Maingear Forma R Limited Edition Gaming Chair

Gaming seats have always been marketed as a Racing type seat, with bucket seat looks and more of a mean look to them.  Chairs with a sort of an Indy car flair, seams a bit off I think if you are not into racing or racing sims but it makes a little sense in this case.

Maingear has been known since 2008 to build some high-end gaming machines with a sporty kind of automotive theme so it only made sense that they would step into the gaming chair scene.  With that, today’s review will be of Maingear’s latest and first line of gaming chairs, and why not start at the top with the Forma R Limited Edition.

Before we get into the chair itself though, let’s get into the features and specifications of the chair so you can see just a bit on how well thought out this chair is, though not perfect.

Features and Specifications

• Full Steel Frame with Allow Base
• Leatherette
  • Water-resistant synthetic suede
• Adjustable Height Class 4 Explosion proof Hydraulic Piston
• Removable Micro Fleece Memory Foam Head and Lumbar Pillow
• Gas Piston Lift Height Adjustment
• Full-tilt and Adjustable Tilting Resistance
• Soft-touch 4D Adjustable Arm Rest
  • Backward and Forward Adjustment
  • Left and Right Adjustment
  • Height Adjustment
  • Rotating adjustment
• Ultra-Quiet Nylon Wheels
• 165° Reclining back
• Sitting Area Dimension
  • 21.3” Width
  • 19.7” Depth
• Backrest Height: 30.7”
• Seat Height: 14.23” – 18.1”
• Weight Limit: 330 Pounds
• 5 Year Angelic Service Warranty in Partnership with Micro Center

The Box is HUGE at 37” by 27” by 14” and its heavy, about 65 pounds so make sure you have some room to open it up.  Let’s go over the unboxing so that we can see what’s inside.

 

A ton of stuff and packaged incredibly well as you saw in the video.  Before we can actually build it up, we need to check out each of the pieces to make sure everything is there and to see the potential quality of each piece, so let’s jump on over to the next section, Piece by Piece.

Continue on to: Piece by Piece

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As I showed you previously, here are all of the parts

Let’s get into each of those pieces one by one.

First off, we have the instruction.  This is not a little post card or a standard sheet of paper, it is a poster measuring 18 inches in width and 24 inches in length, it’s huge.

Here are the tools included, 2 hex keys, one of which has a Philips head at the end, each are different sizes for the different bolts used here.  Also included are 2 bolts for the side covers and a spare bolt in case you lose one of the bolts on the underside of the chair.

Here are the 2 side covers.  These help to hide the bolts that join the seat of the chair to the back rest.  You would use the black bolts in the previous picture to screw these in, so everything stays nice and hidden.

This is the Multi tilt control unit that also joins the Wheel base to the hydraulic lift cylinder.  The arms you see on each side are what controls the seat height adjustment, ability to rock and the knob in the middle allows you to adjust the rocking tension.

Here is the hydraulic lift cylinder, it is a Class-4 explosion proof piston.

Here is the telescoping cover.

Here are the 5 x Ultra-Quiet Nylon wheels.  I honestly expected them to be rims or sporty wheels of sorts, but that’s OK since most of us will never look at the wheels.

While a small touch, this was the accessories box that contained all of the above listed pieces and the multi tilt control unit inside of the large box itself.  This accessories box, unlike all other chairs I have reviewed that came in plain brown boxes is red with the Maingear logo and clearly says accessories.  It is a small, very small touch but it is worth mentioning since it’s the small things that make you take note to the attention in detail.

This is the very reflective aluminum alloy wheel base.  Very classy the way they accented only one of the 5 extensions with the red strip and the white Maingear branding.

Here is the backrest.  I tilted it here so that you could see the wings on the chair, then also the nuts on the sides.

Here is a straight shot of the backrest.  Along the headrest portion, you can see the Maingear logo embroidering.

A closer shot at the embroidery and then also the texture of the material the chair is made out of.  More on this later in the review.

The back of the chair has the only their logo, rather than their name instead embroidered as well as a red tag along the side.

Here is a closer shot of it so you can see the level of detail.

The red tab is Maingear’s name, that’s a nice touch.  Most companies would not have thought of this being that it already has the name on the wheel base and head rest but it’s just a little extra touch.

Here is the seat base.

Here we find the backrest reclining lever.

Here is the bottom of the seat base.  The Multi tilt control unit screws on to this base.

Here we have the lumbar pillow.  This micro fleece foam lumbar pillow is so soft and cushy and pops right back into its previous shape since it is filled with memory foam.

Here is the head rest, also micro fleece, filled with memory foam and is MUCH more comfortable than the lumbar pillow.  Both pillows to me have a bit of an issue, but we will get into that a bit later in this review.

