ThunderX3 XTC – Great features at an affordable price point
Struggling with choosing your next gaming chair? We take a look at ThunderX3’s latest chair.
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Struggling with choosing your next gaming chair? We take a look at ThunderX3’s latest chair, featuring mesh cushioning, synchronous tilt and a ton of adjustability.
An Uncomfortable Truth
There’s an uncomfortable truth in PC gaming. It’s not exciting and it certainly isn’t trendy. Posture is important. It may seem boring to think about, considering gaming chairs have no impact on how smooth your PC can run, or how clacky your key switches are, but if you’re sitting for prolonged periods of time, it’s important to look after your back. There’s a reason why many eSports teams have physios, inadequate posture can lead to injuries that cause serious issues. It’s not all boring, though. When you upgrade your chair, you can feel the strain being taken off your lower back and will find you can game for longer periods without the usual aches that you try to push to the back of your mind. As important as they are, gaming chairs aren’t cheap, and it can often feel difficult working out how much to spend if you want to look after your back and feel comfortable.
Affordable or Luxury?
It can feel a little daunting trying to be on the right side of affordable or luxury. Spend too little, and you may find yourself resenting your chair until you eventually give in and have to send it back, spend too much, and you may have wished you’d spent it on your PC instead.
The answer to this conundrum? The ThunderX3 XTC. ThunderX3’s chairs provide great value, largely on the more affordable end of the gaming chair spectrum. At £249.99 it sits just above what many consider to be the affordable cut-off point for gaming chairs, without needing to sell any internal organs. However, for the features provided, you’re getting a whole lot of mileage out of this throne with some impressive quality of life improvements.
Mesh over Cushion?
One of the main differences between the XTC and other ThunderX3 models is the mesh seat and back, rather than cushion. Personally, it’s my favorite feature of the chair. With a lot of cushioned seats, on the more affordable side, I find myself sinking further into the cushion until I eventually feel the solid plastic beneath the cushion. With the mesh seating, it feels more like you’re floating, meaning the familiar aches you get after sitting down for too long disappear. As for the mesh backing, it feels more responsive than traditional cushioning, this allows you to change position far more easily than with cushion, where often it seems like the memory foam is playing catch up with your back.
Another important factor in the mesh and cushion debate is heat regulation. Mesh cushioning is about as breathable as it gets. Rather than traditional cushioning absorbing your body heat and eventually reaching uncomfortable temperatures, mesh allows air to flow to and from the body, meaning no more sticking to that imitation leather on hot summer days!
Adjustability
One of the main differing factors between affordable and luxury gaming chairs are the adjustability features. Not being able to change your chair set up to suit what you find comfortable is another thing that can lead to chair resentment. With the XTC, you’ll find a range of seat, backrest, armrest and headrest adjustments to guarantee you’re sitting comfortably.
The XTC comes with fully adjustable arm-rests as is common for all great gaming chairs, allowing PC and console gamers alike to find their perfect sitting position. This includes height adjustment, angle adjustment and positioning. It’s incredibly easy to switch these settings too, although the frustration of when someone else sits in your chair and fiddles with your meticulous tweaks still remains (and will until the end of days).
Another feature that I appreciated was seat depth. This is where you can move the placement of the seat closer and further away from the backrest. I usually find myself sitting as far back on the seat as possible for my posture, but end up feeling uncomfortable due to the lack of cushioning. This feature allowed the seat to be closer to the backrest than most chairs, which meant I got more lumbar support than I’m used to and my posture felt much better for it.
Backrest
The XTC’s backrest is a feature that ThunderX3 seem to be really proud of. Its ‘X’-shaped structure is not only visually striking, but also ensures that support for your lumbar and back is evenly distributed and self-adjusts to how you sit. This means the XTC will regulate its support to provide more lumbar or back support for whatever position you’re sitting in.
The XTC’s backrest also has a mechanical function known as ‘Synchronous Tilt’. With a lot of gaming chairs, you’ll often find that tilting the angle of the chair back feels relaxing at first, but soon you’ll find your lower back beginning to ache. This is because the only part that moves when you tilt these chairs is the backrest itself. However, with the XTC, while the backrest tilts back, the seat raises in height. This may sound unconventional, but it means your back remains supported, however far back you tilt, allowing you to kick back and relax after a long session.
A man using a ThunderX3 XTC monitor, enjoying its great features at an affordable price point.
A man enjoys the great features of a ThunderX3 XTC chair as he sits in front of a computer screen.
A ThunderX3 XTC gaming chair with great features at an affordable price point sits in front of a monitor.
Conclusion
If you’re able to spend more than £200 for a gaming chair, but don’t want to break the bank, this chair is perfect. It feels solid, features a great range of adjustability, and the mesh cushioning is a great alternative to what can often be cheap feeling foam that you get from more affordable chairs. What’s more, it looks great in a gaming or professional setting, without any garish designs or logos.
If you want to find out more about the XTC and the rest of the ThunderX3 range, check out Overclockers UK for the full collection.
