Boulies Master Max Series Review @BouliesChairs
Summary: With an RRP at the time of writing of £399.99, it’s a fraction of the cost of some of the alternatives, and with more functionality, quality and comfort than your regular office gear.
4
Comfort
Whether it’s for work or downtime, I probably spend a good 60% of my life sitting in front of my desk, but I’ve never really questioned how important it is to invest in a decent chair. I’ve spent the last decade complaining about rubbish office furniture, refusing even to consider investing in something more premium. Now I’ve had some time with the Boulies Master Max, I admit I’m kind of annoyed at myself. It’s proof that decent quality doesn’t have to cost a fortune – and more than anything – my back has never been more thankful.
Boulies may not be the first name you think of when it comes to gaming chairs. In fact, Boulies probably wouldn’t be in the top ten that come to mind, with the company, in the grand scheme of things, relatively new to the market. But while big hitters like Secretlab and Herman Miller are still making waves, Boulies have slowly been growing in popularity, with the likes of the Ninja series gaining the brand some much-deserved attention in recent months, and the Master series hopes to continue the trend.
The Master Max is an impressively sized piece of kit, with a backrest height of 82.5cm, a seat depth of 50cm, and a width between armrests up to 78cm. It’s a big chair, but that also means it can handle almost everything you can throw at it, with a recommended user height of up to 198cm and a weight limit of up to 135kg. There’s also plenty of options available depending on what type of chair you’re after, with the Master Max coming in either an Ultraflex PU, Water Repellent Fabric or Nappa Leather, with several colour finishes available in the Ultraflax and Water Repellent options.
Perhaps what’s more intimidating than the Master Max itself is its packaging, but don’t let its size fool you. The chair is a breeze to put together, and despite being a complete novice, I managed to build it on my own in less than 30 minutes. That said, some of the chair parts are heavy, so I recommend bringing a friend along for the ride, just to make it a little easier. Luckily, no tools were required, with the box complete with two Allen keys which are all you need to build your new throne, and the instructions were simple enough to follow, with useful pictures to show you what step to go to next.
Before I even started the build, I couldn’t help but notice how quality it all feels. Each piece of the chair feels premium, made of top-quality material, from the hefty aluminium base to the beautiful chair coverings with their impressively neat stitching. The devils in the details, too, even down the class-4 gas lift and chair casters, all of which feel like genuinely quality pieces of kit. The only exception to the rule, in my opinion, is the screw covers on both sides of the chair, which did feel a little plasticky compared to the rest of the product.
Once built, I spent some time messing about with the chairs, many, many functions, and I was blown away with just how much this thing could do. It’s packed full of stuff to make your experience as comfortable as possible, including built-in lumbar support, adaptable armrests, and multiple ways of adjusting the chairs’ tilt and angle. To put all these functions to the test, I wanted to see how the chair got on being used as both an office chair and as a gaming chair.
As an office chair, I had the Master Max sitting in a basic sitting position, locking the tilt function with the backrest fully up. With the chair upright, I found the lumbar support really came into its own. It’s super easy to adjust the amount of support provided, as well as where the lumbar support sits, with dials on each side of the chair which can be turned to adjust both the height of the lumbar support and its intensity. I definitely felt a difference in my lower back when I got it just how I needed it. It feels like it really helps to keep your spine in the correct position, and as someone who has suffered from back problems for several years, having the correct support has eased some of my symptoms, especially when sitting for long periods at a time.
Having the chair upright is also where I feel the armrests sheer level of adjustability shines through the best. Boulies describe the armrests as “4D”, and I guess, in many ways, they are. They move in, out, up, down – you can pretty much have them just how you want, and I really appreciated just how much support they provided for my elbows in particular. Using the chair for a good 8 hours a day in the sitting position was an absolute breeze, and while I did still commit to regular breaks, I found that for long-term use, it was much better than any chair I’d previously tried.
But it’s using the chair as a gaming accessory where the Master Max comes into its own. Having the rocking function fully unlocked and the chair back moved down (using a lever to the side of the chair), I can’t recall ever being so comfy while gaming before. I loved being able to lie fully back, utilising the included cushion to its full advantage while feeling confident the chair wouldn’t buckle under the stress. The deep, foamy mattresses of both the bottom seat and the backrest mould wonderfully into your body shape and, perhaps most importantly, feel like they’re built to last.
The tilt mechanism is all built into the chair’s chunkiest part that sits right under the base of the chair. It incorporates two levers, one which allows you to adjust the height of the chair, another other to engage and disengage the chair’s rocking function. The height adjuster does what it says on the tin, but the tilt allows you to lean back and, as previously mentioned, allows you to lock it in a position that’s comfortable for you.
It’s a great little system and one that, for the most part, worked well, but I did encounter some issues with the lock, as I sometimes found that it wouldn’t quite stay in place, meaning keeping the chair at the exact position I wanted to became impossible. Luckily, this meant I got to test out Boulies’ support. Good customer service has always been a priority for me, especially with expensive purchases, and overall, I was impressed with the level of support I received. I was sent a new tilt mechanism within a couple of days, and when I had trouble replacing it, I received further support to help me get everything back in order. I must admit, taking the chair apart isn’t quite as easy as putting it all together, and I found removing some parts put more strain than I’d like like to excert on such an expensive piece of kit, but with the help of the team, I managed to get everything running as normal again in relatively speedy timing.
Now, I’m no stranger to a spillage, but for any fellow messy gamers, the Master Max has us covered with its water-repelling fabric finish. In the interest of research, I put the chair to the test, spilling a cup of water on the base of the unit and letting it sit for a good 30 seconds before I removed it. I was happy to say that the chair easily passed the test, with the water simply rolling off the base of the chair with ease, leaving me to quickly wipe the rest off with no fuss. While I’ll no doubt soon have a real-life example of how it performs under worse conditions (and I wasn’t brave enough to hit the chair with a cup of coffee just yet), I feel confident it can handle at least minimal spillage with no problem at all.
While for the most part, the Master Max surpassed my expectations, it’s not without its faults, and in particular, I found most of the functionality aspects of the chair a little awkward to access. For example, the knobs to adjust the lumbar support sit slightly too high on the sides of the chair, and the tilt mechanism bars to adjust height and tilt also sit too far forward, so you do have to do some fidgeting in order to reach them. I also found that, even after replacing the tilt mechanism,on occasion, it did stick me in place when I had the tilt on full lock, requiring a little bit of wiggling to get myself upright again.
Final Thoughts?
That said, though, nothing I experienced were complete dealbreakers for me, and if you’re in the market for a new chair – whether for gaming or for your office set-up – then the Master Max is an easy recommendation. With an RRP at the time of writing of £399.99, it’s a fraction of the cost of some of the alternatives, and with more functionality, quality and comfort than your regular office gear. It might have its quirks, but as far as bang for your buck (and great aftercare support) is concerned, it doesn’t get much better than this.
4/5
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