These gloves, also came in the accessories box but I thought to bring it in at the end of this page, since the next page will be on building the chair itself.  I find it awesome that they want you to take care of your seat while you are building it to not dirty it up.  These are almost a one size fit all, I am sure they don’t fit someone, but they fit me fine.  So on to the next page, Building the Maingear Forma R Limited Edition.

Continue on to: Building the Maingear Forma R Limited Edition

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The included poster provides a list of the contents of the box, but it also has Assembly instruction.

Rather than read to you line by line on the instruction, we got your covered with a video.  Check out the entire built process here.

 

Now that it’s built and I tested it a bit, let’s go a little deeper into the chair and check out the quality in this next section, Features and Use.

Continue on to: Features and Use

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As I showed you previously, here is the Maingear FORMA R Limited Edition chair fully built.

The seat and back are made out of a Leatherette synthetic suede, so it is very smooth to the touch and water resistant so it is easy to clean.

A close up view shows you the texture of the seat and how fine and detailed the stitching is.

The headrest pillow, like most other chairs is attached with a strap to the top piece of the back of the chair.

Now this is one of the problems with the chair, but to me, not a huge one.  This strap is not really bound by anything, it can relatively easily come undone when you move your head and then you have to strap it back down.  Many other manufacturers have a groove cut through the chair but to keep the looks 100% they kept it this way.  I thought it may have been an after thought and shared my findings with Maingear, but they assured me that it was not an afterthought and there was careful consideration with all aspects of this chair.

Since I rarely rest my head there, it is not a biggy for me.  Do you rest your head/neck often on your chair?

The lumbar pillow, while still very comfortable, has no straps.  It is kept there by the pressure of your back.  On its own it works, but I move around a lot and found myself having to adjust it often, to the point I removed it.  Like the headrest pillow, I never use them since they push me too far forward in the chair, I have had that issue with all gaming chairs I have reviewed.  I like them for a while, but eventually removed them.

The seat, unlike other gaming chairs does not have the sides of the chair raised up.  I did not mind it too much on the other chairs till I sat on this one.  I like to sit with my legs crossed at times and on the chairs with the sides raised, it would make it either impossible or very uncomfortable, I don’t have that problem with this chair.

You may have noticed that certain parts of this white chair are not just one shade of white.  The inner portions of the chair are a little brighter, depending on the color of your bulbs might look slightly more yellow.  The inside is the synthetic suede part, so the texture is slightly different while the outer portions are Leatherette.

The attention to detail did not stop here though.

The arm rests are known as 4D Armrests and here is what makes them 4D.

This switch allows the armrests to be adjusted to your liking, up or down and anywhere in between.

This button facing towards the person sitting, allows you to pull the armrest inwards or outwards from you.

And this button also facing towards the person sitting allows you to move the armrest forward and backwards.

And this one, has no button but the armrest itself twists outwards or inwards.

Along the right side of the chair, is the lever to recline the backrest.   To use it, like most you would just pull the lever up, arch your back a little and it will recline.  Sit up and lift the lever again to have the backrest stand straight up.

Looking under the chair, we see the 2 adjusting levers and the multi-tilt control adjustment knob as well as the telescoping cover that covers the piston.  The knob loosens or tightens the rocking that can be done on this chair.

The right lever on the multi-tilt control unit allows you to raise or lower the seat when you twist it up.  Take note, most seats have this same feature, but rather than twisting the lever, on other chairs you would just pull the lever up.

The lever on the left side allows you to adjust the tilt of the seat.  Twisting the level upwards loosens the tilt, then you can find your tilt comfort lever and then twist it downwards to lock it in place.  If you leave the lever loose, you are free to rock back and forward.  This has been the very first gaming chair I have used that the rocking actually works.  Remember, if the rocking is too loose, you can adjust it by tightening the knob I showed you earlier.

This is the base of the chair.  Usually they are dull black bases with no flair, but this one comes beautifully chromed along with one special leg of the chair with a nice red racing stripe with the Maingear name on it printed in white.

Here are the Wheels.  While they work and actually slide further that other gaming chairs I have reviewed, I feel like Maingear missed the mark on these.  Not due to quality, they are great but for the fact that they are not racing rims/wheels, something to make them look more sporty, but this is just an opinion.

The back of the seat, looks nice though the strap for the headrest if covering part of the embroidered Maingear logo, not all of it.  Since the headrest pillow can’t be adjusted, it might have been a better marketing move to lower the logo so that the strap does not block it.  Another thing that makes me think the headrest was an afterthought.

Without the headrest, the back is smooth exposing the entire Maingear logo in all of it’s glory.

Here is the embroidery on the back, I showed it once before but I wanted to remind you of it since we were on the back again.

Along the side of the chair, it is lined with a zipper, though no tab to unzip it.

Alright, so we have gone through the unboxing, gone over each of the pieces in the box, built the chair and then gone over all of the aspects of the chair fully built.  Let’s get on to the Final Thoughts and Conclusion.

