Corsair TC500 Luxe review: “If Ron Burgundy owned a gaming chair"

If Ron Burgundy owned a gaming chair, it’d be the Corsair TC500 Luxe. This seat resembles those leather reading chairs you’d see in someone’s home library in the 70s - you can practically smell the cigar smoke and rich mahogany from it. And at the same time, it still manages to look like a modern gaming chair that feels right at home in an RGB-draped setup. That takes some doing, and Corsair’s designers have really pulled it out of the bag.

This is the brand’s attempt at a high-end spot on the best gaming chair ladder. I’ve already placed its excellent TC100 Relaxed on our leaderboard as the best budget option, so going into testing the premium alternative, I had some expectations. For a flagship chair, I’m delighted to note that Corsair has managed to avoid the ludicrously high price lines other brands lean into. This may be a gaming chair for people who own many leather-bound books, but at $500/£500, this really is one of the best value finds in 2025.

I’ll be upfront and say that I actually love this chair, so much so that it’s replacing the now discontinued Boulies Ninja Pro as my mainstay I’ll keep around for when I’m not testing something new. Unfortunately, though, it has a massive, inescapable issue that nearly spoils the whole experience. Whether or not it’s a deal breaker for you, I’m not sure.

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Assembly

Of all the gaming chairs I’ve tested, the Corsair TC100 Relaxed had the most minimalist approach to assembly instructions. There were no included leaflets or a Secretlab-esque placard with handy diagrams. The only help you get in building it is going to Corsair’s website and finding instructions for an older chair model with a similar assembly process.

With the TC500 Luxe, there is a similar lack of instructions but Corsair’s YouTube channels have some helpful instructional videos that go through how to assemble it. Fortunately, there was nothing too confusing about the process and, like the Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen, the armrests come pre-attached, meaning there’s one less step between unboxing and sitting.

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It was during this assembly process that the first moment of foreboding hit me. In the video above, the voiceover clearly says “the width of the armrests can be adjusted by partially loosening the screws”. Having been particularly excited about this chair, I had read some other reviews of it, which I don’t usually do.

The consensus on this seat was that it’s excellent, but for some reason, its armrests are set far too widely apart. To mitigate that issue, I thought, I’d move the armrests of mine during assembly to as narrow as they can go. When I got to that stage of the build though, they were already in their narrowest setting. “What are the other reviews complaining about then?” I thought.

I had far too little faith in my fellow gaming chair critics.

Design

The thing that immediately stands out about this chair on a first look is its hex-pattern cushioning, which gives it that antique, classy feel so many gaming chairs lack. Like the Boulies Master Series, it looks like something that’d be just at home in a remote worker’s professional video call as it does an RGB-filled gaming livestream.

It has a wide seat base with a generous lip on its front, inviting plenty of viable sitting positions. It has rounded shoulders that remind me of a Razer Iskur X, and the integrated lumbar support and magnetic head cushion made famous by brands like Secretlab and DXRacer.

The result is a very attractive gaming chair that’s up there with the Fractal Refine in terms of its style, and tying its aesthetics together is its marvelous choice of upholstery, which sits somewhere between suede and leather. It’s not quite either and, in truth, it might be my new favorite material for any gaming chair. It’s breathable, but it still feels as premium as the highest-end leather options. It’s also nice and plush, adding a velvety surface to a chair that isn’t as firm as Secretlab, but isn’t quite as comfort-aimed as the Boulies Ninja Pro.

The TC500 Luxe is available in three colors, with each sporting the same black wheelbase, armrests, and casters. Frost is a creamy white color, which looks surprisingly nice for a white gaming chair (these often tend to look very bold and a bit “extra”), but I can’t help but feel a slightly different color of wheelbase would really complement this model a bit more. Shadow is a sort of graphite-grey color which is perfect for anyone wanting something more muted. The version Corsair sent me is the Sherwood variant, which has this alluring mossy green look to it and sits beautifully against my walnut-textured desk. I usually advocate for more color choices with gaming chairs, but I think these hues offer a perfect set of variables for the classy feel the Luxe is going for. I’m not sure the same effect would be achieved with a blue colorway - and this certainly isn’t something I’d like to see making a play for our best pink gaming chair list.

Features

Supporting the TC500 Luxe is a solid steel inner frame. I have to say, I’m really impressed with the build quality it brings because unlike 90% of gaming chairs today, I’ve heard no creaks or squeaks coming from it after a month of testing. All the while, it doesn’t have the Secretlab problem of that great build quality potentially contributing to a really firm sitting experience.

