Gaming chairs are an investment. Whether you're playing at a desk or in front of a TV, these chairs are built to deliver comfort over long, hard gaming sessions. That's why even a relatively low-end model will still be pretty pricey compared with a generic office chair. The Core EX Series is AKRacing's baseline gaming chair, and offers few frills or premium accoutrement compared with more expensive models like the Masters Series Max. At $329, it's one of the less expensive gaming chairs we've tested, yet it still manages to feel comfortable and sturdy, while offering useful adjustments that office chairs lack.
Design
In a departure from the other gaming chairs we've tested, the Core EX isn't covered in polyurethane leather (PU). Instead, it's upholstered in an almost mesh-like polyester fabric. It feels pleasant, if a bit rougher than PU leather, and is a good alternative if you don't want a leather-like feel. Of course, it also enables the Core EX to be much less expensive than AKRacing's PU leather chairs.
Besides the upholstery, the Core EX is built very similarly to AKRacing's other chairs, and other gaming chairs in general. It uses a metal skeleton and dense foam padding along the backrest, seat, and sides. The padding is focused on the surfaces of the chair that directly touch you, so the back is hollow apart from the padding wrapped around the metal frame itself. It's a dense and supportive design, even if it isn't quite as generous with foam as the SecretLab Titan.
Larger gamers (up to a point) will be well-supported by the Core EX. Its maximum weight capacity is 330 pounds, with dimensions suitable for users with a body mass index (BMI) up to 29. A wider model, the Core EX-Wide, has the same weight capacity but a wider seat (17 inches to the Core EX's 14.9 inches). If neither Core EX meets your needs, the Masters Max can handle up to 400 pounds and a BMI of up to 41, thanks to a flatter seat design that offers 23 inches of lateral space.
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The chair sits on a five-legged base made of black aluminum, with five free-spinning 2.5-inch casters to let you roll around. The base has a standard hydraulic cylinder that can adjust the seat height from 16.9 to 20.2 inches with a pull of the lever on the right side of the bottom of the chair.
Like most other gaming chairs we've tested, the Core EX comes with two removable pillows. One is a head cushion that fits on the headrest with an elastic strap. The other is a lumbar support cushion that attaches to where the small of your back meets the back of the chair, with two adjustable elastic straps that let you slide it up and down. They're made of the same breathable fabric as the upholstery, and you can easily attach or remove them to suit your needs.
AKRacing offers a 5/10-year warranty on its chairs, including the Core EX. The entire chair is guaranteed from defective craftmanship for five years, and the metal frame of the chair for 10 years.
Reclining and Adjustments
The Core EX can recline with a pull of another lever, located behind the right armrest. This is a standard feature among the other gaming chairs we've tested, though the Core EX joins the Masters Max as one of the few that can fold back to a completely flat 180-degree angle. This seems to be a largely AKRacing feature, with other manufacturers limiting the reclining angle to 165 to 170 degrees.
The completely flat recline is less tempting than it sounds. It feels precarious, and while I haven't taken a spill yet in a full recline, I've felt very close to it several times, and never got used to the angle. The more limited angles of other gaming chairs still feel very comfortable, while reducing the chance of falling backward.
Besides reclining, swiveling, and tilting the chair, you can extensively adjust the dense PU rubber armrests. Three bolts under each arm let you tweak the distance between the armrests and the sides of the chair. They also shift up and down with the pull of a handle under each one, slide back and forth, and pivot left and right while remaining flat. You can easily find the best position for them to support your forearms when you're sitting back and watching TV. A cupholder would have been nice, though we've yet to see a chair with one built into the armrest.
A Good Sit
The Core EX feels very comfortable to sit in, though its fabric shell doesn't feel as smooth or high-end as the PU leather on other chairs. The fabric is much more breathable than PU leather, though, so it should be better suited for gaming in particularly warm weather. Of course, considering the thermal requirements of game consoles and PCs, we recommend playing video games in climate-controlled environments, and not in direct sunlight. Breathable fabric isn't necessarily as much of a boon here as it can be with other furniture.
At $330, the AKRacing Core EX isn't a particularly cheap gaming chair, but it's less expensive than many other models we've tested, while offering the same features like metal construction, a reclining function, and extensive armrest adjustments. It's a comfortable, fabric-covered alternative to PU leather models, and it's on the more affordable end of the spectrum. We still prefer the Secret Labs Titan for its dense, generous foam padding and more premium-feeling PU leather, but the Core EX is a very good choice for anyone who wants to look beyond faux leather, or simply spend a bit less on a full-featured gaming chair.
AKRacing's entry-level Core Series EX gaming chair is comfortable, adjustable, and upholstered in fabric rather than PU leather.
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