Customer Reviews

Embody Chair by Herman Miller - Home Office Desk Task Chair with Adjustable Arms - Graphite Frame Rhythm Charcoal Fabric

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was tired of sitting in chairs that were poorly made, squeaked and didn't adjust to my height and preferences, so I wanted the best chair I could find. Obviously this is expensive, but since I sit all day, I want something that is actually inviting to sit in, and want it to last. This is an excellent chair, and if you do sit all day, is worth every penny. I ordered it with rubber coated floor casters, which are whisper quiet on our hard wood floor.

The arm rests are infinitely adjustable, the black fabric is perfectly fine, and I ordered this model with the black base, which I like. My only complaint, and this is very minor, is that eventually, the back of the chair will collect dust, and with all those small crevices, I don't relish cleaning it, but with a vacuum attachment, it should be fine.

One detail that took me a while to figure out, which I finally did after speaking with a nice employee at another company, Sit4Less (same price as this company, last time I checked): in order to adjust the seat height, you need to really angle the joystick hard (No. 2 in the diagram), so it just touches the top of the inside of the joystick handle. I didn't do it hard enough the first time, thinking it might break, but it won't. Also, when they say "angle fully", they mean angle up or down, not side to side or at an angle - just up or down.

Also, it helps to use two hands to adjust the arm rests left and right, as they will click into the positions more easily. They are not difficult to adjust, BTW, they just adjust quickly, so two hands gives more precision.

All in all, an amazing chair, and I have absolutely no regrets. I give it my highest recommendation.

Pros:

1) My back feels great after sitting in it for 11 hours, feeling no fatigue, let alone pain. This is why I'm giving it 5 stars.

2) The backrest flexes backwards, "inviting" you to stretch your shoulders.

3) Black on charcoal version looks awesome in my home office. The pictures don't do it any justice.

4) The recline mechanism feels just right, allowing you to change body position with minimum effort (unlike Steelcase Leap, which in my opinion has too much resistance). With Aeron size C chair I was unable to recline all the way to the back even on minimum weight setting.

5) Great build quality, much better than Aeron.

Cons:

1) Since there's very little foam padding, the chair feels very firm, almost uncomfortable.

2) Expensive, even more so outside the US.

3) Weird looking.

My suggestion is to try this chair before buying. It is very different from everything else, so it may or may not work for you.

I am using my new green Herman Miller Embody chair now. I work as a graphic animator 8-14 hrs a day at a computer desk so comfort and ergonomic soundness is important. I've had lower back stiffness and pain, shoulder blade pain, and neck strain in the past. This chair has eliminated 90% of that.

FYI, I've purchased four chairs in the last three years totally around the same amount that I paid for this nearly-perfect chair. That should speak volumes to anyone who is wondering if cost is more important than quality. My recent opinion is "no". Quality should be important to all fellow computer-geeks who use their computer all day - get this chair. Yes, it's that good... and yes, it's worth the money.

I bought this chair because I was needing to spend more and more time in front of the computer for work and was beginning to develop lower back pain and figured if there is one thing worth spending money on, it was preventing the development of chronic pain. Unfortunately I made a gross error by purchasing this particular chair.

First up, the positive aspects. As every other reviewer has said, the chair is solid and built very well. Making adjustments or just moving around in the chair feels smooth and how an expensive chair should feel. I like the materials for the most part, also, even with the cheaper fabric option. Some other reviews I've come across cite it for being too "ugly and weird" looking, but that is actually one of my favorite things about it. I think it looks particularly good with the the graphite frame and charcoal fabric (which is a little blue-ish, actually).

However, if a chair is marketed as "the most ergonomic and most comfortable" then it better be able to live up to the claim at this price point. Unfortunately, this was not my experience. I tried using the chair for a few months now and have just really given up on it. I have tried adjusting, re-adjusting, changing my posture in it, and everything else with no real good solution. I really, really wanted to like this chair. After a few hours in it I have searing pain in my lower back that gets worse and worse the more I use it. I suspect part of the problem is that there is no real cushioning. The springy, plastic suspension on the bottom and back just don't have the same effect as soft cushioning (one of the big reasons for my old chair no longer working for me was that the cushioning on the bottom was all worn out). Similarly, the lumbar support is really more of a torture device. Again, it is not cushioned, and in my case, presses upon my back and spine with a very uncomfortable force that I can't alleviate regardless of how I position myself.

