AndaSeat Novis review: "AndaSeat’s least expensive chair may well be its most comfortable"

AndaSeat is one of those growing challenger brands in the gaming chair space, but it’s hardly a newcomer. With nearly 20 years’ experience and an established range of seats, its offerings have previously always been geared towards the upper end and mid-range of the market. The AndaSeat Novis flips that trend and pulls back on bells and whistles in the name of cost-cutting. Starting at just $199 in the US, this is best described as an attempt at an entry-level gaming chair for the masses.

There’s no shortage of choice when it comes to picking a new gaming chair. From size and shape to feature set and perhaps most importantly, budget, there’s seemingly a combo for everyone. Our list of the best gaming chairs is proof of that, but AndaSeat is following the path of Razer in 2025 in trying to cater to the more affordable end of the pricing scale.

I’ve sat on plenty of gaming chairs lately that cost twice as much as the AndaSeat Novis, so the question I’m asking myself is a simple one. Are gaming chairs getting too complicated and too expensive, and is there value in keeping things simple?

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Assembly

The AndaSeat Novis might be a budget offering, but the unboxing experience was almost identical to the far more expensive AndaSeat Kaiser 4. It’s a far cry from the impressively slick Secretlab Titan Evo’s packaging and build, but its no-frills box with plenty of plain packing materials gets the job done well enough. All the parts and tools you’ll need are included, along with a simple instruction booklet, but realistically, there are few enough parts here that you probably shouldn’t need to look at that anyway. Wheels on the bottom, seat on the top - you’ve got this.

I tackled the build solo and went from boxed to seated in around 15 minutes without any major hiccups. Unsurprisingly, the slot-in side support bracket is notably absent, and while this does make things a little fiddlier, if it meant trimming a little more off the price, then I can live without it for the one-time use it offered. Also missing is either a head or separate back cushion. Again, this isn’t a surprise, and for me personally, it’s not a huge loss either, but it’s something to be aware of.

Design & Features

With it put together, it’s safe to say the vibe of the AndaSeat Novis is about as quintessentially “gaming chair” as you can get. It’s almost like the starter mold that all other gaming seats are formed from. Available in two sizes and just two colours, the Novis features a wide, flat bucket seat with a slightly contoured back cushion, and honestly, that’s about it on the design front. Like the Razer Iskur V2 X, you miss out on adjustable lumbar support because of the lower price, and the armrests simply go up and down instead of playing hokey pokey like so many you see these days.

Interestingly, despite being nearly a third of the price, there are a lot of shared components between the AndaSeat Novis and the Kaiser 4. I’ve been testing both the linen fabric and PVC leather variants of the Novis, and both upholstery materials are the same as the brand’s more expensive chairs. The wheels are the same too, as are the gas lift and tilt mechanisms. This chair may be missing a few aforementioned features, but you aren’t being skimped on when it comes to the basics, which is rather nice to see.

Little changes in the overall shape of the AndaSeat Novis between the L and XL variants; there are minor sculpting differences, but not enough to notice unless they’re placed side by side. The size change is also not too drastic. Primarily, you gain width with the XL variant as the backrest and ground-to-seat measurements increase by just a couple of cm each. Interestingly, the L variant’s five-point star base is a thick molded plastic, while the XL variant is given the same metal base as other AndaSeat chairs. Both are black and appear similar from a distance. I also didn’t notice a difference in stability or manoeuvrability when using the two chairs day to day, though that nylon base does make the Novis L a couple of kilos lighter.

Performance

If I’m being honest, I didn’t come into this review with the highest of hopes or expectations. My experience with the (apparently) more premium AndaSeat Kaiser 4 wasn’t a brilliant one, so before jumping into the Novis, I was a little nervous about what the brand’s budget offering would be like. These concerns quickly faded because AndaSeat’s least expensive chair may well be its most comfortable.

