Our Verdict
Noblechairs is a little late to the game when it comes to offering a fabric alternative, but the Hero TX gaming chair has much of the same luxury DNA as its brethren. It's not entirely devoid of rough edges and the price might be a tough sell to some, but your posture might just thank you for it.
It wasn’t until I really sat down (hur hur) and started evaluating Noblechair’s Hero TX gaming chair that I realised just how much of a chair’s DNA can be viewed through the lens of personal taste. Sitting in it right now as I write this review, I’m still confident in my assessment that it’s a pretty decent piece of kit, but there’s still plenty to say about it. For this kind of money, it’s important to be honest with yourself, and with anyone else thinking of buying this gaming chair.
Considering I’ve been using a dining room chair for the past month, I was rather excited to be trying out something different. Memories of my comfortable – old – office chair, which my wife has now claimed as her own, had been dancing around my head all through construction. I was then quite genuinely surprised how mixed my feelings were when I eventually sat down on my new Anthracite throne.
Am I disappointed? No, but then this also wasn’t what I was used to with my past chair. Am I comfortable? I’m… not sure. I have plenty of support, my shoulder hurts less thanks to the fine adjustments I can make to the ‘4D’ armrests, and sitting in the Hero TX gives me a sense of stability and support I never knew I was missing. But it still isn’t quite the same.
A lever lets you adjust the backrest so you can lean back a bit permanently, and you can also force a lean by pushing back on the rocking mechanism. I used to like to lean back on my old chair and put my feet up from time to time – something that has a lot more steps to it now. I also can’t help shake the feeling that I’m somehow too short for this chair, although weight is not a problem – this model is rated for up to 150kg / 330lbs of person.
Let’s move away from wishy-washy concepts such as feelings, and dig into some factual practicalities. The instructions advise that you read the instructions in full (check), and work with a friend to help assemble the chair. I managed to do it solo in around 40 minutes, not accounting for stoppages, but the bit you’ll probably need a companion for is lifting the absolute unit of a seat and placing it on the base – it’s not quite threading a needle, but considering you won’t be able to see what you’re doing, you’ll have to be careful with your aim.
Construction is pleasingly straightforward – most things pop into place and are then pushed in further via gravity. There are some screws to contend with, and you may want to source your own allen key. The seat does come with one in the box which doubles as a screwdriver on the other end, but as handy as this sounds, you won’t be able to use the tall angle on the allen key anymore.
The Hero is the most expensive in a set of three which also includes the Epic, and the Icon. When looking at the fabric models – which is what I’ve been testing – there’s only a ~$40 / £35 difference between the Hero and the cheapest option. Prices get a bit wild and more varied as you start looking at options such as leather, etc. Real leather for the Hero will set you back $719.99 / £600, if you’ve got more money than sense.
There are one or two things that still manage to feel ‘cheap’ about the chair. One of the armrest levels – the one that controls height – actually snapped off in-transit, so I had to get a replacement set. I’m assured it was a one-off occurrence, but some of the plastic elements seem a little cheap. There are also two paddles under the chair – one to control the overall seat height via the gas lift, and another to lock out the rocking mechanism.
My kids have managed to discover that these are really easy to pull off and run away with, which I’m sure you can imagine is just great. It’s probably the only part of the chair I’m genuinely disappointed in, but it’s still a minor quibble.
Pair this with the best gaming desk for an ideal gaming PC setup
A note for the environmentally conscious among you: while this hasn’t impacted our thoughts on the chair itself, it’s worth noting that ordering one of these will come with an unfortunate amount of plastic wrapping, and not all of it recyclable as far as we’re aware. This is expected to some degree – a unit of this weight requires a certain level of protection to ward off damage during transit, but for those of us trying to watch our environmental impact, it’s still a tough pill to swallow.
We’ve spoken to Noblechairs directly about this, and the company is aware that it’s an unfortunate consequence. It’s committed to finding a better, more eco-friendly solution, but has not yet settled on anything.
Ultimately, the Hero TX with anthracite fabric is not going to redefine your life or lead you to any new revelations about office furniture – it’s not cheap at $459.99 / £364.99, and probably sits within the ‘luxury’ category considering it’s comparable to the price of a game console. My most recent point of comparison was a fairly inexpensive office chair from a high-street retailer. Not cheap by any means, either, but certainly not as expensive as this.
But there’s also no denying that the Hero is extremely solid, stable, and quite easy to put together. The fabric is firm, but pliable, you feel at ease – if not outright comfortable – while sitting in it, and the odd rough edges don’t detract from what is a pretty decent chair. It may not be the hero you need, but if you can afford it, it might just be the hero you deserve.