So, I have instead opted to go back to my worn-out $80 office chair and put a pillow under it. Since I've switched back a week or so ago, my back problems have already started to get better and I don't have the same throbbing pain. The fact that a chair that is marketed as being one of the most comfortable in the world and that costs such an enormous amount of money is beaten by a decade-old chair that is only a very small fraction of the cost boggles my mind.

My suggestion is this: Do NOT buy this chair unless you have an opportunity to sit in it for more than a few minutes. If you can, borrow it from someone for an entire day or two - it's worth it for an investment like this. I did not have this opportunity and I regret not test-driving it first. It's possible that some body types just work better than others with this chair, but it didn't work for mine (For the record, I had no previous back injuries and am in otherwise good health. I'm average height and not too fat, so I don't have a lot of my own built-in padding.)

I guess I'm back in the market for a new desk chair.

i'm a software developer and i sit in my chair way too long, every day, every year. i'm also 6'2, 200 lbs and worn down an aeron chair, which is on to its third seat upholstery job over a eleven year period. i've loved my aeron but i'm a sloucher and that gets me and my back and shoulders into serious trouble. that in turn only benefits the good folks making the no-name brand ibuprofen. clearly, the aeron works if you sit correctly, which i often fail to do. so, after some mucho consideration i finally sprung the big bucks and ordered the embody -- without having the opportunity to sit in it. stupid, i know. assembling the chair was pretty simple and quick once i decided to ignore the instructions. the controls are similar to the aeron and hence, easy to figure out even without a manual (which you can find online). upon using it, i ngot to say the back support is amazing and, it's hard to explain, sucks you out of prolonged slumping. after sitting in for about four hours on day one and doing a few side stretches, in the chair, i got to pop parts of my spine even my chiropractor has had problems unlocking. after about a week, i got to say that it's a great chair and the best, but not perfect, cure for a string of fourteen hour days. long days will still get you down but a lot less than any other chair i've ever had. so after a week, i'm glad i bought it ... oh, you definitely want to use a foot rest with it and from a sizing perspective, it actually fits better than the aeron size c.

Like one of the other reviews has stated, I too really wanted to like this chair, and I would much rather enjoy using it, than have to lose $300 to send this chair back to the company that I purchase it from--(I have to pay for shipping both ways, plus a 10% restocking fee) and then I have to begin the process of looking for another office chair that does not actually cause me physical discomfort and pain to use.

To begin this review, I want to state that I have never in my life experienced any sort of back injury, and I never experience back pain in general. I am a healthy person in my 20's, my body frame is 6 feet tall and weighs 160 lbs, and I wear a size 38 suit jacket. I am a graduate student that spends each day sitting reading and researching online, and I really need a proper ergonomic chair to do that in.

I also want to mention, that unlike some people who probably purchase this chair without trying it out first at a Herman Miller retailer, I actually did make two different trips out of my way to a Herman retailer to test this chair out, before decided to purchase it.

Having stated all of that, I will explicate some of the reasons for which I rate this chair 2 stars out of 5 stars.

The chair caused me discomfort and pain:

Ultimately, the single chief reason for which I am choosing to return this chair is that I cannot sit in it for extended periods of time, without experiencing pain and/or flaring in my back.

Aside from that pain, the chief reason for which I simply cannot use this chair for extended periods of time, is that it is extremely hard to find a sitting position on this chair that is not actually uncomfortable--the way in which the lower and middle portions of this chair are designed obfuscates me--those portions of the chair's letter "H" shaped components are unable to be adjusted, which is very significant, due to the fact that the lower and middle portions of the back of this chair can really cause a lot of discomfort and even pain.

Problems using the setting for this chair:

What is probably the most greatly annoying part of using this chair, is the fact that it is so hard to find a single setting that works, and that once one finds a setting that works, it changes and then changes again--and there are no memory settings, so each time one tries to revert back to a previous setting that actually worked, one has to go through trial and error steps that are time consuming and frustrating.

The back portion of the chair:

The lower back portion of this chair is not adjustable, and it really does press into my back as though it were an elbow. Of course there are ways to adjust the back of the chair so that such an experience can be altered, but when I make such adjustments, the chair is not improved, but only remains equally, if not more uncomfortable in different ways.

