Review: Flexispot Soutien ergonomic office chair

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I sit a lot. I spend a good 8 to 10 hours a day sitting at my computer, and since the pandemic has started that number might even be a little higher. These days I’ve really come to appreciate a good, ergonomic desk chair. Fortunately, I had the chance to review a super comfortable, and relatively affordable, office chair in the Flexispot Soutien.

The Soutien is an ergonomic office chair from Flexispot meant for all-day sitting. In a market flooded with all kinds of ergonomic gaming and office chairs, the Flexispot Soutien comes in at a competitive price while maintaining top-of-the-line functionality.

Flexispot was nice enough to send me a Soutien to try out. This office chair retails for $299, and is a good choice for those of us who spend a lot time at our desks. I’ve been sitting in the Soutien for a couple of weeks now, and I have been pleasantly surprised by the chair’s comfort. So, let’s dive into this review.

Assembly

Whenever you get a new office chair, or most any piece of furniture for the matter, you always need to consider how difficult that piece will be to assemble. The Soutien is no different and, like most other chairs, comes in a relatively small box in several pieces.

READ MORE: Review: FlexiSpot X-Frame Gaming Desk GD1B

The chair weighs just under 50 pounds, and the packaging probably pushes the total weight over that mark. I live in a second story duplex, so carrying the box upstairs was not the easiest task, though the package was relatively small. With a little help, you shouldn’t have much issue moving the chair around pre-assembly.

Upon opening the box, I found the Soutien tightly and securely packaged with bubble wrap and packaging foam that kept everything in place and safe from damage. The package consists of the seat, backrest, headrest, arm rests, gas cylinder, and seat bracket.

Assembling the chair is basically the same as assembling any other office chair. The chair comes with a T-tool and all necessary hardware, plus a few extra bolts in case you lose some. The detailed step-by-step instructions make assembly pretty simple. The company does have a video that gives assembly instructions, though it doesn’t offer much more help than the included instructions.

Overall, assembly of the Soutien was relatively easy. Aside from some minor difficulties lining up bolts with their intended holes on the armrests, assembling the Soutien was pretty straight forward.

Features and function

Office chairs have evolved pretty significantly over the last few years. Research and development have added things like ergonomic lumbar support and fully adjustable armrests that make your office chair completely customizable to fit your comfort needs.

The Soutien comes full of features and functionality that can be found in some of the most expensive gaming and office chairs on the market. Using the levers on the bottoms of the seat, you can recline the seat 45 degrees, and you can set up the recliner to four different reclining resistances. You can also lock the seat back at virtually any angle, making finding the perfect seat positioning a breeze. I do wish the seat back went a little more vertical than it does to put me a little closer to my desk, but that is a very minimal issue.

The armrests are adjustable to four dimensions and it is very easy to find a comfortable position for almost any task you could be doing. I’m a pretty narrow-framed guy, so I sometimes find that armrests are a bit too wide for my taste, but that is not the case at all with the Soutien.

In addition to all of these adjustments, the Soutien also lets you slide the seat of the chair forward and backward, giving you more or less seating area. I found this particular adjustment to be very helpful, combined with the integrated lumbar support, in ensuring that my posture stays somewhat decent throughout the day. Overall, the Soutien offers a lot of adjustment options that can be manipulated to make for a comfortable chair for anybody.

Comfort

Speaking of comfort, the ultimate goal when looking for an office chair that you are going to spend a lot of time in is to find something that is comfortable. Sitting for long periods of time can become pretty painful, especially if the chair you’re in isn’t made with long-term sitting in mind. The Flexispot Soutien was definitely engineered as a chair meant to be sat in for long periods of time.

At first glance, the Soutien doesn’t necessarily look like anything special as far as ergonomics and comfort go. To be completely honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of a cloth seat. I find that they can be hot after sitting in them for a while. However, I was again pleasantly surprised with the Soutien.

The Soutien does indeed have a cloth seat, but combined with the mesh material of the seat back and lumbar support, the chair doesn’t seem to get too hot. I’ve been using the chair for a little over a week now, and I have yet to notice myself getting any hotter than I normally would. In fact, the mesh of the seat back actually breaths very well, and might even be cooler than my previous chair, which was all (fake) leather.

Speaking of the seat back and lumbar support, the Soutien’s lumbar support is a real treat. The lumbar support is height adjustable, making it easy to find a comfortable seating position. I have historically terrible posture, and I’ve found that this chair forces me to sit correctly while maintaining its comfortability. As far as lumbar support goes, the Soutien may be the best chair I’ve tried.

If I had one gripe about the comfort of the Soutien, it would be that the chair could stand to adjust a little higher overall. To be fair, I am a bit on the tall side at about 6’2″. I have the Soutien set to the highest possible adjustment, and it could be another couple of inches taller. This isn’t the biggest issue in the world, but I feel it in my legs after a few hours of sitting.

Should you buy the Soutien?

I have been extremely impressed with the Flexispot Soutien. At first glance, I really wasn’t expecting much from this office chair. However, after sitting in the chair upwards of 10 hours a day for more than a week, I have happily been proven wrong.

The Soutien is definitely one of the most comfortable chairs I’ve sat in. It contains all of the features found in much more expensive chairs, and the cloth and mesh combination makes for a very comfortable experience. At a price of $299, it would be very difficult to find an office chair that offers the same or better comfort and functionality as the Flexispot Soutien.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

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A sample unit was provided for the purpose of this review.