Secretlab has proven itself to be one of the most influential brands in the gaming chair industry, and for good reason. Its Titan Evo models have inspired countless clones, so when I heard that the company had something brand new in the works, my interest was immediately piqued. I’ve been testing the Atlas for more than a week now and there’s more here than just good looks. The Atlas offers all-day comfort in one of the most unique designs I’ve seen in some time.
Secretlab Atlas Premium – Design and Features
The Secretlab Atlas isn’t your average task chair. Visually, it looks like what would happen if the Haworth Fern had a baby with the Secretlab Titan Evo. In other words, it still clearly carries the Secretlab DNA, but is also unique and grown up in a way that most gaming chairs are not. But then, the Atlas doesn’t look much like a task chair either. It lands somewhere in the middle, integrating bolsters on the seat and backrest, but not attention-gathering in the way a pure gaming chair might be.
All it takes is a glance to see the shared DNA between the Atlas and the Evo, so let’s actually begin with where the chairs differ. For starters, you won’t find any recline lever on this chair. The chair is designed to let you rest just as well as focus, but you’re not getting the full automotive lay you might otherwise expect. Next, it’s not overtly “gaming.” Secretab debuted new colorways designed to fit in just as well at your gaming setup as in a shared office space. If you’re in the know, you’ll be able to see its gaming inspirations. If you’re not familiar with gaming chairs in general, you’ll probably just see the Atlas as an especially nice chair.
One of the biggest differences is the silhouette of the chair. While the Titan Evo was very traditional with its car-inspired bucket seating (admittedly expanding upon this with its subsequent releases), the Atlas is all about its curves. The backrest wraps around, allowing you to see the contour of the bolsters from the side. The mix of straight angles and contours reminds me a bit of how Picasso and abstract artists sometimes paint women (for real, compare the side profile to these paintings). Whether you agree with that or not, there’s definitely a fluidity to the design that guides your eyes from top to bottom.
Another big differentiator is the slimness of its cushions. Its sleekness is one of the Atlas’s biggest design tricks, allowing it to take a supporting role in the room. By contrast, the Titan and Omega before it seem to demand attention. But don’t let its slimness fool you: it’s still plush enough to keep you comfortable and hides the frame perfectly. Those extra inches shaved off allow the chair to be lighter and sleeker for professional use.
The Atlas comes in two different lines, Standard and Premium. The biggest difference between the two is that the Premium range integrates Secretlab’s NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette and dual composite foam in the seat for enhanced softness out of the box. The Premium edition also uses all color-matched hardware and starts at $699. The Standard edition comes in at $499 and uses Secretlab’s traditional cold cure foam, Neo Hybrid Leatherette, and SoftWeave fabric depending on the model.
I was sent a Premium version in the Dune+ colorway, which combines sandy SoftWeave fabric with NanoGen Hybrid Leatherette on the bolsters as an accent. It can also be picked up in black, white, or gray. All colors are deliberately neutral so they can blend into any space rather than gain the spotlight.
The term “ergo chair” carries a certain set of expectations. The biggest is adjustability… and lots of it. The Atlas has that on offer, though you might be surprised to find that it does not feature an adjustable lumbar support. Instead, Secretlab has molded the contours of the backrest to form an integrated lumbar curve. In a briefing ahead of this review, the company told me it put extensive R&D into the new backrest design and feels that it will offer excellent support. The backrest also utilizes a mix of foam and integrated springs to offer more responsive support than pure foam.
Unlike Secretlab’s existing gaming chairs, the Atlas uses a new synchro tilt system that allows the backrest to move independently from the seat. While seemingly small, this actually makes a big difference, which is probably why it’s a common feature on most high-end task chairs. Your back and hips flow together, and the Atlas allows them to do so while moving about in a seat, reducing your muscle tension and ultimately back and neck pain.
This new system also comes with new adjustments beneath the seat base. All of the standards are there, including height, tilt, tension, and tilt lock, as well as a seat depth slider to ensure it can comfortably match your anatomy. These are different from what we’ve seen on other Secretlab chairs, though we still have a lever on either side under the chair. These levers control height, tilt, resistance, and seat depth.
Each also now has a viewing window so you can see your settings at a glance. The left lever controls the angle lock and will change from “LOCKED” in red or “UNLOCKED” in green. On the opposite side, the right handle is a knob and controls the amount of resistance you feel when leaning back in the chair. There are four levels indicated with a row of red dots that grow or shrink with each twist of the knob.
This is both good and bad compared to what we typically see on ergonomic task chairs. On the one hand, instead of cranking endlessly on an oversized knob under the seat, here you can simply click through four levels in seconds to find the best fit for you. On the other hand, having only four levels is significantly more limiting.
