Libernovo Omni review – gaming chairs just gained motors

Libernovo is a model new identify within the workplace and gaming chair market, with the corporate leaping into existence with a Kickstarter marketing campaign for its first product, the Omni chair. The massive promoting level of the Libernovo Omni is its electrically-adjustable lumbar assist, which the producer says makes it the primary “dynamic ergonomic” chair.

It is an addition that actually makes adjusting this chair’s assist simpler than any of the opposite dozens of chairs I’ve reviewed over time, however that alone is not sufficient to instantly earn this chair a spot on our greatest gaming chair information. So, I’ve spent the previous few weeks utilizing this new Libernovo mannequin as my important chair for eight hours of labor through the day and a few hours of gaming and video watching within the night to see the way it holds as much as sustained real-world use.

Specs

Meeting, design, and construct high quality

Arriving in a heavy however fairly compact field – when in comparison with the enormous field wherein the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody arrived – the Libernovo Omni is a chair that very a lot wants meeting. Nevertheless, it is not meaningfully trickier to assemble than most different chairs. A screwdriver is offered that does the job for attaching the entire of 4 bolts required to suit all the pieces collectively. It solely took me round 20 minutes to unbox and assemble all of it whereas photographing the method. When you order the matching footrest, it arrives individually in a small field, and it is simply as simple to assemble.

As soon as assembled, like many extra office-focused chairs we have reviewed – slightly than ones that explicitly promote themselves as gaming chairs – the Libernovo Omni is a modest-looking chair with a easy grey coloration scheme (which the corporate describes as Midnight Black – the choice Area Grey is a really mild grey).

Nevertheless, whereas gentle in its design, it is from easy. Spin this chair spherical and also you’re greeted by a brilliant advanced trying set of versatile again assist levers, wires, and extra. All of it combines to offer the electrically-operated, versatile, adjustable again that we’ll deal with in additional element in a second. Crucially, whereas all this provides complication, the chair nonetheless manages to look smooth and sensible.

Nevertheless, one space the place this chair would not instantly impress is with its construct high quality. It is from the worst, wobbliest chair I’ve reviewed, and a few points of it are very effectively constructed – the important thing structural plastic parts such because the wheels, legs, and lumbar assist arms all really feel very strong – however loads of elements are a little bit free or do not encourage confidence.

As an illustration, the headrest and armrests all wobble rather a lot. Whereas it is not a wholly honest comparability to set this $1,000 chair towards the $2,000 Herman Miller x Logitech Embody, the sheer solidity of that chair actually does stand out when utilizing one after the opposite. The match right here for these elements is extra typical of chairs that may be purchased for effectively underneath $500.

One other half that caught my eye is the tilt-adjust management that you must slot into place when assembling the chair. It is locked into place by a spherical plastic piece that you just rotate to interact a plastic locking pin (see above). It would not have interaction in a very constructive and safe method and feels prefer it may work free over time.

Worst of all, although, is much less a pure construct high quality/match concern as seemingly a design selection, which is to have the armrest width and swivel changes not lock in place. As a substitute, any pretty mild knock can transfer them round. Lean over a little bit or simply push your self up along with your palms, and the armrests will splay outwards, whereas simply pulling the chair in in the direction of the desk or leaning towards it should trigger the tops to spin away from you. It is not sufficient to instantly damage the expertise of this chair, but it surely’s undoubtedly not the very best system I’ve ever encountered. At the very least the armrest padding is not fairly as laborious as on some chairs.

Options

Trying in additional element on the options this chair presents, the again and seat are padded and have a cloth overlaying, slightly than utilizing a mesh suspension system or having a leather-based/fake leather-based overlaying. The material is hearth and splash-resistant, however you will not have the ability to brush spills off it as readily as with a mesh or leather-based cowl.

You additionally get a headrest with adjustable top and depth with this chair, and it is completed in the identical fashion of padding and cloth as the remainder of the chair.

In the meantime, the armrests are completely fitted to both aspect of the chair (some chairs, such because the Sercretlab Titan Evo, have detachable armrests), they usually provide locking top adjustment together with the free-moving width and pivot changes. Then, on the within fringe of the left armrest are three buttons and an LED for controlling the again assist.

These controls include a ahead button that, when pressed, prompts the pneumatic cylinder in the back of the chair to push the collection of arms, and thus the lumbar assist, up and in the direction of you. Pushing the again button will pull the piston again down once more, whereas an additional button makes the piston regularly push out then again once more, creating one thing of a decrease back-stretching therapeutic massage chair impact.

The opposite important controls set the lean and top adjustment of the chair. These sit on the entrance proper fringe of the seat, with the previous being a vertical silver bar that you just tilt backwards to offer as much as 4 completely different ranges of most backwards tilt. Libernovo describes the 4 recline positions as Deep Focus (absolutely upright), Solo-Work, Mushy Recline, and Backbone Stream (absolutely reclined). Within the latter place, you find yourself mendacity virtually fully flat.

The seat’s top adjustment system makes use of an ordinary fuel carry. Pull on the lever whereas seated, and the chair will drop. Pull on it with out your weight on the chair, and it’ll rise. The ultimate level of adjustment is a rotating knob on the seat base that controls the resistance of the lean system.

So as to energy the motorized lumbar system, this chair additionally has a chargeable (through USB-C) battery that’s conveniently packaged in a plastic housing that merely slots in and pulls out from the aspect of the seat. Regardless of having onboard energy, there is no RGB lighting on this chair.

Adjustability and luxury

Let’s reduce proper to the chase. The digital lumbar adjustment on this chair is a superb function. With the ability to tweak the texture of the chair with simply the contact of a button is so handy. When you’re discovering you are getting a bit fidgety in a sure place, you may simply tweak the assist without having to get off the chair to maneuver elements of it round, or crank down on adjustment knobs and levers.

