Hardware Review: EwinRacing Champion Gaming Chair (Redux)

WFH Furnishings
Back in August of 2019, before COVID-19 was a term, perhaps before it was even in existence, and therefore before people were working from home and spending countless extra hours in their desk chairs, we reviewed EwinRacing’s Champion Gaming Chair. Scoring an impressive 9/10 at that time, we thought it prudent to to revisit our initial review in light of the past year and take a fresh look at this offering. Plus, after spending the better part of the last year sitting in a broken desk chair that would periodically drop pieces of broken metal on the ground, it was well past time for an upgrade. Enter EwinRacing and their Champion Series gaming chair.
Assembly
As you would expect, the chair arrives unassembled. One thing worth noting is that the box is big – and heavy. That is not a criticism, merely a warning. If anything, it might be suggestive of the quality of the product. The chair is well packaged, with the parts fitting nicely together preventing shifting or damage en route. In fact, as you can see from the below image, there was some damage to the box when it arrived, but the chair itself was undamaged.

Assembly is fairly straightforward, although it is not as simple as “plug and play”. It is more akin to an Ikea-style assembly where the instructions are images that snake around the page in an “Z” shape, with some very limited text below each image. The full assembly is only 14 steps, and could certainly be accomplished solo by most able gamers, but it takes some time, some patience, and a bit of strength to loosen, tighten, and lift the various sections into place.
All told, assembly took about 45 minutes, with a good ten of those spent not realizing the instructions went in the aforementioned “Z” shape vs. left-to-right in rows as one might expect. The chair is held together with hex nuts (with appropriately sized allen wrenches included) and the actual assembly mostly consists of unscrewing hex nuts from the parts, aligning two parts, and then screwing the hex nuts back in. Again, nothing particularly difficult, but set aside some time and don’t try to speed run it.
Also included in the box is a nice set of gloves to ensure that you can assemble the chair without leaving scuff marks or scratches, and also some extra screws, washers, plastic covers, etc. This is a nice touch that shows that EwinRacing is thinking about the consumer and the consumer experience.

Now How Does it Feel?
Reviewing a chair feels like a somewhat existential thing to do. After all, it’s intended function is rather limited, as are its abilities. Nevertheless, after more than a week of full time WFH use, I can’t help but love – and appreciate – this chair.

As someone who has had various, longstanding issues with my back, having a comfortable chair is important, but even more so now when more hours are being spent at a desk. This chair has certainly upped by chair game and allowed me to sit for hours on end in total comfort. My initial reaction is simply feeling supported. The chair feels very solid, but not at all bulky. Everything that you expect to be adjustable is adjustable – the height, the incline of the back, the height of the armrests. The chair will also allow for some “rocking” motion of the backrest or being locked in place, as one would expect. But there are also some aspects that are less expected, like being able to adjust the angle of armrests or how forward or inset they are from their pole (what EwinRacing calls “4D Armrests”). These simple armrest adjustments mean that if you are wanting, or needing, the chair to feel a little more roomy, you can pick up a few more inches with a simple push of a button. Also worth noting is the height adjustment. At its highest setting, my feet do not touch the floor. At 6′ tall this is atypical to say the least, and would certainly be a benefit to those who need some height to their gaming chairs. The ability to adjust this chair to suit your physical needs means that it really should accommodate just about anyone.
I should also mention the wheels – or as EwinRacing calls them, Hub-Less Casters. Perhaps this comes from previously having an old, falling apart, desk chair before this, but the smooth gliding of the chair is a perhaps my favorite upgrade thus far. The wheels on my old chair would semi-lock in a direction, forcing the chair to wiggle all over whenever I tried to move it towards or away from the desk. The Ewin Champion chair just moves precisely where I move it – and silently.
Finally, unlike our prior review, we’ve parted ways from the traditional leather finish of gaming chairs, opting instead to review the fabric finished model. We noted in that review that the leather “style of chair can look overly flashy” and might not fit in the design of every home. The aesthetic of the fabric finish is certainly more subdued than some of the other styles, but it still let’s you know that it is there. Perhaps more importantly, the weave is very soft and comfortable, without any real texture to speak of.
Pulling it all Together
Our overall impression is that the the EwinRacing Champion Series gaming chair is, quite simply, an excellent chair. With more time spent in front of computers, the need for comfort is paramount for mental and physical health. While in the past I might have considered my chair as an afterthought to my set-up, this really convinced me that anyone should put it at the top of their gaming (or just general desk) setup. The instructions would benefit from an overhaul, but otherwise I have zero complaints.
If you are in the market, or should be in the market because your current chair is dropping pieces of metal on the floor like my old one was, the Ewin Champion chair is a worthwhile investment. The Champion series regularly retails at $349-$369, although they are currently on sale for $299. If the current sale ends, EwinRacing also tells us that Gamer Escape readers can also use the coupon code “gamerescape” to save 20% off their purchase.
~ Final Score: 9/10 ~
Review unit provided by EwinRacing. Images taken by reviewer.