Hot on the heels of its Iskur gaming chair, Razer is out to deliver something entirely more traditional but no less premium with its second major release: the Enki. While the Iskur focused on ergonomics and striking design with its snakeskin-like adjustable lumbar support, the Enki is Razer’s answer to the classic racing chair. Filled with small touches for enhanced comfort and a premium feel, this gaming chair is one to watch ahead of the holiday season.
Razer Enki – Design and Features
The Razer Enki is out to impress. It might look like other gaming chairs at a distance, but once you look close, and especially after you sit in it, its differences really begin to shine. To be blunt: I didn’t expect the Enki to be as comfortable or feel as premium as it does. Looks can be deceiving, and in this case, that’s a very good thing.
The Enki follows the mold of a traditional racing chair in shape and size but has a unique style that’s very cool. The chair uses dual texturing, with Razer’s environmentally friendly EPU synthetic leather on the back and sides and a velvety fabric in the center. This is the first gaming chair I’ve seen that blends fabrics in this way and it looks better and more unique for it. This does mean that it’s more susceptible to spills and will need to be cleaned more often, but it’s simultaneously more breathable and feels better against the skin. There’s also a leather strip running along the chair’s center. Razer says it’s meant to feel better against the spine. I didn’t find it noticeable, but it’s still a neat aesthetic touch.
Unless you go with the all-black version, the Enki isn’t exactly office material. The sample I was sent features Razer Green stitching along the bolsters, a bold Razer logo on the back, and a vinyl three-headed snake on the headrest. It’s dialed back from the Iskur, which had “For Gamers. By Gamers.” stitched on the front of the seat and snake scales on the adjustable lumbar, but if you’re planning on using it in an office, be prepared to field some comments. It’s also available in Quartz Pink and the aforementioned Black. Even with the green on the standard model, I found it to be more subdued than the average gaming chair which tends to be striped with garishly bright colors.
Just because the Enki is more traditional in its overall design doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a few tricks up its sleeve. The lumbar (which isn’t adjustable this time) is firm and curves out far enough to fill the gap usually left to pillows on other chairs. Razer also uses two different densities of foam between the backrest and the seat with softer foam under your rump and firmer foam to support your back. The company was also quite deliberate in the design of its 110-degree shoulder arch, claiming that it would guide gamers into a better seating posture and evenly distribute their weight. It’s not something I found myself consciously noticing, but the Enki definitely did a better job of leaving me ache-free, even after 6+ hours of sitting on multiple overtime workdays. And, if you’re the kind of gamer who likes to sit with their legs crossed, you’ll also be happy to hear that the bolsters have been eased down, so you can sit in whatever way you find most comfortable.
Like other premium gaming chairs, the Enki sports the usual go-to's: 4D armrests (height, depth, angle, and width adjustment), adjustable tilt and rocking tension that can be locked in place, and an aluminum wheelbase that won’t break like the cheaper plastic ones. It offers 152-degrees of recline, which I found just about perfect for kicking back with a controller. It’s also able to support users 5’ 5” to 6’ 8” and less than 300 pounds, which makes it suitable for a wide range of potential users.
Razer Enki – Assembly
Assembling the Razer Enki is straightforward and speedy, even if you’ve never built a gaming chair before. Razer includes detailed instructions and all the hardware you’ll need in the box, including a hex key with a large plastic handle. I used a drill to speed up the process and was able to complete the process in about fifteen minutes, including taking pictures throughout. If you’re building it on your own with the included tool, plan on twenty minutes to be safe.
Like the rest of the chair, there’s a decent attention to detail that makes the assembly process easier than most. Each of the screws are already pre-inserted, so you won’t need to guess where any part will attach. The only exception is the plastic shrouds that cover the backrest brackets. I also appreciated that the backrest featured a rubber, anti-slip plate where they attach, keeping it from sliding when you’re trying to insert the screw.
If you’re a first-time builder, I would still recommend reading the instructions to know the order each piece should be attached. It’s possible to make the process a little harder if you put it together out of sequence. Overall, Razer has made the process easy enough that most people should be able to figure it out without reading the manual.
Razer Enki – Performance
I admit it: when I first saw the Enki, I assumed it was going to be yet another racing-style gaming chair. That DNA is here, but the Enki is genuinely impressive and manages to stand out from the pack in more ways than one. I’ve had the chair in hand for just over a month now and have used it in every conceivable scenario, from kicking back with my consoles to gaming at my PC, and have even spent a week using it at work for real, long-hour testing. No matter where I needed to rest my buns, the Enki left me comfortable and free of aches and pains.
The last thing you want when slipping away into your favorite game is your chair distracting you, and the design of the Enki allows it to offer you the support you need and then get out of the way. There was enough versatility in the armrests, backrest, and tilt that I was able to position it exactly how I wanted, whether I was reclining with a controller or playing Cyberpunk 2077 on my PC.
The armrests really stand out thanks to their extra range of motion. Like many gaming chairs, they’re 4D, which means you can move them up and down, in and out, back and forth, and twist them to different angles. What sets them apart is the range of height adjustment. They extend several inches higher than any other gaming chair I’ve used. There’s no middle ground here where they may be a centimeter or two under the level of your desk. They can be raised or lowered exactly where you want them. I found this especially useful working at my PC, keeping my elbows a touch higher and my upper body more poised for typing or aiming with a mouse. The padding is still more firm than I would like but didn’t leave me with sore elbows as other gaming chairs have.
I also found the dual upholstery much nicer to use than I anticipated going in. The use of fabric in the center of the seat and backrest looks great, but also allows the Enki to share some of the benefits of a fabric gaming chair. The office where I do most of my work gets very warm, so shorts are a must. Where most gaming chairs would become uncomfortable in high temperatures, the Enki is more breathable and doesn’t stick to your skin after you’ve been sitting a while. The upholstery does have a habit of creating creaking noises when it’s being adjusted but is quiet in normal use.
The lumbar support worked well for me, but may not for everybody. Razer recommends the chair for users 5’ 5” to 6’ 8”. That seems especially wide. I’m 5’ 10” and depending on my posture it sometimes felt too low, leaving me wishing for the adjustability of the Secretlab Titan Evo. Razer doesn’t include any lumbar pillow in the box, so if you find you need extra support, you’ll be left looking for another solution.
Still, there’s something to Razer’s claims about the chair guiding you toward an ideal seating posture. Despite craving a bit of extra adjustability, the Enki never once left me feeling sore. Even after hours of chipping away at articles following entire workdays at my day job, you would never know I had pulled a 12-hour workday by the condition of my back. The first time I got up after six hours at the chair and realized I didn’t have the telltale soreness and fatigue other gaming chairs caused, I realized there was something special here.
I also have to give a special nod to the reclining comfort this chair provides. The balance between firmer foam in the back and softer in the seat, the ergo-arch of the lumbar support, and the memory foam headrest pillow tempted me to doze off in after-hours at my day job. The memory foam pillow was especially nice, cradling my neck while still working as a normal pillow.
For pure ergonomics, workforce users will still want to look into something with an adjustable lumbar like the Razer Iskur or an ergo-centric mesh chair like the Cougar Argo. If you’re looking for the racing-seat style without the usual aches and pains, the Enki is out to impress.
