E-WIN Flash XL Ergonomic Computer Gaming Office Chair Review

Why A Gaming Chair?

Read a couple of our reviews and you’re sure to find us saying that sitting is the enemy and generally trying to convince you to sit less. So why are we reviewing a gaming computer chair? We’re also realists.

While almost everyone should stand (and ideally also walk) more at their desk, it’s inevitable that some portion of your workday will be spent sitting. Standing or walking too much can also be harmful to your health and the most beneficial approach is to simply change positions often. It’s why doctors say “the best position is your next one.”

We’re all going to sit, the important thing is to sit in a way that takes the pressure off your back and legs. And to not sit for too long at one stretch, of course.

The E-WIN Flash XL is the first chair that was made for gamers that we have reviewed, so we were excited to see how it compared to some of the classic office chairs and ergonomic seating options we have tested in the past. If you’d like to see more ergonomic chair and active seating options, definitely check out our roundup of ergonomic chairs.

We also believe that gamers should have ergonomic equipment besides a chair to help improve their gaming experience. Read our article on why gaming desks should be standing desks.

While we don’t conduct paid reviews, we do sometimes get exclusive discounts for our readers to take advantage of. In the case of E-WIN Racing don’t miss out on the 20% discount you can get using code “3W” on checkout when buying off their website.

When is it a Gaming Chair and not an Office Chair?

A lot of people might ask why they should get a gaming chair as opposed to a regular office chair. In general, office chairs have the same range of adjustability, try to increase comfort, and are made of the same stuff as gaming chairs. So what it mostly comes down to is style. 

Gaming chairs typically come in colorful options and they seem to be shaped like they would fit in a Formula 1 racing car or fighter jet cockpit. This is very popular with lots of online streamers that like to have a flashy background to their games, TikTok videos, Twitch streams, or podcasts. So if that style is what you are going for, a gaming chair might be perfect for you.

And you can even color coordinate it with many gaming chairs. The Flash XL comes in about 10 different color patterns to choose from.

Another reason some people might choose a gaming chair over most of the other office chairs out there is their comfort. Gaming chairs often have a lot of cushioning on the seat and back that tries to cradle the user so they can worry about their game rather than a sore butt after hours of mowing down enemy soldiers or speeding around tight corners on the raceway.

As a broad generalization, however, there are always compromises that gaming chairs make in order to meet a price point that’ll be popular with gamers, and as a consequence we haven’t seen too many gaming chairs that we’d consider good ergonomic office chairs for all-day use at a work desk. Spoiler alert: the Flash XL is one of those chairs that looks good but is decidedly not the best for sitting in all day long. Read on…

Got all the Seating Adjustability You Need?

The E-WIN Flash XL Series Ergonomic Computer Gaming Office Chair has a lot of adjustability, as it is meant to fit a lot of different body types that might be sitting in it. They claim that this model in particular is heavy-duty as it can accommodate bigger and taller users. Adjustable parts include the seat pan height, seat pan angle or rockabilly, lumbar cushion height, neck cushion height, and armrest adjustments for forearms. The 4D armrests alone can be lifted and lowered, shifted forward or backward, twisted to different angles, or even pushed slightly in and out from the sides of the seat.

With all these areas of adjustability, the seat seems like it can be moved and honed to the needs of most any user. Well, the Flash XL does have some limits in that regard. The individual adjustments don’t extend too far. So, they will be enough for most people, but people with exceptionally long or short limbs might not find it to be enough for ideal positioning.

The largest adjustment is the angle of the seatback. With the lever on the side, you can lean the seat back until you are almost laying down, making it basically a La-Z-Boy without the footrest. Granted, it does feel like you might tip over backward if you completely relax in that position, but it is pretty comfortable if you need to lean back that far. 

One deficiency in the chair’s design that we found, though, is that unlike more expensive office chairs, when tilting the seatback significantly backwards a gap with the seat pan opens up, letting your butt slide into the crevice. So, if you’re really likely to want to use the chair in such a leaned-back posture, this may be a deal killer for you.

E-WIN Flash XL Comfort

When it comes to comfort, that is a tricky topic when it comes to ergonomic seating. On one hand, the Flash XL claims to be ergonomic because of the adjustability and the support it gives to different parts of the body to avoid some common pains that come with long hours of sitting.

On the other hand, the ergonomic aspects in seating that we prefer will engage the body and keep it moving, maybe even encourage it to stand up and be on your feet. So keep that in mind when we talk about the comfort of an “ergonomic chair”.

The Flash XL gaming chair provides a decent amount of comfort for the user. The thick cushions on the seatback and seat pan conform to the body quite a bit while gaming. But that comfort is only to a point. With longer usage, that kind of “comfort” can lead to other kinds of pain. Actual ergonomic seating keeps the correct muscles engaged to help posture and health in the long term. 

Interestingly, the only place that doesn’t have much cushioning is on the armrests, where comfortable cushioning would actually not interfere with ergonomics. This is where we have seen more plush surfaces on some other office chairs and gaming chairs.

Another point where comfort isn’t ideal is the material of the seat. The polyurethane (PU) imitation leather is pretty nice to the touch, but after sitting in it for a while, we noticed that it doesn’t really breathe. If you are sitting for a while, it could really warm up your rear end to an uncomfortable degree. But you could use that as a reminder to get up and use your standing desk if you have one.

