Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic office chair review: no style, all substance

There are office chairs galore to choose from and the best ones unfortunately cost an arm and a leg. Enter Australian company Desky: while better known for its standing desk (which I am in the process of testing at the time of publication), the company also has a few office chairs in its catalogue to help you get set up comfortably, whether you work out of your workplace or your home. What makes Desky’s chairs stand out is the price tag. We’ve previously reviewed the company’s cheapest offering – the Desky Swivel 3D Tilt – which is a unique office chair that costs just AU$349 at full price but isn’t going to suit everyone. Here we review the brand’s most expensive seat that retails for AU$699 at full price and available directly from Desky, although shipping is an additional cost you will need to bear.

Called the Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair, it offers everything you could need when sitting at a desk all day – a well-cushioned seat, mesh backrest for breathability, a headrest, lumbar support and adjustable armrests. It has all the hallmarks of being one of the best office chairs you can buy in Australia, but is it worth its AU$699 price tag?

I tested the Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair at TechRadar’s Sydney office over a period of two months to find out.

Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair review: Unboxing & first impressions

Given my first impressions of the Desky Swivel 3D Tilt chair weren't great because I found the finishing of the individual pieces rather raw, I wasn’t expecting a lot from the Pro Plus either. I was proved wrong. Straight out of the box, the parts of the Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair look sturdy and well built, but what I really like about the chair is how easy it is to put together.

There are just four pieces in the box (if you count the wheels as one package) as the seat part comes pre-assembled, including the headrest. So all you need to do is pop the caster wheels into the base, place the gas lift rod in place and slip the seat (or chair part) onto the gas lift rod. And voila, your new chair is ready for you.

Note that the pre-assembled seat is bulky, so you may need help in positioning it correctly above the gas-lift rod. It also helps to have someone hold the base in place too or it could roll away while you try to fit the seat onto it.

The fully-assembled chair looks smart and it’s ready for your personalised adjustments within minutes. And this is where the positive first impressions I had formed of the Pro Plus began to get tarnished – I explain why in more detail in the design and build quality section below.

Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair review: Design and build quality

For this review I was sent the black/grey colourway, but you can also get a white and grey alternative that I personally think looks better. The lighter colour combo can open up a space, but I suppose the black and grey option is a bit more neutral, able to blend into any kind of office setup.

As I’ve already mentioned, the chair looks good – the frame has flowing curves that give it a nice profile, the seat is well cushioned and the high-back mesh backrest has small wings on the lumbar region to help cocoon your back and hips. All in all, a great design, which is unfortunately marred by the chair’s materials and build quality.

While the base and gas-lift mechanism are well built from sturdy die-cast aluminium, the wheels and the chair’s frame are made from plastic that make them look cheap – a far cry from what I expected from a chair that costs almost AU$700.

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The wheels, while quite solid, are prone to squeaking due to friction when the two outer portions run against the inner support. The plastic frame isn’t too bad to look at, but the arm pads are rubberised and not everyone will like how they feel – I personally am not a fan of those arm pads, but some of my colleagues don't mind them. What we're all agreed on is that they 'look' cheap.

The adjustment mechanisms for the head and armrests are exposed and, because they too are made from notched plastic that also seems to be a cheap material, don’t move smoothly and can be noisy. The word that comes to mind every time I have to adjust either the headrest or the arms is ‘rattly’, and I personally find it unpleasant.

The way the adjustments for the headrest and arms are set up is also not quite intuitive – you need to push them forward to raise or lower them and that’s not always easy to do. Moreover, the notches to lock them at a particular height aren’t big – which is probably a good thing as the rattling would be worse – so it’s easy to miss the exact spot you want them to lock into, thus making you repeat the adjustments a few times till you hit the right spot.

If you can get past these annoying adjustments, the rest of the chair is great. I love the thick cushion on the seat which, even after two months of use, hasn’t shown any signs of sagging. The mesh backrest is breathable and shaped really well, and there’s just enough lumbar support here for most users to sit comfortably all day without putting pressure on the lower back.

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Also helping the back is the waterfall seat, which slides back and forth with the backrest's recline adjustments to ensure your knees and feet are positioned correctly to relieve pressure on your lower back.

Under the seat are two levers – one to adjust the height of the chair, while the other is the recline adjustment. As with pretty much every other office chair on the market, the latter requires you to lean back to where you want the backrest positioned, then flip the lever, but it’s nigh on impossible to reach for short people (and I’m one of them) and you need to lean back to lock or release the backrest. The seat height adjustment, however, is easier to reach.

Another design flaw is the lumbar adjustment – the wheel is located between the mesh and the rear frame, so hard to reach for anyone. If you want to adjust the lumbar support, you will need to get up to turn the wheel – whether you have long arms or not.

Long story short: the chair is good-looking, but its plastic build doesn’t match the price tag and there are some design flaws that make it hard to recommend for everyone.

Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair review: In use

As I’ve said earlier, the Pro Plus has been in TechRadar’s office for a while and we’ve had a few colleagues use it during that time. And while we all agreed that the adjustments are far from ideal, we found it comfortable to use all day.

Despite its cheap appearance and its other shortcomings, the Pro Plus works as an ergonomic chair – I wouldn’t call it the best I’ve tried, but I found I had no back issues after spending about 8 hours a day for a few days on it.

The foam used on the seat doesn’t sink but it’s also not too firm either – it feels just right. The backrest is breathable and, if there’s no air conditioning in your home during summer, it will help you stay cool by allowing sweat to evaporate.

There’s also a decent number of adjustments you can make to set up the chair to work for you as an individual. Apart from the usual seat and headrest height adjustments, you can change the armrest height and arm-pad angle. I’ve already mentioned the recline adjustment – this also adjusts the seat by sliding it forward or back as the case may be, which allows you to maintain your posture as best you can. And the waterfall seat doesn’t put undue pressure behind the knees, but this is not unique to the Pro Plus – any chair with a cushioned waterfall seat will provide that benefit.

As comfortable as the chair may be, it’s hard to get past the fact that I’ve found it hard to make some important adjustments like setting the recline angle for the backrest. I’m short – just five-feet tall – and to push back and then hold the backrest in position doesn’t allow me to reach the adjustment lever. So while I admit this won’t happen to everyone, it still makes me question the chair’s premium price tag.

Final verdict

The Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair isn’t too bad on the wallet, especially considering there are far more expensive alternatives on the market. You can occasionally save about AU$100 on it if you shop on Desky’s site during a major sale like EOFY or Black Friday. For a supportive chair, that’s not a bad price.

What lets the Pro Plus down is the cheap materials and the rattling adjustments – it’s possible to find similar chairs for a lower price at Officeworks – and that makes it hard to recommend at even its discounted price.

Despite that, the Pro Plus is sturdy enough to last a while, and you get a 10-year warranty on this particular model. It’s really easy to set up and, importantly, it’s comfortable. If you can get past the cheap plastic used in the frame, and the price looks right to you, this won’t be a bad chair to sit on all day.

Also consider

If this review hasn’t sold you on the Desky Pro Plus Ergonomic Chair and you’re looking for other options, there are quite a few alternatives to choose from.

Our #1 pick for the best office chair – the ErgoTune Supreme V3 – is about AU$100 more than the Pro Plus but then it also offers more in terms of ergonomics. It’s not the easiest chair to fall in love with, but it was made to gradually teach your body to sit better. If you can be patient with it, the ErgoTune Supreme V3 would be my top recommendation as an alternative.

Another good option is the Steelcase Personality Plus, which doesn’t offer the ergonomics some users might need, but is well built and looks good too. It’s also available in a few colourways that add a pop of, well, personality to your office setup.