These days, gaming chairs come in all shapes, colours and sizes with prices ranging upwards of £300. The newly-released ThunderX3 CORE gaming chair also sits within that price range at a GBP MSRP of £339.95. However, unlike its counterparts on the market, it offers a wider range of comfort customisation, particularly with the integrated lumbar support. We’ll take a look at it in this review.

As with other gaming chairs, the ThunderX3 CORE is delivered disassembled and with quite a lot of parts. Thankfully, it is easily put together thanks to the handy setup manual and all accessories required to assemble it are included in the package. I could mount the chair on my own within 20 minutes. 

On a side note, if you are purchasing this gaming chair in the UK, it will come with a footrest, while in all other regions it is sold separately. The winged, removable headrest pillow comes in all regions though.

 

Once assembled, the ThunderX3 CORE packs quite a classy look, especially the grey fabric of the CORE Loft model reviewed. As it does not pack any edgy colours or design, it can easily be used in your gaming room as well as office space. This is especially the case considering the comfort that it offers.

The cushioning on this chair is really made to enable you to use it for extended periods of time. It’s remarkably soft and pleasant to sit on whether it’s for your gaming sessions, video calls or desk-based work. The fabric finish covering the near entirety of the ThunderX3 CORE further adds to the comfort, delivering a feeling akin to clothing. I am particularly fond of the padded armrests which are often overlooked and made of hard, rubberized finish. On this model, they are padded and fabric coated that makes it pleasant to use.

ThunderX3’s main innovation with the ThunderX3 CORE is the lumbar support. Termed as the “CORE.RDY lumbar tech”, it does not rely on detachable lumbar pillows but is more akin to SecretLab’s integrated lumbar support but with way more adjustment options. With your back against the lumbar area, the chair’s lumbar support system will be best described as wobbly. While it might sound peculiar and it does feel that way at first, this design is quite ingenious as it enables the lumbar support to adjust in real-time to the positioning of your back as it is not static. It moves in all directions, ensuring it accommodates even your slightest of shifts. This makes it really ergonomic, ensuring optimal support for your lumbar area while being padded and comfortable.

 

That’s not all in terms of customising for ergonomics and comfort. The ThunderX3 CORE enables you to tilt the backrest while seated (and lock it in position if you wish) as well as adjust the tilt resistance. Furthermore, the seat can be moved forward, so that you can adjust how close/far your back is to the backrest based on your needs. The seat can also be inclined at a desirable angle. While the adjustment levers do take some getting used to, the range of customisation is welcome and quite unique in a gaming chair that really helps make for a personalised comfort.

Regarding the accessories, the headrest pillow is soft and comfortable, being of memory foam. It’s easy to strap around the backrest and adjust the position, although the strap that’s used isn’t as elegant of a touch as the whole chair is. 

Then there’s the footrest whose size can be adjusted by removing the lower segment which is stuck to the upper part with velcro. This is also a nice addition to add to the comfort and it also doubles as a “hand rest” of sorts where you can place your hands while seated, so they don’t dangle between the armrests. However, as mentioned before, the footrest is sold separately in all markets except the UK.

There’s also a seatback pocket which at first I wasn’t very enthused about. But this addition grew on me as you can quickly slide in a tablet or phone and retrieve them to check your notifications or look for a walkthrough of a game if you’re stuck.

   

Overall, the ThunderX3 CORE is a gaming chair that is worthy of a recommendation for its comfort and range of customisation options that lets you turn it into  a personalised, ergonomic seat. And considering the market, it is relatively competitively priced but I still wish that the footrest didn’t come at an extra in most regions.