If you’re in a search for a high-end ergonomic office chair, then you’ve most likely come across tons of great options like Haworth Fern and Herman Miller Embody. But, choosing which chair will be best for you can be quite challenging.
The Haworth Fern and the Embody are both widely regarded as highly ergonomic, stylish, and practical office chairs.
The main differences between the Herman Miller Embody & Haworth Fern are in the ergonomic features and build quality. Haworth Fern has more adjustable features than the Embody. But when it comes to the build quality, the embody is far better than the Fern.
Both of these brands left no stones unturned in order to make these chairs intricately designed so that the users can get a premium sitting experience.
Don’t worry if you’re having trouble figuring out which one would be the best option for you. That’s where I come in. In this article, I will be taking a look at all the essential features of these two ergonomic chairs, and I will compare and contrast them.
That way you’ll be able to decide which one will best suit your needs. So, without any further ado, let’s begin!
Haworth Fern
Heward Fern is one of the most popular and celebrated high-end office chairs in the whole furniture industry. Haworth is one of the biggest furniture brands in the world right now, and the Fern is one of its flagship office chair models.
Here’s an overview of the Haworth Fern office chair:
- Dimensions: 29â€D x 28.5â€W x 41.5â€H
- Overall Height: 41.5″ – 47″
- Adjustable Seat Height: 16.5’’ – 21.5’’
- Suitable User’s Height: 5’1’’ – 6’8’’
- Weight Capacity: 325 lbs.
- Armrests: 4D, NPR, 1D, Fixed
- Seat Depth Adjust: +80mm
Haworth has built this chair after performing extensive research on ergonomics. You’ll be at the center of economic innovations if you decide to purchase the new Harworth Fern office chair.
It provides outstanding back support, free movement, and edgeless comfort. Haworth has made sure that this chair can be distinctively responsive to each of its users.
This chair will make sure you sit better, work better and at the end of the day, feel better in your workspace.
Pros Of The Haworth Fern Office Chair
- Flexible Design: The Haworth Fern office chair provides the ultimate comfort and flexibility to its users. It’s scientifically designed to provide the most healthy and comfortable sitting experience to the user.
- Ensures Free Movement: It does not have any hard outer frame. Instead, it has a soft and pliable edge that ensures free movement.
- Better Ergonomic Adjustments: This chair comes with a wide range of adjustments. For instance, it features pneumatic height adjustment, backstop, 4-dimensional armrests, and its seat is depth-adjustable.
- Tall Backrest Design: Haworth Fern offers a tall backrest design that offers optimal support all the way from the lower back to your upper back and shoulders.
- Breathability: It features a breathable mesh backing that will let the airflow through the back of the chair, and your body remains cool even if you work for multiple hours.
- Preassembled: One of the best things about this chair is that it does not require any assembly. You can just take it out of the packaging and start using it.
Cons Of The Haworth Fern Office Chair
- No Headrest & Lumbar support in the Base Version: One of the biggest caveats of this chair is the fact that it does not feature back height adjustment on its base version. That means you won’t be able to regulate the height of the lumbar support relative to the seat cushion.
- Too pronounced Lumbar Support: The optional lumbar support is a bit too pronounced, which forces strict upright posture, which could be a bit aggressive for a few people.
- 3 Years Upholstery Warranty: This chair only comes with a 3-year warranty for its upholstery, while other parts of the chair have 12 years.
Herman Miller Embody
If you search online for the best ergonomic office chair or the best high-end office chair, then you’re guaranteed to see the Herman Miller Embody pop up in the top three of the lists.
Here’s an overview of the Haworth Fern office chair:
- Dimensions: 28â€D x 27â€W x 38.25â€H
- Overall Height: 42″ – 45″
- Adjustable Seat Height: 16†– 20.5â€
- Supported User Height: 5’0″ – 6’4″
- Weight Capacity: 300 lbs.
- Seat Height Adjustment: 16-20.5
The Embody is widely regarded to be the modern benchmark for natural alignment, pressure distribution, and free, healthy movement.
These ergonomic office chairs come with a nice combination of active and passive ergonomic features that encourage free movement and make long-time sitting feel effortless.
This chair will not lock you down to a static position. It features a signature spinal design that lets you fine-tune it to your liking.
Pros Of The Herman Miller Embody Office Chair
- Improved Sitting Technology: The seat of the Embody office chair features a matrix of pixels that are able to automatically conform to your micro-movements while sitting.
- Easy Adjustments: It features pneumatic seat height adjustment as well as height and width adjustable armrests. You can adjust these very easily.
- This chair has a narrow back that not only corrects your posture while sitting but also allows freedom of movement.
- Environment-Friendly Design: The Embody is made out of entirely PVC-free materials, and around 42% of its materials are recyclable.
- Complete 12 Years of Warranty: Herman Miller provides a whopping 12-year warranty on this chair. That proves how confident they are about this product.
Cons Of The Herman Miller Embody Office Chair
- With a price tag of $2,065, the Herman Miller Embody is definitely not ideal for someone who’s on a tight budget.
