Noblechairs Legend Gaming Chair Review: Noble Lineage

Like a lot of gaming chairs on the market these days, the Legend from Noblechairs is designed to look like something that wouldn’t look out of place in a race car — and this is the trajectory that Noblechairs has taken since its inception. The big difference between a Noblechairs seat and other cheaper racing-style gaming chairs is that Noblechairs’ chairs actually do look and feel premium enough to truly belong in a car, and like they could easily find a place on a list of the best gaming chairs. 

I’ve tried a lot of different chairs, and one of the questions that always comes up is “Why don’t you just get an office chair, aren’t they better and more comfortable?” This is a very subjective question —  office chairs come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and quality, and a lot depends on the ergonomics of the chair, how well you can tweak the chair for personal comfort, and, of course, how it looks.

The Noblechairs Legend isn’t ostentatious, design-wise, and is still able to fit in an office environment without “gamifying” the area or looking out of place. The reverse is also true: the Legend looks perfectly at home in a gaming setup.

The Legend is the amalgamation of a lineage of previous Noblechair designs, which include the Epic, Icon, and Hero series — all of which have donated some design aspects to the Legend’s final form. The Legend uses comfortable foam cushioning and has built-in lumbar support, 4D armrests, and two tilt mechanics for plenty of customization.

Retailing for around $689 (£459 in the UK), the Legend is a premium-priced gaming chair, and the materials used and finish of the product reflect the more expensive nature of this product. It’s nowhere near as expensive as some gaming chairs, such as the $1,695 Herman Miller x Logitech G Embody gaming chair, but it’s on the pricier side compared to similar racing-style chairs, such as the $519 Secretlab Titan Evo 2022.

Assembly

The Legend comes shipped in one large box and the chair is quite heavy, so it’s definitely best to get a little help moving it to where you’re going to construct the chair. Opening the packaging you can see that the individual parts of the chair have been very well protected and encased in a mix of foam and cardboard, keeping everything secure.

One armrest of the chair comes already attached to the base of the chair, and this — along with the instruction manual — gives you a good visual guide on how to attach the other arm. Constructing the Legend was relatively simple and it only took me around 30 - 40 minutes to assemble the chair myself. I had problems with just one fiddly screw not threading properly when fixing the back to the seat, as well as a small jump-scare when I removed the holding screw from the ratchet mechanism for the reclining handle. There is a visible warning in the instruction manual regarding the reclining handle, but the force with which it springs back is very high — it can definitely injure you if you’re not careful.

The instruction manual is very good, with detailed, crystal-clear instructions as well as easy-to-follow visual guides. Noblechairs provides all tools needed for assembly in a little accessories box, although I used my own little ratchet set instead of the provided Allen keys. Once the seat is fully built you can choose to add the two included memory foam cushions if you want to use them.

Specs

Design and Construction

I love the design of the Legend and you can certainly see the heritage of Noblechairs’ previous generations in the chair’s design aesthetic. The overall look of the Legend is fairly subdued: the majority of available colors are one solid color, and accents on the chair are limited to a few metallic buttons and the reclining handle to the eyehole on the seat-back. The only other differences between variations of the Legend are the choice of material used and some stitching patterns.

I like the look of this chair in my office — it’s plain black and doesn’t look garish, and the stitching and shape of the chair are superb. It’s also very comfortable for me, at 6’, to sit in.

The Noblechairs Legend comes in a choice of three material types (fabric, PU, or a hybrid PU) and five colors (black, white, gray, black/white/red, and brown/java). 

The overall construction of the Legend feels solid. The class-4 gas lift works well and supports my weight, and the chair reclines easily — although the handle ratchet system feels a little rough and is noisy. The chair moves around well on the provided wheels, however, one issue I had using the chair on a hard floor was the way it sounded — the aluminum wheelbase combined with the plastic cover for the gas mount produced some horrible tinny acoustics. I solved this by gluing some felt to the bottom of the plastic cover, which dampened the effect drastically.

The Legend weighs 66.1 lbs (30kg) fully assembled, and, at the maximum seat height of 22.8 inches, I feel this seat is the perfect size for someone of 5’11” to 6’2” in height. (Of course, everyone's body ratios are different so take this with a pinch of salt.) The seat and gas lift supports up to 330lbs (150kg), and the seat is reasonably wide at 20.5 inches (52cm), so there’s plenty of room and support for larger body sizes.

