Hardware Sihoo Doro S300 Ergonomic Chair Review

Now it wasn't too long ago I took a look at an ergonomic office chair from Flexispot. With a common sentiment on the site being that office chairs beat gaming chairs in both design and price, I figured it'd be interested to give it a shot and see just how much that holds true. I typically would try to avoid covering two things that are so similar so close to each other, but with Sihoo reaching out after seeing the Flexispot review, I was given the chance to look at a chair that really did look like something unique. This is Sihoo's Doro S300.


Before we dive into what makes the S300 unique, let's just get the common element out of the way: assembly. The chair arrives a a single parcel, coming in at a pretty weighty 26kg. Living in a second-floor apartment with only stairs to the front door, this is something I would really have struggled to move on my own; similarly, the poor deliveryman tasked with getting it to me would have struggled too. Thankfully it's manageable between two people, with them calling me as they arrived outside and quickly realizing the problem at hand. It might be common sense to check the weight prior to ordering this kind of thing, but if you do find yourself contemplating a chair like this, definitely take the day of delivery into account. If you're not the most able person yourself, having somebody else in at the time of delivery will likely go a long way in making things easier.

The actual setup process for the chair wasn't anything remarkable despite the chair's more unique design. As you'd expect it comes in a number of parts along with a pack of screws, a tool to screw them into place, and a picture-based manual to follow. I found the instructions to be simple enough to follow, with my only standout point being the difficulty I had in getting the chair onto its wheeled base. This is the kind of thing where having a second person on hand would have been useful, but despite the bulk and my general lack of strength, I did manage to pull through within my hour lunch break on the day.


So with the assembly out of the way, it's probably time to talk about why this chair stands out. If you can't tell at a glance, it's the combination of springs, levers, and the strange-looking lumbar "cushion", if you can call it that. To start with what I think is the most interesting part, the lumbar support is like nothing else I've sat in; I like it, but my lord is it odd. Where you'd usually see some kind of protruding bump or pillow you instead get two plastic frames with a mesh front, each mounted to the metallic back of the chair with springs. This setup does a really nice job in supporting your lower back with each half wrapping around you, while being firm enough to offer support. Is this better for your back in terms of ergonomics? I'm not sure. Having used the chair for the past few weeks though I can at least say I've not experienced lower back pain or discomfort.


It's not a perfect setup mind. To me it works best when the chair is locked into the upright position, with it using a knob to recline a little, and then further back to what feels like a 45 degree angle. Where the support falls short is in the lack of spacing options for the two lumbar support halves. When reclining, I've sometimes had my back be pinched by the two halves; this is something that in my head would be really easy to account for if the halves just had some kind of locking system to pull them further apart on the frame. A good number of parts on this chair do have such customization, so it's surprising to see such an oversight on what would probably be the big selling point. I will note there is some customization on offer for the lumbar support, with you able to push it back, but I did find it being as far forward as possible to be the most comfortable.

As mentioned though there's a lot more to tweak to your liking. The back rest has four positions that it clicks into, with the back rest itself supposed to also act as a headrest. It's a design I've found quite comfortable, but I can see the lack of a dedicated headrest being an issue for some. Moving down the chair we have two very flexible arm rests, each able to be tilted back, twisted left and right, raised up and down, and pushed forwards and backwards. On paper this covers most bases, but much like the Flexispot chair I looked at recently I did find these a little unwieldy. The armrests here have no kind of locking mechanism, meaning that if you happen to pull the chair using the arms, that the comfortable position you've perfected will once again be lost. The final adjustable component of the chair is the seat itself, able to slide forwards and backwards. I didn't see much use in this one myself, but I imagine somebody out there will appreciate it.

Going below the seat you can catch a glimpse of what Sihoo describe as their "anti-gravity" mechanism. That is to say four springs that support the seat. Going from the images and marketing material I really thought these would make some kind of huge difference, but comparing how I sit in this chair against how I've sat in any other chair, office or gaming, I just don't feel it. It's certainly comfortable, but to me it feels like the springiness of the seat comes from the mesh material more than the actual physical springs that are there. They look cool, I'll grant them that, but they're not the noteworthy selling point I really imagined them to be. The springs actually introduce a problem with the chair in creating a platform under the seat for dust, hair, and whatever else to accumulate out of sight. This isn't a huge deal and it's just one more place to clean, but I was really quite surprised by just how bad it got after using the chair for a few weeks. Rest assured it was dusted off after the picture below was taken.


What's left is all fairly standard. The chair raises up and down, and has a very solid five-wheeled base. I will note that as wheels go, these are some of the most rigid I've come across on a chair. To some this could be seen as a positive, almost rooting the chair in place while you're sat down, but for me it just makes the S300 feel more cumbersome than it actually is. When moving it back or to the side to stand up, I'm constantly thinking the wheels are caught on something, where other chairs have done fine in this very same setting.

I feel like I have put forward a good number of minor complaints, and in the grand scheme of things they are just that: minor. Where they start to find more significance however is when factoring in the price of the chair. The S300 is Sihoo's flagship offering, and that comes at a pretty hefty £700 price tag. I've seen complaints at the price of various gaming chairs at half of what this costs, so I don't think I'm wrong to be holding it to a higher standard here.


With all things considered Sihoo's S300 is a fantastic chair. Would I pay £700 for it though? I just don't think I would. I do think there is some value in just how sturdy the frame feels, and I'm sure those seat springs do something positive; it just doesn't feel like enough for me. Something of a saving grace here is the fact that Sihoo also offer a more budget chair in the S100. I don't have it on hand to compare directly, but from the store page it has much of the same flexibility found in the S300, including the two-panel lumbar support, while replacing the metallic frame with plastic and dropping the seat springs. At a lower price of £275, it's something I would actually consider myself.