Steelcase Gesture Ergonomic Office Chair with Cogent Connect Blue Jay Fabric - Adjustable Lumbar Support, Shell Back & Light Frame - Polished Aluminum Base for Home & Professional Workspaces

The moment my butt touched the Gesture I was in love. If you sit in a chair for as long as I do, it's an investment in yourself and health. Don't put a price tag on that. If your back is hurting or you're uncomfortable for 70% of the day don't hesitate because of sticker shock, just buy it. If you hate it, send it back. If the thing comes broken, send it back. If the arms are wack, send it back.Just to cover some common questions I had during my search for a new chair before jumping into the whole review.- I am roughly 6'2 & 180 lbs.- The back went up to the middle of my neck.- Seat is very adjustable and my legs were comfy. No weird pressure points whatsoever in the seat.- Chair arms ensure there are virtually no issues for arm height or width. I have lanky arms so this was super nice.- I sit all kinds of weird throughout the day and it adjusted to allllllllll of the positions.- It has several tilt settings and boy are they perfect. Freakin' unmatched in my opinion.- Has a great range of height. I haven't been short in a while but my partner is roughly 5'8 and had no issues getting comfortable/sitting properly.- The orange color is top-notch. Very unique and I had plenty of compliments within days of owning it.- I'm using 3 computers throughout my day, sometimes 4, and there's no issues moving between them as needed. The arms really do help in more ways than you think.- I have an L-shaped desk.- You can't beat a 12-year warranty.- Something noteworthy: thousands of people & how they sit were studied to design this chair, it's comfort is unmatched.- I purchased this model: ASIN: B016OIEXE0.The pros:Hands down one of the absolute best chairs my as..s. has ever sat on. I was extremely skeptical about spending $1k on a chair. But. I spend nearly 12 hours a day on my bum and I started having significant pain in my lower back, shoulders, and leg numbness. I get up plenty during those hours to stretch and walk around - at least 1 to 2 times an hour but that simply isn't enough with the amount of time I spend at my desk. Since a good bit of my desk-time is also spent on Amazon.com I was able to use their "5-monthly payments" (no credit check/approval needed, no fees, etc.) to split up the payments. That pretty much made it to where I could not pass this chair up. Within one day of using the chairI was -!-sleeping-!- better! I found myself sitting properly, comfortably and not forced. From my experience, depending on your preferred lumbar support, you may need to opt for the model that has the adjustable lumbar support (ASIN: B08KL9JMVB). For me, that's not an issue and the model without the lumbar adjustability has plenty of support as-is since you can move the seat forward and back.Now.. After all of my praise lets get to the expectations of what comes with a $1k chair.1. I noticed the right side of the seat "wiggled" and kind of made a clanking noise within the first few days. Not a squeaking like some comments have mentioned coming from the backrest when leaning back. It became more and more noticeable as I used it. Eventually, when I went to move the seat forward with the adjustment knob the right side of the chair didn't move the same as the left. There was a slight delay and then a 'catch' - I equated it to an issue with either the track or what's holding the seat to the track was loose or jarred out of place. Eventually I reached out to Steelcase for help - not the best support experience - they suggested to throw some wd-40 on it but after clarifying the issue there were at least honest with me. They told me it would most likely be a better option to return the chair to Amazon because a warranty claim would take at minimum 3 weeks vs a quick return to Amazon for a replacement.2. I thought I was just a bit off with my arm adjustments or it was potentially the leveling of my desk being off but the right arm also was slightly lower than the left. I had a couple of people try it out and even took some measurements - sure enough, it was lower, even when adjusted to the highest and lowest setting. It wasn't drastic but just enough to grab my attention after a few weeks of use.3. It comes fully assembled. Steelcase... Why? Just why... I understand it is a unique build and sure, the arms might throw a few people off if it was assembled at home, but there's no need for it to come fully assembled. It's heavy asf. From my impression - that contributes to about 90% of the problems reported about this chair. I really believe that my issues may have even been caused by shipping mishandling - and not necessarily at the fault of the delivery drivers but because it's 75 pounds and fully assembled. The packaging wasn't all that great either, not what I expected for a fully assembled product at least.So now where am I now with my Steelcase Gesture? I returned it three days ago. Rolled it into a UPS store and paid them $50 so they would deal with the packaging and getting it back to Amazon because that massive box had long since left my apartment. I had full intentions of going home and ordering another Gesture (with a headrest this time). However, I'm giving the Steelcase Amia a try - it'll be delivered in two days. It was a toss up between the Gesture and the Amia to begin with so I felt it was only right to try it as well. It also had similar reviews. It's also roughly about $500 cheaper and if it keeps my tushy comfy, my back from dying, and legs feeling like legs, I may just stick with it.BUT if the Amia does not live up to the Gesture experience - it'll be carried down three flights of stairs and rolled into UPS as well. Then I'll have a nice Amazon delivery driver carry a new Gesture chair up a