Sidiz T50 Review: Best-Looking Cheap Office Chair?

The Sidiz T50 office chair confused me at first sight. On one hand, its sleek ergonomic design looks like something with a $1,500 price tag. It’s among the most attractive office chairs I’ve seen on the Australian market.

But on Amazon, it retails for about $540.

In a world dominated by cheap, disposable office chairs on one side and ridiculously expensive luxury exotics on the other, is the Sidiz T50 the perfect balance of both?

The results were surprising but not in the way I expected.

(Related: Sihoo M90 Office Chair: Best Budget Pick?)

Reasons To Buy The Sidiz T50 Office Chair.

Above: Sidiz T50 in white. It looks stunning in a modern home office (like mine, ha).

The Sidiz T50 looks great. Easily one of Australia’s most visually appealing chairs, its design divorces that boring cubicle office chair aesthetic and embraces a sculpted, modern, minimalist look.

If you don’t love the typical chunkiness of ergonomic chairs, you’ll love the T50.

(Unfortunately, you realise that the build quality is much less impressive as soon as you touch it. More about this shortly).

T50’s synchro-tilt recline mechanism – something I’d expect in a $600 office chair – provides a smooth recline motion that doesn’t lift your legs.

Above: The foam cushion offers a nice balance of padding and ventilation.

Also typical for this price point is a very comprehensive range of adjustments. You get:

I was surprised by the T50’s forward-tilting feature, which I haven’t seen since owning an Aeron. Activated by a lever, it tilts the chair’s seat pan forward by about 3 cm, creating a forward seat slope.

Above: Pull the lever on the left side of the chair, and the seat base will tilt forward.

This is very niche, and will appeal to two types of people:

T50’s bi-directionally adjustable lumbar support is one of the nicest-feeling I’ve experienced. It’s not at all pokey because it applies pressure across a wide area of your back.

It’s large enough to cover even the largest backs, and flexes slightly – just enough to let your spine move while providing plenty of support.

Above: Lumbar support is quite pronounced but not pokey.

The depth-adjustable foam seat pan is medium in firmness and will keep you feeling comfortable during long work stints. It doesn’t bottom out and yet provides plenty of cushioning and a waterfall seat edge to keep your backside cosy.

Meanwhile, the seat width is on point. While it’s wide enough for larger bodies, it doesn’t feel like the chair is about to swallow you

The removable fabric cover on the seat pan is a nice touch. Attached with velcro, it allows you to keep your office chair looking new by throwing it in a washing machine once every few months. Brilliant.

Because the seat pan height goes quite low, down to 33.6 cm, people who are under 160 cm won’t find their feed dangling.

Unfortunately, this means the maximum height tops out quite early too – and people who are taller than 175 cm will feel that the chair is too small for them (and should get the ErgoTune Joobie instead).

The Allen wrench included with the chair is an interesting hint at the Sidiz T50’s target market.

It’s very substantial, with a long handle that allows you to apply a lot of torque to the screws with minimal effort. Clearly aimed at petite people who may not have a lot of hand strength.

Above: The winged backrest is made from mesh, while the seat pad is fabric.

Reasons To Avoid The Sidiz T50 Office Chair.

Sidiz T50’s build quality is not great. In fact, for a $600 office chair, it’s terrible.

Instead of hearing and feeling satisfyingly clicking sounds, you get notchy, rough movements.

The Sidiz is not nice to interact with.

Above: Sidiz T50’s armrests look attractive from a distance but feel flimsy to the touch.

The minimalist frame doesn’t have enough strength to cope with larger bodies.

Depending on whether you buy the Sidiz T50 via Amazon, Bunnings or Kogan, you’ll get anywhere between 3 and 5 years of warranty on the frame and mechanical parts.

It’s OK on paper, but very poor when directly compared with ErgoTune Supreme’s 5/6-year warranty.

Take it as a strong hint about its durability. I’m willing to wager that it will sag, and you’ll have to pay for a replacement every couple of years.

Above: Headrest adjusts for height only.

No trial is available, either.

Even though the company promises one on its website, you realise it’s not real as soon as you read the fine print.

How The Sidiz T50 Stacks Up.

We evaluate all office chairs using our 5-point criteria. The scores are adjusted for price, to ensure we compare fairly.

Above: Waterfall seat pan prevents circulation issues.

My Verdict About The Sidiz T50 Office Chair.

The Sidiz is not a world-beater by any means. Despite very good ergonomic features, a novel seat pan tilt feature and beautiful design, it’s not worth $600.

If Sidiz priced it at $400, my impression would be very different – and it would be a strong contender.

At $600, it’s not a great buy.

You can buy an ErgoTune Joobie for the same price and know deep in your heart that you’re getting exceptional build quality and an even stronger set of ergonomic credentials.

Or you can buy a Sihoo M57 for half the price.

This is unfortunate, because the Sidiz T50 is an attractive piece of furniture. It’s a chair that looks like a statement piece, but isn’t. You realise this as soon as you touch it.

Steven