I've sat in this $9 million Kickstarter chair for two months now, and it's definitely worth the hype

The LiberNovo Omni is the breakout desk chair of 2025. This is a market that's often dominated by big brands and established names, so it's been nothing short of amazing to see a scrappy Kickstarter project come out of nowhere, securing ~$9.4 million in crowdfunding. I strongly believe gaming chairs that use electronics, whether it's for heating, cooling, massaging, or otherwise, are usually a massive gimmick. But when I saw this chair's bionic backrest that moves around with you, my interest was well and truly piqued.

I first saw LiberNovo's Kickstarter page back in June, right when its campaign was about to launch. A week or two passed, and then another. Kickstarter goal after Kickstarter goal came and went, and this innovative chair from a new company in Hong Kong kept securing more funding. It became clear that, beyond a hypetrain of excitement for the Omni's clever design going viral, people were screaming out for chairs that do things differently from the status quo.

I've sat in enough gaming chairs by now to know that innovation in this space usually ends up being one of two things. Either it's a total gimmick that really isn't worth the hype it earns, or it's a trendsetter that will likely be imitated by all other brands from that point on. The LiberNovo Omni is almost certainly going to be the latter, because its innovations and fresh approaches to ergonomics make it easily the best desk chair I've ever sat in.

Design

A lot of gaming chair brands will tell you they care deeply about ergonomics. LiberNovo seems to be one of few brands that actively follows through on that though, or at least, is willing to innovate on it to any meaningful degree. The Omni was founded on the idea that, apparently, we as humans change our posture 13 times per hour, and desk chairs so far have been designed for us to sit in just one position.

In a nutshell, ergonomics is the application of physiological and psychological principles when designing products. With controllers, for instance, it's mostly about designing comfortable grips that complement the natural shape of your hands so the chances of repetitive strain injuries or carpal tunnel syndrome decrease. In gaming chairs, ergonomics should promote healthy posture and overall well-being while sitting.

From reviewing a lot of gaming chairs, I can tell you that while a lot of them try to implement ergonomics, this can often come at the expense of comfort. That's because chairs like the AutoFull G7 have clever lumbar support systems, but they often go a little too aggressive in invasively trying to correct your sitting position. The same is true of the Secretlab Titan Evo NanoGen; it may have a firmer level of cushioning to promote healthy posture, but that means it's much more likely to give you a numb rear end, which will cause you to shift out of its one ergonomic sitting position it wants you in at all times.

The LiberNovo Omni has a stubborn unwillingness to let ergonomics stand in the way of its level of comfort. It's also very upfront about what sitting ergonomically actually means. In the box, you'll get a user manual and a four-step alignment guide that both go into detail on how you should set up your chair to actually get the best out of it, which I don't think I've seen from other brands.

Right away, just from looking at this chair, you can see it's taking a different approach. The traditional racing car-style seat is gone. Even an office chair's separated mesh back panels aren't here. The Omni has a central spinal column that runs from the bottom of the seatbase up to the headrest. Its backrest has individualized horizontal panels that move independently from one another, almost mimicking vertebrae that match up with your spine. The backrest is only fixed in its middle to the central spinal column, allowing it to twist from side to side as you shift your weight.

This creates the Omni's signature appeal, a dynamic backrest support system that means no matter how many times you shift your posture per hour, you get the full benefit of the chair's ergonomics.

Features

Perhaps my favorite feature that goes hand in hand with this design philosophy is what LiberNovo calls "Dynamic Screen Alignment", or "Seamless Sync". The Omni has four distinct levels of recline (105°, 120°, 135°, 160°) and while you might complain that it doesn't have free recline like a lot of chairs do, this allows that spinal column to keep your head, neck, arms, and back in line with the screen you're almost certainly looking at, relative to the position they're in when you're upright. Other chairs lose this, so when you recline, you end up holding your neck at an awkward angle to still get the best view of your display, and your arms will almost never stay level with your desk, either.

There's adjustable, motor-controlled lumbar support, and when you recline all the way back to 160°, there's an OmniStretch Massage feature. This 5-minute program delivers a yoga cat-cow-like stretch that decompresses your lower back, leaving your spine feeling lengthened. There's no rumbly massage from a chair one of your grandparents might have bought to correct their back pain, there's no janky massage gun vibrations, just a healthy and relaxing stretch that feels really beneficial.

