Great, thanks. Do you remember which variant you bought? This is one I've been looking at since it has the most reviews and seems to be the most popular. I assume Amazon is the best place to buy it.
I appreciate that you asked a question on a 9 year old post, lol.
I gave this chair to a friend after maybe 5 years because I was moving to a different city. By then, the leather was definitely starting to bald and crack a bit. Not sure what the state of it is these days (also looks like Staples no longer makes it, but has other similarly-priced faux leather chairs).
I have since graduated to a Hon Ignition 2.0 with rollerblade wheels and am very happy.
I did not I believe the shipping to Canada was a lot of money and in total it was going to be $1200+ for the chair. I ended up going with the HON Ignition 2 and I’m very happy with it.
HON Ignition 2.0 Mid-Back Adjustable Lumbar Work Chair - Black Mesh Computer Chair for Office Desk, Black Fabric (HONI2M2AMLC10TK) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06Y3PGPR2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_6EAJ941CB35EDEMKC5T9
Thanks for the response. Yeah I've seen the creaking issue mentioned several times. It's hard to say how much it would bother me, could be either a minor nuisance or an impossible to ignore defect haha.
On the topic of the Ignition 2.0, is there a particular variant to consider? This is the one that I've had my eye on as it's the listing with the most reviews and is shipped and sold by Amazon. also, are you aware if I can add a headrest to it? I've seen photos with one attached but don't see any Amazon listings with one that comes with one.
Secondly, two other options I've sort of been considering are this Haworth Soji as well as this SIDIZ T50. I don't know much about either but I'm open to them if you know anything about them.
The Branch Ergonomic Chair is regarded by some reviewers as one of the best chairs if you can't afford a $1000+ Herman Miller chair. In a few "office chair round-ups" it was classified as "the best office chair for most people".
I personally have a Autonomous ErgoChair 2. The ErgoChair 2 has been replaced by the ErgoChair Pro. The pricing right now looks to be about $550 for the black/white/neutral colors, and $500 for the other colors (that probably have less demand). I believe that's a little bit more than the Ergochair 2's price was, but I waited until Autonomous had a sale and got the ErgoChair 2 for under $300 dollars. I don't know how common sales like that are, but I can recommend the chair if they do go on sale again.
My chair does have a headrest, and I don't really use it, but I think it's a nice to have. If you want one, the branch chair charges an extra $50 to include it, while it's included with the ErgoChair.
The HON Ignition 2.0 chair is similar to the two above, for a $350-ish price. There's different styles of it available, and the pricing varies based on the options you get. It looks like its' cheaper on amazon than ordering from HON's online store. I don't have experience with it, so I can't talk much about it. This one is marketed more at businesses looking to buy hundreds of chairs, while the Branch or Autonomous chairs are targeted for consumers.
I did some research into the state of office chairs very recently actually, here's some of the articles/reviews/round-ups I used that you might find useful.
Hopefully this helps! :)
[US] Wirecutter at NYTimes has an annual review of office chairs. I went with their budget (-ish) pick, the $300 HON. Their #1 ranked chair is $1k, if that's in your price range.