An example of how discernable the lack of comfort in this chair is, occurred when I had one of my family members who has spent lots of time searching for a proper office chair, sit in my Embody chair, and that person noticed within seconds that the chair was not very comfortable.

Why didn't I discover these aspects of the chair when I tried it in the store?:

You might be wondering, how is it that I did not discover such uncomfortable qualities to this chair when I tried it out in the store. That question leads me to my biggest piece of advice to anyone considering purchasing this chair: It is imperative that you try this chair out for very extended periods of time before deciding to make this your new chair--that is of course, unless you don't mind spending between $1200 and $1650 for a chair that might not be useable--as for myself, I am lucky enough to be able to return this item, but it is going to cost me $300 to do so. It takes time to really discover the potential that this chair has for discomfort as well as comfort, so don't expect to really know what this chair is all about from a perfunctory trial of it.

Amount of time that I used this chair:

Since purchasing this chair I have sat in it for up to 10 and 12 hours a day, totaling well over 150 hours, and unfortunately I have concluded that I simply cannot be an owner of a Herman Miller Embody chair.

Some of the positive qualities of the chair:

Having stated all of that, I will in fairness explain in my estimation what some of the positive qualities of this chair are.

Craftsmanship:

The chair is clearly crafted well and manufactured well, with goods quality parts and fabric--the chair is 65 pounds and it feels solid. Furthermore, the casters that come standard with the chair work very well--they roll well and quietly. The arm pads of the chair work well, but I wish that they actually went a little higher than they do--I found my posture being adversely affected by having to rest my arms too low, and for a chair that seeks to be a "one size fits all ergonomic chair" I think it is an oversight to not make the arm pads go higher for people that are taller and have longer arms. Another positive quality about the chair is that it reclines really well; with this chair, one is able to really get a full recline, and remain in that position for as long as one feels comfortable.

Aesthetic:

The chair has an exceptional aesthetic as well. Although, if you do decide to purchase this chair I highly recommend the Black on Black color--I was one of the many people who planned to buy one of the bright white chairs, but another review stated that they regretted buying the white chair, as its brightness served to overwhelm the spaces in which they used it. I ultimately concurred with their recommendation and was glad that I decided to buy the black chair.

Before purchasing this chair I looked at every YouTube review video of the Embody chair that I could, to see what they were saying, and it really does seem as though the main reason that is given for purchasing this chair is that it ostensibly has such a novel and beautiful aesthetic to it--which may be true, but in my estimation it is not a good enough reason to spend between $1200 - $1650 on a chair that ultimately might have to be returned.

Conclusion:

I am disappointed that I will be sending this chair back to the company that I purchased it from. This chair is not your ordinary office chair--it is unique in its objective to mimic the human spine--consequently, this chair really should be experienced (for very extended periods of time) before being purchased. This is a very heavy chair (65 pounds) to be returning, and that combined with the cost of returning it, is why it is not in one's best interest to purchase this chair unless one plans to keep it.

Here is something interesting to keep in mind: At Herman Miller, the employees are allowed to use whatever Herman Miller chair they choose. Yet, on the several (three) different occasions that I called Herman Miller, I learned that there are plenty of employees that choose to use chairs other than the Embody chair. The main reason that I decided to purchase the Embody chair over the Aeron chair, is because of the fact that the Embody chair incorporated all of the research, development and money that went into designing the Aeron chair, and the Embody chair had even more of the research, development and money put into designing it. I therefore concluded that the Embody chair would surely be better than the Aeron chair. Well when ones holds the aforesaid idea in mind it is very curious that there are plenty of Herman Miller employees that choose not to use the Embody chair. Furthermore, it is also interesting that there are not more positive reviews of the Embody chair than the paltry handful of reviews that are on Amazon. If the Embody chair is Herman Miller's new flagship chair, than why after almost three years of being produced, have there not been more positive reviews of the chair on Amazon?

I do not doubt that this chair can be a phenomenal chair for some, if not many people. I can however, only offer my own perspective and experience with this chair. Just around each time that I thought I was finally getting to like this chair, I would then being experiencing new forms of discomfort and/or pain from using it.

Message to Herman and Miller:

If any of the designers from the research and development teams from Herman Miller read this review, I want to give you some summarized recommendations:

1. Please try to fix the harshness of the lower lumbar portion of this chair, or at least design the chair so that the letter "H" portion of the lower lumbar area of the chair can be adjusted.