The therapeutic massage mode can also be a helpful little further. It is from a alternative for a correct in-person therapeutic massage, or perhaps a half-decent a kind of therapeutic massage mats you may match to regular chairs, but it surely once more presents a welcome solution to simply barely stretch and transfer your again with out having to rise up off your chair – you may even use it when absolutely reclined.

Clearly, for general well being, you’re typically higher off getting up usually out of your workplace or gaming chair and strolling or having a stretch, but when you actually need to only plow on by means of work – or are halfway by means of a gaming session – it is a helpful choice. That mentioned, as time went on, I discovered I used it much less and fewer, and as soon as I might discovered my most popular setting, I used to be inclined to only set and overlook it.

By way of common consolation, my preliminary impressions weren’t good. The seat felt too brief, the lumbar assist did not sit fairly as I might anticipate – it by no means appeared to nestle proper within the small of my again like I am used to – and the headrest appeared to push my head ahead an excessive amount of. The recline positions additionally felt only a bit awkward.

Nevertheless, for probably the most half, as soon as I might acquired the cling of methods to truly alter the headrest depth, discovered which positions I favored for the again assist, and are available to phrases with how usually you have to change the again assist and headrest positions for various recline positions, I discovered the chair much more agreeable.

As an illustration, the seat base depth is not adjustable, so for my 6’2″ body, it felt a bit brief. Nevertheless, the curvature of it, which drops off on the entrance edge, in addition to the fairly deep padding, meant that I truly did not really feel any stress factors, or that sense of the blood being reduce off by the entrance fringe of the seat, resulting in much less fidgeting than I might anticipated.

Likewise, whereas the lumbar assist by no means fairly felt prefer it was sitting simply how I like, it truly did a very good job of providing regular assist.

All that mentioned, on steadiness, this chair does nonetheless really feel only a contact too small for me. It is rated for sitters of between 5’2″ and 6’3″ (158-190cm) – and weighing as much as 300lb (136kg) – so I am technically inside its vary, however the headrest top by no means fairly felt prefer it was supreme. Then again, my 5’2″ colleague discovered the chair an on the spot hit, regardless of her being proper on the decrease finish of its measurement restrict.

As for the footstool, it is a good sufficient little further that gives a raised platform to your ft whereas sitting and a cushioned prime for resting your legs. Nevertheless, its construct may be very plasticky, fairly cumbersome, and looks like it could profit from having castors or a straightforward technique of shifting it round. It is not a very important value-add for the chair.

Worth

Kickstarter backers of the Omni had been in a position to pre-order a unit for as little as $650, however the full retail value is $1,099. The corporate can also be doing an preliminary low cost at launch, which will get you the chair for $850, however this solely runs till October 2025.

All informed, this makes this a very costly workplace/gaming chair, with most premium choices usually sitting within the $500-$800 vary, and just a few outliers costing extra. The additional electronics undoubtedly add to the price, so we would anticipate to pay a premium for that, however a number of the wobbly construct high quality is a let-down at this value.

Options

Herman Miller x Logitech Embody

If we’re speaking about severely premium workplace chairs with a refined grey design and a intelligent, versatile again assist, the Herman Miller x Logitech Embody is an apparent comparability. It is higher constructed than the Libernovo, with hardly a wobble to be felt, however it’s almost twice as costly and would not include a headrest or any electronics. Learn our full Herman Miller x Logitech Embody evaluate for more information.

Secretlab Titan Evo 2022

The Secretlab Titan Evo is our go-to gaming chair suggestion for many patrons because it properly balances consolation, upgradability, and flexibility, all whereas being accessible in an enormous vary of designs and sizes. Its lumbar assist is nowhere close to as intelligent, and it is a very massive chair, however its beginning value of $549 makes it much more reasonably priced than the Omni.

Learn our full Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 evaluate for extra element.

Fractal Refine

A center floor between the extra compact workplace chair fashion of the Omni and the majority of the Titan Evo, the Fractal Refine is a bigger chair with an built-in headrest, but it surely has a slimmer cushion form and much more streamlined, elegant design than the Titan Evo. Plus it is accessible in each cloth and mesh designs. It is half the value of the Omni whereas providing comparable consolation, however lacks the absolutely flat recline and motorized lumbar system.

Learn our full Fractal Refine evaluate for extra info.

Verdict

The Libernovo Omni is a curate’s egg of a chair: it is good in elements. Its modern again assist system is near being a game-changer due to its potential to not solely provide a very fast and straightforward solution to alter your again assist, but additionally to offer a considerably back-loosening therapeutic massage mode. It is also a trendy chair, and whereas it takes some time to get snug in it, the Omni in the end proves good for long-term sitting periods, if not fairly a revelation in consolation.

Nevertheless, its lumbar assist place is not fairly as adjustable as many extra typical techniques, and it lacks seat size adjustment, plus its armrests and headrest are among the many floppiest round, with the previous resulting in fixed irritation, and there is a honest quantity of wobble to the chair again. I’ve used gaming chairs that price half as a lot cash which have a much more safe general really feel.

All of it provides as much as a chair that we battle to suggest spending $1,099 on. When you backed this chair’s Kickstarter and acquired it for $650, it represents excellent worth (should you discover you get on with its lumbar assist), as regardless of its foibles and wobbles, you are getting a totally battery-operated, motorized again assist system, which no different chairs of this value provide. Nevertheless, at its full value, the wobbles that remind me of less expensive chairs are severely off-putting – the digital bits do not feel that important.

Have you ever tried the Libernovo Omni? If that’s the case, why not tell us how you bought on with it on our group Discord server. In the meantime, should you’re in search of extra methods to finish your gaming setup, our greatest gaming desk information is packed filled with prime desk suggestions.