SONGMICS Gaming Chair Under £100 UK Review (2026) - Tested for Comfort

Think about how many hours you'll spend in a chair over the next year. If you're gaming or working from home, it's probably more than you'd like to admit. And every hour you spend in a chair that doesn't support your spine properly is an hour your lower back is quietly paying the price. Physio appointments aren't cheap. Neither is chronic back pain. So getting the chair right from the start is genuinely practical, not just a comfort preference.

The SONGMICS OBG073BH08 sits firmly in the budget gaming chair category, and that's exactly where I want to focus this review. The SONGMICS gaming chair under £100 UK market is crowded with chairs that look the part but fall apart after three months, or that have lumbar cushions positioned so badly they'd make a physio wince. After three weeks of daily use, I want to give you an honest picture of what this chair actually delivers, and where it cuts corners to hit that price point.

I tested this chair across a mix of long gaming sessions and work-from-home days, typically six to nine hours at a stretch. I'm 5'10" and around 80kg, which puts me squarely in the middle of this chair's intended range. I paid attention to how my lower back felt after hour four, whether the foam held up, and whether the adjustments actually made a meaningful difference. Here's what I found.

The seat height is adjustable via a gas lift, typically ranging from around 43cm to 53cm from the floor, which should work for most people between 5'4" and 6'2". The chair includes a detachable headrest pillow and a lumbar support cushion, both of which are attached via elastic straps rather than being built into the frame. That distinction matters, and I'll come back to it in the ergonomics section. The base is a five-point nylon star base with twin-wheel castors, and the frame is steel.

On paper, the spec sheet looks reasonable for the money. The 150kg capacity, the footrest, the recline range, and the included accessories all suggest SONGMICS has tried to pack in features rather than just deliver a bare-bones chair. Whether those features actually work well in practice is a different question. But as a starting point, the numbers aren't embarrassing. Below is the full spec breakdown.

The headrest pillow has the same issue. It's attached via an elastic strap looped around the top of the backrest, and it tends to drift slightly over time. During my testing, I found myself repositioning it every couple of days. For shorter sessions this probably doesn't matter much, but if you're spending eight hours in this chair, having a headrest that's shifted two centimetres off-centre gets annoying. The pillow itself is reasonably soft and doesn't create any pressure points, which is something at least.

The seat depth is fixed, which is a limitation worth flagging. People with shorter legs may find their thighs aren't fully supported, and people with longer legs might feel a bit cramped. The bucket-seat shape also means the side bolsters are fairly pronounced, which can feel restrictive if you're broader in the hips. Racing-style seats are designed around a specific body shape, and if you don't fit that mould, the ergonomics suffer accordingly. That's not unique to SONGMICS, it's a category-wide issue, but it's worth being honest about.

The seat width is around 54cm at its widest point, but the usable flat area between the bolsters is narrower than that. If you're broader in the hips or thighs, those side bolsters will press against you, and that becomes uncomfortable over longer sessions. I'd say this chair fits comfortably up to around 40, 42cm hip width. Beyond that, you'll feel the squeeze. The 150kg weight capacity is genuinely useful, but weight and hip width aren't the same thing, so don't assume a high weight limit means the seat will feel roomy.

The footprint of the chair is fairly standard for the category. The base extends to about 70cm across, so you'll need reasonable clearance around your desk. The footrest, when extended, adds another 30cm or so in front of the chair, which means you need to think about whether you have the floor space to actually use it. In a smaller room or a tight desk setup, the footrest might be more of a novelty than a practical feature. I used it occasionally during longer reclined sessions and it was fine, but it's not something I'd factor heavily into a buying decision.

The padding on the armrests is a thin layer of foam covered in PU material. It's not particularly cushioned, but it's not bare plastic either. After three weeks, the foam hadn't compressed noticeably, which is something. The armrests don't pivot, don't slide forward or back, and don't adjust for width. You get what you get. For a chair in this price range, that's not surprising, but it does mean you need to check whether the fixed position works for your setup before committing.

Compared to mid-range chairs in the £150 to £250 bracket, the armrest situation here is one of the clearest signs you're in budget territory. Chairs like the Secretlab Titan or even the Noblechairs Hero offer 4D armrests that can be adjusted in multiple axes, and that adjustability makes a real difference to shoulder and neck comfort over long sessions. The SONGMICS armrests are functional, but they're not doing your posture any favours if they don't happen to land at the right height for you. Worth measuring before you buy.

Beyond four hours, things start to get less comfortable. The foam in the seat pan begins to feel less forgiving, and I noticed some pressure building under my sit bones during longer sessions. This is a common issue with budget gaming chairs, where the foam density isn't quite high enough to maintain its shape under sustained load. By hour six or seven, I was shifting position more frequently than I would in a better chair. My lower back also started to ache a bit, partly because the lumbar cushion had drifted from its optimal position and partly because the fixed seat depth doesn't allow for much postural variation.

The footrest helps during reclined sessions. If you're watching something or taking a break from active work, reclining to around 120 degrees with the footrest extended is genuinely comfortable for 30 to 45 minutes. But this chair isn't designed for sustained reclined working, and the lumbar cushion loses its effectiveness once you're past about 110 degrees of recline. For proper work sessions, you're better off keeping the chair upright and accepting that you'll need to take breaks every 90 minutes or so. Which, to be fair, you should be doing regardless of what chair you're in.