- Arms Adjustability is Limited: You can only adjust the height and width of the arms. But you can not move the arms forward and backward.
- This chair does not feature lumbar adjustment.
- The Pixelated Support system may not be appreciated by a lot of users.
Comparison Between Haworth Fern and Herman Miller Embody
At this point, you should have a clear understanding of the general features of both Haworth Fern and Embody office chairs and their advantages as well as disadvantages.
Nevertheless, comparing the various different features of two office chairs made by different brands is a fairly challenging task. To resolve that issue, we’re going to break down the various aspects of these two excellent chairs and do a side by side comparison:
Ergonomic Features
Ergonomic Features of Haworth Fern:
Back Support:
In terms of ergonomics, the Haworth Fern gets full marks in all of the categories. It features a Wave Suspension system as well as a backstop that has a 5-position tilt lock system.
Fern’s Wave Suspension system consists of four specific layers such as STEM, FRONDS, CRADLE, and 3D OUTER LAYER. All of these layers ensure better support and movement of your back.
If you want a backrest that really allows you to stretch, flex and move throughout the day, then this chair might be the right fit for you.
Adjustable Seat Height & Seat Depth:
Haworth Fern offers incredible seat height and seat depth features. You can adjust the seat height from 16.5’’ to 21.5’’, which is suitable for a person’s height ranging from 5’1’’ to 6’8’’.
This chair is suitable for both short and tall people. A wide range of people can easily use this chair.
The seat depth feature allows you to adjust the seat depth, making it more comfortable for both short and tall people.
Adjustable Lumbar Support:
This chair has nice natural curve that offers good lumbar support. However, base model of this chair doesn’t offer height-adjustable lumbar support.
If you get the height-adjustable lumbar support option, you should know that the lumbar curve is pretty pronounced and might be a little bit aggressive for a few people. But lumbar support is good enough for most people.
This lumbar support lacks depth adjustment or how pronounced you want your lumbar support to be.
You can adjust its seat height, seat depth, and it also features an adjustable lumbar. As it has a strong aluminum base and durable rolling caster wheels, you can easily move around while being seated on the chair.
4D Armrests:
Since the Haworth Fern features 4-D armrests, you can adjust its arm height, and depth and its adjust its arm pivot. The arm caps are pretty comfortable, with no hard edges when you place your arm.
Tilt Mechanism & Recline:
Haworth Fern offers a Forward tilt mechanism that allows you to adjust the backrest of your chair, and you can easily move forward when you need to be more focused on your work.
You can easily recline and lock the backrest in 5 different positions when you want to take a break from work.
Herman Miller Embody
The Herman Miller Embody is not that far behind the Haworth Fern when it comes to ergonomics.
Flexible Seat Height & Seat Depth:
The Seat of the Embody is quite flexible and unique. It supports various sitting positions, and the front has an adaptable front edge with seat height and depth adjustments.
The seat height can be adjusted from 16†– 20.5†for which it can support users of various heights. I would recommend it for people of height 5’0″ – 6’4″.
People of this height range can take the full benefit of having such a superior seat design and adjustments.
2D Armrests:
To be honest, I am not impressed with the armrests of the Herman Miller Embody. 4D armrests like in the Haworth Fern would be much more comfortable.
Since it’s a very expensive chair, is it too much to ask for a 4D armrest adjustment feature?
You can adjust the height and width of the armrests. That’s a welcome feature to have, as this lets you ensure the arms are positioned properly.
Back Support:
The Embody has fantastic back support, especially in the lower back region. The backrest is very flexible. I must say it’s backrest is more flexible than any other chair we have reviewed on this site.
You can comfortably stretch and move your back while still being supported by the backrest as it moves with your back.
However, the lumbar support is not manually adjustable, which is a limitation of this chair and is not expected from a high-end ergonomic office chair.
Reclining and Tilting Feature:
With the Embody, you’ll get a range of lockable tilt positions, and so you can lock it at the position that’s the most comfortable for you.
The Embody also allows back angle adjustment and tension adjustment. Its recline function is also a nice touch.
Still, this office chair doesn’t have a few adjustments, such as arm depth, arm pivot, back height, and lumbar adjustment.
Pricing
This is another aspect in which Haworth Fern and Embody differ from each other. The base price of the Haworth Fern is $849.00, and the most expensive version of this chair is around $1,124.00.
The prices can vary depending on where you’re buying it from. I have found a good deal on Amazon on The Embody chair; you can check it out by clicking here.
The Herman Miller Embody is significantly more expensive than the Haworth Fern. The base price of the Embody model is $1,395.00. Herman Miller lets you choose between different upholsteries, finishes, and casters.
Depending on which configuration you choose, the price can get up to $2,065.00. For instance, you can choose medley or sync upholsteries, Hard floor/carpet casters or translucent casters, graphite or white frames, etc.
We highly suggest you visit the official website to find out the latest price of the Herman Miller Embody office chair.
So, it should be clear to you that if you’re not willing to shell out a small fortune for an office chair, then you should go for Haworth Fern. You can find it on Amazon by clicking here.
