Boulies Nubi Ergonomic Office Chair Review
Peter Donnell / 6 months ago
Performance
Let’s get right to it: this is the most comfortable chair I’ve sat in for any chair review I’ve done in the last 12 years. This is actually surprising, firstly, because I’ve reviewed a lot of chairs, and secondly, because this one doesn’t look particularly special. It’s pretty unassuming and understated, but it has a lot more going on than meets the eye.
The seat base and the backrest are joined together but the back rest is mounted to its own tilt mechanism that allows it to move forwards and backwards with your spine, it can lean forward to provide support even when you’re not laid back and basically follows you as you move.
As you can see, the back is heavily scooped providing good support across the whole of your back, but also curves inwards towards the bottom so that it provides natural and extremely comfortable lumbar support too.
The backrest tension can be set to multiple levels, allowing it to be loose, at varying tensions, or locked into a position of your choosing. It’s also mounted a little lower than most, meaning the top of the backrest actually provides positive shoulder and neck support, but no headrest, which works far better than I thought it would. It seems to just comfortably hug you the moment you sit back, and I adore how comfortable it really is.
The higher leg design is interesting too, as it means this chair can be dropped quite low. My partner always found her feet never properly rested on the floor in any gaming chair. However, at the minimum, you can stretch your legs out and still comfortably place them on the floor or a footrest.
Yet the maximum height is surprisingly high too, and even though I’m 6ft tall, it’s enough to take my feet off the ground, giving it more overall range than any other chair I’ve used.
The locking mechanism is great too, as it allows you to adjust the depth of the seat base, having it free flowing you can slide it forward and backwards. This gives you much better support as the base moves forward as you lean back, making the chair feel much bigger than it actually is. However, you can also lock the base to the back, and tilt both sections together and lock the angle of that too, giving you even more flexibility.
Here you can see it fully retracted, and it sits right into the backrest, closing the gap at the back.
The tilt doesn’t look much here, but due to the way the backrest is curved, it feels pretty significant when you’re sitting in it, but again, the lower section retains a position to promote good lumbar support.
And when it’s upright, it still has a good amount of recess and curve, so it feels natural on your back. I like my gaming chair, but this has made me realise just how rigid and unnatural my usual daily sitting position actually is. I will say it again, this is the most comfortable chair I’ve sat in, and would take it over Andy’s Herman Miller chair any day of the week (a bold claim, I know, but I stand by it).
Overall, don’t be fooled by its simple looks. This chair has more padding, more flexibility and adjustability than you might think, and while it looks “small” the way it flows and moves with you makes it feel like a much larger chair, and I couldn’t be more impressed.