Sihoo Doro S300 review: A space-age office chair
Yes, it's expensive, but by jove is it comfortable.
The Sihoo Doro S300 has to be one of the most interesting, if futuristic, looking chairs I’ve seen in a long time. It’s been marketed by the Chinese brand as a ‘zero gravity’ chair, possibly designed to make you feel as if you’re floating in mid-air when in reality you’re writing an important email.
It’s perhaps important to address that claim first. Of course, no chair is going to actually let you float in mid-air - it wouldn’t be a chair then. But, the Doro S300 gets seriously close to making you feel that way. There’s more support in this chair than I’ve ever experienced before, owing to the literal suspension that the Doro S300 has, combined with its myriad of adjustability and clever dual lumbar support. The feeling of relaxation and almost zen you get from using it is like plonking your backside down on a cloud, truth be told.
That’s not an exaggeration, either. I’ve been through my fair share of racing-seat style gaming chairs, and while the more premium choices such as the Secretlab Titan Evo have been comfortable, they don’t come close to the Doro S300. Everything on this chair is adjustable, too, from the actual seat to the armrests, and back panels. That’s good in some instances, as you can configure the Doro S300 to your heart’s content, although not so good in others. Even slightly readjusting myself after coming back to my desk caused the seat to move, while the armrests would not lock in place. They’re brilliant for changing their angle or orientation, but won’t stay in that position for too long.
With regard to its adjustment, the Doro S300 offers up to 138 degrees of recline over three settings. For my use, I kept to the middle setting to offer the flexibility to go back without feeling as if I was about to fall out of the chair. Combined with this, there’s those pesky 6D armrests that can go up and down vertically, from side to side, and even diagonally if you want. The backrest is split into two pieces, with a wider top piece for supporting your head and shoulders, while the bottom piece is spring-loaded and adjusts the strength of the lumbar support. The chair’s seat is also suspended on springs, so cushions you well when you sit down initially.
This is a high-back chair, supporting everything from your back to your arms especially well, and I don’t rue the lack of a head-rest, as some may do. I very rarely made use of them in other chairs I’ve owned, perhaps given my posture isn’t the best, but the Doro S300 nonetheless felt especially comfortable even without one. Being a mesh chair also means it’s breathable and I didn’t get too uncomfortable or sticky from using it for hours on end over the summer months when it gets particularly hot in our office. In all other settings, it’s been a joy to use.
In addition, it’s supremely well-built with a mix of a thick metal base, a velvety mesh seat and fibreglass accoutrements that make it one of the best chairs I’ve seen in terms of build quality, while in the white colourway I have here, it looks immensely stylish. It’s also rather heavy, which makes it a bit unwieldy to build. Assembling the Doro S300 is undoubtedly a two-person job simply given how hefty it is, as you need one person to hold a piece in place while the other screws it in. All in, building it probably took about half an hour to 45 minutes, which is reasonably okay.
Then there’s the price. There’s no easy way of saying this - the Sihoo Doro S300 is an £680/$800 chair, making it one of the more expensive office chairs you can purchase, full stop. For reference, the Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 starts at $549, while the IKEA Markus is $290, and those have been two of our favourite gaming chairs for quite a while. With its spec sheet and the overall user experience here, it’s fairer to compare the Doro S300 to the likes of the Herman Miller Cosm ($1730) and the Steelcase Gesture ($1663), and in the context of those chairs, it’s a fair bit more ‘affordable’.
In essence, the Sihoo Doro S300 is a fantastic office chair that’s certainly one of the most comfortable I’ve used in years. That goes for everything from its breathable mesh material to its heaps of adjustment and its smooth recline. In addition, it’s especially well built and looks fantastic. It is an expensive chair, but definitely worth the investment.