The armrests have also seen a significant change this time around. They no longer bolt on under the seat with tracks to adjust their width. Instead, they have cast slots and no width adjustment whatsoever. Height, depth, and angle are all just as functional as ever.
The last change worth highlighting is that the Atlas actually sits about one inch lower when fully extended than the Titan Evo and most chairs I’ve tested. Secret Lab says this is so all users can more easily plant both feet on the ground in a more active and focused posture. Be warned, however, if you are coming from another chair that happens to sit higher, it may take a while to get used to sitting lower to the ground.
Secretlab Atlas Premium – Assembly
Like other Secretlab chairs, the Atlas requires assembly before it can be used. The process is similar to most gaming chairs and is built from the bottom up, starting with the casters and progressing to the wheel base, piston, seat, armrests, and finally, the magnetic headrest.
The build process is straightforward and easy enough for a single person to complete alone — assuming you can stand it upright at the end. Everything you need is included in the box, including a decent T-shaped wrench with an interchangeable bit. Following the included directions (which you may not even need if you’ve assembled a task chair in the past), it took me about 15 minutes.
I also want to highlight how far Secretlab’s packaging has come. The company has always packed its chairs securely, but this was the first I’ve tested that didn’t use multiple garbage bags full of styrofoam. It made clean-up significantly easier and is better for the environment. Win-win.
Secretlab Atlas – Performance
Since the Atlas is designed around productivity and focus, I took it to my day job to test throughout the week. I also spent some time at home with it playing games on my PC and consoles, and while it may not be quite as versatile for gaming as the Titan Evo, it’s certainly capable of offering a comfortable and supportive gaming experience as well.
No matter how you use it, you’ll be sitting in style. Secretlab did an amazing job of making a chair that looks luxurious without being ostentatious. Looks are always going to be subjective, but the designers did a damn fine job, in my opinion.
When it comes to comfort and ergonomics, Secretlab has seemed to have that dialed in for quite a while now and even hosts its own ergonomics board to review, confirm, or challenge their conclusions.
The Titan Evo NanoGen is probably one of the most comfortable gaming chairs I’ve ever used, so I was hopeful the Atlas would be good. While it doesn’t quite reach the same levels of NanoGen-clad comfort as the Titan Evo, the Atlas felt just as good leaning back with a controller as it did sitting upright typing out a review.
I have to admit that I had my doubts about the integrated lumbar support. My first impression was that this was a downgrade from the Titan Evo, given its lack of adjustability. At the same time, the company says it invested heavily in making sure the integrated curve is going to better match the majority of users and prevent incorrect setups, which could cause more pain over time. And, well, at least for 5’ 8”, it seems like their research has paid off.
Over the course of a full work week, I don’t recall a single day that I stood up or went to bed sore unless I had done something else. The only other integrated lumbar I’ve used that compares is the Razer Enki, which is a whole different style.
Looking at the chair’s other qualities, I don’t find a lot to take issue with. It reaches the standard of the Titan Evo and exceeds it in some ways. The dual composite foam is just as comfortable and the cold-cure base should provide long lasting durability, and the NanoGen Hybrid leatherette is soft and supple. The magnetic neck pillow also returns here, albeit a bit more rounded off. That’s great because it’s genuinely one of the comfiest I’ve used.
The two issues I take are with the seat height and the armrests. It may not seem like an inch would make a big difference, but it does if you’re used to sitting higher. I had to lower my standing desk and my monitor around an inch each. Even after days with the setup I still feel like I’m too low to the ground.
The armrests are less impactful because they are still quite good just as they are. Secretlab uses a thick gel cushion topper that you can lean on all day without elbow soreness. I wish there were some way to adjust the width, however, not because I necessarily found them poorly spaced, but because not being able to do so just feels like a strange downgrade.
Is all of this worth $700, or $500 if you purchase the Standard edition? Value will always be in the eye of the beholder, but compared against other task chairs, the $500 price point is reasonable. I expected it to cost more, to be honest. A good task chair doesn’t come cheap, which is why industry stalwarts like Herman-Miller, Steelcase, and Haworth can charge four digit prices for chairs that sometimes don’t look all that different from normal office chairs.
Considered as a gaming chair, that price certainly feels more expensive, but isn’t far off and is even cheaper than some of its competitors. It won’t lay flat or be quite as dominating as something like the Titan Evo, but its style may very much make up for its trade-offs.
Christopher Coke has been a regular contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology since 2013. He has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs and gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.
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