesthetics and delivers a truly premium and luxurious product – every aspect of the chair screams quality workmanship. Returning to the original question in the article’s summary, “Is juice worth it?” I can say without reservation – absolutely.