Today we are writing our Steelcase Karman Review to discuss this ergonomic chair from Steelcase.
It is a global leader in ergonomic chair designs, and the Karman naturally offers comfort and flexibility for everyone. The seat responds adequately to your body movements no matter how you sit. Plus, it integrates a proprietary mesh textile that does not feel stiff/saggy.
Moreover, it sports an ultra-light and flexible frame to avoid stiff edges, ensuring lesser pressure while sitting.
But what more does this chair have to offer? What makes it better than other ergonomic office chairs? Continue reading our review to get more information about it.
Steelcase Karman Packaging
Unboxing the product for our Steelcase Karman Review was a quick, effortless, and seamless process. Once we opened the box, we found the chair fully assembled and ready. We did not require any tools and only had to bring out the chair.
The colour we have for our review is the black opaque mesh shade. It looks stunning and premium, and nowhere did it appear cheap.
Steelcase Karman Review – Design and Functionality
Once the package arrived, we immediately unboxed the chair for our Steelcase Karman Review. From there, we noticed how flexible and well-built it was.
The first time we sat on it, we did not immediately get used to its flex. But after four or five sits, we got accustomed to it and felt its comfort. Thanks to its durability, even a taller person on the heavier side could sit comfortably.
Its design aims to flex and move along with your body while shifting in place. The back frame uses a glass-filled nylon material, yielding each time you move.
If you tend to shift in your seat, the Karman will flex with your body to provide support. The company calls this the LiveBack technology.
The innovative LiveBack technology offers remarkable flexibility on its backrest. Unlike the seat pan, the back flexes more noticeably, providing exceptional support and adaptability.
Whether you shift from side to side or move around frequently while seated, the chair shape effortlessly adjusts to maintain consistent support. That means everyone can enjoy comfort no matter who sits.
Construction and Material
In our Steelcase Karman Review, we also looked closer at its construction. Its back frame securely connects to the base while reinforced by a central piece that runs through the backrest.
Although composed of several pieces, these are seamlessly attached, creating a unified structure for its back and seat. This design allows the entire chair to move harmoniously with your body, acting like a massive spring. It yields to your movements and effortlessly returns to its original position once you sit up.
Everything is possible thanks to its mesh backing that instantly reshapes and forms with the frame. Steelcase also used a hybrid of the earlier mesh material but with cushions beneath for its seat.
Height and Tension Adjustment
Since the entire Karman is generally a big body-conforming spring, there are minimal adjustment options, unlike similar products. But because of its design and functions, the lack of these does not matter.
Underneath the chair is where you will see the simplicity of the Karman. Here, you will find the tab for height adjustment on the right. It also has a knob for adjusting the recline tension in the same area with four options.
Key Features of the Steelcase Karman
In 2019, Steelcase conducted comprehensive research that revealed 40% of workers needed to adjust their posture due to physical discomfort. Generally, this concern has become more prevalent with the remote work era and the widespread use of virtual meetings. So, the company aimed to address this issue, resulting in the creation of the Karman.
But how did Steelcase improve the classic office chair? Find out as we discuss the product features in our Steelcase Karman Review.
Go Beyond with the Steelcase Karman
Karman represents the evolutionary leap in office chair design, particularly mesh-back chairs. The company embraced a dynamic movement that harmonises with the human body. It effectively decreases the pressure often felt when sitting on traditional chairs.
Karman takes mesh seats to a new level with its modern 21st-century design. It intuitively responds to natural body movements, setting a new standard for top-notch comfort and ergonomic support.
Extensive and Optimised Comfort
The patented hybrid seat of Karman stands out from the rest. It has built-in cushioning that offers enhanced comfort the whole time you sit.
You will not have to worry about painful pressure points while seated on this chair. The reason is that its ultra-light frame flexes, unlike other mesh chairs. So no matter who sits and however they choose to sit, pain and discomfort is unfelt.
