Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 Series review: Clever, stylish and comfortable

It’s no secret that Secretlab have been held in the highest esteem by the gaming community for a few years now, with a track record of delivering gaming chairs with supreme build quality and excellent options for comfort and posture support. We’ve previously reviewed their 2020 Titan and Omega models and were impressed with the ergonomics and overall comfort. Since then, plenty of other companies have entered the space, vying to take the crown from the king, with varying results. Now Secretlab are back with some clever innovations and a chair they want to set the new standard. How does it stack up?

Secretlab Titan EVO 2022 Series

Height range (Medium Size)

5’6″ – 6’0″

Maximum load

286lb

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Assembly

One of the things we love most about Secretlab chairs is how easy they are to put together and the Titan EVO 2022 is no exception. This was designed with ease of construction in mind, with one great example being the sliding mechanism that locates the seatback onto the base. This is a clever way of avoiding the difficulties of holding two pieces in position and fastening them simultaneously. You also just need a single tool to construct the entire chair.

Secretlab also have safety in mind, with a locking nut that prevents you from inadvertently snaring your finger in the tilting mechanism until the chair is built. Additionally, the screw covers attach magnetically, so they effortlessly slot into place without any extra effort. All these little things add up to an enjoyable and easy assembly experience.

Comfort

When we first sat in the Titan EVO 2022 we were surprised to find it felt much firmer than the Omega series. Once we’d finished fiddling around with the height, armrests, lumbar support, and neck pillow, however, the chair started to feel properly tailored to the body. It’s also worth mentioning here that the EVO 2022 comes in three size variants that are aimed at specific heights and weights – check Secretlab’s website to make sure you pick the correct size for your frame.

Overall the comfort of the Titan EVO 2022 is impressive and once you figure out the extensive customization options it gets even better. However, if you favor a more plush seat base this chair might not be for you and the Omega series from Secretlab will suit you far better.

Materials

Much like the rest of Secretlabs’s chairs, the Titan EVO 2022 is available in a wide range of colors and upholstery options that frankly put other competitors to shame – their website lists 118 variants at time of writing, made up of the different designs between the three upholstery material options, Secretlab’s proprietary Hybrid Leatherette and SoftWeave Plus, in addition to a premium offering of NAPA leather.

The standard upholstery is Secretlab’s NEO Hybrid Leatherette and this was the variant we received as you can see in the photos throughout this review. It’s available in 33 different designs and ours is the standard stealth, a fantastic looking chair with just enough branding to make a statement. There are small sections along the borders that are made of cheap plastic designed to look like carbon fiber, but thankfully they aren’t too prominent.

The leatherette feels soft and hard-wearing. At first touch it’s obvious that it’s fake leather but it’s far from the worst we’ve felt. The plastic sections feel decidedly less premium than the contact areas, but they are functional and sturdy enough that we aren’t worried about the longevity. The fabric of the magnetic neck pillow is hard to define. The best that we settled on is somewhere between faux-velour or velvet. Regardless of the specificities, it’s a fantastically smooth texture that feels positively delightful against the neck.

Build quality

This is an area in which the Titan EVO 2022 Series excels. With the exception of the rather shaky armrests and the adjustment levers, the chair feels absolutely rock-solid. All the metal parts feel sturdy, rigid, and built to last. The Hybride Leatherette feels wear-resistant and the stitching is heavy duty and impervious to our most aggressive picking. Seriously, we tried to yank the threads out and they wouldn’t budge.

In contrast, the adjustment levers are disproportionately low-quality. They’re made from nasty feeling plastic and flap around as you use them. They also have an irritating tendency to pull free from their positions at the slightest touch. It’s not a huge issue as once you configure the chair to suit your preferences you rarely have to use them, but considering the rest of the chair’s class-leading construction they stick out as an area for improvement. The armrests are pretty wobbly, but we suspect it’s a difficult to avoid knock-on effect of their extensive adjustment capabilities.

Ergonomics

Your health is important, and given that we’re gamers it’s no surprise that we spend entirely too much time sitting in chairs. Luckily, Secretlab is aware of this and has designed the Titan EVO 2022 Series with posture and ergonomics in mind. The chair has the most adjustability options we’ve ever seen and the fact that it comes in three sizes to suit specific weight and height ranges proves that Secretlab has put the time in to make this chair a healthy option for gamers of all shapes and sizes.

Lumbar support

This is where the Titan EVO 2022 truly separates itself from previous Secretlab products, with a fully adjustable built-in lumbar support system. Gone are the days of a clumsy pillow that slides around in and out of place. You can adjust the lumbar support up or down to suit your height, and vary the intensity to perfectly support and encourage a healthy spinal curvature. The adjustment is accomplished by turning a knob just behind each armrest. They are a bit hard to reach but once you dial it in you won’t need to touch it again. The system is easy to configure and we have yet to notice it shifting out of place – it’s a cleverly engineered system that negates the need for a cushion or any other such additions.

Neck support

Previous iterations of Secretlab chairs have utilized a memory foam head pillow held in place by an elastic strap that also enables adjustment. It was a decent system but the pillow would often slide out of place as the elastic inevitably loosened. The Titan EVO 2022 puts a stop to this by implementing a magnetic system to hold the pillow to the back of the chair. It results in a neater aesthetic and allows easier adjustment, while at the same time staying put far more reliably than the previous strap-based system.

The pillow itself is made of a medium-firm memory foam that will cradle your neck in a healthy position. It’s worth noting here that the powerful magnets used in both the head pillow mounting system and the hot-swappable armrests do make this chair unsuitable for people with certain medical conditions.

Armrests

These are also extensively adjustable with an impressive range of movement as they move up/down, back/forward, and rotate so you can customize them to your need and preferences. There are also magnets in play here, with a system that Secretlab calls CloudSwap. With a quick yank you can remove and replace them, with Secretlab promising new armrest covers made out of alternate materials in the future.

Final verdict

They’ve done it again. After an extended testing period, we have no choice but to recommend the Secretlab Titan EVO 2022. It comes packed with healthy ergonomic features and is customizable to such an extent that it will fit any gamer, regardless of size. The addition of the magnetic pillow is an excellent change over previous iterations of the chair as it cleans up the design and retains its position better.

The adjustable lumbar support is a cleverly designed system that is easy to use and results in effective support for your spine. The materials feel nice to the touch and look premium and the build quality is almost perfect, bar the armrests and adjustment levers. Overall the chair continues to uphold Secretlab as the gold standard of gaming chairs.