few days after. The next Gesture will be the model with a neck rest though, I enjoyed sitting in it so much that I was watching movies and would 'kick back' so a neck rest would be nice - like mentioned, the back of the chair only came up to my middle/lower neck so I expect the neck rest to be exactly where I'd like it to be.With all of that out of the way, pay attention to this statement . . . that process with UPS and new Gestures will repeat until I get a chair that has no issues - or until @Amazon tells me to cut it out. The chair has a 12 year warranty so I'm less concerned about the long-haul (or a three week process for warranty claim, when have warranty claims ever been fast??), but the first 30 days are crucial for any new purchase. The only reason an Amia is on the way vs a new Gesture is essentially simple curiosity and giving my dollar a run for its money (ha). Low-key, I'm kinda hoping the experience doesn't match up to the Gesture ;)I also have seen more issues in reviews of particular colors (lines in the arm rests - both versions of gray) - so choose wisely, it may also save you a good bit of $ to pick another. Some colors were over a $150 difference which is part of why I went with the orange + it looks pretty awesome, especially in person!Additionally, @Amazon has a 30-day return window for a reason, please use it vs throwing a tantrum in the comments. I understand $1k is a lot to throw around and certain expectations come with that price tag but there's a whole lot that happens between the factory and your doorstep, especially when the product is fully assembled. Again @Steelcase, figure out a way to ship this thing NOT fully assembled, might help tick some of these ratings up a bit, for real. Like.... start opening the boxes now and figure it out. Funny enough, I actually would not order one of these directly from Steelcase because I'm sure their returns process would most likely be a pain. @Amazon is doing you a solid - now do your customers one @Steelcase.I was very hesitant to spend the price on this chair, but since I have back issues and legs going numb with extremely painful upper thighs, I wanted to give it a try. I had read a review from a gentleman that this chair helped him, he was a large man with very similar pains. I have had this chair for 3 months, going on four and have noticed that the severe pain I had in my legs is gone and that my back does not hurt like it did with my previous chair. I work from home and am setting in this chair about 12 hours a day, so it is getting quite the workout and still has the cushion and support to allow me to focus on my job instead of having my focus go directly the the pains from an uncomfortable chair. The seat is wide enough to where it does not cut into your legs from the natural upward curve in office chairs. Also, the seat is depth adjustable, as I am 5’0” tall, I am able to adjust the depth so it is not like I am setting in a large chair. The chair really is customizable to what you need it to be. For a person that is as wide as they are tall, the makers of this chair did clearly have the best interest of the customer in mind and it is greatly appreciated. For me, I can honestly say that the chair was well worth the money. Especially if you set for hours on end whether it is gaming or working from home, you will find that your rear no longer falls asleep, your legs will no longer go numb, your shoulders won’t feel like there is a stabbing pain shooting between them and you will no longer have that severe upper leg pain from the chair cutting into you. I truly hope this helps you make up your mind on whether it is a good buy for you, I know it was for me. Good Luck!Here is my take on this chair as a software developer spending long hours in it and owner of both Steelcase Leap and Humanscale Freedom chairs in the past.Pros:- The ergonomic settings are flexible and if you take the time to fine tune your sitting position, this chair does a great job holding your body in a comfortable position but letting you adjust the way you are sitting in small ways throughout the day.- It looks modern and nice.Cons:- The pressure relief on the seat cushion for a 200lb 6'1" person is defficient. It was fine for the first month or so, but once I broke in the cushion it feels like I bottom out just slightly and it creates pressure points. It's not as comfortable as a chair of this class should be for someone of my size (large but within the normal range for an adult male). I think if you are sub 180lbs, this would not be an issue.- I was really hoping the creaky noises that some people reported wouldn't be an issue. There is no problem or damage to the chair - the parts where the load from the back of the chair are transferred to the base just rub and creak. This is very annoying and I find myself not shifting my wait around as much as I should for comfort since if I stay still it doesn't creak. IMO I would never buy this chair again simply on this.So my take it that this is really close to being a great design, but to keep costs down they skimped on the materials design causing the comfort and noise issues. I would rather have spent $300-400 more and had a higher quality chair. I'm going to give this one to my wife who's Leap chair cushions are very compressed and get a new Freedom chair again since that has been my favorite chair over the years.This is a fantastic chair, even after sitting for hours ~6-8+ daily, no pain, no discomfort. The articulating arms are great, and the padding is not super soft, but not firm either. Great fabric, very well manufactured, all controls are within easy reach and easily adjustable. This chair will last for years to come. Really cannot say anything bad about this chair. It was well worth the money, which I have wasted almost the same amount on a variety of chairs over the years.