While a lot of gaming chairs take a firmer approach to cushioning, the Omni features what LiberNovo calls the industry's first hydrophilic sponge, which goes a step past memory foam in terms of its breathability. The seatbase integrates different levels of hardness in its cushioning: a soft front to make it more comfortable on your legs, and a slightly firmer level at the rear to support your bones. The armrests have a 20mm thick foam and a leather-like skin texture to their surface, which hasn't ever irritated my skin or caused discomfort.

On top of these features, you'll also find some standard desk chair adjustables. The armrests can move in 4D, there are height adjustments, seat depth adjustment when you recline, and backrest pressure adjustment.

Assembly

With such an innovative and let's face it, complicated design to this chair, I was very worried that the assembly process would be a nightmare.

To my surprise, for the most part, it followed the same pattern as a lot of standard gaming chairs, but any differences due to motorized parts and USB wiring (to connect the backrest to the battery; this is not a device you'll need to plug in) are communicated clearly through the instructional video on LiberNovo's YouTube channel.

I was surprised by how well packaged the chair was in terms of making it easy to assemble. This brand has taken care to have the most complicated parts of assembly done before shipping, which means fixing parts together is really the only job you need to do. It helps too that all of the central bits of the chair are pretty lightweight and easy to maneuver by yourself.

The only part of the assembly that I thought was really annoying and way more difficult than the instruction video made out, was attaching the small hook-catches that fix the backrest to the spinal column. You need to hook both the top and bottom catches onto small metal bars, but the angle to do so feels super awkward. These plastic catches are maybe the only part of the chair's build quality that doesn't feel premium, so there was a lot of worry that I'd be breaking a pivotal aspect of this very expensive chair if I pressed too hard.

All in all, the Omni has a surprisingly streamlined build process. I was disappointed not to get any safety gloves in my box though, despite the video's promise. Keep this in mind if you want to roleplay as Mickey Mouse while assembling.

Performance

From the outside, it'd be easy to see this chair and think it was filled to the brim with gimmicks. A fresh approach to ergonomics, a dynamic backrest, a stretch massage feature, a big emphasis on recline, and a new-fangled type of cushioning. A lot of these features are things I usually shrug at in gaming chairs because I've been burned by a lot of them turning out to be gimmicks before. Not here, though.

Like no other chair I've sat in, the Omni keeps you feeling supported no matter what position you sit in. What I really love is that even when you recline, the ergonomics of the chair stay completely intact because of that dynamic screen alignment. Despite being a little further away from my monitor, my head and neck still feel in line and at a healthy angle toward my screen when I'm reclined. My arms stay level with my desk without the need for annoying adjustments.

Being honest, while recline features are nice, I always feel as though they aren't actually viable for gaming at a desk. On the contrary, I look forward to reclined gaming in this chair, because tilting back actually feels like I'm getting posture support and a way to relax without messing up my gameplay in FPS titles. Having this option helps to make gaming feel distinct compared to sitting upright for work, taking away desk fatigue after a long day of working from home.

The cushioning on the Omni is something else. My biggest concern with this chair before assembly was that it could have the best, bionic, dynamic backrest in the world, but if its cushioning was too firm, it's not somewhere I'd want to sit every day. What I was met with was a thinner layer of cushioning than something like the Corsair TC500 Luxe, but it was even more beautifully plush than the now-discontinued Boulies Ninja Pro. Covered in soft fabric, it has a really welcoming feel to it that's amazing to sit in for longer periods of time.

Another "gimmick" of this chair might have been the OmniStretch massage. "Massaging" features in gaming chairs usually seem like a way to hike up costs for very little actual reward that consumers will probably use a handful of times. I get a surprising amount of use out this feature of the Omni though. I'm someone who loves mindfulness, but I'm rubbish at fitting a meditation into my daily routine. With a super relaxing stretch program built into this chair, I found a new excuse to take a breathing space at the end of a workday. With the rise and fall of the stretch creating deep breathing sensations anyway, it seemed like a perfect fit. This is absolutely something I'd invest in the companion footrest for though, since I'm not sure how well it would work without one.

