Product test
Testing the Razer Iskur XL: the chair for (slim) heavyweights
by Martin Jud
Asus ROG Destrier Ergo review: comfortable and robust, but not perfect
2.7.2024
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Gaming chairs with good lumbar support are rare. Same with lightweight mesh designs. The Destrier Ergo from Republic of Gamers offers both. It’s also suitable for stocky bodies thanks to its large seat and load-bearing capacity.
The Destrier Ergo was made available to us by the manufacturer for a long-term test. That was nine months ago, and Jens has been using it ever since. Even without his final verdict, I see that as a good thing. Am I jumping to a hasty conclusion?
Read on to find out what makes the chair stand out first, then its downsides.
The positives: mesh design and sophisticated lumbar support
What Jens and I see as a Miller-inspired design, Asus ROG calls cyborg-inspired. It doesn’t really matter whether the Destrier Ergo resembles an exoskeleton with a mesh cover or anything else; we like it. It looks and actually is robust.
To this day, the lightweight textile material shows no visible or tangible signs of wear. Despite daily use, it’s still nice and taut.
Sturdy aluminium base and simplified operation
The cross (with 75-millimetre PU castors) and the base of the chair are made of an aluminium alloy. Together with the hard-wearing textile cover and a gas pressure spring, this ensures a load capacity of up to 150 kilogrammes. The recommended user height is 165 to 185 centimetres. Jens can let himself fall into the chair with all his weight, which doesn’t impress him despite the free-floating construction.
The Class 4 gas strut hasn’t lost pressure over these nine months. Jens is surprised, as even with his Noblechairs this has been a problem in the past after just three months.
The straps are a special feature. They’re attached to the controls for height adjustment (right) as well as those for adjusting the tilt and seat depth (left). This eliminates the need for fiddling with or operating the levers.
Large seat without side cushions
A big advantage over other gaming chairs is that the seat has no side cushions. No uncomfortable pinching. At the same time, thanks to a width of 57 centimetres and a depth of 50, it’s generously sized too. The chair itself weighs just under 25 kilogrammes and is 72 centimetres wide, 84 long and between 129 and 137.5 centimetres tall. The seat height is 43 to 51 centimetres.
Backrest with versatile lumbar support
The lumbar support can be adjusted to the individual, natural curvature of the spine in the lumbar region (lordosis) in two ways: by up to seven centimetres vertically and by one centimetre in depth.
This support is particularly good because it feels comfortable and offers enough resistance to prevent unintentional shifting. Jens doesn’t have to struggle with back pain during testing. The backrest can be locked at four points in a tilt range between around 100 and 135 degrees. The highest position should be at 90 degrees, but it’s more like 95 to 100. Sitting upright is only possible without the backrest. Unlike other chairs, you can’t rock this one.
Bad from the start: headrest and armrest «are loose»
Jens can adjust the headrest to the right height. The pillow feels pleasantly soft against the skin and hardly warms up at all. However, the support has too little contact pressure in the step setting, it moves at the slightest touch from below or above. It doesn’t match the rest of the good-quality chair.
In a nutshell
Missing some small things
The Asus ROG Destrier Ergo looks classy by gaming chair standards. It’s also robust and has well thought-out controls, on top of being very ergonomic. Jens uses it comfortably for months on end. His back is well taken care of by the hard-wearing textile cover and two-way adjustable lumbar support.
Still, he can’t fully recommend it. Too often, the headrest or armrest adjust unintentionally since they can’t be fully locked. That’s annoying in the long run. It doesn’t help that the chair used to cost over 1,000 francs/euros and now (as of 2 July 2024) «only» costs over 850 francs/euros. That’s still too expensive.
Pro
- comfortable and good for your bottom, back and everything else
- sophisticated design and operation
- good manufacturing quality
- lightweight comfort
- also suitable for stocky bodies
Contra
- headrest is difficult to lock (unintentionally adjusts in height)
- armrest can’t be fully locked (moves back and forth unintentionally)
Header image: Martin Jud
Martin Jud
Senior Editor
martin.jud@digitecgalaxus.chI find my muse in everything. When I don’t, I draw inspiration from daydreaming. After all, if you dream, you don’t sleep through life.
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