Haworth's Fern Review
Every chair should be a throne and hold a king.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post
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Do you remember the first cup of coffee you had? Not bad, right? It did the trick, but the experience didn't blow you away.
Now, remember your first cup of coffee from a legit coffee shop. Then the moment of realization, “How the he$% have I been missing this my whole life?”
This was my epiphany while testing the Haworth Fern chair. The Fern is a step up in price point when it comes to most office chairs, but here you get what you pay for. As I always say on FTW, products are investments in your health and the overall longevity of your career.
I’m not starting with the usual setup portion since the chair came to me already assembled. That being said, let’s dive into the pros and cons of Haworth's Fern chair.
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Starting from the ground up (Wheels and Base)
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Base and Wheels
Although the base/wheel construction isn’t the most exciting aspect, we need to have a sound foundation to base all other movements off of (sound advice in exercise rehab as well). The wheels rotate smoothly about the base, with motion across the floor being smooth as well. This is important if you are a mover throughout the day, which we all should be. Less friction while moving correlates with less strain on the muscles that allow said movement.
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The base of the chair has five rays that extend out to provide solid support. The length of the rays allows the user to slip under an enclosed desk for maximum ergonomic variability.
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Zeroed
Max Height
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One of my favorite features here was the amount of height translation present. Being taller, I commonly run into the problem of chair height, which causes my legs to not be fully underneath me. The Fern allows for over 4” of height translation compared to other office chairs that have only 2-2.5”. If you are over 6’0, I would recommend checking your chair height ASAP (yes, while you read this even).
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Controls, Knobs, Switches, and Shiny Things
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Overall the control switches were responsive with minimal amounts of force needed to activate it. At no time did the controls ever have that “clunky or ratchet-like” feeling. One of my biggest pet peeves is using a high-end chair that has unresponsive controls.
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The controls are placed intuitively, where your hands would typically fall at your sides; rather than some manufacturers that place the controls far underneath or on the platform of the chair.
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Backrest Tension
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Tension Control
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With all office products, the goal should always be to promote movement. It would then make sense that a 250lb person and a 150lb person have different amounts of force generation. Adding adjustable backrest tension adds another point of customization to the user.
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While the tension control was a great feature, the length of the knob could be lengthened by 1-2". Having a shorter length does allow for a smaller profile, but I did find myself bending over slightly to adjust the tension.
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The wheel-like design had further range by adding a paddle-like control, which doubled as the locking mechanism. I noticed a slight degree of variability between each of the four settings, but here I think a simple “lock” “unlock” would be fine as well.
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Seat Length Adjustment
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Seat Tilt and Pan Length
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This feature was something that taller individuals like myself desperately need in a chair. Fern came to the rescue with the implementation of this feature.
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Why does this matter? If a seat length is too short, the user will have added pressure on the posterior thigh and lack of support towards the knee. If the seat is too long, it will press into the back of the knees, which leads to impaired circulation or numbness.
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The issue I had here was the increased work required to adjust the seat. I couldn’t just flip the switch up and move the seat with my seat (pun intended). I had to hold the base or armrests while adjusting. However, you legit will have to change this once when you first set up the chair. Afterward, I would be shocked if you would need to move the seat length more than a handful of times throughout the chair’s lifespan.
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Seat Pan Tilt (The Console Player’s Game-Changer)
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When I first began messing around with the controls, I chalked this up to just another point of adjustment for the Fern. However, after sitting in a gaming style posture, the lightbulb went off.
As some of you may know, console gaming position is typically complete garbage. The picture below shows more than words can describe. I’m guilty of this position when I game as well, and no matter how hard I try, I inevitably find myself in this position during tense moments.
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Poor Console Posture
Improved posture with Arm Rest support and Seat Pan Tilt
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The pan-tilt allows me to be in a more athletic stance while gaming while inhibiting the terrible posture that we are all too familiar with. When this feature is coupled with the highly adjustable armrest (coming up, be patient), the Fern becomes a console player’s game-changer.
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For my office workers reading this, this feature allows for a different position while taking a meeting or phone call. It also opens up the angles of the user's hips to prevent tightness in the hip flexors.
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The Seat
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The Goldilocks Theory applies insanely well when it comes to seat support. The days of big cushy chairs with no support are out, yet using an ultra-firm seat isn’t the way to go either.
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Out of the gate, the Fern seat was firm but still “snapped back” following depression of the foam. The outer covering was breathable, which allows for proper heat regulation.
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The most impressive feature was the way the seat was able to spread out my body weight. Towards the end of the day, you may notice your butt gets sore in certain places always, aka pressure points. Even after sitting in the chair throughout the day, I never once experienced pressure point pain.
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Finally, the lack of any bolsters on the sides of the seat (seen in most gaming chairs) allowed for more range of motion of postures and movement throughout the day.
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Backrest (Yes, it’s supposed to be used)
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The typical gaming chair design is a straight-backed chair with an add-on lumbar support. I’ve never been a fan of this design since most companies continue to put what equates to a flattened loaf of bread in as a support. With Fern, you can see that this chair has a slight curve built in to accommodate the natural lordosis of the lumbar spine.
Fronds of the Fern
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There is an add-on of adjustable lumbar support on some models. The model I was testing had this add-on. I would argue that the add-on isn’t necessary when it comes to the overall design and felt a bit “clunky” when adjusting.
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Lumbar Support Air Bladder
Running down the back of the chair is a rigid center cut-out. This provides rigidity and support for the spine for which movement is based on. The open design also added aesthetic value as it allowed you to see the “guts” of the chair and appreciated the design that much more.
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While looking into the design of the webbing and “fronds,” you can see how the webbing becomes thicker as you descend the length of the chair. Once again, the thickness correlates with the need for more support and strength of the body. The webbing also provides a wave-like response as you move throughout the day, which brings us back to the cradling sensation.
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Armrests
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Max Height
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The armrests were one of the highlights of this chair for me. To start, the material is firm but allows give, which is crucial for preventing pressure points in the forearms (leads to tingling and numbness within the hands).
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Tapered Design
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The designed width of the armrests are flared from front to back. For me, I found this subtle feature significant to allow me to quickly get up from the chair by having a broader base. This flared design also mimics our forearm design as our forearms are wider at the elbow and taper to the wrist.
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Hands down, the best feature is the insane scope of movement within the rest. They seem to glide as you move them to whatever position you may need. The height adjustment here is also more accommodating than most chairs on the market.
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The Console Game Changer
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The game-changer here is for my console players out in there. The rests allow for support at 45 degrees, which enables the player to have the full support of the forearms while gaming. When you couple this feature with seat tilt, we’re able to stop the typical trash posture seen with console game play (I'm guilty of this so no judgment).
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The Fern Finale
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Look, I know that most of you will be concerned about the sticker price, but believe me when I tell you it will be hard to go back to my regular chair after this test drive. The sheer amount of upside exceedingly outweighs the few drawbacks I could find with the chair.
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Verdict
Should you buy this chair? Yes, if you have the means to buy it…..do it. Having back and neck issues toward the end of gaming sessions or workday, every day, isn’t a coincidence.
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This is an investment for most people, but one that will better your health both physically and mentally. As I always say on my site, an investment in your health is the best investment you can make. Less pain means more streaming, tournaments, and practice. All of which contribute to you making more money in the long run.
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