Razer Enki Pro Review: Sitting Pretty

Games Razer Enki Pro Review: Sitting Pretty Mitch Wallace Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about gaming hardware, software and news. New! Follow this author to improve your content experience.

Got it! Jul 14, 2022, 03:32pm EDT | Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Enki Pro Credit: Razer I’ve reviewed my share of gaming chairs, which tend to be a lot like regular chairs, only geared toward edgy homebodies who speedrun Elden Ring while throwing back gallons of G Fuel. These ‘specialized’ sitting peripherals tend to be on the expensive side and usually boast extreme aesthetics that strictly regulate their presence to appropriate venues like esports tournaments and dimly lit gaming dens. Razer’s newest premium offering in this space, the $1,000 Enki Pro, eschews much of this gaudy gamer tackiness and instead adopts a more subdued design.

With subtle green and black accents, plus a rugged rear-facing carbon-fiber motif, there’s still no mistaking the Enki Pro for anything other than a gaming chair. But thanks to an overall leaning toward sleek understatement, this is a piece of furniture that can easily travel outside of the industry sphere. Drag it to a birthday party and smile vacantly as people ask, “Why?”.

Lug it to the airport and become irate when the desk clerk won’t allow you to check the chair like the obscene baggage it is. The steep asking price, I think, keeps the Enki Pro firmly couched in the specialty furniture realm. Is it worth a grand to sit pretty while you spend all your hard-earned cash on Diablo Immortal microtransactions? The answer is mostly yes, with some important caveats.

On second thought, don’t buy any Diablo Immortal microtransactions. Run away. As is custom, all of these big gaming chairs arrive in giant, borderline immovable boxes, and the Enki Pro is no exception.

It showed up in a cardboard container so large that I had to slide it into the house, though Razer recommends that two people help each other with transport and setup (labeled inside the packaging as 2-player co-op, naturally). MORE FROM FORBES VETTED Hop On These Back-To-School Prime Day Deals Before They Expire By Jason R. Rich Forbes Staff The Bestselling Nanit Pro Smart Baby Monitor Is $90 Off For Prime Day By Lex Goodman Contributor Opening the behemoth parcel first greets you with some comedic illustrated warnings.

I’m talking diagrams telling you not to load the chair with literal rockets, not to surf on the chair like a madman and not to kick the back of the chair in order to launch someone across the room. . .

while wearing a cape and holding a sword? Then there’s the Builder’s Gauntlets, actual black and green gloves that Razer includes with the product for ‘+10 hand protection’. There’s also an additional warning to ‘not use [the gloves] with magical stones of infinity’. Enki Pro Credit: Razer It’s all gamerspeak ridiculousness, and I didn’t bother using the cheap gloves when putting the chair together, but I thought the goofy copy was a nice touch that help set the Enki Pro apart from say, the Secretlab chairs I’ve previously reviewed.

Setup was a breeze, at least for the most part. It was really only a matter of popping castors on the base, positioning the seat, then attaching the imposing backrest. Everything went swimmingly, except for that last part, which had me frustrated in regard to Allen-wrenching the screws.

Despite the included metal guides, the two big pieces of the chair — seat and backrest — simply wouldn’t align without serious pushing and pulling. Once I got everything in, things were fine, but it shouldn’t have been that difficult. That’s it, really.

Popping on the magnetic head pillow was the last bit. I’ve found the accessory to be very comfortable, and it stays in place securely, but can simply be pulled off and readjusted when needed. None of the chairs I’ve tested in the past have sported magnetic pillows, and now I don’t think I could sit in a chair without one.

The chair itself, which is outfitted with Alcantara (a synthetic leather), feels great. At 6’4”, I’m pretty tall, and the backrest accommodates my height well. The Enki Pro does feature built-in lumbar support, and while it keeps my posture nicely in line, I would have preferred an adjustable lumbar knob of some kind.

That way I could have really dialed it in. The foam cushioning feels noticeably firm and durable, though we’ll have to see how it holds up over time. I’ve been sitting in this chair for weeks now and it doesn’t seem to have reduced in firmness at all, which is a good sign.

The castors slide nicely over an office mat, too. The Enki Pro has all kinds of tilt functionality, including a recline dial that can zero in on minute preferences, though I haven’t needed to use this very much. The 4D armrests also boast a bunch of different adjustment possibilities, though this is the area of the chair I like the least.

To be honest, the armrests don’t feel like something you’d find on a $1,000 gaming chair. They’re soft, wiggly, yet serviceable, and I think I expected more here. Something luxurious, perhaps.

Unfortunately, they’re not unlike those on the last Secretlab chair I reviewed, which retailed for less than half the price of the premium Enki Pro. Not a great look for Razer. Despite my complaints, I very much like the Enki Pro.

It’s built like a tank, isn’t covered in bright embarrassing gamer accents or RGB, and feels like it’s going to last a long time. However, I do lament the lack of lumbar customizability, and the armrests leave much to be desired. Additionally, $1,000 is quite the chunk of change, and since this isn’t the perfect chair by any means, Razer is relying on customers’ abilities to appreciate all the expensive materials involved.

Because for many intents and purposes, the Enki Pro is just another gaming chair, albeit an extremely good one. For those coming from a lackluster desk setup, maybe one with a rickety budget chair with little to no spine support, jumping to the Enki Pro will feel like the peak of luxury. SNES to PlayStation, basically.

If you’re already using something from Secretlab or whatever, the jump won’t seem nearly as incredible. I’d call it PS4 to PS5. Not terrible by any means, though not as mind-blowing as you might hope.

Disclosure: Razer provided review product for coverage purposes. Mitch Wallace Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.