Continue on to: Final Thoughts and Conclusion

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Everyone is making chairs just to get their name into the segment, all with the same basic racing theme, but none is more fitting to have a racing theme than Maingear.  There are tons of highlights on this chair and only a few downfalls.  Let’s get into the Pros and Cons and see what this is all about.

Pros

• Synthetic Suede and Leatherette and are easy to clean
• Seat and back rest are so very comfortable
• Micro fleece Head and Lumbar Pillow are very cushy and feel nice
• 4D Adjustable Arm Rest adds to the comfort
• A sturdy 165° Recline
• Package includes everything needed to build the chair
• High quality components
• Aluminum Allow Base
• Rocking mechanism actually works
• Can hold a decent amount of weight
• 5 Year Warranty that is VERY convenient.

Cons

• Stitching is not all around the seat, the rear sides are zippers with no head
• Headrest pillow feels like an afterthought, does not hold well on to the backrest
• Lumbar Pillow does not have a means to attach to the chair.

Let’s break down the Pros and Cons a bit.

I mention the Suede and Leatherette material because they feel great against your skin, don’t make you sweat and are easy to clean.  The comfort level is tops to any seat I have reviewed previously.  At my day job, I am an IT Manager and I sit mostly all day while I remote into peoples machines or servers and switches, unless I have to go help with some machines, the network or other such things and I have a cushy office chair.  The office chair is great for a while, but then starts to flatten, this has not happened as of yet with the Maingear and shows no sign of potential for it.

The Micro fleece headrest and lumbar pillow are so very cushy and comfortable but the problem is they don’t feel like they belong.  The headrest pillow does not stay fitted to the backrest, it could be because of my height (I am 5’6) which means that in order for it to stay strapped in better, you would need to be a little shorter.  I ended up removing this pillow.

The lumbar pillow feels great when it is propped up where you want it to be, but don’t move because you will have to adjust it again.  There are no straps or ways to keep it where you want it, it is a free-floating pillow.  Not completely a bad thing, because it literally means you can put it where ever you like but I found myself removing this pillow as well.

I am a big guy, so not only do the cushions on the seats really mater, the sturdiness is also a biggy.  The aluminum base is really important because it adds to that sturdiness and the fact that it can hold up to 330 pounds, I am 265. The 165° recline actually lets you recline in it and lay down if you wanted too, I did not feel like I was going to fall down, the weight is distributed evenly across the seat and base.   The chrome look and racing stripe just make it sexy.

The 4D arm rest for some can be a big thing, the main part I liked about it was the fact that you are able to adjust the height.  I like to sit in a chair and have my elbows touch the arm rest and my arms laying on it without having to arch my back, or sit oddly, I can adjust it just the way I like.  The forward, side to side and twisting are not for me, but they may be for you, it’s all about you here and Maingear gets that.

The cons to me, are not big issues since I don’t see myself needing to add more cushion to this seat.  The headrest and lumbar pillow, while comfy, I don’t use them in any of my chairs.  I use them at first but then I feel like they get in my way, but they may be important to you.  What do you think, if you already have a Gaming chair, do you find these pillows comfortable and use them or do they just get in the way?

With all the said, I am proud to give the Maingear Forma R Gaming Chair, Dragonbloggers 9.5 Editors Choice award.  Awesome job Maingear, I can’t wait to see what’s next.

I sit in chairs all day long, at work, at lunch, driving to and from work then when I get home and write these reviews and test, sometimes I find time to game too.  My main review area now has the Maingear Forma R gaming chair and my other area has the E-win chair I reviewed previously… I don’t like to go over there much anymore, haha.  The E-win is nice, but the difference is almost night and day and to think, to me the E-win was the most comfortable chair out of the bunch.

Let me go over a detailed comparison between the two in this video and why the Maingear took the crown.

 

I almost forget to mention this, and this is HUGE.  Maingear’s warranty is an unheard of 5 years.  Anything goes wrong with the chair, you call Maingear and they take care of you, but it gets better.  If you have a Micro Center near you, you can go in and check them out in person.  Now the problem is, and it’s not Maingear fault (and it could be my local Micro Center) is that all of the chairs, not only Maingear chairs are not out for you to sit on, but they are on display but they do have a 30-day return policy in case you don’t like it you can bring it back.

So you can get the Maingear Forma R at www.maingear.com, a local Micro Center (or online) and also at Amazon, so they made it easy for you.  The warranty also allows you to take it to a Micro Center and return it there, if they have it in stock and if they don’t you can have them ship the chair to your home or pick it up once it arrives.  The same goes for the accessories, including the pillows, VERY convenient.  It might be easier to call them first of course.

You can check out the Forma Series here at Maingear: https://maingear.com/custom/gaming-chairs/forma/index.php

You can also find them here at Micro Center: https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?Ntt=maingear+forma

Lastly, you can also find the Maingear Forma R Limited Edition here on Amazon: http://geni.us/LOU6

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