Tom's Hardware Verdict
Corsair’s TC200 is a well-built, good-looking chair that does double duty for gamers and work-from-home warriors. It would even look good in an office, but it’s lacking in lumbar support.
Pros
- +
Quick Assembly
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Subdued style looks good in an office
- +
Anti-roll castors
Cons
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No adjustable lumbar support
Why you can trust Tom's Hardware
Corsair’s TC200 gaming chair has subdued styling and a wrap-around fit, making it appealing for both gamers and work-at-home warriors. The racing-style chair is built to last, with a sturdy steel frame wrapped in high-density foam and breathable upholstery. But the built-in lumbar support is lackluster, so if you have a bad back, this may not be the best choice.
Priced at $399.99, the TC200 is designed to accommodate adults up to 6 ft 5 inches and 268 pounds. I’m 5 foot 2, and at the lowest setting I can sit flat-footed, which honestly doesn’t happen very often. For me, the seat’s high seat edges felt a bit narrow and restrictive, especially since I like to sit cross legged.
I tested the black on black Plush Leatherette model, but the TC200 is also available in soft fabric upholstery. There are only two color choices: white and gray or the black-on-black model I tested.
Specifications of the Corsair TC200
Upholstery | Leatherette or Fabric |
Total Height (with base) | 56 inches |
Backrest Length | 32.5 inches53 |
Backrest Width (shoulder level) | 21 inches |
Seating Area Width (Point of Contact) | 14.5 inches |
Seating Area Width (total) | 15.6 inches |
Seating Area Depth | 17.9 inches |
Armrest Width | 3.5 inches |
Floor to Seat Height | 23.2 to 18.5 inches |
Armrest Adjustments | 4-way adjustable |
Recline | 90 to 180 degrees |
Max Recommended Weight | 268 pounds |
Weight of Chair | 33 pounds |
Warranty | 2 years, covers defects in material and workmanship |
Assembly of the Corsair TC200
The Corsair TC200 arrived at my door in a beat-up box, but it had no damage thanks to good packing – everything was wrapped in plastic bags and padded with foam. Assembly instructions were missing for me, but I was able to quickly find a PDF with a link to the YouTube assembly video on Corsair’s website.
The chair comes together quickly, and only needs one tool – a provided hex key – for assembly. Many parts simply snapped into place. This is far easier than many chair assemblies and a nice touch for people who aren’t used to using tools and putting things like furniture together.
You start off by pushing the wheels into the base and then mounting the piston onto the wheelbase. Next, you mount the tilt mechanism to the base of the chair and bolt it into place. The seat back is secured to the seat base supports with a pair of bolts on either side. The side brackets are then hidden under plastic covers that screw into place and further disguised with Corsair logo plugs.
Last, you place the seat onto the base and attach the neck pillow.
Design of the Corsair TC200
Color choices are limited to a white and gray model, or the black on black I tried out. The chair is just as pleasing to look as it is to sit on. It has rich textures, even with the black on black upholstery, with the dotted pattern of the breathable sections and subtle highlights of faux suede. The Corsair logo is elegantly simple and embroidered into the front and back of the headrest – a pleasant reminder of the brand without making you feel like a NASCAR driver.
A memory foam pillow straps into holes on the backrest of the chair, or can be left off. As a short person, I decided to leave the pillow off, but my 6-foot 3-inch son thought the placement was perfect.
The castors look like whitewall tires and have a special anti-rolling mechanism to prevent the chair from sliding away when you don’t expect it to, while still letting it rolls well when you purposefully push away from your desk. I’m filing this under “features I never knew I needed.”
Lumbar support is built into the chair’s design, but it’s not adjustable. It was comfortable to use at first, but after several hours I started missing the extra back support I’m used to having.
The upholstery wraps completely around the chair, including the back, with the only exposed plastic being the bolt covers and arm supports. The tops of the armrests are firm foam and appear easy to keep clean.
I really like how the adjustment levers and buttons are all black, allowing them to blend into the rest of the chair. Three buttons are on each armrest, and two levers under the seat handle tilt, recline and lifting/lowering the seat.
Comfort and Adjustments on the Corsair TC200
The Corsair TC200 has a wrap-around bucket seat style to cradle your backside in foam-padded comfort. This is a heavy-duty chair, built to last with a steel frame and a powder-coated steel wheelbase. I tested the leatherette model and found the upholstery to be smooth and soft. Though there’s accent stitching on the seat, none of it is close to the edge where your bare skin might encounter it if wearing shorts.