All the usual adjustment features are here, with a reclining backrest that tilts from 90° to 160°. You can also adjust the height and backward lean, and that aforementioned 4-way lumbar support does a lot to support your lower back. The magnetic neck pillow is the best I’ve ever tested in a gaming chair. Somehow, it’s managed to out-plush Boulies and Secretlab with memory foam that feels affectionately soft and eases back into its plump shape right after taking your head off it. I found it easy to slide around depending on my sitting position too, so Corsair has provided a large magnetic surface area for it.

One of the standout features of this chair is that it has an innovative set of Omniflex armrests. These are mounted in their center, the same as most gaming chair armrests are, but they have a unique fold in them that means when you press your weight into them, they have some give, coiling down and putting less stress on your elbows and shoulders. This is, quite honestly, ingenious, and does make a big difference to comfort when leaning on them for hours at a time. I don’t get the occasional trapped nerve or a numb feeling in my elbows like I do with other chairs, and I hope this is a design that’s adopted by other manufacturers.

These armrests are meant to be 4D, but I was sad to learn that wasn’t really the case. They can move up and down, they can rotate up to 215°, they can click back and forward in the same annoying way the Fractal Refine ones do. But they’re missing a vital side-to-side movement.

Herein lies the single biggest problem with the Corsair TC500 Luxe. Other reviewers were right, the armrests of this chair are needlessly far apart. And the worst bit is that a simple sliding hinge that slides them across laterally is all it would take to alleviate this issue, potentially even bolstering this to my new top gaming chair.

Performance

Armrests are often overlooked when you’re shopping for a chair. The main draw is the ergonomics, the comfort, the shape, and size. But armrests are a massive contributor to a healthy sitting position. Because the TC500 Luxe’s armrests are set too wide, even at their narrowest, they actually detract from the posture support this excellent gaming chair gives you. If you sit up with a dignified posture, so you feel a stretch up your spine, and then move your elbows further apart, your chest will sink down as a result, creating an unhealthy slouching position in your upper back.

I often carry stress and tension in my shoulders and traps, and throughout months of testing other seats with armrests that sit straight with my body’s natural sitting position, I’ve not been feeling that of late. Within a week or two of testing the TC500 Luxe, I was feeling that all-too-familiar knot in my right shoulder.

Luckily, the saving grace is that you can rotate the armrests around somewhat, meaning that you will be able to find a more natural sitting position when gaming, but your forearms will poke off of them, never getting their full benefit. It’s also the straw that breaks the camel’s back when you’re using the armrests to stand up and they click out of the one position you found them comfortable in.

I’ve heard of some Redditors and other early adopters drilling holes in their seatbases to move the armrests in further, but this isn’t something you should have to do when spending $500 on a gaming chair from a well-known brand, and I can’t really wrap my head around why the armrest’s most narrow setting is like the widest setting on any other chair. I love that the seatbase is wide because it allows me to either cross one leg under the other, or cross both legs while sitting on it. But that wouldn’t be hampered by armrests that could slide further in.

Other reviewers have said this is quite a firm seat, but as someone who finds the Secretlab options far too firm, I’m not sure I agree on that point. For me, this is akin to the Corsair TC100 Relaxed in that it provides a really great blend of comfort and firmness. Not every chair gets that right, and I applaud Corsair for making something that I can sit in comfortably for long hours. I do still get a numb bum if I stay in a position too long, but it takes a lot longer to pang me than when I’m sitting in a Secretlab Titan Evo.

Should you buy the Corsair TC500 Luxe?

It’d be easy to read my thoughts on Corsair’s armrests and think they’re a dealbreaker. For me, they’re not, but if I had paid for a $500 chair and been met with armrest designs that make little to no sense for a wide range of body types, I certainly wouldn’t be happy.

Fortunately, there’s enough about the Corsair TC500 Luxe that I’m really fond of, so I wouldn’t call the wide armrests a dealbreaker. The premium looks, feel, and a great blend of comfort and firmness add up to a fantastic chair that is competitively priced compared to a lot of high-end options.

And for all its armrest woes, there is some ingenuity at play thanks to Corsair’s omniflex design. This is a chair that stands out for so many reasons, and it’s one I’d easily recommend. I’d just be sending a message to those DIY fixers on Reddit to ask them how I should drill new holes into the seat base.

How I tested the Corsair TC500 Luxe

I parked myself in Corsair’s high-end gaming chair for around a month before this review was written. I assembled it myself in around 20-30 minutes, and didn’t find it too heavy to lift around on my own. I sat in this chair for long hours for remote working during the day, gaming during the evening, and content creation at my desk in my spare time too.

I compared my experience closely with the Corsair TC100 Relaxed since it’s made by the same manufacturer, and with other premium options on the market like the Secretlab Titan Evo, Fractal Refine, and Boulies chairs.

For more on how we test gaming chairs, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

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