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By Denise Bertacchi published 6 July 22

Corsair’s TC200 is a well-built, good-looking chair that does double duty for gamers and work-from-home warriors. It would even look good in an office, but it’s lacking in lumbar support.

Subdued style looks good in an office

Corsair’s TC200 gaming chair (opens in new tab) has subdued styling and a wrap-around fit, making it appealing for both gamers and work-at-home warriors.  The racing-style chair is built to last, with a sturdy steel frame wrapped in high-density foam and breathable upholstery. But the built-in lumbar support is lackluster, so if you have a bad back, this may not be the best choice. 

Priced at $399.99, the TC200 is designed to accommodate adults up to 6 ft 5 inches and 268 pounds. I’m 5 foot 2, and at the lowest setting I can sit flat-footed, which honestly doesn’t happen very often. For me, the seat’s high seat edges felt a bit narrow and restrictive, especially since I like to sit cross legged.

I tested the black on black Plush Leatherette model, but the TC200 is also available in soft fabric upholstery. There are only two color choices: white and gray or the black-on-black model I tested. 

The Corsair TC200 arrived at my door in a beat-up box, but it had no damage thanks to good packing – everything was wrapped in plastic bags and padded with foam. Assembly instructions were missing for me, but I was able to quickly find a PDF with a link to the YouTube assembly video on Corsair’s website. 

The chair comes together quickly, and only needs one tool – a provided hex key – for assembly. Many parts simply snapped into place. This is far easier than many chair assemblies and a nice touch for people who aren’t used to using tools and putting things like furniture together.

You start off by pushing the wheels into the base and then mounting the piston onto the wheelbase. Next, you mount the tilt mechanism to the base of the chair and bolt it into place. The seat back is secured to the seat base supports with a pair of bolts on either side. The side brackets are then hidden under plastic covers that screw into place and further disguised with Corsair logo plugs.

Last, you place the seat onto the base and attach the neck pillow.

Color choices are limited to a white and gray model, or the black on black I tried out. The chair is just as pleasing to look as it is to sit on. It has rich textures, even with the black on black upholstery, with the dotted pattern of the breathable sections and subtle highlights of faux suede. The Corsair logo is elegantly simple and embroidered into the front and back of the headrest – a pleasant reminder of the brand without making you feel like a NASCAR driver.

A memory foam pillow straps into holes on the backrest of the chair, or can be left off. As a short person, I decided to leave the pillow off, but my 6-foot 3-inch son thought the placement was perfect.

The castors look like whitewall tires and have a special anti-rolling mechanism to prevent the chair from sliding away when you don’t expect it to, while still letting it rolls well when you purposefully push away from your desk. I’m filing this under “features I never knew I needed.”

Lumbar support is built into the chair’s design, but it’s not adjustable. It was comfortable to use at first, but after several hours I started missing the extra back support I’m used to having.

The upholstery wraps completely around the chair, including the back, with the only exposed plastic being the bolt covers and arm supports. The tops of the armrests are firm foam and appear easy to keep clean.

I really like how the adjustment levers and buttons are all black, allowing them to blend into the rest of the chair. Three buttons are on each armrest, and two levers under the seat handle tilt, recline and lifting/lowering the seat.

The Corsair TC200 has a wrap-around bucket seat style to cradle your backside in foam-padded comfort. This is a heavy-duty chair, built to last with a steel frame and a powder-coated steel wheelbase. I tested the leatherette model and found the upholstery to be smooth and soft. Though there’s accent stitching on the seat, none of it is close to the edge where your bare skin might encounter it if wearing shorts.

Lumbar support is built-in, but not adjustable or adequate for my cranky Gen X back. The seat curves upward to cup your bottom, which isn’t great for those of us who sit cross legged in a chair. However, my tall and slim teenager tested the chair for a day and thought it was perfect.

Aside from the lumbar support, the TC200 has a lot of adjustability for a custom fit. A lever on the side of the seat allows you to recline at from 90 degrees vertical to a fully flat 180 degrees. A second lever handles both the up and down movements, and when you pull it out  or push it in it locks or unlocks the tilt/rocking function. An adjuster knob under the seat controls the tension of the tilt function. This is all pretty standard stuff.

Three discrete buttons on each arm rest allow you to move them up and down, forward and back, and in or out. They can also pivot a few degrees inward or outward with a firm tug.

The Corsair TC200 is a good gaming chair that can do double duty as a deluxe desk chair. It has plenty of adjustability to let you sit upright for serious work or lean back for a causal YouTube watch session. The armrests move in four directions, so you can accommodate your elbows wherever you like to rest them. And most of the movement requires button presses, so the armrests don’t move around unintentionally when you grab them, like on some other chairs.

The TC200 chair skimps on lumbar support, however, and feels narrow if you have an ample bottom or like to sit cross-legged like I do. If you’re a bigger gamer looking for a luxury chair, I highly recommend the AndaSeat Kaiser 3 XL, an Editor’s Best Choice and one of the Best Gaming Chairs we’ve tested.

At $399.99, the TC200 is definitely more than your typical office chair. With a steel frame and well-designed upholstery, this is a chair designed to last for years of service. It’s not the most deluxe chair out there, but it’s certainly worthy of your consideration–especially if you like its looks and the idea of wheels that won’t roll the chair away from you unexpectedly.

Denise Bertacchi is a Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware US, covering 3D printing.

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