Battery life is really impressive, which is a total joy to say for a gaming chair. I've used the 5-minute stretch programme plenty of times in the last two months, and I've never had to recharge. I'm sure if you used this every day, religiously, you might have a different experience, but I'd argue there's no reason to buy a second hot-swappable battery.

Armrests can make or break a gaming chair, in my opinion. For context, LiberNovo actually opted for a design choice I hate: clicky, non-locking armrests. I was worried I'd find this as annoying as I have on other chairs in recent years, but truth be told, you have to apply enough pressure to the Omni's armrests to move them that it's harder to do by accident. If this type of adjustable armrest design is here to stay, I think other brands should take note of how LiberNovo has implemented it.

Anyway, while the armrests could have a slightly plusher cushioning to them, I'm a big fan. They offer a lot of height and width adjustability, and their forward and back movement actually helps when using the recline features. When moving them to be wider or narrower, the entire armrest moves too, not just the top part. I also love that their height can adjust in tiny increments because this means it's much easier to match up with varying desk heights, and not every chair plays nicely with my Fezibo L-Shaped Standing Desk.

The concerns to be aware of

You may have noticed that I'm a big fan of this chair. In truth, it's really hard to fault it, and I make no qualms about the fact that it's probably my favorite chair I've ever tested. I really do believe it's the best chair money can buy right now and thus is worthy of a 5-star review score.

That doesn't, however, mean there aren't a few concerns I think you should be aware of.

This is a brand new company, a brand new product that's absolutely smashed its crowdfunding goals - probably far quicker than its creators expected or intended. We don't have a track record to draw from, we don't have other products from its creators to compare to - which leaves a lot of questions still to be answered.

At the time of writing this, I've asked LiberNovo's PR team a fair few times about increased availability to other retailers, and I haven't been given super clear responses. To the best of my knowledge, there are no plans to make the LiberNovo Omni available at other retailers other than the brand's own website, and at the time of writing, the Kickstarter page is still the only place you can actually hand over money for one. With this product being thrust so far into the spotlight this year, I'd be very, very surprised if there were shady goings on, but it is a little strange to me that a clearer online store hasn't been set up yet.

With a chair that costs this much to buy, there's a lot of money being invested by consumers, so I really do hope that shortcuts aren't going to be made in production to keep up with demand. I'm all for startups making a go of it for themselves, but not releasing a product like this to wider retailers doesn't fill me with much confidence for stock shortages in the foreseeable future.

The chair as a whole has a 5-year warranty, but the electric parts only have a 2-year warranty, which doesn't fill me with a lot of confidence either. Like I've said, this is a brand new product, and we have nothing to look back on and say, "this other chair from this company aged well in terms of wear and tear".

Should you buy the LiberNovo Omni?

Question marks aside, I can't deny that the LiberNovo Omni is easily the best, and highest quality gaming seat I've sat in. The ergonomics are epic, the cushioning is beautifully plush, and even the most gimmicky features feel fantastically implemented.

But I have to level with you. Over $1,000 is a frankly stupid amount to pay for a chair, and that goes for Herman Miller too. The build quality, the innovation, and the technology of the Omni all make it feel worth a massive investment, but when other chairs are doing similar things for far less cash, I struggle to believe it should cost that much.

The Fractal Refine, for example, may not be quite as good as this, but it's half the price and offers most of the same features and a lot of brilliantly innovative ergonomics. Is the Omni better than the Refine, the Titan Evo, or the TC500 Luxe? Absolutely. Is it $500 better? I'm not so sure.

If you can afford it, and you're okay with this brand having no track record to draw from, then I cannot recommend you the LiberNovo Omni more strongly. I'll reiterate again that this is the best gaming chair I've ever reviewed, but you simply do not need to pay this much for a good seat at your desk.

How I tested the LiberNovo Omni

I've sat in the LiberNovo Omni every day for over 2 months before this review was written. Since this is a new brand and I wanted to check longevity more than other seats, I tested for double the length of time I usually do.

In that time, I've tested the Omni's entire feature list. I've used it for upright sitting during work, reclined for gaming and relaxing, and fully reclined for its OmniStretch sequence.

I've compared my experience here with all the previous gaming chairs I've reviewed. For more on how we test gaming chairs, check out the full-length GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

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