There are good reasons to choose Executive chairs and other good reasons for choosing a general office chair for your office. One is not better than the other kind. It actually depends on your needs and purpose. However, I hope this post will point you in the right direction and clarify the differences between an executive chair and a standard office chair.
The main difference between executive chairs and office chairs is that, executive chairs made are for the higher officials of any office and it is more premium and reflects a bossy image whereas, regular office chairs are for general employees in an office. Both kinds of chairs serve the same purpose of sitting but there exist some significant differences.
In this article, I will tell you are pros and cons of each type of chair which will help you to understand the differences between them better and you will be able to decide which one will better suit your needs.
1. Executive chairs are More Ergonomic than Office chair:
Ergonomic chairs are designed to deliver the best sitting experience possible for a desk job. A chair is classified as an ergonomic chair if it meets some particular criteria. For example: Lumbar support, headrest, armrest, seat height adjustment, reclining tension, and so on.
Executive chairs are reserved for the upper level of company society with ergonomic features to offer the executive body’s best sitting experience. Executive office chairs generally come with a tall back, premium upholstery material, ergonomic adjustability, reclining options, etc.
General office chairs have simple height adjustable features with or without armrest. Good materials are available for these chairs. You will easily find a good mesh or fabric office chair. It won’t provide the best sitting experience as the Executive chair does.
However, a regular office chair can also be ergonomic. In that case, the cost would be much higher. There are a lot of chair accessories for ergonomic support and offer an excellent sitting experience.
You can check out our article on Office Chair Accessories to find the best accessories for your office chair, which will provide you with the best sitting experience and increase your productivity.
2. Executive Chairs have Good Material and Build Quality:
An Executive office chair offers good quality leather, Mesh, or fabric material. Most of the big companies like Serta, La-z-boy, Herman Miller, etc, manufacture great quality executive chairs. Also, the premium build quality guarantees next-level comfort.
Especially tall and big people can benefit from the high back support and extra space that an executive chair offers. Premium mesh back promotes breathable air, which can pass through the chair back, helping you work seamlessly.
We all know that purchasing a good quality chair is a very daunting task and gets overwhelming. However, it’s a lot easier task while you are searching for an executive chair. They usually cost way higher than a regular chair and generally offer excellent quality material and build quality.
On the other hand, a regular office chair offers different kinds of materials and build quality. If you go for a mesh office chair, you will find dozens of them, and prices are different from one another. However, you will find different materials and build quality on both of the chairs.
3. Office Chair Costs Less:
Let’s take a look at some standard office chairs and executive chairs and see what the price differences are:
- A regular office chair costs about $50 – $150, while a regular Executive chair costs about $150 – $250 depending on brands, quality.
- A mid-grade office chair costs about $130 – $200, while a mid-grade Executive chair costs about $250 – $350 depending on brands, quality.
- A high-grade office chair costs about $350 while a high-grade Executive chair costs about $450-$600 depending on brands, quality.
Those are just a few examples, but you will find a lot cheaper or a lot more expensive office chairs or executive chairs in the market. However, You can stick to the price I mentioned. Most of the office chairs usually come at those prices.
4. Executive Chairs are More Comfortable:
A comfortable chair should have perfect height, size, and good material; so that each part of the chair fits you perfectly. Here we considered Executive chairs more comfortable because they have height adjustability, comfortable upholstered material, and perfect size for most individuals.
However, Executive chairs don’t come cheap. You will get top quality material with adjustability, good lumbar support, highback, reclining function up to 180 degree angle. Combining all these features, executive chairs tend to be comfortable.
A regular office chair generally has a standard size. If you are much taller or shorter, then you might find yourself in a difficult position to sit comfortably. Although you will get a good mid-range office chair which has good quality material and is much more comfortable like executive chairs.
5. Office Chair has Fewer Maintenance Costs:
Maintenance cost depends on the chair brands, what type of chair you are using, and a lot of factors. Executive chairs aren’t easy to maintain. They have a lot of adjustable parts that can break over the years, and you might need to replace the part. Those parts are a bit more expensive than regular chair parts.
However, regular office chairs are a lot cheaper than executive chairs. There aren’t many adjustable parts that can get broken. You might want to replace the whole chair if anything gets broken. A cheaper chair has fewer replacement parts available.
6. Executive Chair Looks More Elegant:
Executive office chairs look more classic and stylish. No one can deny that. It is like a boss’s chair. The tall and high back and premium leather materials give a premium vibe that standard office chairs usually don’t. The higher or senior officials use this kind of chair to show their class and reflect their image.
