We’ve been making gaming chairs at CORSAIR for years now, and while they’ve been received well, we thought it was time to break away from traditional gaming chair design. Perhaps it’s time to grow up a little eh?
Hence, the CORSAIR TC500 LUXE: a newly designed, re-engineered addition to our range of chairs, and honestly, it's our best yet. We’ll get into the specifics of why that's the case right after the full specs. It’s a long list, so strap in.
We mentioned at the outset that the TC500 marked a move away from the traditional gaming chair aesthetic, and we meant it. After all, you can still play games in a chair that doesn’t resemble the bucket seat from a rally car right?
That being said, as you might be able to tell, we’ve still taken some inspiration from the automotive world. With less aggressive bolsters and a deeply quilted surface, the TC500 wouldn’t look out of place in a premium vehicle. Let’s take a closer look at the design.
First, let’s talk about the fabric. The TC500 LUXE uses a breathable and stain-resistant material that has a classy resemblance to leather, but will remain more comfortable in hotter weather than a cowhide chair ever could.
The quilting that we mentioned earlier is only present on the areas of the chair that have the most contact with the user’s body. This pragmatic approach to fanciness creates a nice contrast between the premium texture of the quilting and the neat smoothness of the other sections.
It’s worth noting here that, on release the TC500 LUXE is available in three different colorways, any of which look fantastic in the home office or gaming room.
Firstly, we have Shadow, a dark grey that wouldn’t look out of place in the family SUV. This will probably end up being the most popular colorway, as dark grey will effortlessly fit with basically any pre-existing aesthetic.
Next, we have Frost, which is a slightly off-white that emulates what a lot of people call “cream leather”, again the automotive influence is clear here. This color more closely resemble a retired man’s plaything such as a Jaguar, as there is no chance that children would be allowed anywhere near fabric this light.
Lastly, we have Sherwood. This is a dark green color that’s a touch more desaturated than a traditional British Racing Green. The desaturation helps here, as it means the color will wear more evenly and more gracefully than a more intense tone.
In keeping with our more mature approach to the design, we’ve also kept the number of visible logos to a minimum. A simple “CORSAIR” on the left wing and the iconic sails logo front and centre on the headrest. This one actually gets covered by the ergonomic neck pillow, though. Speaking of which:
A chair can have as much quilting and as many exquisite colorways as possible, but it’s all for nothing if it’s not comfortable and ergonomically sound. The CORSAIR TC500 LUXE ticks both of these boxes with some game-changing design choices and engineering decisions.
When it comes to gaming chairs, the bolsters (those “wings”, for lack of a better word, on either side of the seat) are usually very steep to mimic bucket seats found in rally cars. This makes sense in a racing environment where the G-forces are enough to yank you from side to side, but they are perhaps not so necessary for those sitting motionless for nine hours straight to grind ranked games in Valorant.
So, we made the bolsters on the TC500 LUXE far gentler, in addition to making the actual seat significantly wider than you’d normally see on a gaming chair. The advantages of this are twofold: the less angular bolsters allow for better support for alternative seating positions, such as the ever-popular one-leg-folded-under-the-other-thigh thing. And the wider overall seat means the chair will fit a wider range of people. Gamers, after all, come in a considerably wide range of shapes and sizes.
Moving upwards we find our Omni-flex armrests. Again, the priority here is ergonomics and comfort, and given that humans aren’t all the same size, the focus here is to give plenty of range. This is why the armrests can be adjusted side-to-side, up and down, left-to-right, and can be rotated all the way around. This last one is particularly useful for mobile gamers – if the armrests are rotated 180 degrees, they angle upwards which makes it more comfortable to hold a phone, Steam Deck, or other mobile gaming device in the correct spot.
For those who need a bit of extra space, the entire armrest assembly can be mounted a couple of centimeters further out, as the bolts go through slots on the assembly, instead of holes, so you can slide it a little to get the perfect fit, then tighten it up.
Further up we get to what is arguably the most important part when it comes to seating ergonomics: the lumbar support. Most gaming chairs simply give you a pillow and leave you to it, or perhaps mount it on a loop of straps that allow you to adjust it up and down.
We decided to go a few steps further, integrating the lumbar support mechanism within the backrest. This results in a cleaner look and a chair that offers more adjustability compared to typical cushion solution.
That’s right, adjustability. Given that each individual’s ergonomic needs are different, there are no one size fits all solutions here. So, by using the knobs on either side of the seat back, the lumbar support bulge can be dialed in to suit your specific spine. When sitting in the TC500, the left knob can be used to raise or lower the support, and the right knob increases and decreases the pressure of the support. Some additional details can be found in the CORSAIR TC500 LUXE manual, so check that out if you’re curious about the specifics.
Continuing our journey upwards we find more evidence of our commitment to ergonomics: the neck pillow. It’s memory foam, which pulls double duty here. Firstly, memory foam is just incredibly comfortable and secondly, it has enough firmness to adequately support the user’s neck correctly.
All this is in addition to the standard fare you want from a premium chair: height adjustability, tilt lock, tilt tension adjustment, and smooth casters that roll easily regardless of the surface it's on.
So, if you’re interested in the next generation of CORSAIR gaming chairs, check out the TC500 LUXE over at our main website. Additionally, we’ve written a page comparing the TC500 vs the TC200 and TC100, so take a look at that if you want to see which of our chairs is the best option for you. We've also written a TC500 LUXE assembly guide so if you're curious about how it all comes together, check that out.
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