Bo Moore
The original Secretlab Titan Evo has been our longstanding overall pick for the best gaming chair, but now that the Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition has officially arrived, that’s about to change. With a brand-new, softer, and more durable leatherette fabric, and a new NanoFoam Composite cushion, the best has gotten even better.
Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition – Design and Features
From afar, the Nanogen Edition is a ringer for the 2022 version. Its bucket-style seat is exactly the same, as is the bolstered backrest and the design of the seat, so if you’ve seen a Secretlab, you already know what to expect about its shape, size, and general features. But take a closer look – or reach out and touch it – and you’ll immediately notice the difference.
If you haven’t heard about it (and how have you not at this point if you’ve ever been in the market for a gaming chair), the Secretlab’s Titan Evo line is the classic racing style gaming chair, evolved. The Nanogen Edition is the latest version and pushes comfort to the next level. It has the same general stylings as the 2022 Evo, which was built upon the original Titan in 2020. It features the same aesthetic bolsters (wings) on either side of the seat and backrest, but the sitting area is wider so those wings don’t hug you into place. The chair itself has the same measurements as its predecessor (52.8 tall with a diameter of 27 inches), so it has a slightly larger footprint than many gaming chairs – but not by much. The Nanogen Edition comes in either Regular (recommended for up to 6’2” and 220lbs) and XL (5’11 or taller and up to 395lbs) sizes, just like the original, but note that there’s no Small at launch.
The foam is thick and hides its steel frame well enough that you should never feel it. Like its predecessor, the Nanogen Edition uses custom-developed cold-cure foam that’s made to hold its firmness and support over at least five years of heavy use – my 2019 Omega uses the same material and has held up well under daily use. The firmness of Secretlab’s foam has been one of the most common complaints dating back to the company’s earliest chairs, nearly a decade ago. Secretlab will tell you that it settled on this density to provide proper support for those long gaming sessions, but the complaint about the previous versions has merit: the Titan Evo, and Omega before it, both require a lengthy break-in period and still remain firmer than many other gaming chairs even after months of daily use.
But with the Titan Evo Nanogen Edition, Secretlab has addressed that criticism head-on. This new model is by far its most comfortable right out of the box, and hits the sweet spot between softness and support. It accomplishes this with brand-new, in-house-developed Nanogen hybrid leatherette and a fresh nanofoam composite seat cushion.
Secretlab makes big claims about its new multi-layered leatherette. It’s supposed to be 14 times more abrasion-resistant than normal polyurethane leather, more stain-resistant, and the white version (white and black are available at launch) is UV resistant to avoid yellowing over time. The company described the intensive testing process in preview materials and it is, indeed, impressive – the abrasion test in particular. I’ll spare you too many specifics (see this video for the actual test that was performed), but essentially, the fabric was strapped to a machine and run against an abrasive surface with triple the recommended weight pressing it into the material. Under these conditions, it was able to run for 10 kilometers (just shy of four miles) before developing a hole. No human butt is going to approach that level of violence and intensity.
I don’t have a microscope or a firm grasp on the cutting edge of upholstery science, but if Secretlab’s claims on its long-term durability hold true, the leatherette really is something special. Unfortunately, those aren’t the kind of qualities that can be tested in a launch review, so be sure to check back over time for updates on long-term wear and tear.
What I can say now is that the leatherette is exceptionally soft and pleasant to touch. It’s the softest, most comfortable leatherette I’ve felt on a gaming chair and bears a strong resemblance to Brisa – an “ultrafabric” frequently found on high-end task chairs and as a premium leather replacement on a wide array of (usually very expensive) luxury products.
The new upholstery feels immediately softer to the touch, but it’s when you sit in the chair that it all comes together. The nanofoam composite seat renders the old complaints about firmness a thing of the past. That said, Secretlab hasn’t done away with its medium-firm cold-cure foam entirely. Instead, the traditional foam is just underneath the nanofoam layer, making the latter a bit of a seat topper, while the two are bonded with a special adhesive. This allows the seat to feel soft and cushiony but still offer proper support when your full weight is applied to it. Cleverly, the pad is thickest at the front and tapers off toward the back, so your legs to your bottom experience the most plush feel.
These two additions, but particularly the new Nanogen hybrid leatherette, highlight one of Secretlabs’ strengths. Though the overall shape and “bucket seat” style of its chairs is similar to countless others, it is one of the few gaming chair companies able to invest heavily in materials science and R&D to develop its own fabric and foam technologies. It’s also able to produce its own products and doesn’t need to rely on shared factory lines like many others (hence why so many look so similar). This allows Secretlabs to innovate and produce chairs that share design characteristics but that look and feel distinctly higher quality in person. With the Nanogen Edition, that perception is even more profound.
Fabric and padding aside, this is still a Titan Evo underneath, and it carries through all of the major features of the excellent 2022 original. It has a four-way lumbar support that’s adjustable with knobs on the backrest for height and depth. It still reclines to a full laying position and can lock its angle. It still makes use of magnets to hold the headrest and armrest cushions in place, making for a modular, easy-to-swap system. And those armrests are 4D adjustable for depth, width, height, and angle.
