Pricey gaming chairs might not rank highly on a PC owner's list of priorities. They're not the beating heart of the machine, and they won't push games to their limits as your GPU does. Surely you won't be starting at it all day as you do with your monitor either.
But, if you want to sit comfortably for hours and would prefer not to walk with a hunch, maybe investing in a good chair should be more of a priority. That's where options like the Noblechairs Legend come in, but is it worth the price? And how does it compare to the mighty Secretlab Titan Evo?
You likely know that gaming chairs can be expensive, especially high-end options like the Noblechairs Legend, which, at $629 for the white version with the faux leather, is around the same price as a fancy RTX 4070. But the Legend series is the company's cream of the crop, an amalgamation of its other chairs' best designs and features.
The chair comes in color options of black, java, white, and black/white/red. The white version is $669, with the others priced at $689. Or you can choose the grey fabric version for $639. The faux leather is very nice, though, and obviously a lot easier to clean and more hard-wearing. They also come with free delivery, which is a bonus.
Anyone who has bought a gaming chair before will know what to expect once it arrives: a box big enough to hold a baby elephant and about as heavy. The instructions are well laid out, and the separate accessories box containing the wheels, screws, nuts, and handles is an impressive addition.
It's recommended that two people assemble the chair – advice I regretted ignoring when lifting the backrest to attach it to the base and almost giving myself a hernia. This thing weighs 66 pounds.
It all fits together in a similar fashion and order as other gaming chairs like the Titan Evo: quite smooth and simple, taking around 20 to 30 minutes on my lonesome.
My first impressions after assembly are that it looks very attractive as chairs go, with familiar sports car-stylings. It's definitely classy. The PU material is a gorgeously pristine white; these chairs look great paired with a white-build PC. The stitching is eye-catching. And the insignia-covered headrest and silver eyehole ensure people know you have no qualms about spending a small fortune on a chair.
Put the Legend side by side with the $549 (regular size, leatherette) Secretlab Evo, and a lot of people will likely struggle to pick the better-looking of the two. The Legend is much brighter as the Evo is Ash, not white. The Legend's arms have straighter lines, while the Titan lacks an eyehole. But if you want to use the lumbar and neck support cushions – you might not, as we'll get to later - be prepared to have some straps ruining the Noblechairs' aesthetic.
There are those, myself included, who prefer the Titan's contrasting black highlights to plain white, and the Secretlab unarguably looks better from the rear. Moreover, the Titan's memory foam neck support cushion is magnetic, so no unsightly straps.
The most important question, of course, is whether the Legend is comfortable. The short answer is yes, very.
Like other gaming chairs, you don't sink into the Legend as you would a soft sofa. They have a certain level of firmness that helps hugely when you're sitting in it for 8, 10, or even more hours per day. This one is no different, and I'd definitely say the deform-resistant cold foam is ever so slightly more cushioned than the Titan Evo. It's also spacious enough to allow sitting in different positions, such as legs crossed, without feeling cramped.
The Legend comes with the usual large array of adjustable elements. The 4D arms move horizontally, vertically, and up and down. You can also swivel them. But they are quite hard and probably the chair's weakest design element due to some poorly placed buttons. It's an area that the Titan does much better.
There's a satisfyingly meaty handle to alter the backrest angle from 90 degrees to 125 degrees, while the integrated lumbar support, controlled by the knob on the side, lets users find the perfect position for keeping comfy and (hopefully) pain-free.
As previously mentioned, the Legend also comes with two pillows that offer extra lumbar and neck support. I don't use them as while they are very nice pillows, I find they're too hard and make things less comfy, with the headrest pillow pushing my head too far forward. Taller people should find them more appealing, though.
I'll reiterate that the straps don't look great, either. It's a stark contrast to the Secretlab Titan Evo's magnet headrest, which is made from real memory foam and simply incredible; your head just sinks into it. There's an optional lumbar support pillow for the Evo - the chair also has a built-in lumbar support mechanism, like the Legend - made of the same material, though it's bought separately for $79.
Elsewhere, the Legend offers the usual gas-lift for adjusting the height and there are 11 degrees of tilt, which can be locked in any position. The amount of force required to tilt the seat back can be adjusted using a twist knob under the seat. I found tilting the chair wasn't easy even when set to maximum slackness as it sprang back too easily. The Titan's identical tilt function seems to work much better, at least for me.
The Legend's aluminum wheelbase is exceptionally solid and the casters, made for both hard and soft surfaces, glide smoothly on my wood floor. This is a win for Noblechairs as I actually had to fork out $49 extra to get some wood-specific wheels for the Titan to avoid scratches.
Most of the features and functions in the Legend, including the integrated lumbar support, are almost identical to the Evo. Making some more direct comparisons, the arms of the Secretlab chair are much softer and comfier, and that memory foam headrest really is amazing. So is the lumbar pillow, but that doesn't really count as it was bought separately.
So, which chair is better? Picking between the two isn't straightforward, make no mistake. Both are comfortable to sit in and look fantastic, but for me, the Secretlab edges it. Even without the lumbar cushion, the Titan Evo feels like it hugs the contours of my body when I sit down, like the seat in a luxury SUV, but some may prefer the Legend's more spacious feel.
I think the Evo looks better, too, and little things like the better tilt function, softer arms, and the memory foam headrest seal the deal. It's also cheaper as standard, which is a plus. Moreover, I've sat in the Evo for about 14 hours and experienced not a single ache, whereas the Noblechair left my joints and muscles a little stiff after a similar amount of time.
But these are both fantastic chairs, as reflected in their prices, and some will prefer the Noblechair. As a final test, I asked eight different people to sit in each one to find out which they preferred. In what was a frustratingly indecisive result, four chose the Titan Evo and four chose the Noblechair Legend, illustrating just how similar these two are.
Pros
- Cool looks and design
- Comfortable and ergonomic, especially with the built-in lumbar support
- Slightly softer cushioning than the Secretlab Titan Evo
- Faux leather is so good it could pass for the real thing
- Wheels designed for hard and soft floors
- Oozes quality
Cons
- How much?!
- The arms are a weak point
- Only a two-year warranty
- Magnetically attached pillows would have looked better than straps
- Better suited for taller users
- Can't quite match the Secretlab Titan Evo overall