And if budget is not a concern, then the Embody should be your first choice.
Design & Comfort
The Haworth Fern embraces a minimalist design, and it’s perfect for cleaner and more modern decor. But, it does not sacrifice any functionalities to have such a design.
The Fern office chair’s design has been finalized after performing extensive research, and it has also been certified by experts. It features an airy upholstery and a breathable mesh that makes you feel cool even if you’re sitting down for long hours.
Furthermore, it’s ergonomic design allows complete freedom of movement. You’ll feel absolute comfort from your neck all the way down.
On the other hand, the Embody is made for those who take sitting very seriously. It has been approved and recommended by physicians, Phds in biomechanics, and physical therapists.
It’s designed in such a way that the chair helps increase blood circulation throughout your body, and it also improves oxygen flow. It positions your spine and shoulders in the correct posture so that you don’t feel fatigued even after a long sitting session.
Build Quality & Durability
Haworth has put a lot of effort into perfecting the design and development of the Haworth Fern office chair. And it clearly shows in its overall build quality. It utilizes unique and proprietary tech and design that makes the chair well-built, clean and smooth functioning.
The same is true in the case of the Herman Miller Embody. It was designed by industry veterans Bill Stumpf and Jeff Webber. This chair is highly ergonomic, and the best part about it is that it avoids all the issues that are caused by long-term sedentary behavior.
The Embody office chair gets full marks across the board when it comes to building quality. First of all, it’s manufactured in the US, and it’s made out of the best components available in the market.
It features custom modeled plastic, aluminum, and steel. This chair also comes with an innovative pixelated support system for its back and its seat.
Let’s check out the warranty of These Chairs at a glance:
| Model | Warranty Period |
| Herman Miller embody | 12 Years on the Complete Chair |
| Haworth Fern | 3 Years for Upholstery and 12 Years on Other Parts. |
Weight Capacity and Size
Please check out the following table to get an understanding of the sizes of these two models:
| Features | Haworth Fern | Embody |
| Weight Capacity | 325 lbs | 300 lbs |
| Size | 29 x 28.5 x 41.5 inches | 28 x 27 x 38.25 inches |
The Herman Miller Embody has a maximum weight capacity of around 300 lbs. On the other hand, the Haworth Fern model has a weight capacity of 325 lbs.
Steelcase Vs. Herman Miller: Which One is Better?
Overall, both the Haworth Fern and the Herman Miller chairs are excellent office chairs. And you won’t regret buying either one. But if you want to ask us to pick one between the two, then our choice would be the Herman Miller Embody office chair.
There is a good reason why this chair has become so popular and beloved by its users. It’s myriad of designs, and ergonomic features are not only impressive but also practical.
| Features | Haworth Fern | Herman Miller Embody | Which One is Better |
| Lumbar Support | Adjustable | Not adjustable | Haworth Fern |
| Armrests | 4D Arms | 2D Arms | Haworth Fern |
| Supported User’s Height | 5’1’’ – 6’8’’ | 5’0″ – 6’4″ | Haworth Fern |
| Adjustments | 5 different adjustments | 4 different adjustments | Haworth Fern |
| Warranty | 3 years on Upholstery & 12 years on the chair | 12-years of warranty | Herman Miller Embody |
| Build Quality Score | Score: 8/10 | Score: 10/10 | Herman Miller Embody |
| Design Score | Score: 9/10 | Score: 9.5/10 | Herman Miller Embody |
Although the Haworth Fern office chair also has some outstanding features and it comes at a reasonable price, if you want to get the premium experience, then you have to invest in the new Herman Miller Embody.
Related Questions
Is Haworth Fern Good?
The Haworth Fern office chair is a high-end office chair that has proven to be highly durable and high-performance in several tests. It has managed to secure its place in various lists of the top ten best premium office chairs.
What Is the Best Haworth Chair?
The Haworth Fern would be an excellent candidate for the title of “Best Haworth Chairâ€. Another competitor for that title would be the Haworth Zody chair. It features a scientifically designed lumbar pelvic support and asymmetrical lumbar support. It’s one of the most comfortable office chairs out there.
What Chair Is Better than Herman Miller?
An excellent alternative to Herman Miller office chairs like the Aeron chair is the Mirra 2. It’s the best option you can get that’s close to Herman Miller chairs, and it even costs a lot less than those chairs.
Is Embody Worth the Money?
The Herman Miller Embody is widely considered to be a top-of-the-line office chair. It excels in terms sof comfort, performance, and ergonomic design. It also comes with a 12-year guaranteed lifespan. So, it’s definitely worth it.
Final Thoughts
That’s all, folks! It’s great to see that you’ve made it through to the very end. Hopefully, now you’re equipped with all the information you need to choose between Haworth Fern Vs. Embody.
We’re not saying that one is objectively better than the other. We’ve laid out all the important aspects of these two premium office chairs so that you can decide which features are ideal for you.
Now it’s up to you to make the right choice. Till next time!
