I just got this chair today. FedEx didn't ship the big, heavy box with care, so they ripped a huge slit in the box. Thankfully, nothing inside was damaged. Can't fault AKRacing for FedEx's carelessness.
The chair came well-packaged. Instructions were not helpful, because it wasn't even a diagram of the Onyx. It was some completely different chair model. However, assembly was pretty easy and self-explanatory. Armrests were already bolted on, so no need to put it on myself. I only needed to attach the mechanism to the bottom of the chair with 4 screws already on the chair, put the wheels on the base, attach the gas lift, then bolt on the back of the chair to the base of the chair.
The chair itself feels very high quality, sturdy, smooth, and comfortable. Only time will tell whether or not this thing falls apart after a few years like most chairs do. I got the real leather version and it's definitely real leather in the front, PU pleather in the back. The stitching is also well-done and high quality (pics provided). There are no dents in the cushioning / foam of my chair, as some of the 2017 Onyx chairs had this problem from the last drop. The armrests have just the right amount of cushioning and are very firm. They adjust up and down, forward and backwards, left and right. Only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't lock left and right (but does lock up and down), so you can accidentally adjust it if you put enough pressure on it. Not a big deal, but could be bothersome, as I've already adjusted it several times when I didn't want to adjust it.
OK, here comes the complaints. First of all, the chair smells really bad of chemicals. I think it's the foam of the chair and maybe the pleather. It probably needs to be aired out for a few days, but it's stinking up my whole room and even outside my room, as well as giving me a major headache. Hopefully it goes away soon.
Second complaint, and the most important, is that my chair has a defect in the leather. There's a patch on the front left side that's hardened and looks ugly. Look at the pictures to see it. Not sure what the remedy of this could be though...
Finally, I think they sent me the wrong backrest / lumbar support pillow. It has 2 long straps that looks like it should be attached to another chair model that has the seat belt holes. Since the Onyx doesn't have those holes on the chair, I have no clue why it's there. I had to stuff the straps behind the pillow and it's all lumpy now.
Anyway, I'm somewhat satisfied with my chair minus the few complaints I listed above. I wanted to get a real office chair like Herman Miller Aeron, but those are usually double the price of this chair brand new and loaded. Didn't really trust gaming chairs due to their usual bad quality, but decided to give AKRacing a try, since they have good reviews with people saying the quality is high on their chairs. Massdrop and AKRacing got us a very good price on these chairs. Even though they are expensive compared to cheap Office Depot and Staples chairs, the high quality is worth it. Just wish mine didn't have a defect on the leather.
Edit/Update: I sent AK Racing support an e-mail and George and his supervisor was very helpful with my issues. Thank you very much, George.
15 days after I sent the e-mail, AK Racing delivered a new backrest replacement to me, to solve the faulty leather problem I detailed above. This company stands by their products!
The chair came well-packaged. Instructions were not helpful, because it wasn't even a diagram of the Onyx. It was some completely different chair model. However, assembly was pretty easy and self-explanatory. Armrests were already bolted on, so no need to put it on myself. I only needed to attach the mechanism to the bottom of the chair with 4 screws already on the chair, put the wheels on the base, attach the gas lift, then bolt on the back of the chair to the base of the chair.
The chair itself feels very high quality, sturdy, smooth, and comfortable. Only time will tell whether or not this thing falls apart after a few years like most chairs do. I got the real leather version and it's definitely real leather in the front, PU pleather in the back. The stitching is also well-done and high quality (pics provided). There are no dents in the cushioning / foam of my chair, as some of the 2017 Onyx chairs had this problem from the last drop. The armrests have just the right amount of cushioning and are very firm. They adjust up and down, forward and backwards, left and right. Only thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't lock left and right (but does lock up and down), so you can accidentally adjust it if you put enough pressure on it. Not a big deal, but could be bothersome, as I've already adjusted it several times when I didn't want to adjust it.
OK, here comes the complaints. First of all, the chair smells really bad of chemicals. I think it's the foam of the chair and maybe the pleather. It probably needs to be aired out for a few days, but it's stinking up my whole room and even outside my room, as well as giving me a major headache. Hopefully it goes away soon.
Second complaint, and the most important, is that my chair has a defect in the leather. There's a patch on the front left side that's hardened and looks ugly. Look at the pictures to see it. Not sure what the remedy of this could be though...
Finally, I think they sent me the wrong backrest / lumbar support pillow. It has 2 long straps that looks like it should be attached to another chair model that has the seat belt holes. Since the Onyx doesn't have those holes on the chair, I have no clue why it's there. I had to stuff the straps behind the pillow and it's all lumpy now.
Anyway, I'm somewhat satisfied with my chair minus the few complaints I listed above. I wanted to get a real office chair like Herman Miller Aeron, but those are usually double the price of this chair brand new and loaded. Didn't really trust gaming chairs due to their usual bad quality, but decided to give AKRacing a try, since they have good reviews with people saying the quality is high on their chairs. Massdrop and AKRacing got us a very good price on these chairs. Even though they are expensive compared to cheap Office Depot and Staples chairs, the high quality is worth it. Just wish mine didn't have a defect on the leather.
15 days after I sent the e-mail, AK Racing delivered a new backrest replacement to me, to solve the faulty leather problem I detailed above. This company stands by their products!