Vertagear is new to the growing gaming chair market. With so many people dedicating hours of their free time to sitting in one place while immersed in a game, comfort and posture become more than just an afterthought. Although any good-quality office chair is usually sufficient for comfort, a gaming chair offers a little more, with a look and feel that complements some gaming genres, such as racing and flight simulators. Vertagear’s SL4000 sits in the middle of its range, with the SL5000 and SL2000 sitting on either side.
It isn’t cheap, though, and at £215 inc VAT, it also omits some of the features of its competitors, such as built-in 2.1 speakers, so it’s relying on looks and comfort alone. It has a very smart appearance, and what appears to be a good anti-RSI design, with adjustable seating and arm rests. The frame is made of solid steel and the entire chair is covered in PVC, with the seat filled with foam padding. It comes in five different colours too, with the red model reviewed here.
The chair comes with printed, diagrambased instructions that make assembly seem fairly simple. You get three main parts: the seat, the main backing frame and the base for the wheels, with the head support and arms being attached after these main parts are assembled. If you run into any problems, there are also online assembly video guides to follow.
It took just five minutes to fix the wheels to the seat. However, it then took another two hours to fix the backing section onto the seat’s support struts, only after enlisting help from a second person. Getting the screws back into the holes, perfectly lined up, is a tough job for one person.
There are also silver guards around each hole that look like washers, but these guards fell off during assembly after only light pressure. In short, we expect better build quality from a £215 chair.
Once we got past that point, though, the arms, back rest and head rest attached without a problem. To maintain a healthy posture, a chair must be adjustable in all kinds of ways, and the SL4000 ticks nearly all the recommended boxes. The arm rests can be moved forwards and backwards, and turned 45 degrees left or right. It can be lowered and raised, or the seat angled backwards and forwards as well, by lifting a lever underneath. Meanwhile, the back rest can be moved up and down on its straps, while the head rest can also be moved by at least 10cm vertically. The arm rests can’t be moved vertically though.
The back rest attaches to the chair by feeding plastic clips underneath the seat and through a hole at the top. If you find either the back rest or head rest uncomfortable, however, both of them can be removed. Meanwhile, the plastic arm rests feel slightly flimsy compared with the otherwise tough materials used in the rest of the chair.
The SL4000 measures 1,400mm high when fully raised, 1,280mm when lowered, and the seat is 370mm wide. Vertagear claims it can accommodate gamers with a weight of up to 150kg (23.6 stone) as well, so it will comfortably hold most people. It also has a two-year warranty.
After sitting in the chair for extended periods, the Vertagear SL4000 was very comfortable. The materials feel great and go a long way to justifying the steep asking price. The back rest works well and the head rest made for comfortable relaxing, especially with the seat moved back.
Conclusion
Although some aspects of the SL4100’s build quality are questionable, and it’s expensive, we soon forgot about these niggles after spending some time gaming in the Vertagear SL4000 for extended periods. It isn’t easy to assemble, but it looks good, it’s very comfortable and it offers plenty of adjustment for extra comfort. ORESTIS BASTOUNIS
VERDICT
Although it’s let down by a few niggles, the SL4000 is a very comfortable gaming chair with lots of adjustment options.