The Intermix – Proprietary Mesh from Steelcase
For an exceptional seating experience, Steelcase takes innovation to new heights with its revolutionary Intermix Technology. This cutting-edge, proprietary performance textile is the heart of its exceptional comfort, performance, and aesthetics.
Intermix is a testament to ingenuity, incorporating the Shrinx technology within its proprietary design. As a result, it achieves the perfect balance of ergonomic support, ensuring it remains tough without sagging or getting stiff.
Its unique weave introduces a captivating array of options, including translucent, opaque, and an all-new range of colour-shifting textiles. These add an enchanting visual dimension to the seating experience.
The material combines with a light and flexible frame removing hard edges, allowing you to sit however you want.
Sustainable Components to Go Beyond Convention
Steelcase created the Karman design and aesthetics while being environment-friendly. The company uses sustainable materials and minimal components to minimise its ecological footprint.
Despite being lightweight, this eco-conscious solution boasts remarkable durability, showcasing the perfect synergy of sustainability and robustness. By conserving resources, Steelcase significantly lessens its impact on the earth. It exemplifies a holistic approach to sustainability, aligning with its carbon reduction goals.
Comfort Dialling
Comfort dialling is a feature that has four reclining positions. These are necessary to allow you to dial the proper level of resistance needed against your back while reclining. This feature enhances and improves your seating experience, providing 100% comfort and relaxation.
4D Arm of the Steelcase Karman
These innovative armrests are present on Steelcase chairs, including the Karman. These are adjustable, allowing you to pivot in or out, raise up or down, and shift in every direction. As a result, your arms and shoulders can naturally fall in place.
With these armrests, you can enjoy comfort and perform tasks in a relaxed position.
Weight-Activated Seating
The weight-activated seating is one of the features that impressed us while testing the product for our Steelcase Karman Review. It is a mechanism that instantly responds to your body upon sitting and changing postures in all directions. This feature replaces the adjustment controls that most ergonomic chairs have
LiveBack Technology of the Steelcase Karman
LiveBack technology supports your spine and back while balancing body weight. Plus, it provides a personalised comfort and fit that perfectly responds to your form and movements.
Specifications
Knowing the product specifications is one of the things you need to do before purchasing a product. To determine if the Karman is adequate for your needs, we made a quick list for you to breeze through.
- Chair Height: 997 – 1124mm
- Chair Width: 569 – 880mm
- Wheels: Soft Casters Suitable For Hardwood Floors
- Depth: 534 – 601mm
- Seat Width: 508
- Back Height: 612m
Steelcase also offers a lifetime warranty for the frame, seat shell, and other parts of the chair. It also has a 12-year warranty for other posts like foam, glides, gas lifts, etc.
Hands-on with the Steelcase Karman
Our Steelcase Karman Review will focus on our hands-on experience with the product. We used it for a week to determine if its ergonomic design and features provide comfort and maintain posture.
When we first sat on the Karman, we immediately noticed its comfort and flexibility. The Karman is incredibly study in its design and offers a fantastic amount of flex in its frame, allowing it to form to your body. After using the chair we feel that it will last an incredibly long time thanks to the overall attention that has been paid to its construction quality.
Intermix is the mesh material used on the Karman, and is one of the things we love about this chair. It was highly breathable and offered adequate ventilation, allowing us to feel the air pass through it. As a result, it was comfortable to sit on even during the warmer weather conditions and long seating sessions.
Aside from breathability, the Intermix mesh was soft, adding to the comfort Karman provided.
Both the seat pad and the backrest of the Karman use Intermix. However, the latter has a cushion underneath its centre. The sides have adequate portions of mesh to allow enough air to go through while keeping your back comfortable.
With this design, we enjoyed optimal comfort all day due to the soft cushion.
As for the seat it was one of the most comfortable seats we had sat on. It kept our rear comfy and well placed while our backs never felt discomfort as it flexed whenever we moved.
As Steelcase promised, the Intermix mesh never sagged or became stiff during our tests. It remained comfortable even after a week of use.
