AKRacing Core Series EX Gaming Chair Review

A Closer Look – Components

Inside the box you’ll find everything you need to get this put together. This is all exceptionally packaged meaning that your brand new gaming chair shouldn’t experience any problems in transit. The parts are, surprisingly quite minimal with most of the main fixings already attached to the chair. All you need to do is unscrew them, attach the right part, then put it back together. You are even provided with a pair of gloves to keep your hands relatively protected.

The manual itself is absolutely fantastic, both in terms of the information provided and the pictures to go along with it. We should note that this does appear to be a somewhat generic manual and as such there may be some slight variants to your specific model or colour choice. On the whole though, I found this an excellent guide to get me through the entire installation process.

The Base

The base of the chair is provided in a steel 5-star design. This isn’t uncommon, but it certainly speaks of a quality product that this is fully steel. Cheaper models (and even more expensive ones) are often made out of nasty plastic. The high-gloss black finish is also a complete delight to behold. So far, so good!

The wheels (or castanets if you prefer) have a nice solid feel about them. You are, of course, provided with 5 of them and each feels very well made. In terms of design, there isn’t much to say. They’re fairly standard, but at least give you the confidence that they’ll stand the mileage of you rolling around.

They attach very snuggly to the base but are also not too much of a chore to remove. In addition, it’s a nice added touch of quality that AKRacing made the effort to also spray the underside of the metal base.

The Back Rest

The backrest of our particular model was black with an ‘electric’ blue trim. The colours matched well and it was also nice to see that the blue colouring was also used in the stitching.

At the top, you will notice the AKRacing logo in all its glory. While it is rather bold, the size and positioning is perfect. It tells you the brand but doesn’t detract or dominate the design.

In terms of the switching quality, this is excellent. Throughout the entire chair, we found it to be consistently good. There was no gaps, no loose threads and the distance between them was near perfectly equal. This is the real hallmark of a quality design when you get up close and personal with a gaming chair. Actually, almost any chair in general.

The back of the chair is rather plain, but that’s no criticism as it fits in well with the overall ethos. You have the gab to fit your lumbar cushion and you also have the zip which allows you to remove and wash the covering if, after a bit of excessive use, it gets a little grubby.

We should note that throughout the entire design of the chair, there are more than a few little brandings made. These are nicely done and very subtle. It speaks of that extra little touch that divides a cheap chair from a quality chair.

At the side of the backrest, you will find the 2 screws (4 in total) to attach it to the seat. In addition, you will also find a small tear to the centre. Don’t be alarmed, this is entirely intentional!

As noted earlier, the backrest is fitted via the fixtures on the seat. You will note in the picture that the picture below that the hole in the fabric, seen earlier, lines up perfectly with this.

As now becomes clear, this all allows you to fit the plastic cover over the metal. This gives it a nice tidy final appearance.

The Seat

The sear carries on the black and blue design of the chair. You have your backrest mounts to the rear, fully adjustable armrests to the side and, of course, a nice comfy place to park your backside.

We again noted that the stitching quality to the seat was excellent. It was solid, consistent and exactly what you want to see.

While the chair is well cushioned, the base of it is supported by 4 elastic straps. Although you can only see 3 in the picture, the 4th is obscured by the base mounting bar. As we noted earlier, you will find the attachments for the base are already fitted into the chair. This is nice as it means you’re not inflicted with a bag of bolts. We should note that the rear screws (depending on your perspective) are slightly smaller than the front. Although this is noted in the manual, it’s a factor that does require a little scrutiny during the fitting.

Fortunately, the figure to attach the seat to the base does indicate the ‘right way up’ thanks to a handy arrow. You will also note the plastic dial which controls the resistance of the ‘soft-tilt’ mechanism.

Cushions

I should note that even without the cushions, the chair is remarkably comfortable. For this little extra support (and style) though, the cushions provided are both of excellent quality. The lumbar support is well padded and when fitted certainly gives you a better posture that will help promote your long term comfort. Again, as above, the stiching quality is excellent.

A closer look really highlights the quality. Particularly the detail that went into applying the AKRacing logo.

The headrest is nice and firm, albeit perhaps a little too much. I personally tried the chair both with and without and could easily have used it either way. It’s there if you need it and boy is it nice. On the whole though, if you don’t like it, the standard support supplied from the backrest is more than comfortable.