Hbada X7 Smart Ergonomic Chair review - an office chair that heats, cools, and massages you

The Hbada X7 Smart Ergonomic Chair is absolutely packed with features that should combine to make it a superb office/gaming chair. Along with a full mesh construction and highly adjustable back and headrest supports, you get an integrated leg rest, and the crowning glory of this chair, which is its heating, cooling, and massage features. However, all those features also make it expensive, and there are areas where its build, comfort, and usability don't live up to that high price.

The X7 follows in the footsteps of the Hbada E3 Pro, which is a similar chair in many ways. It's full-mesh, highly adjustable, and has the same leg rest support, but it lacks the electronic features of the X7 and, crucially, comes in at a much lower price. That's why it features in our best gaming chair guide as the most adjustable chair around, but the Hbada X7 isn't quite so convincing. Check out our full review below to see where it does and doesn't deliver.

Specs

Assembly, design, and build quality

The X7 arrives in one reasonably large box and one much smaller box containing its large battery. The former isn't quite as gargantuan as that of the Herman Miller Embody, but it's large and heavy enough that you may want a second person on hand to handle it.

The reason this is a relatively compact box is that this large, complex chair comes very much needing assembly, with even the base needing putting together, and this immediately brings up my first issue with this chair. For its price, simply having to put together the base at all is surprising, but seeing the quality of these parts was even more disappointing.

Removing the spokes for the base wheels from their individual wrappers, each one deposited a little pile of metallic dust onto the floor, as shown below. The spokes were easy enough to then slide onto the hub and bolt into place, but the hub cover used to hide these joins is just a piece of chromed plastic that doesn't fit particularly well and looks cheap.

After fitting the push-fit wheels and slotting in the gas strut, you then attach the armrests to the seat base before sliding this whole section on top of the strut. This is a large, heavy, and awkward piece, so again, I'd recommend getting a second person if you're not otherwise reasonably strong yourself.

This part also saw another manufacturing/packaging issue, as on its right side is the hole where the rechargeable battery slots in, and here one of the retaining ball bearings had fallen out. So, I had to fish around to find it and then push it back into place.

Next up is the back, which is another large, heavy, and awkward piece, thanks to it including the headrest and having a large, curved metal section to it. This whole part slides onto the base and is bolted into place, then you need to connect a cable, which is really fiddly. Slot the battery into its holder and slide it into the chair's retention slot, and you're ready to roll.

Overall, much of the build quality does actually feel good, despite the issues mentioned above. All the main structural parts feel really solid and sturdy, and the use of polished aluminum for some of the sections gives the chair a premium look.

However, there are definitely areas that are immediately less reassuring, with the back and headrest adjustment feeling a little loose and easy to move, the battery compartment being awkward to slide in and out, and the mesh feeling looser than some. None of these was immediately a deal breaker, but over time, they definitely became so.

Features

Running through the features of this chair, it really is packed.  Starting with the basics, though, it's a full mesh chair, so the seat base, back, and headrest are all of the same very open, breathable mesh fabric. It's an even more open weave than that of the famous Herman Miller Aeron and initial impressions of it are very good. It's reasonably supportive, looks great, and has held up well to many weeks of use.

The main adjustability of the chair is comprehensive, too. The seat base can be slid forward and back to fine-tune the under-leg support, the mid back section can be raised or lowered (with four height notches available), while the headrest can also be raised/lowered, pulled towards/away from your head, and tilted up and down via two points.

The back of the chair can also tilt backwards to a very nearly flat angle, with a handle on the side of the chair locking and unlocking this and the seat base sliding mechanisms. Pulling this handle upwards also unlocks the gas lift height adjustment. As per usual, it will rise up when the chair isn't being sat on, and will descend if you hoold the handle while sat on the chair.

The armrests also provide a ludicrous number of adjustments. Along with being height adjustable, the top sections consist of two parts, both of which are able to spin 360°. There's a short, chromed arm piece that spins on the top of the main vertical height adjustment support, and then the pad section on top of this can spin and also slide forward and back. Not only this, but the chrome arm section can also be tilted upwards.

So, for instance, you can have the arm section aimed backwards with the pad sections turned slightly inwards and tilted upwards, giving you a relaxing reclined position for supporting your arms while reading and sitting back. Or, you can raise the arm height, extend both the arms and pads forward, and have support that rises up over your desk for when typing and using a mouse.

That's it for the main adjustments, but it's far from it for features. Next up is the brilliant integrated foot rest. This slides out from under the chair, with the cushioned foot pads flipping forward to provide a resting spot for your legs.

Then we get to the real standout part of this chair, which is its electronics. These consist of a fan that blows straight up at the underside of the seat base to keep you well ventilated. There's also an infrared heating element in the lumbar support section, along with a massager. The latter is your classic lower back massager, consisting of two rotating nodes, and it offers three levels of intensity that push the nodes slightly further into your back. The lumbar back section can also be moved forward and back electronically.

All this lot is controlled by a wired remote control that fits into the left underside of the chair. Also, the chair has a Smart mode that moves the lumbar cushion towards or away from your back, in order to maintain just enough contact with your back to provide support.

Adjustability and comfort

Overall, this is a decently comfortable chair, with some of its extra features, such as its highly adjustable headrest and back sections, along with its leg rest support, really combining to provide a host of varied and comfortable positions. In particular, deploy the leg support, tilt the back back, and adjust the headrest just so, and you've got an incredibly comfy mid-afternoon nap setup. The foot rest isn't quite as cushioned as the Secretlab Ergonomic Recliner Add-on, but it's still a great addition.

