The AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro brings a lot to the table, but comfort takes a back seat for impressive ergonomics

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: One-minute review

I've reviewed pretty much every AndaSeat gaming chair launched in the last two years, and I've got to say the Phantom 4 Pro line is the most confusing of the lot. It doesn't quite know what it wants to be, straddling two lanes of design decisions, compromising on one more so than the other.

The big talking point is the adaptive lumbar support that AndaSeat has built into the Phantom 4 Pro. It flexes, shifts, moves with your spine, providing support for any and all angles, and you can (after much fiddling) shift it back and forth to really dial in exactly how you sit.

But critically, although yes, the Phantom 4 Pro line does indeed hit all of the ergonomic standards it needs to (with full certification) it feels like a bit of a swing and a miss. The brand has sacrificed a lot to hit those heady heights, and I'm not sure it's worth it, certainly not if it's aiming to be one of the best gaming chairs money can buy.

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It's just not comfortable. Not in the same way that the Kaiser is, or even the Novis (my personal budget favorite). And that's an issue, because this is inherently first and foremost, a gaming chair (albeit one that you're going to have in your home office) and one you’re expected to spend countless hours sat in day-in, day-out.

And I know why this is. There's two prevailing trains of thought when it comes to how you design office chairs. The first mostly revolves around comfort: "How can we take a design we've already established and make it even better to sit in next time?". Squishier padding, memory foam, plenty of bounce, encapsulating supports, spongey adjustable arm-rests, magnetic headrest pillows, soft fabrics, you name it. This is typically where brands have fun with bucket seats and exciting new features.

Then there's the other line of thinking. Ergonomics first. Heavy lumbar support, mesh weave, lightweight, integrated headrests, a hard seat base, all designed to tick off health and safety check-boxes, or ensure your butt doesn't atrophy after months of use (the AndaSeat X-Air is an example of a very similar style to this), and that the wheels don't roll too fast in case of a fire (it's a genuine EU convention I promise: EN 1335 / BIFMA).

The problem is that these two design methodologies are so paradoxically juxtaposed to one another, that they can't exist equally in tandem, implemented to a high degree of efficacy. That's a long way of saying, if it's comfy, it's probably not good for you, and if it's good for you, it's probably not comfy.

Sadly, the Phantom 4 Pro falls in the latter category. Yes, its features are quite impressive on paper, but it lacks that element of comfort that, if I'm honest, it looks like it should have. Which is a shame. It might, ergonomically, be the best office chair, but it certainly isn't the nicest to sit in.

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Price and Availability

• Costs $389 (around £290 or AU$545)
• Only available in the US at launch
• Multiple colorways and fabric options

Right now, you can pick one of these bad boys up in the US for $389, directly from the AndaSeat webstore. You've got your choice of upholstery, Linen Fabric, or the Premium PVC leather, and some fairly muted colorways as well.

That's quite the surprising development in of itself, as AndaSeat's webstore gives you access to some store exclusives, and a wider array of color options. Not so today. Instead, you've got "Elegant Black" (PVC leather) and "Royal Black" (PVC leather with some orange, or goldish stitching), and "Ash Grey" (fabric) and a "Carbon Black" option as well.

Intriguingly, there's also no XL variant on offer here like there usually is, either, so if you sit outside of the realms of AndaSeat's proposed height and weights, you're up a particular creek without a movement device.

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Specs

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Design and Aesthetics

• Impressive appearance
• Black PVC leather is especially good
• Doesn't look overly gamer

Visually, the Phantom 4 Pro looks pretty damn impressive. Especially the black leather edition I have here. At first glance, this thing is clean. You've got some bolstering, sure, but it's not too dramatic, treading a fine line between gaming and office chair.

On a call with your CEO? They're not going to be put off by any glaring seatbelt grommet holes from a bucket design lifted straight out of Recaro's back catalog, and there's no snake-based logos or RGB glimmering away in the background telling you to buy Gamersupps either.

The leather in particular looks utterly lush. It's smooth with a fine grain appearance, and the stitching is remarkably tight, with even the embroidered logo looking far cleaner than it has done in the past. It's not quite at the old Noblechairs Legend level, but it's close, and that's seriously impressive, given the cost.

The caster base, too, is nice. It doesn't have the cleanest weld lines, but let's be fair, you're not going to be looking at the undercarriage of this thing that often. The wheels are super smooth and glossy, gliding nicely along the floor.

Before I get into the two big show-stoppers, though, I do want to cover the added accessories that AndaSeat provides, because, well, the list is quite sparse. You do get a magnetic memory foam headrest pillow that sticks on quite nicely to the headrest area, and two spare bolts and an Allen key, and that's about it. If you're looking for a nice care package, you'd better look elsewhere.

So, onto the key features then starting with the armrests. The ones here are a bit controversial. In short, they're fully adjustable across three axes, including, what I'm dubbing as an infinite rotation angle, or 360 degrees. You can just continually spin them. That might sound odd, and it kind of is, but it's insanely useful to move them out of the way during assembly. Otherwise, they're still padded, mildly squishy, with that soft sand-blasted-style coating that you've seen on a hundred other gaming chairs.

Two of two features. Gotta be that lumbar support, right? I've got a lot to say about that in a minute (curse these pesky design subsections limiting my editorial flow), but the tl;dr is that it's a fully fledged, "dynamic", "auto-tracking" lumbar support. Basically, sit in the thing, and it pivots and twists depending on how dapper your spine is, with 15 individual depth locking positions that, fortunately, you can adjust in between (with a bit of effort).

