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If you’re a gamer, you have definitely seen the racing chairs that all the pros and twitch streamers sit on. There are so many different brands of racing chairs that it may get confusing. Two big players we’ll be looking at for you are are DXRacer and Maxnomic (aka: NeedforSeat). But the question that you’ll often find yourself thinking is: what is the difference? Well, look no further because we’re about to help you figure out which of these two brands you should invest your money in at three different price points. Which brand is more worth it, and which chair is the most worth it?

 

Why get a gaming chair in the first place?

Well, gaming chairs – despite being marketed heavily towards gamers – are extremely good for your spine’s health. More often than not, you will see some sort of lumbar support, wide angle recline, and padding. The support a gaming chair supplies maximizes your time in front of your computer by taking stress off the important parts of your body when sitting.

These gaming chairs are also developed to aesthetically look like race car chairs. This may or may not be a positive because the heavily modern style of these chairs may look attractive to gamers, but rather unprofessional if used for professional purposes.

gaming chairs in lol championship

 

Introduction:

DXRacer – King of the Hill

  • DXRacer is probably the most well-known brand between the two. They have massive markets in both the USA and Europe, and their shipping locations are the most abundant, as well. DXRacer has also partnered with many well-known eSports brands to co-develop chairs for fans to enjoy; these teams include Cloud9, SK Telecom T1, Counter Logic Gaming, Fnatic, etc.
They have the biggest selection of gaming chairs and these chairs are split into six categories: Formula, Racer, Valkyrie, King, Sentinel, and Tank series. Each series is built specifically for different types of people from the budget friendly customers to the tall and lengthy customers. Their entry level chair – the Formula Series – will start off at a relatively low price, making DXRacer the cheapest when it comes to entry level chairs. Their most expensive model, the Tank Series, will set you back a hefty sum.

Maxnomic – The Newbie

  • Maxnomic is a fairly new contender in the gaming chair market – having only started in 2012 in Ohio, US by a company called NeedForSeat. Even with their late start, they have impacted the market – having been picked up by a few big games in the gaming and tech scene, namely Riot Games, Linus Media Group, Team SoloMid, etc.

Their gaming chairs are divided into three categories: Casual Sport, Pro-Gaming & Office, Office, and XL Series. Their entry level chairs in the Casual Sport category are the most expensive of all the entry level chairs of the brands we’ve tested. However, they do advertise that their build quality is significantly better than competitors and worth the extra money you’re paying for. NeedForSeat has a Tear Down page on their website and it looks rather convincing. Their most expensive chairs, from the XL Series (the equivalent to DXRacer’s tank series), will cost you a considerable amount of money (a little less than the tank series). An additional option that makes Maxnomic chairs stand out is that you customize parts of the chair like the seat piston size and base material.

 

Individual Buying Options:

Let’s get to the top you’ve all been waiting for: buying options! We’ll be tackling DXRacer and Maxnomic at three different price points so you can decide which models are best for you and most worth the bang for your buck! Bolded lines are considered improvements from the immediate model down.

DXRacer:

Our Recommendation: Racing Series

DXRacer Formula Series $ DXRacer Racing Series $$ DXRacer King Series $$$
  • Two-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Conventional Tilt Mechanism
  • Nylon base with 2-inch caster wheels
  • 14.5-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Mesh surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 200 pounds and 5’ 10”
  • Three-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Inlaid base with 3-inch caster wheels
  • 14.25-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 250 pounds and 6’ 3”
  • Four-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base with 3-inch caster wheels
  • 16-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Carbon Vinyl and Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 300 pounds and 6’ 2”

Compared to the budget options, the Racing Series looks like the most bang for your buck. The improvements are rather vast for the small price increase: you’ll be getting 3D adjustable arms, multi-lever tilt, tilt angle lock, a better base with larger wheels, and better surface material. The price increase for the King Series does not provide as many functional improvements, but does provide many premium features like better fabrics, 4D adjustable arms, a metal base, etc. It will be up to you if you think the improvements are worth the extra money.

Maxnomic:

Our Recommendation: Thunderbolt

Maxnomic Thunderbolt

Maxnomic Thunderbolt $ Maxnomic Dominator $$ Maxnomic Ergoceptor Pro $$$
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Mesh surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 176 pounds and 5’ 9”
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 220 pounds and 6’ 1”
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Double padded sitting element
  • Pleather and Microfiber surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 220 pounds and 6’ 1”

It was extremely difficult to figure out what the improvements are from each tier of chairs – their website gives the bare minimum specifications. In fact, you would probably find more information on their chairs in YouTube reviews than their own website. That being said, it is impressive enough that each model is equipt with 4D adjustable arms, multi-lever mechanism, and an aluminum base. This makes their entry level chair, the Thunderbolt, a heavy competitor when comparing it to DXRacer’s equivalent chairs – the Formula Series.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of information and how solid their Thunderbolt looks, it’s rather difficult to recommend the Dominator chair because the only improvement found is simply higher quality fabric used on their chairs. Their Ergoceptor Pro – the most premium model – also looks promising, sporting double padded seat and lumbar areas for additional support, as well as the multi-fabric surface used on their chairs.