For at-desk sitting, the seat base and lumbar support are decent, too. The seat base's mesh fabric provides reasonable support with a convex curve to it that ensures the front edge slopes gently away from your legs, rather than stopping abruptly and cutting off the circulation to your legs.

However, I found the mesh isn't quite stiff enough to support my 220lb/100kg frame sufficiently to stop the central section sagging and causing the front edge of the chair to then dig into the underside of my legs. It's not immediately obvious, but after several hours of sitting back to back with the Herman Miller Aeron, the difference is clear.

What's more, there are a host of other factors that were far less impressive or that I found actively annoying with this chair.

For a start, the armrests are infuriating. Other than height adjustment, none of the settings lock into place, so they're forever moving around. Rest your hands on them to get up, and the pads will slide back, the arms will tilt, and the upward angle adjustment (which uses a ratcheting system where you can lift [or push down] the armrest several notches, then once past its last point, it'll spring back to its first position) will fling the arms back up. All this, and the height adjustment doesn't go low enough for them to ever stop knocking into the front edge of your desk.

The headrest support is another annoyance. It works well when in position, but each time you adjust the tilt of the chair back, you need to adjust the headrest to match. This wouldn't be so bad, but the fact that you have four different ranges of motion means you're constantly fighting to work out which movement is in which position, and thus how to actually move the headrest to the position you want - is the height adjustment maxed out and the headrest arm tilt at its lowest, or vice versa.

The electronic parts also don't add much to the equation. The lumbar support adjustment is reasonably useful, but far from essential. However, the massage is just too weak to be of much use, as is the heating element. The cooling fan is more effective, ensuring that even in really hot climates, you mostly remain sweat-free. It is quite noisy, even on its lowest speed, though.

Other irritants include that the wheels don't roll very freely, and the chair has a tendency to want to tip forward, rather than roll, if you lean forward and pull yourself forward with your legs. The front edge of the thick seat base is also difficult to grip to aid in pulling the seat forward, which you often need to do, given the two issues above.

I'm not done with the annoyances. That automatic lumbar adjustment mode is somewhat useful in that you can lean forward or back, and the chair will move with you. However, not only does it tend to be just a little too overenthusiastic in how quickly it responds to your every movement, but in certain body positions, it just can't make up its mind which position to choose, so it constantly moves forward and back just a little bit.

Also, the massager will regularly just turn on of its own accord. It's not the worst thing in the world to get an impromptu weak lower back massage, but it's annoying that you can't just completely turn it off. Also, occasionally, I found the chair would just default back to its automatic mode and start adjusting the lumbar support of its own accord.

Ultimately, so irritating did I find the electronic bits that I just set the lumbar support as I liked it and removed the battery.

Price

The Hbada X7 Smart Ergonomic Chair's list price is a massive $1,449.99, though it's now available for just over $1,200. Either way, given all the issues, little and large, identified with the build quality, usability, and comfort of this chair, it's still overpriced. Hbada has packed an incredible amount in here, and many aspects of its build quality are decent, but for the most part, its quality feels like it should be a $600-700 chair, not one more than double that price.

The electronics clearly do add a fair amount of cost to this chair, so it's no surprise it's more expensive than its E3 Pro sibling. However, based on my experience, that extra cost simply isn't worth paying.

Alternatives

Secretlab Titan Evo 2022

The Secretlab Titan Evo is our go-to gaming chair recommendation for most buyers as it nicely balances comfort, upgradability, and versatility, all while being available in a huge range of designs and sizes. It's quite a different style of chair to this Hbada one - it's not mesh at all - but its optional footrest transforms it into an equally comfortable recliner to the X7, and for half the price.

Read our full Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 review for more detail.

Fractal Refine

If you're after a really well-built, comfortable, and stylish mesh gaming chair, the Fractal Refine is a great choice. It's available in fabric and mesh options, but the mesh would definitely be our pick. It lacks the leg support and other extra features of the X7 - it tilts and reclines, and has an adjustable head cushion, but that's about it - but it's a third of the price, and what features it does have work superbly.

Read our full Fractal Refine review for more information.

Verdict

The Hbada X7 Smart Ergonomic Chair is a great chair on paper, but it's let down by a steady list of small irritations that combine to make it hard to recommend at anywhere close to its current price.

Its comfort and adjustability are largely very good, and the mesh fabric used throughout is supportive yet breathable, for year-round comfort. Its integrated foot rest is also brilliant, making this a fantastic recliner as well as a decent office chair.

However, its arm rests are a constant irritation, always managing to somehow be in the way, the headrest is too fiddly, and the seat base isn't quite as comfortable on the underside of your legs as you'd expect. The metallic dust deposited on my floor while assembling the chair, its wheels that don't roll particularly well, and its tendency to want to tip forward all further dent its sense of being a premium option.

All these issues would be forgivable at the ~$500 price of this chair's sibling, the E3 Pro, given just how much adjustment is packed into this chair. However, what really kills the value of the X7 is its underwhelming electronic features. The under-seat fan is useful enough, but its massage feature is too mild, and the heating element too weak. Plus, you need to charge the battery once every week or two. The whole package just isn't effective enough.

The fact that these electronic elements bump up its price so much just kills its value. At $800-$900, you'd be getting close to all the little irritations being forgivable in the face of such a long list of features, but even at $1,200, there are much better buys.