The ink black and dove grey colour combination looks clean and reasonably professional, which is a point in its favour if you're using this as an office chair as well as a gaming chair. The stitching on the seams was tidy on my test unit, with no loose threads or uneven lines. The PU material felt reasonably solid to the touch, not the thin, almost papery faux leather you sometimes get on very cheap chairs. Whether it'll crack or peel after 18 months of daily use is harder to say at this stage, but the initial quality seems acceptable for the price tier.

One thing I noticed is that the grey sections on the seat and backrest are a slightly different texture to the black sections, with a subtle pattern that breaks up the surface. It's a minor detail, but it does make the chair look a bit less generic than some of the all-black budget options. Cleaning is straightforward with a damp cloth, and the surface doesn't seem to attract pet hair or dust particularly badly. But if breathability is a priority for you, particularly if you run warm or live somewhere with hot summers, you should be looking at mesh-backed chairs instead. This one will make you sweaty.

There's also a tilt tension adjustment, which lets you control how much resistance the backrest has when you lean back. I found the range of adjustment useful. At the lighter end, the chair rocks back fairly easily, which some people like for a more dynamic sitting posture. At the heavier end, it stays more upright with deliberate pressure needed to recline. I spent most of my testing time with the tension set to a medium level, which felt natural for leaning back occasionally without the chair constantly trying to tip me backwards.

The 135-degree maximum recline is enough to get into a comfortable lounging position, and with the footrest extended it's genuinely relaxing. It won't go fully flat, so if you were hoping to nap in this chair (no judgement), you'll be disappointed. But 135 degrees is a reasonable range for the intended use case. One thing to be aware of: when you recline past about 110 degrees, the lumbar cushion stops sitting in the right place relative to your lower back. It's a consequence of the strap-mounted design rather than a built-in lumbar mechanism, and it's a real limitation if you like to work in a slightly reclined position.

The base is nylon rather than aluminium, which is typical for budget gaming chairs. Nylon is fine for most users, but it's worth knowing that aluminium bases are more durable and better at handling higher weights over time. Given the 150kg weight capacity claim, I'd have liked to see a more substantial base, but the nylon five-point design felt stable throughout testing and showed no signs of stress. The castors roll smoothly on both hard floor and carpet, and they're twin-wheel units rather than single-wheel, which distributes the load better.

The overall assembly feels tight. Bolts didn't work loose during three weeks of use, the armrests didn't wobble, and the backrest-to-seat connection felt secure. I've tested chairs at this price point where things start creaking and shifting within a week, so the SONGMICS holding together well is genuinely positive. Long-term durability beyond three months is harder to assess, and the PU leather is the component I'd watch most carefully over time. But the structural elements seem well put together for the money.

The instruction manual is a fold-out diagram rather than a written guide, which works well enough if you're used to flat-pack furniture. The diagrams are clear and the steps are logical. The only moment of mild confusion was working out which way round the lumbar cushion strap attaches, but a quick look at the product images sorted that out. One person can absolutely do this assembly without help, though having someone hold the backrest steady while you bolt it to the seat base makes that step easier.

The footrest mechanism took a moment to figure out. It's a pull-out design that extends from under the front of the seat, and the release isn't immediately obvious. Once you've found it, it's simple enough, but the instructions don't make it particularly clear. Overall though, assembly is one of the better experiences I've had with a budget gaming chair. Some chairs in this price range come with instructions that look like they've been translated through three languages and back again. The SONGMICS manual is straightforward.

Against the Homall, the SONGMICS wins on weight capacity and the inclusion of a footrest. The Homall typically caps at 120kg and doesn't include a footrest as standard. The SONGMICS also feels slightly more solid in the frame, with less flex in the backrest connection. However, the Homall's lumbar cushion is slightly better positioned by default, and some users find the Homall's seat foam a bit more forgiving in the early months. It's close, and both chairs have the same fundamental limitations around fixed armrests and PU leather breathability.

The GTPLAYER comparison is interesting because GTPLAYER has been pushing into the budget space with chairs that include fabric or hybrid upholstery options, which addresses the breathability problem that the SONGMICS doesn't. If you run warm, a GTPLAYER with a fabric seat is a meaningfully better choice for long sessions. The SONGMICS edges ahead on the footrest and the weight capacity, and the build quality feels comparable. But if breathability is your main concern, the GTPLAYER fabric options are worth a look before committing to the SONGMICS.

But I want to be straight with you about the limitations, because they matter for long-term back health. The fixed armrests are a real ergonomic compromise. The strap-mounted lumbar cushion is better than nothing but it's not a substitute for a proper adjustable lumbar mechanism. The PU leather will make you warm in summer. And the foam, while acceptable initially, is the kind of density that tends to compress over time. These aren't reasons to dismiss the chair entirely, but they are reasons to be realistic about what you're buying.

Who is this for? Someone who needs a budget-friendly chair for gaming sessions of a few hours at a time, who doesn't have a specific ergonomic requirement, and who wants a chair that looks like a gaming chair without spending mid-range money. Students, casual gamers, or someone who needs a second chair for a spare room. At the current price of £85.99, it's competitive for what it offers.

Who should skip it? Anyone spending six or more hours a day in a chair for work or serious gaming. If back health is a genuine concern, or if you've had any history of lower back problems, the fixed armrests and strap-mounted lumbar support aren't going to serve you well over time. Spend more and get a chair with proper adjustability. The difference in long-term comfort, and the money you won't spend on physio, is worth it.

My editorial score for the SONGMICS OBG073BH08 is 6.5 out of 10. It does what a budget gaming chair should do, and it does it without any nasty surprises. But it's firmly a starter chair, not a long-term solution for serious users.