Review: Knoll ReGeneration Desk Chair

It's difficult to get excited about office chairs. Especially now, with study after study claiming that sitting all day is killing you, and with every reputable source advising you to spend more time standing up and moving around than you spend sitting.

I've read all those articles, too, and I do plan on switching to a standing workstation very soon. I've even selected all the parts to convert my desk. So the irony is not lost on me that I've spent the last three months sitting in what is easily the most comfortable office chair I've ever used. It's like a bad movie where the man meets the woman of his dreams on the eve of his wedding to another bride.

My little homewrecker of a desk chair is called the Knoll ReGeneration. It's the furniture giant's latest addition to its line of mesh-backed desk chairs with the Generation name – we reviewed the premium model last year.

Compared to the company's previous Generation design, the ReGeneration is lighter, more compact, and less expensive.Compared to the company's previous Generation design, the ReGeneration is lighter, more compact, and less expensive. Knoll has also upped the treehugger quotient; the elastomer net on the back of the chair makes use of corn by-products, and the foam in the seat cushion is partially sourced from soy-based materials. The structural design is also very minimal, using as little plastic as possible and eschewing the shell that manufacturers commonly use to cover the innards. Almost half of each ReGeneration is made from recycled materials when you add it all up (44 percent if you choose the plastic base, and 48 percent if you choose the aluminum base, according to Knoll).

This eco-minded approach extends all the way down to how it's packaged and shipped. It comes in two halves that squeeze into a remarkably compact box, and it weighs less than 30 pounds. The environmental gains here are obvious: more of the chairs can be stuffed into a shipping container, and it's less impactful to get one delivered to your door.

Assembly is a no-brainer – just insert the barrel into the base, where it clicks into place – and adjustments are equally simple. Beneath the seat are the levers you'd expect for adjusting the height and seat depth, and for locking the reclining mechanism.

My favorite bit of adjustment, however, is the optional lumbar support found on the back of my loaner. It's a rigid plate that's split vertically down the centerline by what looks like an oversized plastic zipper. To adjust the point where the support is the stiffest, move the zipper up and down.

All of this flexibility in adjustment means there's zero fuss in dialing in a comfortable, healthy position. Lean back slightly (as my doctor tells me I should be doing all the time while at my desk), and the curved back hugs your spine. In this ideal position, the chair props you up with just the right amount of stiffness while still allowing you to keep your back muscles relaxed.

More impressive is how the chair handles uncomfortable positions. I have pretty terrible desk posture – lots of slouching, leaning, and one-shoulder hunches – so I'm off-balance much of the time. The undercarriage feels springy when you're just sitting normally and staying centered in the seat, but it gets more rigid when you list sideways or lean forward. Of course, you only notice this if you're thinking about it.

To test the chair's range of adjustment, I passed it around to a few office-mates of different shapes and sizes. I'm six feet tall, but my co-worker who's almost a full foot shorter than me could also find a comfortable position in it – a first for her, since every other office chair she's ever used has left her feet dangling.

I've spent most of my days in the past six years sitting in three chairs: a Herman Miller Aeron (with which you're no doubt familiar), a Steelcase conference room chair, and a nameless hunk of cheap plastic much like what most of you are sitting in right now. The Knoll is closest to the Herman Miller Aeron in design, though it's both smaller and more comfortable. The Knoll's padded cushion is more comfortable and supportive than the Aeron's diaphanous suspension seat, though not as breathable.

We sit on our asses all day, and our relationships with our chairs are more intimate than we'd prefer them to be. Even those of us who have joined the mass defection to the world of standing desks are still spending a not-insignificant portion of the workday sitting (a 70-30 split between standing and sitting is recommended).

Thus, a good chair is a sound investment, and logic dictates you should buy the best chair you can afford. The ReGeneration starts at $676 with arms, and $540 without. Certainly not peanuts, but actually on the affordable end when it comes to chairs as fancy as this one. Where desk chairs are concerned, we are a culture of connoisseurs, and this is a chair any connoisseur could appreciate.

WIRED Exceedingly comfortable, and adjusts to almost any body type. Back support is unrivaled. Fully customizable – there's even a "task" chair configuration for standing desks. Compact, minimal design has several environmental certifications. 12-year warranty.

TIRED Base price climbs quickly once you add the options – which you must to get the lumbar plate and the articulating arms. Seat isn't as breathable as a suspension web seat of competing designs.