So, in general, the Flash XL chair provides basic comfort. If you get everything adjusted to your body just right, you won’t have to use any core muscles at all to stay in the optimal gaming or working position. That might help you be able to sit longer and play, but in our view, it isn’t quite so ergonomic in keeping your body moving. (Most chairs that have a seatback allow you to relax your core while sitting, and that’s the “core reason” for why so many Americans have poor posture and are so prone to ergonomic injuries. Read all about this in our primer on the sitting disease, but in this review we’re not here to lecture.)

Construction and Design Quality

One way to estimate the long lasting quality of the construction of a chair like this, or virtually any product, is by looking at the warranty. The E-WIN Flash XL’s warranty offers coverage of 10 years on the frame and 2 years on everything else. Given that everything else is basically the fabric and cushions, 10 years isn’t all that bad for the frame. It makes sense that the materials that you would be constantly touching and squishing would have a relatively short warranty. This chair is a far cry from a Herman Miller Embody chair with its 12 year comprehensive warranty, but just as far a cry as that chair’s $1,745 price tag.

E-WIN claims that the Flash XL gaming chair has a “heavy duty” weight limit of 550 lbs. After seeing many similar bases on other chairs, we find this to be utterly unrealistic. Granted, it is almost impossible to fit such a large person on the chair, so it probably won’t be in danger of breaking from that much weight. But you’d at least expect a more robust mechanism under the chair, as you would see on other “XL” office chairs.

E-WIN says that this chair is designed for bigger users because it has an oversized seat pan. However, the wheelbase is still only 24″ in diameter, which is much smaller than the normal 29″ base found on most office chairs. This creates a base that is really insufficiently stable for the user’s weight placement envelope on the wider seat pan. One of our testers tipped the chair forward twice by just casually leaning forward in it while playing a game, as one often does when getting into thick action. This chair’s instability is a safety concern that nearly negates all other positives. Sure enough, there is no evidence that the manufacturer submitted it for independent testing and ANSI/BIFMA certification.

The first chair collapse happened on a solid wood floor, and the second time happened on a rug. While thankfully our employee did not get seriously injured (though its all too easy to imagine someone falling down hard and fracturing their coccyx as the chair flips out from underneath them), one of the arm rests did break off some plastic shards the second time the chair fell over. He’s just thankful no one was around to witness him getting so inelegantly dumped on the floor. After bruising his ego a second time he refused to keep testing this chair.

On the design side, there isn’t much to mention that we don’t already point out elsewhere. There is one issue with the covers on the side of the chair where the seat meets the back are quite even. One side had a beveled edge while the other had a rough 90-degree angle that was a bit unsightly. Granted, they aren’t designed to be symmetrical because of the lever on one side, but it still isn’t something we like to see.  You can see if it is something that would bother you in the images here.

Chair Assembly

The packaging of the E-WIN Flash XL heavy-duty computer chair is not the best. No parts were truly damaged when we received it, but there was a dent in the headrest covering that isn’t going away after more than a week. There was so much air inside the box that parts were able to move and jostle about, poking holes into the cardboard. If the trip were any rougher, there could have been worse problems.

The assembly process wasn’t all that bad for our tester. Overall, it took 23 minutes to assemble the chair. 

The two things that took the longest were trying to understand the instructions and turning the hex-screw bolts.

The included instructions were pretty basic and vague to a point of confusion at times. Each step showed a single photo and the barest phrasing on what was supposed to happen next. They could make something much clearer to help the assembly process go more smoothly. They even seemed to be for another model of chair that had a different shaped base attachment. Luckily we were able to puzzle it out.

There weren’t all that many pieces that needed to be put together in the end, which was good because that would have required even more twisting of those long screws.

One thing that we thought was a nice touch was the inclusion of gloves for the assembly process. For one, this offers hands a level of protection from any pinching or grease from putting the chair together. It also can help avoid getting fingerprints all over the chair if you are trying to keep it as pristine as possible.

Takeaway

The tipping problem is a safety issue that casts a dark shadow over all the possible positives of the Flash XL. Just because of that, we can’t recommend this gaming chair for most users. Even if you cast that aside, in the end, it will all come down to what the user is looking for in their seating. If they are looking for ergonomic optimization, there are other chairs that are healthier for your body to use. If you are looking for the gaming style with cushiony comfort, the E-WIN Flash XL is not a bad choice for the money, if you don’t mind the assembly process, risk of damage in transport, and safety problems. 

We can say the following things empirically… 

1. If you spend most of your time working at your desk rather than gaming, you might get a lot more ergonomic benefit from a true ergonomic office chair.
2. There are definitely nicer gaming chairs to be had—and if you plan to use the chair primarily for long hours of gaming, not office work, you might consider upgrading to something nicer—but these are typically had for a lot more coin.
3. For the best of both worlds, i.e. an ergonomic chair that is both good for gaming and for office work, prepare to pop for at least $1,000 if not twice that. 

If you want to compare this chair to some of the other ergonomic seating we have reviewed, take a look at our collection of ergonomic chair reviews.