The AndaSeat Novis is the chair equivalent of the KISS philosophy: get the basics right and you’re most of the way to a winner. For a chair, that’s comfort, stability, and support, and fair play to the Novis because it does a wonderful job of the lot. Comfort was an immediate tick. The cold-cure foam seat cushion is considerably softer and welcoming than both the main seat cushion of AndaSeat’s other chairs, but also their main rivals’ offerings too. Premium options like the Secretlab Titan Evo or Boulies Master Series, for example, have aggressively firm seats that take a fair bit of adjustment to learn to love. I felt like I sat ‘on’ those other chairs, but I sat ‘in’ the AndaSeat Novis and I far preferred it. Whether this softer cushion is as good for my spine, I don’t know. I’m a writer, not a chiropractor. But as an experienced fan of sitting comfortably, I can tell you I wish the Titan Evo’s seat cushion was more like the Novis’.

The large back cushion may lack any adjustability, and you’ll need to pay an extra $39 for a lumbar pillow add-on, but I found it was nicely shaped and felt just right for extended use. I’ve never been one for aggressive lumbar support bulges, so the gentle curves of the AndaSeat Novis struck a nice balance between comfort and ergonomics. This was the first area I noticed what felt like a slight drop in build quality, however. While the fabric L-size Novis I was testing was fine, the PVC leather upholstery of the XL variant felt like it was wrongly sized. It didn’t tightly hug the contour of the back cushion and instead seemed to be stretched across the main face of the chair. It left me feeling almost like I was leaning back into a shallow trampoline, and although this may have just been a quirk of my particular unit, it was definitely a little less comfortable as a result.

Beyond this oddity, the rest of the AndaSeat Novis’ hardware did exactly what I needed it to without flare or fuss. The steel frame across both sizes felt robust and never creaked. The gas lift was exactly what you’d expect, with a slightly modest but decent enough 10cm of adjustment. After a few recent disastrous experiences (I’m looking at you, Kaiser 4), the Novis’ armrests are mercifully only single-D. I just don’t need my armrests to be 18D or whatever ridiculous number brands are itching to climb to. Instead, the AndaSeat Novis’ generously sized, slightly squishy rubber armrests go up and down; that’s it. To be honest, that’s all I needed them to do. They’re comfortable, stable, stay firmly in place under load, and can be adjusted in quite fine increments up to 7cm. They do everything I need and they do it well.

While the AndaSeat Novis does offer the same standard tilt and lean controls as every other gaming chair I’ve tested, they were a little too resistant for my liking. The chair came out of the box with the under-seat knob set to its firmest setting, but even after spending the best part of probably 30 seconds twisting this to its minimum level, I still felt I had to push back pretty hard into the Novis to be able to lean. I’m a man who enjoys a frequent recline to ponder the many meanings of life, or indeed how to best word a sentence about 6D armrests, so this quickly became an irritation and a source of disappointment. It seems like a minor thing to get hung up on, but realistically, this is probably what’s stopping me from sticking with the Novis as my daily driver over other far more expensive options. Admittedly, it may loosen up over time, but after a couple of weeks of testing things didn’t seem to change much, if at all, and I’m not sure they’d ever get to where I’d like them.

Should you buy the AndaSeat Novis?

I can see the AndaSeat Novis being a total crowd pleaser. This is a gaming chair that ticks so many boxes and covers all the important bases. The cushion is softer and more comfortable than many others, the upholstery and frame hardware are still just as good as more premium chairs, and its price is eye-catchingly accessible. AndaSeat has stripped things back, stopped trying to show off with features nobody really needs or wants, and has nailed it as a result.

Obviously, it’s not perfect, and there are a few figurative rough edges here and there. You’re also missing out on some of the more detailed posture and positioning features (and a few Dimensions of armrest adjustment). But if all you need is a comfortable place to park yourself for a few hours of work or gaming, then the AndaSeat Novis is going to be hard to beat for this price. As far as competition goes, this might be the best budget gaming chair on the market in 2025.

How we tested the AndaSeat Novis

I used the AndaSeat Novis gaming chair as my daily driver for both gaming and general office productivity for a couple of weeks. In this time, I tested both the L and XL variants, in the fabric and PVC leather upholstery, respectively. Throughout testing, I occasionally switched back to the Boulies Master Series and Secretlab Titan Evo to compare experiences.

For more on how we test gaming chairs, take a look at the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

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