Respawn Specter gaming chair review: "An elegant, comfy gaming chair that doesn't garishly advertise its function"

The Respawn Specter gaming chair is a relatively affordable piece of furniture that emphasizes understated elegance and comfort. It manages to give you the kind of support you need, all while pulling off a classy look that stands out from other seats.

That's more important than you may think. It's vital for your physical health to find a comfortable chair that'll get you through long hours of a Destiny 2: Beyond Light grind, or to support your lower back while working hard from home. The Respawn Specter ticks all those boxes, and it's definitely worthy of a spot on our best gaming chairs of 2020 list as a result.

Here's the complete breakdown on our Respawn Specter gaming chair review, from design to construction to performance.

Design, features, & construction

The Respawn Specter gaming chair boasts a mesh seat and back with a polyurethane adjustable headrest emblazoned with the Respawn logo. As for colors, it comes in either all black or heather grey and black. Both options are understated and almost elegant, a far cry from the eyesore that are most gaming chairs. 

It's practical, too. That mesh stretches and shifts with your bodyweight. There's also a waterfall edge to the seat with a cushion underneath which gives your thighs some extra support. Beyond that, one lever lets you shift the chair forward and back to decrease the pressure on the backs of your thighs and your knees, while another lever adjusts the height.

In much the same way, the Respawn Specter will let you adjust the height of the armrests up and down, forward and back, and side-to-side, which allows you to set them in whichever position is most comfortable for you. Those armrests are removable too, so if you have a large desktop space you can easily take them off and use that to rest your forearms on.

The only qualm about the Respawn Specter is its construction, which can be difficult for anyone trying to put it together solo. Even though it is lighter than other gaming chairs, it's still rather heavy. At barely under 50 pounds, this chair is an absolute unit, and attaching the seat to the chair back is pretty tough, as the angles are definitely odd. The awkward build was only made more difficult by the fact that the screws were labelled wrong, so I was constantly trying to figure out which screw went where.

Performance

The Respawn Specter may not have the cushioned leather seat and and seatback you'd expect from a typical gaming chair, but the mesh is surprisingly comfortable and cradles your bodyweight. Considering the fact that it's almost completely without padding, this is a triumph. The mesh also keeps you cool and comfortable, which means no more thighs getting stuck to the chair on an especially warm day. Blessings on blessings.

Medium-sized individuals will find this gaming chair rather comfortable - I'm quite small but settle into the seat and lumbar support with ease, although the more steep curve of the seatback means my pelvis is tilted a little bit more than the average height person. 

It's incredibly easy to make adjustments to the Respawn Specter as you go, so shifting the chair to fit your needs after a few hours of working or gaming is a cinch. The five-point wheel base makes for easy movement - the chair feels a lot lighter than it actually is when pushing away from or pulling into your desk. It's also easy to lean back and use the upper back and neck rest to keep your posture as natural and comfy as possible. 

While the Respawn Specter has been comfortable for 6-8 hour sessions, it's unclear if lengthier sessions or a build-up of time in the chair will get the same results, considering the lack of seat cushions. However, for the past week or so, it's provided a comfortable and adjustable seat for gaming and working.

Overall - should you buy it?

The Respawn Specter is definitely worth its $299.99 price tag. With gaming chairs ranging from $200 - 400 in general, and outliers like Herman Miller's Aeron chair charging nearly $1,500, the Specter falls comfortably in the mid-range. For the price, you're getting a sleek, low-profile chair that's surprisingly comfortable despite its lack of obvious leather-wrapped cushions. It looks great in any room in your house too, and there's no garish colors to contend with that might mess up your interior design.

Aside from a clumsy construction process (which may be mostly due to user error) the Respawn Specter is an elegant, comfy gaming chair that doesn't advertise its function at anyone who enters the room.