While you can change the armrest pads, you probably won’t want to. The Nanogen Edition comes stock with Secretlabs’ PlushCell foam armrests, which are soft and comfortable but keep your arms well supported. Trimmed in black or gray velour, depending on whether you choose the black or white version of the chair, they’re perfectly matched to the chair in both look and feel.
Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition – Assembly
Assembling the Nanogen Edition is straightforward if you’ve ever built a gaming chair before – and exactly the same as the original Titan Evo 2022. If you haven’t had the pleasure, Secretlab provides detailed instructions and all of the tools you’ll need right in the box. They even included a large foam square to protect your floor and the finish on your wheelbase and casters during the process.
You’ll begin by attaching the backrest to the seat base. The armrests are already attached, so you won’t need to worry about fastening those. You do need to put the PlushCell foam tops on, but since they’re attached by magnets it’s tool-free and quick. From there you fasten the tilt base, then put the piston, its shroud, and the casters onto the aluminum wheel base, and insert the other end of the piston into place on the bottom of the chair. Flip it upright, slap on the magnetic covers for the arm brackets and the magnetic pillow, and you’re done. The whole setup took around X minutes.
Secretlab Titan Evo Nanogen Edition – Performance
While it might seem like a small update to simply change the fabric and add more padding to the seat, the Nanogen Edition turns out to be a major upgrade over the standard Titan Evo. I’ve been able to test a huge range of gaming chairs over the years, and the only bucket-style seat that even comes close in softness and comfort is the LFGaming Stealth, which retails for an eye-watering $1,695 and uses memory foam and Brisa upholstery to achieve its comfort. Meanwhile, the Titan Evo Nanogen is even more comfortable, while retailing for less than half as much.
I was skeptical at first, but the new Nanogen leatherette was a pleasant surprise. There’s a slight pattern difference compared to Secretlab’s normal Neo leatherette, but nothing stood out to me upon seeing the material for the first time as I opened the box. Taking it out of the bags, I knew in just one touch how much better it was going to be. It doesn’t feel exactly like leather anymore; The tactility and texturing of it is close enough that you can tell it is a leatherette, but it’s removed from the stiffer variety usually found on gaming chairs. Almost like leather and silk had a baby: soft, breathable, pliable, but still in the leather family.
The new seat cushion is also very nice. This is the first time I’ve sat in a Secretlab chair and felt like the seat was actually cushy. Still, the cold-cure foam base prevents you from sinking in. It’s a balance – just soft enough to be relaxing, just firm enough to keep your spine well-supported and your worries of the chair becoming too soft over time at bay.
I’m a pretty average-sized guy, 5’9” and around 170 pounds, and after my initial test-sitting I found myself crawling under the chair to move the armrests in from their wide-set default position. While there is a width adjustment built into the 4D armrests, you can also loosen several screws on the bottom of the chair and adjust the depth of each entire arm. They come fully extended and even with all of the adjustments pushed to their limits, I wasn’t able to get them exactly where I wanted them without breaking out a screwdriver.
Taking this extra step was a bit of a pain. There are long slots where each arm connects to the chair, but crawling beneath your chair is never fun. Ultimately, though, it was worth it. Properly positioned, I was able to adjust them for everything from typing to supporting my elbows while I played on mouse and keyboard or kicking back with a controller.
The PlushCell foam armrest tops are amazing, as is the magnetic neck pillow. The tops match the look of the chair well, but also help it stand out from the Titan Evo 2022 which came with standard PU tops. But really, it’s their softness that impressed me. You can press your elbow into these all day long without a hint of soreness, and the velour feels downright pillowy against the skin. The neck pillow is similar and comes with matching velour trim. The magnets gave it enough range to be able to adjust its height from behind my head to behind my neck. Like the armrests and Nanogen fabric, it felt nice against my skin. Other chairs with cheap strap-on pillows forced my head forward, and eventually forced themselves right into the closet. Not here. It’s what a neck pillow should be: comfortable and alluring for the relaxation it can provide.
As was the case with the Titan Evo 2022, the lumbar system is excellent. Using knobs on either side of the backrest, you can adjust the curve in or out and up or down to perfectly match your body. It took me some adjustment to find the exact right position, but once it was in place the full comfort of the chair unlocked.
And good news if you were planning on picking up the Ergonomic Recliner add-on. It’s fully compatible, installs just the same, and really ties the whole experience together. The softness of the Titan Evo Nanogen Edition, combined with the comfort of the recliner, pushed this chair well above any other gaming seat I’ve tested since 2013 (when I first began reviewing them professionally). With this optional enhancement installed, this is the only bucket-style gaming seat that really does feel like a recliner and is easy to take a power nap in. More than once I’ve reclined back, put my hands behind my head, put my feet up, and slipped away.
Throughout my testing, I did everything from short, 30-minute sessions (both napping and awake) to six-plus-hour marathons. There simply was nothing the Evo couldn’t handle. It’s the perfect blend of softness and support, at least for me. While I won’t be trading in my $1,500 Steelcase Gesture anytime soon, I might very well have made a different decision if the Titan Evo Nanogen had been available when I was buying my personal gaming chair. Unless you’re prepared to spend multiple times as much, it doesn’t get much better than this.
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