Sihoo V1

Great chair but only for people under about 5'6" – One liner: GOOD CHAIR FOR SHORTER PEOPLE. SEE A PREVIOUS REVIEWER FOR THEIR EXPERIENCE AS A TALLER PERSON. Delivery: I got the chair when I was having back issues and sciatica. It was my second choice but as shipping for a Northday Ergotune was $400 to regional Australia and they were not willing to reduce this extortionate delivery fee, I went for Sihoo V1 as it was $30 delivery. The product was shipped from Hong Kong the day I ordered (3rd July) and arrived to my door in regional Australia on the 10th of July exactly when expected.

Assembly: The chair was very easy to put together myself in about 30 minutes.

Use: I am 5'4" (164 cm). The chair seems to be perfect for my height. I have my legs at 90 degrees on the lowest height setting (seat about 45cm above ground). However, there is only 10cm difference to highest setting so this is NOT going to be a good chair for anyone taller than about 5.6"

The mesh back and neck are really comfortable, give good support and easy to adjust. The recline is good and feels stable. I did get it locked in a recline position before I realised I had to push back to spring the chair upright again ( same for arm rests). The arm rest positions suit me really well and on the lowest setting they fit under my desk.

The downsides: the levers under the chair to move the back and the seat positions are quite hard to reach. The leg rest is really poorly designed as there is no leaver to get it into position. You have to reach between your legs, pull the footrest out then pull another leaver to get it into position. That said, it is really comfortable ( I am using it right now) and again the perfect size for my shorter legs. Used in conjunction with the recline, I could actually take a disco nap in it.

I have been using the chair daily since I got it and have not had any pain caused by the chair. I can easily sit in it for an extended period.

Bottom line: This chair is definitely designed for shorter people and is a great option for a mid-range ergonomic chair ($489) for people under about 5'6". TALLER PEOPLE DO NOT BUY THIS MODEL. Check the specs against other options to get something to fit.

Uncomfortable, poor service, appears to have exacerbated back injury – I purchased the Sihoo V1 in March this year to replace another aging chair that was becoming uncomfortable. My choice was made due to mostly good online reviews and the relatively affordable price compared to the biggest brands. My initial impressions of taking the chair out of the box were good - most of the parts seemed weighty and reasonable quality, with only a few parts made of cheap plastic.

However, that's where my good experience ended. I quickly found the arm rests sit way too high and can't be placed any lower. This means if you have any sort of arm length, the arm rests will be useless. I had to remove them.

Then I found the chair barely reaches a height to enable my knees to reach 90 degrees, a basic ergonomic standard. This chair clearly won't suit anyone approaching 6ft (178cm) or taller. There is no mention of this on their website.

Also, the chair is otherwise uncomfortable - the mesh seat is not supportive and has a dip in the middle which causes the hips to rotate awkwardly.

I was getting worse and worse back pain and have been diagnosed with all sorts of lumbar spine issues. The chair is simply not supportive and seems to have made these issues worse.

I raised concerns with Sihoo Australia in the first few days of ownership, however they refused to allow any sort of return as the chair had been "assembled". It is impossible to determine if the chair is fit for purpose without assembling it and they supplied no height limit in the specifications.

Just avoid this and buy something you can return if it doesn't work out.