Asus ROG Destrier Ergo Chair review: "The upper echelon of gaming chairs"

The Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair is the latest competitor in the premium gaming chair arena. Yes, gaming chairs are coffer-draining bits of hardware at the best of times, but entries from the likes of Herman Miller and fancier seats from Razer have carved out an even more expensive niche in the market for chairs that put ergonomics at the forefront.

Admittedly, I sit in pretty dreadful positions most of the time. If I'm not draped over an armrest, I'm probably cross-legged on an office chair or coiling my spine forward toward the keyboard I'm hammering to write this review. So if there was anyone these premia, ergonomic, Michelin Star chairs were wasted on, it'd probably be me. Equally, my never-ending quest to find one of the best gaming chairs that changes that for me is ongoing.

The good news is, the Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair is actually one of the more affordable Ergo chairs I've seen. For $899 / £899, it's under its most clear-cut rivals like the Herman Miller Embody (which comes in at a vomit-inducing $1,450 these days). Even so, 900 bucks is a lot to pay for a chair that is mainly made up of mesh materials. Then again, its frame does cradle you like a babe in a manger.

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Design and Features

The Asus ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming chair has a somewhat futuristic look to it. Although, you could say it's fairly minimalist all the while. Its aluminum frame follows simple skeletal lines on the chair's back, and these are visible through the backrest which is made of a breathable mesh.

Built into this backrest is adjustable lumbar support which is some of the best I've tested in any office or gaming chair. The same goes for the adjustable headrest, as I usually detest those things on gaming chairs. Whenever I change positions in this seat, however, it clicks a few notches into the correct height without ever feeling obtrusive or like it's forcing me into a worse posture by tilting my head forward.

 3D armrests also click and side into new positions with ease, and can be raised or lowered to suit mobile and handheld gaming - a nice plus for anyone spending most of their time on one of those platforms since even the best console gaming chairs aren't usually designed for them. Holding the entire operation up is a set of 75mm PU casters. These are more substantial than any of the gaming chair caster wheels I've come across, and that makes them feel like offroad tires when you're rolling around on a carpet. This is an extremely bulky chair at 30.95Kg, so having larger wheels on the bottom to make it more maneuverable is useful indeed.

The seat's cushion is also a breathable mesh, but at its front end, it tapers off with a PU foam that helps your legs not to get that dead feeling when they're pressed up against the metal of the frame. This is spongy and feels great, although I'd have liked a little more of this on the seat's cushion for the amount of money you pay.

Somewhat bizarrely, the chair comes with a detachable acoustic panel which rounds off the Ergo chair's futuristic feel. This, as far as I can decipher, is supposed to shield incoming sounds toward your head, but in truth, I found absolutely no difference when my RUARK MR1 MK2 speakers were playing my favourite video game soundtracks, or when I was using one of the best gaming headsets to play games (obviously). To be honest, this felt like a bit of design fluff, and it only got in the way of my arms whenever I needed to do a big-stretch.

Assembly

Before we get to performance, I do feel the need to put a few words down about the assembly of this chair - for the reason that it's probably one of the biggest and heaviest gaming chairs I've had to put together. Straight away when you take delivery of this thing, you'll be short of space in your home. The box is absolutely massive and takes some effort to shift. If you're an assembly team of one I'd be very careful trying to move the Ergo chair around because it isn't easy.

Building instructions do come in the box, and they are bespoke to this chair, unlike a few other manufacturers that just supply generic catch-all ones. Tools for the job are pretty much all covered in the box, the main problem will be finding everything you need because it's all individually packaged in smaller matryoshka doll-type boxes. 

Building the Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair yourself is a bit of a mission, not least because the individual aluminum parts feel more like cold rolled steel in terms of their weight. I'd recommend building this one with a partner since trying to hold it in awkward positions to join things together actually ended up bruising my arms in a few places.

For the most part, the assembly process itself was fine and followed the typical steps for building a gaming chair. All in all, I'd say it took around 45 minutes to an hour to put the chair together - a time that could easily be whittled down if I recruited help.

Performance

When it comes to comfort, this chair has it in spades. It isn't comfortable in the same way that a gaming chair like the Corsair TC100 Relaxed is, it's comfortable in that it cradles your body and promotes elongation of your spine. For me though, a true test of a gaming chair like that is if it's still comfortable when you inevitably give up those positions to actually relax your body for a while. The Asus ROG Destrier Ergo Gaming chair passes that test with flying colors thanks to its mesh padding and large frame. With adjustable support, tilt, armrests, and a wide seat to boot, you can find plenty of comfortable positions in this chair without feeling confined.

For the amount of money you pay for this chair though, I can't help but feel that you should get more padding and comfort. That mesh is transparent, and you can see straight through the fact that there really isn't much to this chair's padding. I understand that an element of ergonomic chairs is that they cut out all the cushioning fluff and focus fire on the areas that matter - a sturdy frame, strong lumbar and neck support, with padding that supports the elongating of the spine. But paying upwards of $800 for that minimalism doesn't quite sit right with me. In truth, this chair reminds me a bit of the mesh office chair you can get from IKEA, which is almost entirely made of mesh netting and will cost you a fraction of what Asus is charging here. 

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I do absolutely love the adjustability of this chair though. Being able to slide the armrests forward or back with a simple few clicks is fantastic, and helps me find that comfortable position even if I'm going off-piste from how the chair would have me sit. The headrest is the same - shoving it up or down and tilting it to best suit my body shape was a brilliant feature, and it's honestly the first headrest I've kept on a gaming chair, I usually chuck them as soon as I've tried them. The only downside to this adjustability is that you can very easily click things out of place accidentally, which did happen a few times.

The acoustic guard is absolutely pointless, as far as I can tell. Your mileage may vary if you work in an office, or your speakers aren't set up in the same way mine are. But, to me, this was a swing and a miss, and something that I hope doesn't contribute much to the price.

Should you buy the Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair?

If you have the budget for the upper echelon of gaming chairs, the Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair is seriously worth considering. It's cheaper than Herman Miller's Embody and Vantum chairs and offers a lot of the same features with a bit more gaming-focused flare.

The way the Asus Ergo chair cradles you while catering to different body types with adjustability is truly excellent. This is truly up there with the best gaming chairs on the market both for ergonomics and overall comfort.

Having said that, it's up to you to decide if paying this much for what is predominantly a mesh, minimalist office chair is too much for you. I for one feel like you should get a bit more for your money.

How we tested the The Asus ROG Destrier Ergo chair

I tested the Asus ROG Destrier Ergo gaming chair over a period of around a month. In that time, I used it for all working from home and desk gaming tasks. I sit at my desk for around eight hours a day all things considered, so I put some decent mileage on the clock with this seat. I compared my experience closely with the Corsair TC100 Relaxed, as well as the IKEA mesh office chair I own too.

Although I haven't been hands-on with Herman Miller's rival chairs, I compared my time with the Destrier Ergo gaming chair closely with the experience of our reviews of those two products. 

If you'd like to read a bit more about how we go about testing the latest gaming hardware, have a read of our hardware policy.

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