NeedforSeat makes it very apparent that what you pay for is extremely good build quality – having done an entire chair teardown to help draw in potential customers. While their warranty only lasts for two years, customers should feel very comfortable and secure with their purchase knowing that the Maxnomic chairs are built with top quality materials.

 

Side by Side Comparison:

Budget Friendly:

Our Recommendation: Maxnomic Thunderbolt

DXRacer Formula Series $ Maxnomic Thunderbolt $
  • Two-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Conventional Tilt Mechanism
  • Nylon base with 2-inch caster wheels
  • 14.5-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Mesh surface
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Included pillow set
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 200 pounds and 5’ 10”
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Mesh surface
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Included pillow set
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 176 pounds and 5’ 9”

The Maxnomic Thunderbolt. At a cheaper price, you get 4D adjustable arms, multi-lever tilt mechanism, tilt angle lock, and a metal base. You lose the massive 135 degree recline and lifetime warranty from the Formula Series, but you gain much more for that trade-off. Unfortunately, if you’re heavier than 80 kg (176 pounds), you should play it safe and stick with the Formula series since it supports 24 pounds more. While the Formula Series chairs are not bad, they’re not at the same level of build quality in comparison to the Maxnomic Thunderbolt.

Medium Price Point:

Our Recommendation: DXRacer Racing Series

DXRacer Racing Series

DXRacer Racing Series $$ Maxnomic Dominator $$
  • Three-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Inlaid base with 3-inch caster wheels
  • 14.25-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 250 pounds and 6’ 3”
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 220 pounds and 6’ 1”

For only a small price difference, the improvements you get from the Maxnomic Dominator and the tradeoffs for not purchasing a DXRacer Racing Series net out to be a negative. As great as a metal base is and as functional as 4D adjustable arms can be – giving up the massive degree of recline and lifetime warranty on DXRacer’s chairs just isn’t worth the extra money you’ll be spending. Not to mention the Racing Series chair supports heavier and taller people.

Premium Tier:

Our Recommendation: DXRacer King Series

Dxracer King Chair

DXRacer King Series $$$ Maxnomic Ergoceptor Pro $$$
  • Four-directional adjustable arms
  • 135 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminium base with 3-inch caster wheels
  • 16-inch seat
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Carbon Vinyl and Pleather surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Lifetime warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 300 pounds and 6’ 2”
  • Four-dimensional adjustable arms
  • 67 degree recline
  • Multi-Lever Tilt Mechanism
  • Tilt Angle Lock
  • Aluminum base
  • Lumbar Support
  • Class 4 Gas lift
  • Double padded sitting element
  • Pleather and Microfibre surface
  • Included pillow set
  • eSports partnership chairs
  • Two-year warranty
  • Maximum support of up to 220 pounds and 6’ 1”

At the premium tier, the playing field gets leveled significantly. However, DXRacer edges out the Maxnomic Ergoceptor Pro due to its lifetime warranty. At an investment that would easily cost you a decent graphics card, lifetime warranty on such an expensive item cannot be ignored. The fact that the DXRacer King also gets the infamous 135 degree recline sweetens the deal too. However, if you do want to save the difference, which by all means is a respectable amount of money, then the Maxnomic Ergoceptor Pro is definitely still a great chair.

 

Final Thoughts:

DXRacer is being taken a run for its money by newcomer, Maxnomic in the budget gaming chair scene. At the discount price the Maxnomic Thunderbolt takes the lead with higher quality material and premium features. It’s hard to top the amount of value you get from the Thunderbolt.

The higher up you go more premium qualities and features you will get. While Maxnomic chairs started off with a bang, they have cooled off and left DXRacer still reign supreme in the higher tiers. There just are not enough features that Maxnomic can keep on adding in order for them to maintain the heavy lead they had in the budget friendly tier. DXRacer practically won based on the massive back recline, amazing warranty, and larger size capacity.

None of this is any discredit to what NeedforSeat has done with Maxnomic because they have won the publicity and trust from many industry leaders. Whatever your decision is in the end, know that you should have full confidence in your purchase by either of the two brands.

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