It has come to this.
I’ve become a person who spent hours watching ergonomic chair reviews and is now knowledgeable with builds, gas lifts, and wheel types.
But I won’t bore you with those facts. There’s a lot of detailed video reviews about this chair, so I advise you to watch those first.
In this post, I’m going to give my take on the Sihoo M57, one of the popular ergonomic chairs in the Philippines.
Disclaimer: This is gonna be comprehensive, so just go straight ahead to the parts you’re interested in.
Table of Contents:
∘ Why Sihoo M57?
∘ My Buying Experience
· Sihoo M57: My Impressions After a Week
∘ Headrest
∘ Mesh Seat
∘ Backpain
∘ Wobbling Arms
∘ Guitars
∘ Durability
∘ Aesthetics
∘ Dangling foot
∘ Built-in Foot Rest
∘ Irritating Swivel
∘ Productivity
∘ Wheels
· Final Thoughts: Should You Buy this Ergonomic Chair?
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Why did I buy an Ergonomic Chair?
I have been suffering occasional backpains which I attribute to stress and long hours of laptop usage.
One day, I found it hard to function without having to pause and rest my back on the bed every few hours.
Since it’s taking a toll on my health and productivity, I finally caved in and bought an ergonomic chair.
Why Sihoo M57?
It’s the most reviewed chair in Youtube Philippines at the moment and is the most talked about in the Facebook group: Ergonomic Chair Philippines. It has a headrest, lumbar support, adjustable arm rest, and a mesh build. In short, it checks all the boxes for a good ergonomic chair.
My Profile
My height is around 5" (okay it’s 4"10'), BMI is normal. I spent 5/8 of my day sitting since I have online classes and I’m managing an online business.
My Past Chair Experience
I have been using this wooden chair for months now.
I have never used any ergonomic chair before. I’m sharing this so you know where I’m coming from in terms of chair comparisons. I need you to understand that the bar has been too low for me. 😂
My Buying Experience
I bought mine in this page : The Meshy Tech. They offer a same day delivery. I messaged them around 9 PM and got the chair an hour after. That’s not a typo. They really do deliver at night.
I bought the white chair with the foot rest add-on because… it’s an “investment” anyway so might as well go all in.
The chair is 10,500 (Sadly, they charge more on the white ones.)
Assembly charge = 200, Delivery = 300
Total Chair price = 11,000
Don’t be like me, okay? Try to look for cheaper options. These are all just rebranded chairs anyway.
I know there were cheaper options.
But they are either in black, no footrests, or in pre-order. I already messaged 3 stores and they all surprisingly gave the same prices.
I was desperate to have a good chair immediately so I just chose the one who can give it the fastest.
Sihoo M57: My Impressions After a Week
Headrest
The headrest is the feature you didn’t know you need but now that you have it, you just know you won’t be able to go back.
For my height, the headrest is most comfortable on its lowest setting but I wish I could make it go lower to have it exactly on my neck.
However, I don’t think there’s a chair with a headrest made for people under 5 feet so I’ll take it.
Mesh Seat
One of my problems from my old chair is that my bum gets tired after all the sitting hours.
Once I sat on this chair, I don’t feel that tired anymore. I finally understand the hype around mesh chairs.
They make my butt feel at home.😂
Here’s an article on the magic of mesh chairs. I obviously can’t say anything about sagging since I’ve had this for only a week now. The material used is okay on my skin and the build quality is sturdy enough for me.
Backpain
Ah yes. The main pain point of why I bought the chair. Did the chair solve it?
The answer is yes with reservations.
It took two days for me to notice the improvements, but I no longer wake up with intense upper back pain.
However, there’s still some uncomfortable feeling in my upper back when I stretch it. The pain didn’t entirely went away, but I believe the chair helped alleviate at least 70% of it.
And from that alone, the value I got from this chair is worth the price.
Wobbling Arms
One issues of the M57 is the wobbling arms that some customers have experienced after weeks/months of using the chair.