On the other hand, standard office chairs are not that elegant to look at. They are average looking and for general employees at an office who work for long hours.
7. Office Chair Takes Less Space:
Office chairs are usually lightweight and smaller in size. They require less space in comparison to an executive chair. So, if you want a chair that fits into your workspace and your workspace is kinda less spacious, then standard office chairs are a better choice.
If you are looking for buying an office chair that will fit nicely into your workspace and also have ergonomic features, then you should take a look at our recommended ergonomic office chairs.
8. Executive Chairs are Heavier:
Generally, an executive chair is bulky and carries more weight than any standard office chair. Whereas a standard office chair is not that much bulky and carries less weight.
On average executive chairs weigh double the weight of a standard office chair. An Executive chair normally weighs around 40-65 pounds. For this reason, executive chairs are usually harder to carry or move from one place to another.
On the other hand, any standard office chair’s weight should be around 15-35 pounds. Due to lighter weight carrying and moving, a standard office chair is far easier than moving any executive chair.
However, Executive chairs are capable of carrying more weight than normal office chairs. So executive chairs are more popular among big and tall people.
A few examples of the most popular chairs in the market right now will give you a better idea:
| # | Executive Chair Model | Item Weight |
| 1 | La-Z-Boy Trafford Big and Tall Executive Office Chair | 64 pounds |
| 2 | CLATINA Ergonomic Mesh Executive Chair | 44 pounds |
| 3 | STARSPACE High Back Big & Tall Executive Chair | 55 pounds |
| 4 | Serta Smart Layers AIR Arlington Executive Chair | 51 Pounds |
| 5 | Zuri Furniture Gates Genuine Leather | 55 pounds |
| # | Standard Office Chair Model | Item Weight |
| 1 | Home Office Task Chair | 21 pounds |
| 2 | Flash Furniture Mid-Back Office Chair | 11.25 pounds |
| 3 | Office Star Mesh Back chair | 36 pounds |
| 4 | Boss Office Task Chair | 13.4 pounds |
| 5 | AmazonBasics Low-Back Office Desk Chair | 16.75 pounds |
The above tables clearly show that executive chairs are heavier than standard office chairs in general.
9. Executive Chairs are Designed to be More Productive:
As I mentioned, earlier executive chairs are more ergonomically designed than a regular office chair. Due to this executive chair promotes active sitting with maximum comfort. This helps in the increase in productivity of your work.
Besides, if you are working at your desk on a normal office chair, you will not get enough back and lumbar support like in an executive chair. This plays a huge impact in productivity, and on an average, it can be said that sitting and working at an executive chair is supposed to be more productive for you than a regular office chair.
10. Executive office chairs are More Durable:
Better quality materials are used to build executive chairs. By nature, they are heavy and bulky. On the other hand, executive chairs are used for shorter hours in comparison to normal office chairs. General employees work for more than 40 hours a week. So it is obvious that executive chairs are more durable than a general office chair.
High quality executive chairs are expected to last more than 10 years. Most good brands provide standard 5 years of warranty on their executive office chair. But general office chairs do not last that long. Again, the numbers actually depend on lots of things. I am giving you an average idea of what to expect.
11. Executive Chairs have higher Price to Performance Ratio:
As I mentioned above executive chairs cost more than a regular office chair. Now, If I compare the price of each type of chair with its longevity, then I will get the performance ratio.
Considering the longevity as performance,
Price to performance ratio = price/longevity (The Lower, the better)
A Standard Executive chair with a $400 price tag lasts on average of 7 years. So, now the price to performance ratio would be $400/7, which is 57.
Standard Office chairs with a $180 price tag last an average of 5 years. So, now the price to performance ratio would be $180/5, which is 36.
This suggests that a standard office chair has a greater ability to deliver performance over its entire lifetime, and mathematically speaking, you get the most value for your money if you buy a standard office chair rather than buying an executive.
The user segment and purpose of the 2 kinds of chairs are not exactly the same, which is hard to say if one is better than the other. I just showed the math to give you a general idea.
So, Which Should You Pick?
If you have made it this far, I think you already have the answer. If you are a higher official or at the executive level, you should get an executive chair for more premiumness, comfort, and, most importantly, the image that an executive chair provides. You can check my recommended Executive Office Chair.
Otherwise, if you are looking for a standard office chair and you have a desk job that requires sitting for long hours, you should look into buying ergonomic office chairs.
Thanks for reading our article! Before you go, take a minute to check out my top recommendations for Ergonomic Office Chairs.