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Comfort and adjustability

• Seatbase is tough
• Lumbar support is aggressive and complex
• Armrests are impressive but also might be controversial

I've spent a lot of time testing the Phantom 4 Pro. Trying to understand it. Trying to come to terms with that aggressive lumbar support. And it is aggressive. I almost always come into these reviews as best I can, fully blind. I do get the pitch for the product, but I tend to try and forget everything between that and when it arrives purely so I can go into the review with fresh eyes as a buyer would.

The lumbar support caught me entirely off guard. After I built it, the lumbar was fully extended in its maximum position, and, try as I might, I just couldn't adjust it. I looked at the manual. I tried moving in and out, and nothing worked. It was only when I accidentally grabbed it with one hand, in the crevice at the bottom, then pulled it forward that I figured out it was actually possible to adjust it. Which is nuts. At its full extension, my head couldn't reach the headrest pillow, and I was practically perched on the very edge of my seat if I wanted to lean back and put my feet up.

Once I figured out that you can actually grab it from underneath, and then ratchet it forward with your hand, or pull it all the way out and then reset it back flush to the chair, I was convinced it was actually worth it. It's frustrating to say the least. AndaSeat, I know you read these so make a better instruction manual please.

Moving on to the seat base, and boy is it tough to sit on. The Phantom 4 Pro uses 55 kg/m3 cold-cure foam, which is a high-density design (albeit the lowest density in AndaSeat's chair range).

It's a bit of a staple of AndaSeat's arsenal of gaming chairs in fact. The Kaiser 3E and the Novis use a 60 kg/m3 setup, and the Kaiser 3 Pro and 3 have a 65 kg/m3. More density doesn't necessarily mean softer either, as it depends on how the bolstering is set up, and how that foam is tuned, plus the general thickness of it.

It can still be 55 kg/m3, and harder, despite having fewer cells in a broader space. The bad news is, the Phantom 4 Pro is, well, quite hard. It's not that there's no padding, but compared to those softer options, like the Novis, the difference is palpable.

Lastly, we have the armrests, and I'm torn on these. One of my biggest criticisms of a number of AndaSeat chairs in the past is the fact that the armrest ends are often either too big or a bit abrasive, and almost feel like they should've been oriented in the opposite direction. With the Phantom 4 Pro, you actually have the latter as a choice. You can spin it entirely so the lightly embossed AndaSeat logo is situated at the rear, and has a smooth, curved end facing forward. Or alternatively, spin it a complete 180 degrees from there, and instead have the flat-end facing forward. A one-off decision for 90% of us, maybe, but it's a nice touch.

The price you pay for that flexibility is a lack of quick access to lateral movement (side-to-side). If you want to shift the armrests out, even slightly, you have to take an Allen wrench to the underside of the chair and move the entire armrest. It still moves up and down vertically, but you lose that sideways movement, which is surprisingly useful from time to time, particularly for us cross-legged sitters. Plus, as they constantly spin, you can't actually put that much pressure on them without movement occurring. Lean sideways, or push on them to get up, and they'll move outwards away from you.

I could deal without the lateral movement, sure, a lack of that is fine, but a locking button to stop the spin that you press in to rotate would be a quick-fire fix for sure.

Other than that, the usual bells and whistles are here: you've got the recline adjustment, tilt, seat base height adjustment, gas piston, you know the drill, and it works; there's little more that needs adding.

One final thing I'll add, that does frustrate me quite a bit, is how limited the Phantom 4 Pro chair is in terms of human capacity, too. Max load is just 100KG or 220lbs, and max height is 6 '1 or 185cm. That's not a lot of flexibility there. Particularly given there's no XL variant yet either.

AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro: Assembly

• Easy build process
• Done in 20 minutes
• Seat back bolts were tight

There's not a whole lot to say about the build process. Overall, it was very consistent with every other gaming chair I've ever constructed. You grab the base, plug in the casters, pop the piston in, and add the covers. Fit the armrests to the seat base. Attach that to the seat back, then install the seat base mount, with its levers, and slot it onto the piston.

AndaSeat includes everything you need to get it built, and a fairly hefty instruction manual, but as I've already mentioned, the lack of a guide on how to use that adjustable lumbar support is painful.

One other thing I will say is that there are bolts included in the seat back that you need to remove by default, and they are incredibly tight, so you might need a second set of hands, or a bigger Allen key, or a power drill. Depends how strong you are. Similarly, they're quite the challenge to get back in, too, once you've got the seatback slotted into position.

Otherwise, it’s an easy build.

Should You Buy The AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

Not a fan of AndaSeat's lumbar implementation and want something with a bit more cush? Try these alternatives.

How I tested the AndaSeat Phantom 4 Pro

• Tested over 3 weeks of constant use
• Fully built by hand with included tools
• Used in all manner of configurations possible

Testing gaming chairs and office chairs generally is quite challenging. You need a broad knowledge of other gaming chairs in the area, otherwise everything looks and feels good. These are premium products designed to encourage comfort or ergonomics, so having a broad sense of the industry is pivotal.

Fortunately I've reviewed practically every AndaSeat gaming chair in the last three years, and a few more besides that. I actively compared the Phantom 4 Pro, to my experience with the Kaiser 3E XL (my daily driver), alongside the Novis, the Kaiser 4, the 4 Pro, and the X-Air too.

Predominantly I used the Phantom 4 Pro as my daily driver for around three weeks before writing up my review, keeping an active diary of any bug-bears or issues that arose during my time with it. Comfort issues that might be apparent on day one typically shift over time, so it's important to keep a running log.

I also got my partner (a dinky 5'5 lady) to sit in and provide me with her feedback, along with a few members of my close friends and family as well, asking for their opinions and direct feedback, questioning them on comfort, the feel, the build quality, and what their experiences are with it, providing me with a broad spectrum of qualitative views from multiple body types.

Read more about how we test.

First reviewed May 2026