With work-from-home becoming a new normal, gaming/office chairs have become very popular. We’ve seen brands such as Razer and even OSIM coming out with their variation of gaming chairs. The latest to join the gaming/office chair craze is Martiangear.
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Meet Martiangear
Martiangear is a local company that specialises in gaming equipment/lifestyle products. They have future plans to cater more gaming equipment such as desks, but as of now, only their gaming and ergonomic office chairs are available for purchase.
Martiangear currently sells five chairs which they categorised under “Gaming Chairs”. To make it easier to understand their offerings, I’m going to refer to them as ‘Gaming’ range and ‘Ergonomic’ range.
There are three chairs in their Gaming range – (1) Astronaut, (2) Interstellar, and (3) Supernova. As for their Ergonomic range, Martiangear sells two models – (1) Starfighter, and (2) Starship. I went down to their showroom a few weeks back to test out the pre-production samples of their chairs. I have penned down some of my initial impressions below (except the Starfighter as it wasn’t available when I was there).
Gaming series (First impressions)
Below are my initial impressions of the pre-production samples of the Astronaut, Interstellar, and Supernova.
Specs comparison
Astronaut
The Astronaut is your typical racer style gaming chair, where it is designed for body hugging comfort. The Astronaut comes in two types of upholstery – (1) vegan leather, or (2) fabric. If you prefer fabric, there is only one colour available which is in light grey.
If you prefer darker colours, your only option would be in vegan leather upholstery which is available in either black/grey combo or a more gamery black/blue combo.
For my size (172cm 60kg), the Astronaut feels pretty comfortable. The backrest has a slight indent and contour that provides sufficient support for my lower back even without the provided lumbar pillow. The seat feels like a medium soft-firm cushioning, which puts it in the middle of APOL and Secretlab in terms of firmness. At 172cm, I find the Astronaut fitting for me, and I believe that it should also fit individuals who are shorter too, perhaps from 160cm onwards. Size wise, it feels slightly larger than the Sphinx, but much smaller than the Kraken.
The Astronaut features a bucket-style seat base which is meant to provide a snug sitting experience. Many bucket-style seats have two parts – the seat itself and the “flaps” that attached on the sides. However, for the Astronaut, the seat and its “flaps” are one piece on its own. This is actually rather thoughtful as it prevents unwanted dirt and things to get trapped inside the gaps of the “flap” and the seat.
The Astronaut retails at S$488.
Interstellar
The Interstellar features the familiar gaming chair silhouette we’ve seen on many brands such as the Secretlab Titan, Royale Ergonomics, and Noblechair Hero. It comes in only one colour (black) and one upholstery option which is vegan leather. Martiangear plans to bring in a fabric version of the Interstellar but dates are not confirmed at this point.
The Interstellar is designed for individuals with larger build. For my physique, the Interstellar feels a little big for me because of the depth of the seat base. The backrest is flatter compared to the Astronaut, but feels more spacious. Like the Astronaut, the seat feels like a medium soft-firm cushioning, which puts it in the middle of APOL and Secretlab in terms of firmness. I believe individuals with larger build will enjoy the Interstellar due to the roomier backrest and flat seat base.
The flat seat base on the Interstellar allows for more flexible seating positions. So if you’re one who likes to sit cross-legged or put one feet under your butt while gaming, the flat seat base will be more comfortable as there are no “flaps” that will stick out.
The Interstellar retails at S$488.
Supernova
The Supernova has a pretty unique design that is not very commonly seen amongst all the gaming chair launches in Singapore. Martiangear says that this chair is inspired from the seats of sport cars, and it does look pretty luxurious. The Supernova comes in only one colour (black) and one upholstery option which is vegan leather. Martiangear plans to bring in a fabric version of the Supernova but dates are not confirmed at this point.
Martiangear says that the Supernova is their biggest chair of the bunch but I felt that it fit me better than the Interstellar. Without using the lumbar pillow, I am able to sit rather comfortably with my back fully rested and still have some room between the back of my knees and the seat. I believe this is likely due to the backrest have a rounder contour at the lower end compared to the Interstellar. The backrest is more tapered compared to the Interstellar, so the fit at my back feels more snug.
The Supernova seat base is similar to the Interstellar, it feels like a medium soft-firm cushioning, putting it in the middle of APOL and Secretlab in terms of firmness. The flat seat base means you can sit in a variety of postures such as cross-legged and still feel comfortable.
The Supernova retails at S$488, and you can check out the full review here.
Other points to note
All of Martiangear’s gaming chairs come other features that top-of-the-line gaming chairs have. These include reclining of up to 155º, 4D armrest, Class 4 gas lift, aluminium alloy wheel base, multi-tilt mechanism, and provided neck and lumbar pillows.
Ergonomic series (First impressions)
Below are my initial impressions of the pre-production sample of the Starship only.
Specs comparison
Starfighter
The cheaper Starfighter chair was not available during my visit to their showroom. This post will be updated if I manage to test out the Starfighter when it is available at Martiangear’s showroom.
The Starfighter starts at S$548.
Starship
The Starship is Martiangear’s flagship ergonomic office chair. The design of the Starship has the familiar ergonomic chair silhouette, but features unique construction parts that give the chair a cool sci-fi feel to it. The base model of the Starship which retails at S$698 features a standard matte aluminium chassis frame, but you can go for the slightly premium S$748 models that features an extra coating of anti-corrosive automotive grade paint over the chassis. You can choose colours from chrome, red, or black.
The sitting experience of the Starship is rather different from that of the earlier gaming chair range. Firstly, the Starship’s upholstery is mesh, which is bound to provide better cooling and ventilation for long hours of sitting. Secondly, the neck rest of the chair is highly adjustable. You can adjust it in terms of height, angle, and even the depth. Thirdly, the lumbar support at the back is height adjustable. And lastly, the seat base is able to slide together with the recline of the chair. One unique thing about the Starship is that the levers to control the gas lift and multi-tilt mechanism is located on the armrest.
All the adjustments that you can make allow you to enjoy a more personalised sitting experience than a gaming chair. With the amount of fine tuning you can do, it is highly likely you can configure a setting that best fits your needs in different settings. I believe I would need extended periods of use with the Starship to provide more in-depth opinion of the feature set and comfort, but as of my experience at Martiangear’s showroom, it is rather promising.
The Starship starts at S$698.
How to choose
When it comes to choosing a right chair for you, I believe you should decide in order of size fit, sitting habits, and type of support provided. For my physique (172cm 60kg), size fit for me would be in order of the Astronaut, Supernova, and Interstellar. As I prefer a wider seat base, the seats on the Supernova and Interstellar are more appealing to me. Lastly, all three chairs provide a medium soft-firm cushioning but offer difference sitting experience, with the Astronaut giving you a more snug and hugging comfort versus the more free and spacious room on the Interstellar. This all boils down personal preference and it is best to try out the chairs yourself to get a better sense of the comfort you would get.
Hopefully, the above paragraphs are able provide enough insight to how Martiangear’s chairs are like. Do note that these are all first impressions on the pre-production samples when I was visiting Martiangear’s showroom. Extensive usage and testing is required for me to present a clearer portrayal of my experience to come up with a conclusion.
Where and how to buy
You can head over to Martiangear’s website to take a look at their chair offerings and find out more about the company. If you’re interested in giving the chairs a test before purchasing, simply head down to The Riverwalk @ #01-14, 20 Upper Circular Rd, Singapore 058416. Be sure to book an appointment on their website beforehand.
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For S$60 off
If you’re making a purchase, be sure to use discount code TECHJIOBLOG to enjoy S$60 off!