Cooler Master Caliber R3 Gaming Chair Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Cooler Master Caliber R3 Gaming Chair is available for pre-order from eBuyer for around £219.99. Other retailers will have stock in the coming weeks as more stock lands on our shores. I think that’s a very reasonable price and about what a good gaming chair should cost. Sure, you can get a gaming chair for £70-150 these days, and while there are some good ones, they’re largely terrible, and the low cost is an indication of the materials they’ve used. With steel frame construction, good-quality memory foam and other materials, The R3 feels fairly priced.

Overview

Cooler Master has had a lot of success recently. I’ve long been a fan of them since 10+ years ago when we were rocking their popular products such as their HAF, STORM and STRIKER series, then they did their unique Make it Yours run of mod-friendly products, and now they’ve settled into a groove of unified, premium and aesthetically pleasing quality products that culminate in one of the most impressive brand portfolios on the market today. I run several Cooler Master monitors throughout the home and office, their newer peripherals are excellent, their cases are better than ever, and now they’ve tackled gaming chairs too. Now, the R3 isn’t the flagship in their range, but it’s striking a solid balance of build quality and price, that makes it a realistic entry point for a quality gaming chair.

With a steel frame construction and a good level of features, it’s a cut above the cheap crap you’ll find on Amazon. However, considering it is still nearly half the price of the likes of brands like noblechair and Vertagear, to name just a couple of the many brands that have chairs starting around £400-500, it’s clear that the R3 comes surprisingly close to their level of quality and features, despite the much more wallet-friendly prices.

If there’s one thing I would improve, it has to be the armrests. Now, there’s nothing wrong with them! They’re comfortable, they have a nice curve on the top and some hard-wearing padding that’s kind to my knobbly elbows, and they’re easy to adjust. However, I can’t imagine 4D armrests would have added a lot to the retail price, so it’d be nice to see that on the next-generation model. You could even pick up a set yourself for about £60, so I’d be it’d be about £20-30 more on the MSRP if they made the upgrade.

Top marks for the backrest though, as Cooler Master has equipped this chair with some of the best head and back cushions I’ve seen. They’re often a slapped-on afterthought by many brands, with pokey little neck cushions that offer little actual comfort. However, these are large, wide, and strapped firmly to the chair, allowing for comfort and stability that allows you to really lean back into the chair and get all the support you actually need. It also reclines a full 180-degree, should you wish to pop it out in the garden, lay back, and look at the stars, you could.

Should I Buy One?

I can’t fault this chair, it’s a good mid-range price for a high-quality chair. It’s about what I expect a good quality chair should cost, and as I’ve said before, there are cheaper chairs on the market, but they’re exactly that, cheaper. If you want premium build quality and just enough premium features to make the chair usable daily, then the Cooler Master R3 strikes an impressive balance.