Lumbar support is built-in, but not adjustable or adequate for my cranky Gen X back. The seat curves upward to cup your bottom, which isn’t great for those of us who sit cross legged in a chair. However, my tall and slim teenager tested the chair for a day and thought it was perfect.
Aside from the lumbar support, the TC200 has a lot of adjustability for a custom fit. A lever on the side of the seat allows you to recline at from 90 degrees vertical to a fully flat 180 degrees. A second lever handles both the up and down movements, and when you pull it out or push it in it locks or unlocks the tilt/rocking function. An adjuster knob under the seat controls the tension of the tilt function. This is all pretty standard stuff.
Three discrete buttons on each arm rest allow you to move them up and down, forward and back, and in or out. They can also pivot a few degrees inward or outward with a firm tug.
Bottom Line
The Corsair TC200 is a good gaming chair that can do double duty as a deluxe desk chair. It has plenty of adjustability to let you sit upright for serious work or lean back for a causal YouTube watch session. The armrests move in four directions, so you can accommodate your elbows wherever you like to rest them. And most of the movement requires button presses, so the armrests don’t move around unintentionally when you grab them, like on some other chairs.
The TC200 chair skimps on lumbar support, however, and feels narrow if you have an ample bottom or like to sit cross-legged like I do. If you’re a bigger gamer looking for a luxury chair, I highly recommend the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 XL, an Editor’s Best Choice and one of the Best Gaming Chairs we’ve tested.
At $399.99, the TC200 is definitely more than your typical office chair. With a steel frame and well-designed upholstery, this is a chair designed to last for years of service. It’s not the most deluxe chair out there, but it’s certainly worthy of your consideration–especially if you like its looks and the idea of wheels that won’t roll the chair away from you unexpectedly.
Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering 3D printing. Denise has been crafting with PCs since she discovered Print Shop had clip art on her Apple IIe. She’s been a freelance newspaper reporter, online columnist and craft blogger with an eye for kid’s STEM activities. She got hooked on 3D printing after her son made a tiny Tinkercad Jeep for a school science project. Excited to learn more, she got a Creality CR10s and hasn’t looked back. She loves reviewing 3D printers because she can mix all her passions: printing, photography and writing. When she’s not modding her Ender 3 Pro or stirring glitter into a batch of resin, you’ll find her at the latest superhero movie with her husband and two sons.
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Darkmatterx I was going to post a minor complaint about how the game on the monitor should always be something like, Doom, but once I clicked on the article I saw that it was Wolfenstein...Reply
Now I'm going to complain about you ruining my joke. ;)
Thanks for the review, and for keeping the best traditions alive and well. :) -
PadainFain Yet another garbage car seat given the thumbs up by reviewers are who either shills or haven't ever sat in a decent seat. Try a Herman Miller and then re-review this piece of ****.Reply -
pixelpusher220 PadainFain said:Yet another garbage car seat given the thumbs up by reviewers are who either shills or haven't ever sat in a decent seat. Try a Herman Miller and then re-review this piece of ****.
I'm not a fan of HM Aeron chairs. Mostly that's me not sitting property ;-) The mesh and hard fixed outer just doesn't work for me.
What boggles my mind is why EVERY. SINGLE. GAMING. CHAIR. is exactly the same. I mean, there are barely even curve changes in the outlines. -
rjranay Problem with these gaming chairs is that they are warm specially from where I live. I'd love to own a HM Aeron chair but they are sooo expensive here.Reply -
watzupken I actually fail to see how "attractive/ good looking" this chair is. Every single gaming chair out there looks almost identical, differing by material and design. The fact that a lot of companies are going into "gaming chairs" just shows how cheap these things are to manufacture, thus, allowing fat profit margins. While they don't cost as much as some high end mesh chairs out there, from observation, they are not that cheap and generally don't last, with issues like cracking/ peeling "leather", flaking air rest, etc...Reply -
MoxNix Just another poorly made low quality "gaming" chair that looks pretty much like all the others (most of them are made by the same manufacturer anyhow). They're all junk. You can get a much better quality far more comfortable chair for $150 from any good office supplier. Myself I spent $150 on a good used Herman Miller Aeron.Reply -
Flyfisherman The chair in the review just looks crappy.Reply
In Sweden we have an office chair from a company called Kinnarp (I have two of them) and this chair has 8 different adjustments including seat movement forward and backwards, seat angel, back support, neck support and several more adjustments.
Of course it has high quality and can last for more than 10 years easily. One of them I had since 2005.
So why not review a professional office chair instead of something called gaming chair?
When it comes to prices it would perhaps be the same or somewhat cheaper.
https://www.kinnarps.se/produkter/sittmobler/kontorsstolar/
Best regards