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VR is taking over the world of pro gaming, and now it can take over your living room.
Now, there are some pretty sweet VR chairs out there. For example, there’s this crazy setup:
Not only do these types of rigs cost thousands of dollars, but they’re just a wraparound screen, not true VR, and they’re only useful for racing games. We’re looking for chairs that are useful for a wide variety of games.
The basic criteria for a VR chair are simple. It should be comfortable, difficult to fall out of, and it should rotate 360 degrees. Some of the chairs also include motion controllers, although those are more expensive, and most games don’t offer support for that feature.
Let’s take a look at the four best VR chairs for your living room.
Most Upgrades – Roto VR Chair
The Roto VR Chair, as a standalone chair, is pretty sweet. It features an adjustable headrest, a triangular cushion for lumbar support, and adjustable armrests. If that’s not enough, it reclines, and it has a barber-stool-style foot pedal to control its motorized base.
Hook up a VR system, and it becomes that much more impressive. It features a built-in head tracker for following your motions, and the foot pedal tracks which way you’re leaning. And of course, the motorized base starts rotating with the action on your screen.
The real value in the Roto VR is in the number of attachments. There’s an optional steering wheel holder, keyboard and mouse platform, and rumble packs for under the seat and behind your back. This chair even supports HOTAS systems, and utilizes the pedal inputs for HOTAS and steering wheel games.
All of these accessories come at a cost. This chair lets you choose whatever you need, and leave the rest behind. That said, the Roto VR is a top of the line gaming chair, with more VR options than any one person could ever use.
Pros:
- Motorized base with foot pedals
- Includes head tracker
- Multiple accessories available
Cons:
- Expensive
Most Comfortable – Cougar Deluxe Collection Titan Ultimate
If you’re looking for comfort with your VR, you’re probably not trying to find a chair with a motorized base. Instead, you want something that’s going to give you as much support as possible.
We chose the Titan Ultimate because it’s built like a beast. It sports a heavy, steel base, and is built to support 350 pounds. Suffice it to say, this chair is not going to dump you over if you lean over too far while you’re gaming.
This chair is as luxurious as the beaches in Dead or Alive. Not only does it fully recline, but it includes a built-in neck pillow. This isn’t one of those flimsy inflatable things for taking on an airplane. This is a heavy, plush neck pillow that cradles the base of your skull like a racing helmet. The fat lumbar support cushion only makes the Titan Ultimate even more pleasant to lay back in.
This doesn’t have any actual VR features, and it’s fairly pricey. But it rotates 360 degrees, and you can use it to lean back into another world without falling flat on your face.
Pros:
- Can be fully reclined
- Built-in neck cushion
- Plenty of lumbar support
- 350-pound capacity
- 4-way adjustable armrests
- Heavy steel base
Cons:
- Fairly pricey
- No actual VR features
Most Affordable – Devoko Ergonomic Gaming Chair
Let’s not beat around the bush here. The Devoko is a budget chair. We chose it because it’s a budget chair. But it’s not exactly your dream VR rig.
Basically, what we went with here was the most barebones possible chair you could comfortably play a VR game in. And there are a few things that makes the Devoko stand out.
To begin with, it’s the most stable gaming chair in its price range. It’s not as stable as a true VR chair, but it won’t flip over when you’re reclined. Did we mention it reclines? That’s something else you won’t find often in this price range.
This chair supports up to 300 pounds, rotates 360 degrees, and generally does everything you need from a VR chair in the strictly mechanical department. It’s also reasonably comfortable, with generous head and lumbar support.
Pros:
- Can be fully reclined
- 300-pound weight capacity
- Affordable
Cons:
- Not as stable as it should be
- No actual VR features
Most Advanced – Yaw VR
The Yaw VR is a brand new VR chair that started out last January as a Kickstarter project. Check out their fun, endearingly cheesy launch video:
As you can see, this is a lightweight, portable VR system that rotates 360 degrees while you’re in motion. It includes a VR headset and controller, and is compatible with dozens of VR racing games.
The company has recently started production, and they have a large number of pre-orders, as well as the chairs they already promised to Kickstarter backers. By their current estimates, new orders will take a minimum of 2 months to ship, and might take more than 3 months depending on how things go in the early production run.
The thing we liked most about the Yaw is how comfortable the seating position is. By cradling you in a V shape, the chair makes it almost impossible to fall out no matter how fast you’re changing direction in your game.
Make no mistake, this is an expensive chair. But what did you expect? This is true, motorized, 360-degree VR.
Pros:
- Lightweight and portable
- Comfortable
- 360-degree motorized motion
- Special promotions for streamers
Cons:
- Very Expensive
- Long shipping delays
Verdict
If we had to choose one of these VR chairs as the best, it would be the Roto VR chair. As a standalone, for pure comfort, the Cougar Deluxe is better, but the Roto VR offers some serious VR accessories that the Cougar Deluxe doesn’t.
As for the Yaw VR, it’s clearly got the most features of the bunch. The problem is, it doesn’t actually exist yet. And we’ll take an awesome chair today over a really awesome future chair any time.
Do you already have a VR chair you love? And what do you think of our choices? Let us know in the comments!