My review unit came in black-colored high-tech German PU material, which looks and feels amazing. It’s not sticky on the skin when wearing shorts, and I haven’t left any shoe marks on it from sitting on one leg or cross-legged. It’s easy to clean with just a quick wipe, and it dries quickly. The seat and back cushioning is a shaped cold-foam that’s firm but comfortable, and has so far kept its shape perfectly.

The Legend features the usual adjustments you’ll find in gaming chairs of this type, including adjustable 4D armrests, height and tilt levers (including tilt-tensioner) under the seat, a reclining handle on the right of the seat, and lumbar support knob also on the right side of the seat back.

Comfort and Adjustments

I found the Legend to be a comfortable chair, and, thanks to its ergonomics and adjustability, one I was able to operate in a few different ways for lasting comfort over long periods of use. With the back fully upright, the natural seated position feels very upright and promotes great posture. I especially liked this position for working on my PC, and I really noticed how I wasn’t aching from slouching or slowly curling my spine after hours of typing. 

The built-in lumbar support also helped with posture and was perfectly placed for my height — but it only adjusts forward and backward, so if you’re shorter the lumbar support might not be at the right height for your build. The lumbar is controlled by twisting a knob on the right side of the chair’s back.

Headrest support is included in the shape of the seat back and isn’t really usable unless you’re reclining, as the headrest is tilted slightly forward to help promote good sitting posture. 

The Legend also comes with two memory foam cushions that can be attached for additional lumbar/back and neck support. They’re plush and fix to the chair easily, but it’s a personal preference whether you like them — I personally did not find them comfortable and disliked the look of the elastic straps on the seat. But if you’re unable to use the lumbar support, at least the cushions are included as an alternate option. 

The Legend’s gas-lift works the same as you’ll find on any premium gaming or office chair, as does the tilt function. The reclining handle on the side of the chair works like a mechanical car seat — pulling up the handle releases the spring-loaded ratchet mechanism so the weight of the user can recline the seat back, while sitting up and lifting the handle lets the seat back return to an upright position.

I recruited my young son, who is 5’6”, to sit in the Legend and confirm that the lumbar support was too high for him to use, and that the headrest really pushed his head forward if sat right back into the chair — and he found it fairly uncomfortable. When fully reclined his head rested on the plastic-lined shoulder vent, and this was also uncomfortable. (“I way prefer my current chair over this posh looking one,” he told me.) He did, however, like the armrests — but it seemed like he liked them more for the fidget quality rather than ergonomics.

The 4D armrests offer a great deal of customization: you can move them up/down/left/right/forward/back, and even swivel them inward and outward. The amount of mobility almost seemed unnecessary at first, but, after trying to sit cross-legged and not fitting my knees in, I was able to rotate the arms outwards and then comfortably get my knees in. 

My only issue with these armrests was the placement of some of the buttons and differences in manufacturing quality: the forward button was flush on the left arm but jutted out slightly on the right arm. Also, the button that controls the side motion of the armrests is placed in the middle of the armrest and pokes out a little too far, in my opinion. With the arms set to the innermost setting I constantly ended up hitting this button, causing the arms to move to the widest position, which I found very annoying.

Bottom Line

The Legend is a nice chair, and it fits me and people of a similar height perfectly. It’s made of high-quality materials, with excellent stitching, and is superbly comfortable. I love the styling of the Legend — how it doesn’t go overboard with garish colors and patterns but instead looks subdued and classy. And having sat in the Legend for many hours with my butt singing its praises, I can attest to the quality of the cold-foam cushioning.

However, there are too many annoying niggles for this to be a truly great chair. Despite its range of customizations and adjustments, the Legend doesn’t really work for a wide range of heights, and I would definitely not recommend this chair for anyone 5’6” or shorter, especially if you’re looking to use the lumbar support and headrest while leaning back in the chair. It’s also disappointing to see that build quality issues with the armrests and noisy acoustics from the reclining handle and the gas-lift cover and aluminum wheelbase made it through to the final product. Shorter, lighter users looking for lumbar support might have better luck with a non-racing chair, such as the Herman Miller X Logitech G Vantum.