Now, this might be because the armrests move in a lot of directions making it loose as time go by.
Unfortunately for me, my chair got wobbly after 1 day of using it. I tried tightening the screws inside but the left arm was still wobblier than the right one.
The shop offers a 7-day replacement but I don’t want to go through the hassle of returning it since the wobble is livable anyway.
Guitars
I play guitar and the armrests go way back and way low. No issues with it clashing on the instrument.
Durability
The fact that I got a wobbly armrest gives this chair bad impressions for me in terms of durability. Also, a significant amount of this chair is plastic so I don’t expect this to last at least 3 years. Maybe that’s why they give 2-year warranties only.
Aesthetics
This chair doesn’t fit the aesthetic of my white and wood themed room. It looks like a chair from a Star Wars scene.
I don’t like the design, but it being gray instead of the usual black made it a bit tolerable.
Most ergonomic chairs all look the same so there’s not much choice in there. It’s also quite big for me but I like it that way because it supports my entire back.
Also, the stores say it’s white, but its actually light grey.
Dangling foot
Yes, your feet would be dangling, so go get your self a stool.
For my height, and I notice this even on taller people, a separate stool for the feet allows for more comfort and positions for the feet other than indian sits.
I use a kids stool which also does not fit the room’s aesthetic, but it does the job. And by the way, yes I do indian sits comfortably on this chair.
Built-in Foot Rest
This feature costed me an additional 500 pesos. It takes 2 steps and 3 seconds to set up. I used my guitar for scale, but when I use it, my feet perfectly lands on the rest.
For people taller than me, expect that your calves would be on the rest and your feet would be on the air.
I think the additional 500 peso is only worth it if you have a wide space to stretch the footrest out.
I usually use mine combined with a fully reclined back to take a short nap in between classes. It also gives more sitting positions since I also take it out as additional support when I do indian sits.
Irritating Swivel
My pet peeve in online meetings are people talking while swiveling their chairs.
Since I got this chair, I caught myself unintentionally swinging while in class. It’s annoying me that swiveling tires me but I unconsciously do it.
I wish there’s a swivel lock in this thing.
Productivity
I used to think that my backpain is the indicator of my hard work.
No pain, no gain right?
But that mindset led me to a situation where I rush my deliverables just so I can finally rest in the bed for a few minutes and then go back to work again once my back is more relaxed.
When I use this chair, I can literally sit in it the whole day and not feel any strain. Now that the pain is barely noticeable, my mind is more focused on the task itself and not thinking about how much my back hurts.
Getting this chair indeed made me more productive because it allowed me to spend more hours sitting with a clearer mind.
Also, there is this psychological effect where its easier for me to start working since sitting in a legitimate ergonomic chair gives that office vibes unconsciously telling me it’s time for work.
Wheels
You have to consciously push for you to get the wheels to move which is good so you won’t unwantedly move in your location when changing sitting positions.
Final Thoughts: Should You Buy this Ergonomic Chair?
Overall, the Sihoo M57 is a 7.5/10 purchase for me.
It is not the best one in terms of price-quality ratio so I wouldn’t 100% recommend it.
BUT it is still a reasonable purchase given its features.
If money isn’t much of an issue and you just want to finally sit in an ergonomic chair without doing that much chair hunting, I’d say go for it.
The chair does the job and was able to solve my backpain problem. In totality, it is sturdy but doesn’t feel that premium given its price.
But then again I got mine for P11,000 , and some M57 chairs sell for around P8,000.
This chair has low resale value so think twice before buying it.
However, I also believe there are better and cheaper options for the features. Furnitura is offering new models that I advise you to review first before making a decision.
I hope I was able to help you to make a more informed decision in buying a chair, I can’t give you the best chair choice since it all depends on your preferences and circumstances but one thing is for sure:
Go buy an ergonomic chair.
I don’t regret buying mine. My only regret was that it took me years to buy one.
What’s your dealbreaker in a chair? Let me know in the comments below!
Jam Stamp