2. Please offer some sort of memory settings for the chair, so that it might be easier to go between settings without having to use trial and error, and lots of guess work for finding a comfortable chair setting.

3. Please consider making the arm pads go a little higher for taller people.

4. Please consider making this chair more comfortable to sit in--and by comfortable, I mean that it might be prudent to put more cushioning on this chair, which may not be as aesthetically pleasing as the current Embody chair model, but which could ultimately yield a much more inviting and rewarding sitting experience for Embody chair users--it really seems as though function in the Embody chair was compromised for the sake of the chair's novel, modern, futuristic aesthetic.

I used to pay 50-100 bucks for a computer chair, not seeing the importance at a young age of a quality ergonomic chair. Well, after a few years of working a full time job at my computer, my lower back began to scream for change. After stacking pillows on my previous chair to try and prevent pressure from building up near the base of the spine/coccyx, I decided to look for a more practical solution.

First let's talk about price, since this is what catches most people off guard. This chair should not be looked at as an expense but instead, an investment. You only have one body, one back, one spine. If you sit on a chair several hours a day without taking breaks, you're going to hurt your body. Now that's not to say that if you buy this chair you never need to stand up and walk around again in between sittings, because you really should, no matter what you're sitting on. You just don't need to do it as much with this chair. That being said, this chair has already paid for itself due to the elimination of visits to the chiropractor and elimination of lower back pain that, before this chair, has plagued me for the past few years. You're paying for quality, and quality you get.

Next, aesthetics. Someone mentioned that this chair looks "weird" Well, looks are subjective, but for me, this chair looks really great. The spinal column on the back of this chair makes it look like nothing you've ever seen (and feel like nothing you've ever felt). I think the chair looks a lot better than the Aeron. As they say, with this chair, form meets function!

Which leads me to comfortability.

Since comfortability is why we pay $1,000+ for an ergonomic chair, it better feel phenomenal. Well, it does. As I mentioned previously, I've phased out my chiropractor because the pain in my lower back is gone. I can sit in this chair for hours upon hours and not feel discomfort or pain. The chair allows me to sit in a way that the pressure is taken off of my lower back/coccyx, effectively eliminating the cause of my pain. Adding to the comfortability, this chairs breathes very well.

I didn't purchase this chair on Amazon but instead, Room and Board. I highly recommend going to a Room and Board store to try a few of the Herman Miller chairs for yourself. I sat in the Embody, the Aeron, and a few other HM chairs. The Embody won me over primarily due to the fact that it just felt more comfortable than the Aeron (I also liked how the Embody looked more than the Aeron).

My only complaint is that the armrests don't angle in/out, but that's minor compared to all of the pros here.

Had a carpal tunnel scare last year, decided it was time to upgrade from the typical startup-style "working at the kitchen table" workstation to something more optimal for putting in a 16+ hour day of crunching code. Along with exercises and getting enough sleep, this chair was a great help in allowing me to get more done and not end the day feeling like my back had been beaten with a two-by-four.

A quick cost/benefit analysis on the chair for any professional who works at a computer for 8, 12, 16+ hours a day shows it's not that expensive - it's a lot of dollars but even if it just gives you an extra hour a day in increased productivity then most professionals will make up the cost with the first big project they do.

I really, really wanted to like the Embody. The vast bulk of reviews praised it, so I made a leap of faith and bought it during Herman Miller's bi-annual sale, foregoing the Mirra which I knew from experience was a comfortable-enough, sturdy work chair. The narrow flexible-yet-firm back on the Embody is fantastic, allowing shoulder freedom and full back support no matter the position; unfortunately, the chair seems to have too many pressure points around and in the seat and has left me with a pinched nerve impacting my lower back down through my legs. Firm chairs are my preference, especially for working, and neither long hours in a Mirra nor long periods in my wood rocking chair have ever caused a pinched nerve. No matter how I adjusted the Embody, including adding a pillow to sit on, I couldn't get rid of the pain to my lower body this chair caused. After a weekend of use, I decided I had to return it. Luckily I bought it through smartfurniture.com and will be able to ship it back at no cost, and will buy a Mirra instead.

Yes, it is expensive but you do get what you paid for. A chair which can adjust as you like. Apart from a work bench, it is great for rocking infants and just chilling.
I whole heartedly recommend this chair.