Office chairs come in a stunningly wide range of prices. There are only so many ways you can create or customize a chair. On the lower end, you have affordable options that many buy, like the standard AmazonBasics and no-name mesh chairs that “get the job done” for around $80. On the higher end, you have more ergonomic (and costly) options from Steelcase, Humanscale, and Herman Miller that top out in the thousands. While style plays a role, when you splurge on an office chair, it’s usually better support and more comfort you’ll get in return.
The LiberNovo Omni is an ergonomic office chair from a newcomer to the market. The $1,099 chair is designed for movement and real-time posture correction with a motorized spine and lumbar support that the company says can relieve back pain.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
The Omni has four modes to accommodate your workday.
Unlike standard office or gaming chairs, the Omni is motorized with what the brand calls the “SyncroLink Mechanism System,” which adapts to your movements in the chair to maintain proper posture and support. It also has what the company calls the Bionic FlexFit Backrest. It’s a “bionic” spine with 16 joints and eight adaptive panels designed to follow the natural curve of your spine to increase comfort and reduce back strain.
“The response to the Omni has been overwhelming,” said Alex Yan, LiberNovo founder and CEO. “Our early testers and Kickstarter backers confirmed what we always believed: that people deserve a chair built for motion, not just posture.”
LiberNovo says that the chair will also come with an integrated massager and has four modes for sitting and recline: deep focus, at 105 degrees for scenarios like video calls; solo work (120 degrees), for a balanced posture or concentration; soft recline (135 degrees), for relaxing and casual gaming; and spine flow (160 degrees), for a full recline.
The Omni can recline to 160 degrees if you want to rest.
The chair is powered by a portable battery pack so you aren’t tethered to an outlet. In theory, the battery pack should last for 30 days and has a 2,200 mAh-capacity with USB-C recharging.
The chair comes with a mesh back and has a multi-density foam seat that’s firm in the back for support and softer in the front to reduce leg pressure. The company says the cushion will retain its shape and the frame is reinforced to handle daily use.
I’ll be testing the LiberNovo Omni later this month to see if it can relieve my back pain. Since moving into a new apartment, I haven’t been able to sit at my usual workspace, and have been experiencing consistent discomfort and aches.
The lumbar and back adjustments and massager are controlled by buttons on the armrest.
Price and availability
The chair, which raised $8.5 million through a Kickstarter campaign, will be sold in general retail starting in October, though it’s currently available for preorder at $849, $250 less than its $1,099 full price. It comes in two colors, space grey and midnight black. Preordering also gets you several accessories, including an eye mask, eco-bag, cat-resistant mat and foot cushion. Registering on the site can get you an additional 5% discount. The chair will start shipping on Oct. 21 in the US and Canada.
The company is also selling a new cooling seat cushion, which will be available for preorder from Sept. 23 to Oct. 1 for $59, 25% off its $79 price.