We have used numerous ergonomic chairs over the years. Some had excellent quality, while others were disappointing. Most chairs had a durable hard frame but were uncomfortable to lean on despite using mesh and being flexible.
Fortunately, Steelcase solved these issues with the Karman using its proprietary LiveBack integrated into the backrest. This technology kept our backs comfortable while working and gaming, allowing us to move in various directions. It constantly provided support for our spine since its curvature promoted good posture.
LiveBack effectively balanced our body weight across the chair. We relaxed well while seated on the chair due to the adequate support and comfortable materials. Unlike most standard ergonomic chairs, it had a flexible frame that was more comfortable to rest our bodies on.
Sitting on the Karman made us feel like the chair was an extension of our bodies.
We were impressed with the backrest of the Karman since it flexed with every move we made. Despite flexing many times, it never felt like it was about to break. Plus, it provided adequate support when we sat on the chair.
The seat design is one of the most unique aspects of the Karman. It has a foam pad underneath its Intermix mesh. Plus, it tapers towards the back to support the body while maintaining proper posture.
Aside from allowing ease of movement, the flexibility of the Karman solves the common complaints about mesh office chairs. When we used it, we no longer suffered from sore thighs and rear due to pressure buildup. Since the chair allowed us to move as needed, our legs had adequate circulation, even while seated for long hours.
We moved a lot while sitting on the Karman, and the chair followed our posture each time. This chair offered excellent comfort and experience, making it ideal for long working hours in front of the desk.
We also appreciate Steelcase for removing the hard edges, another issue we often encounter with other ergonomic chairs. Sitting in any position never became a problem since the soft edges did not cause discomfort.
The armrests of the chair are exceptional. They offer a remarkable range of motion, allowing for swivelling, rotating, sliding back and forth, and raising/lowering.
We effortlessly adjusted the armrests to maintain the perfect hand-on-keyboard position. The experience of using the Karman is almost magical since you can relax and let it enhance your comfort.
But what makes it stand out is its 4D armrests, which are practical and reliable. Unlike other chairs with mobile yet flimsy armrests, these strike the right balance between mobility and stability.
We can easily customise its position according to preferences. Plus, we were confident that these remain in place until further adjustments. This level of versatility optimises the overall enjoyment of using the chair.
The level of comfort the Karman provides is unparalleled, and despite being different from our previous chairs, it became one of our top choices for daily use.
Steelcase Karman Review Summary
Office chair manufacturers barely made changes to their products since the 90s. As a result, their current offerings do not meet the demands of hybrid modern workers who stay seated all day. Today, people who work from home use various devices with their bodies positioned and contorted in different ways.
Fortunately, Steelcase continues revolutionising its products with improved ergonomics, technologies, and features. In 2019, the company conducted studies and research to learn the needs of 21st-century workers. Later, Steelcase improved its existing mechanisms and added advanced innovations to the Karman.
The Karman offers excellent comfort and ergonomics, while its Intermix mesh makes it highly breathable. The seat and backrest provide support as you move, preventing you from suffering from sore spots. Plus, it effectively provides adequate ventilation to keep you cool.
When we used the chair for our Steelcase Karman Review, we did not experience any discomfort. Working and gaming on this chair was enjoyable since it kept us comfortable, even when seated for long hours.
Aside from providing enough comfort while working, it has a sleek and classy design that is perfect for office environments. The Karman does not have unnecessary fancy adornments, but Steelcase offers it in various colour choices. Also, the company used sustainable materials to produce this chair to help reduce the carbon footprint that impacts our planet.
Overall, the Karman is a unique ergonomic office chair that provides adequate support and comfort. Although lightweight, it flexes with your movements and is a highly durable chair. Plus, the company ships it pre-assembled to make things convenient for the customers.
We highly recommend this ergonomic chair for all its features and benefits. It is an excellent product for all hybrid workers who spend most of the day at their desks. Learn more about the Karman by visiting the official Steelcase product page.