Having the right equipment can make all the difference when setting up a home office, or establishing a specific place in your home to get some work done. A good office chair alongside a standing desk can be a cornerstone of this setup, but picking the right one for your needs can be tricky.
We’ve all been told about the harmful effects of sitting for long periods, so the Flexispot BS11 Pro offers a range of customization options to make sure you’re sitting in the most comfortable, but also benficial position. Along with using a standing desk to try and be more active throughout your workday, an effective office chair focusing on ergonomics can help you correct your posture and avoid slouching.
With a focus on ergonomics, the Fleixspot BS11 Pro is the company’s latest push to make sure its customers are staying comfortable and healthy when working from home, but how did it stand up to our tests?
Pricing and availability
The Flexispot BS11 Pro (opens in new tab) is currently only available on the company’s UK website for £429 (around $530) in grey, black and light blue color options with free shipping. However the company is currently running a promotion whereby anyone signing up to the Flexispot newsletter can get 6% off their next purchase – which could save you a few pounds.
Users are free to return the chair within 60 days of receipt, and Flexispot offers a 60-day risk-free policy to all items. The company provides a five-year warranty on the chair – and for more information, you can check out the Flexispot website.
Design and build quality
The Flexispot BS11 Pro is available in several color options, with our chosen black on offer alongside grey and light blue alternatives.
Described by the company as “the jewel in our crown”, the design of the BS11 Pro is modern and professional, with a smart black cushion and back section supplemented by the same color arm and head rest.
The cushion and back section are made of a breathable mesh that provides far more comfort than typical plain plastic chairs, and with its ergonomic focus, the BS11 Pro is designed to be sat in for longer periods.
Setup and assembly
The Flexispot BS11 Pro arrived in a single 20kg large box, with all the various parts separated into different packets and smaller boxes. It isn’t initially clear where to start building the chair, with the assembly instructions hidden in a box alongside the wheels and assembly screws.
The instructions are quite plain and basic, and we felt that a bit more guidance could have been offered in order to make the build a simpler process. It often wasn’t clear which screws were needed for which step, or which way round a particular component was meant to go, causing quite a bit of confusion.
All in all, the chair took us around 45 minutes to build, significantly longer than many other competitors tested on TechRadar Pro, so be prepared to block out some time. Once complete though, the chair is ready to go, and you can start adjusting the height of the seat and the arm and head rests straight away.
In use
Luckily, all this time spent assembling feels very worth it once you sit in the chair for the first time. As you might expect from an ergonomic chair, both the seat and the backseat initially feel very odd to sit on, with the shape almost pushing you forward. However after a few minutes, your posture changes, moulding slightly to fit with the shape of the chair, and instantly feeling more comfortable.
Adjusting the height of the chair and the angle of the back is done via two levers underneath the seat, with a further lever on the other side locking your preferred settings into place. You can choose from a range of seat heights, and recline or raise the back of the seat as much as you’d like, quicjly and easily.
Similarly, the arm rests are raised and lowered by a small lever built into the arms of the chair, with a variety of height options available for your pleasure. Once set, the arm rests are comfortable enough to rest and lean on, even for long periods of time.
The chair feels solid and sturdy, but on smoother floors (our test area was shiny wooden flooring), it did tend to roll backwards unexpectedly if we moved slightly. On carpet, this might not be too much of an issue, but for those of us with slippier floors, watch how you roll.
Overall though, the Flexispot BS11 Pro is incredibly comfortable to use over long periods, and we definitely feel better for sitting in it.
The competition
With hybrid working more popular than ever, the market is full of office chairs to help users set up a home working space.
TechRadar Pro recently reviewed the Branch Ergonomic Chair, describing it as “the perfect office chair upgrade for you, especially if you’ve been feeling fatigued or in pain while sitting in front of a computer for long periods of time.” Our reviewer also praised the range of adjustability options and color schemes available.
Another option at around the same price point, is the Vari Task Chair (opens in new tab), available for $330 – although it’s only available in either black or grey, with the grey model being slightly more expensive at $360. If you consider a headrest a must, Vari also sells the Task Chair with Headrest (opens in new tab) starting at $385.
Final verdict
If you’re looking for a final piece to the home office puzzle, then having an ergonomic chair is likely to solve that problem.
After our initial struggles with the setup, the Flexispot BS11 Pro Ergonomic Chair proved to be a comfortable addition, offering a useful range of customization options that allowed us to get the chair just how we like it.
The price tag may be a little higher than some of the competition, but if you’re looking to splash out on a long-lasting, sturdy ergonomic office chair, this could be the one for you.
Looking for something else to boost productivityt? Check out our roundup of the best laptop stands (opens in new tab)
