An Ergonomic Newbie Reviews the FlexiSpot C7 Ergonomic Office Chair

Until around a year ago, I used to sit on a mid-range IKEA office chair. 

My IKEA chair was basic but comfortable. Unfortunately, it was upholstered in an uncleanable, rough woven fabric that eventually developed unspeakable tar-like shiny patches of compacted human grime. Landfill time.

Its replacement was a less expensive, but still pretty good. It was a tan coloured imitation leather office chair that was sumptuously cushioned and went perfectly with the turquoise half-height colour block feature wall in my newly decorated office. 

It was clear I had opted for style over substance. This chair was comfortable but not ergonomic. It was basically a spinning cushion on a stalk, with a seat big enough for me to sit cross-legged on, hunching forward as I worked. 

Still, I had no complaints, and would happily have continued with this chair if FlexiSpot hadn’t offered me the opportunity to review (and, full disclosure, keep) a C7 Ergonomic Office Chair. 

Ease of construction

If you’ve ever put a piece of flatpack furniture together, you shouldn’t struggle to assemble the C7.

In the box are the usual array of chair parts, machine screws, instructions, packaging, and a nifty hex key with a wingnut handle. This is everything you need, and if you follow the instructions closely you should have the whole thing assembled in under ten minutes. 

That said, we recommend bringing in a partner to help you with the armrests. These attach from below when the seat is still upside down, meaning you have to lift a fairly heavy and awkward contraption to align the screw holes. 

Once that part’s over, you’re flying.

Features

The C7 boasts a dizzying array of levers, handles, and adjustable elements. While it’s not possible to fold the armrests back like the armrests on a plane, you can raise them, lower them, slide them backwards and forwards, and even twist them inwards and outwards. 

On the left of the chair there’s a stalk containing levers for adjusting the sitting height and the depth of the seat. Plus a crank handle for adjusting the reclining tension.

Behind these levers there’s another lever for adjusting the tilt of the seat. And behind that there’s one for adjusting the position of the lower backrest. On the other side there’s a lever for locking and unlocking the recliner. 

The headrest slides up and down, and you can tilt it forwards and backwards, 

Finally, there’s the footrest. This is folded neatly under the seat when you don’t need it (i.e., almost all of the time). But if you feel like kicking back and taking advantage of the C7’s surprisingly deep recliner, you can pull the footrest straight out and extend it with the press of a button. 

In terms of moving parts and hidden mechanisms, the C7 is easily on a par with a mid-range first-generation Decepticon.

Comfort

With all these adjustment options, you’re bound to find a position that meets the unique requirements of your spine and bottom.

But here’s the thing. If you’re accustomed to chairs like my old chair – the tan imitation leather one with lots of plumptious cushioning – you may have to review your entire sitting philosophy. 

There’s the lumbar-supporting backrest, for a start. This is not a subtle feature, but a prominent (albeit adjustable) protrusion that presses into your lower back and encourages you to sit up straight. 

It also makes it harder to sit badly – which is great, but jarring for those of us who have made sitting badly a way of life. 

When I sit down I tend to lift up my left leg and fold it under me, or even bring both legs up and sit cross-legged. It’s harder to do these (inadvisable) things on the C7 – i.e., it’s harder to sit badly, which is… good?

To be clear, the C7 is a comfortable chair, with a nicely springly mesh fabric, padded armrests, and a huge range of adjustment options. 

It’s just different from your regular bog-standard non-ergonomic office chair.

Appearance

Let’s be honest: the C7 is not handsome. That’s not what it’s about. 

The kindest thing we can say is that the C7 looks like a Formula One car, in the sense that Formula One cars are perfectly, ruthlessly functional. If they happen to look cool, that’s just luck. 

Except the C7 actually looks like a robot praying mantis. Or, thanks to its modular design, a collection of chair parts that have fallen out of a window and landed in the approximate shape of a chair. 

The comfortable, breathable, eminently practical mesh upholstery is translucent. This means all of the bolts and plastic moulding under the seat are visible. Any errant piece of fluff or loose thread that lands on the chair is generously backlit. 

Of course, office chairs aren’t for looking good. They’re for sitting on and – in the case of ergonomic chairs like the C7 – improving your posture and lumbar health. And it’s worth stressing that some of you may well think the C7 does look good. It’s certainly distinctive, uncompromising, and arrestingly functional. 

If that’s your aesthetic, it’ll fit right in.

Conclusion

It’s hard to recommend the C7 without reservations, though this doesn’t necessarily equate to a criticism of the chair itself. 

On its own terms, the C7 is a fantastic product. It offers practicality, ergonomically grounded comfort, quality, and flexibility. If you’re shopping on the same terms, it’s an easy recommendation.

If, on the other hand, you just want abundant cushioning and something that goes nicely with your half height colour block feature wall, you may want to keep looking. 

As long as you’re honest with yourself about which kind of sitter you are, you won’t go wrong. 

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