If you’ve done some research on the high-end, luxurious office chairs, then you’ve most likely come across two names. And they are the Steelcase Gesture and the Herman Miller Embody.
Both of them are considered to be premium quality office chairs, and that’s why they are quite expensive as well. And if you’re willing to shell out that kind of cash for an office chair, then you would definitely want to make sure that you’re getting the best one, right?
Now the question is, what’s the difference & which one is better between Steelcase Gesture and Herman Miller Embody?
The Steelcase Gesture provides better value for money & better durability and back support than the Herman Miller Embody. The Embody model provides great ergonomics and a premium sitting experience to its users, but the Steelcase gesture does it even better. Choosing Steelcase Embody over the embody actually makes more sense for several reasons.
If you require good armrest adjustability, seat depth adjustability options, then you should definitely go for the Steelcase Gesture.
In this article, I am going to discuss all the interesting features of these two premium chairs. After that, I’ll let you be the judge to decide which chair is the best. So, without any further ado, let’s dive right in!
Price Comparison
The price of the Steelcase Gesture office chair ranges from $1012.00 all the way up to $1999.00.
The price will vary depending on which feature you choose while buying the chair.
For instance, going for the leather chair instead of the fabric one will cost you an additional $579.00.
It currently costs around $1014 on amazon. However, the price changes regularly. So, check the latest price by clicking here.
On the other hand, the price of the Herman Miller Embody chair sells at a base price of $1,395.00.
And it can cost you upwards of $2195.00 depending on the type of frame, upholstery, and casters you choose.
The price could vary wildly depending on these features. We recommend you check the Herman Miller official site for checking the price.
So, suffice to say, both of these models are significantly expensive, and it costs a small fortune to purchase either one of them. They are widely regarded as premium office chair models in the industry.
Summary:
Although the Steelcase Gesture has a smaller price tag compared to Herman Miller Embody, the price of each of the models varies wildly depending on their features. We highly recommend you figure out which features are important to you and choose your model’s features accordingly.
Ergonomic Features
Both Steelcase Gesture and Herman Miller Embody are very popular for their adjustable ergonomic features.
They are designed to provide proper back support and extreme comfort to the users for prolonged hours of sitting.
Despite that, Steelcase Gesture is the clear winner in terms of ergonomic features because of its superior adjustability.
The Ergonomic Features Steelcase Gesture
Armrests:
The first thing that really caught our eye about the Steelcase Gesture chair is its arm package. This is probably going to be the most attractive feature of the Gesture office chair for most users.
The armrests of the Steelcase Gesture chair are ridiculously adjustable. I’ve never come across a chair that has so many ranges and adjustments.
Apart from those adjustments, this chair also features really comfortable arm-caps. They are pretty soft to the touch, and they don’t have any rough edges.
Your forearms, elbows, rifts will feel comfortable while sitting on this chair.
If you like the armrests that are superly adjustable and comfortable, then you should go with the Steelcase Gesture.
Adjustability:
Another thing that really impressed us about the Steelcase gesture chair is its copious amounts of adjustability. It’s fully loaded with almost all kinds of adjustments that you would usually look for in an ergonomic office chair.
It provides seat height adjustment, seat depth adjustment, and it’s super adjustable armrests that we have talked about. It even has height-adjustable lumbar support, tension adjustment, and various limiting positions.
One of the great things about the Steelcase Gesture’s adjustments is that they are easy to use in terms of how they are designed and where they are located.
A great example of this is the seat depth adjustments.
All you have to do is just turn a knob under the seat to adjust the seat depth. You don’t have to get up or slide it to make the adjustments.
It’s by far the simplest seat depth adjustment that we’ve ever seen.
Adjustable Backrest:
The backrest of this chair gets full marks in terms of back support and back comfort. This is due to the padded fabric design that makes it comfortable to lean against.
It’s not hard or overly hot like the chairs with thickly padded backrests. And it also provides a ton of flexibility.
And it’s height-adjustable lumbar ensures that your lower back gets the support that it needs, and you feel comfortable throughout your several-hour workday.
Adjustable Seat:
The Steelcase Gesture also did remarkably well when we had tested out its seat comfort. This seat has a firm design with slightly thinner padding. And it provides good support for long hours.
It also provides a flexible design that gives the user the ability to move around, stretch and be flexible. This way, you can get your muscles moving, and in that way, you can be comfortable while working, and you don’t have to stay in a static position.
The Ergonomic Features of Embody
Adjustable Armrests:
The armrests of the Embody chair are quite comfortable and softly padded. They also have really large surface areas to put your arms on. And they feature a large height adjustment range and a large width adjustment range.
Although the armrests of the Herman Miller Embody are not as adjustable as some of the other high-end office chairs in the market, it does get the job done. And the pads themselves are quite comfortable.
Adjustable Seat:
Another thing that we are a fan of when it comes to the Herman Miller Embody is the seat of the chair. Its seat uses a pixelated support design system that’s unique to the Embody model.
It’s highly flexible and it allows the user to move on the chair while still being supported in a variety of positions. It has a flexible front edge as well as seat depth adjustments.
It is a bit on the firm side when it comes to office chairs, but most ergonomic office chairs are like that.
Back Support:
The Embody also passed with flying colors when we tested out its back support. It has a nice natural curve in its lower lumbar area and a really flexible design. It’s actually one of the most flexible backrests that we have ever tested.
You can easily move, shift and stretch while being supported by the back. Although it does not have any independent lumbar adjustment systems, it does come with back angle adjustment, which gives you a little bit of scope to fine-tune the back angle/lumbar support.
Assembly:
The best part about the Herman Miller Embody chair is that it’s shipped to you free and pre-assembled. This prevents any chances of ergonomics from getting compromised due to a botched assembly.
Summary:
Both Herman Miller Embody & Gesture are actually more or less similar in terms of ergonomic features. But, the Steelcase Gesture is actually better considering the less expensive price tag.
Build Quality and Durability
Both of these chairs get straight A’s when it comes to built quality and durability. The Steelcase Gesture & as well as the Embody chair have remarkably high tolerance levels, and they are both built using high-quality parts.
But, objectively speaking, the Herman Miller Embody has better durability compared to the Steelcase Gesture. That’s because it has more metal parts and it’s made out of hard polycarbonate surfaces.
Don’t get me wrong! The Steelcase Gesture is also a heavy-duty chair. However, as most of the crucial parts of the Gesture model are made out of plastic, it does not possess the same kind of solidness as the Herman Miller Embody.
Summary:
The Herman Miller Embody wins this round because of its exceptional build quality and durability in comparison to the Gesture.
However, the build quality of the gesture is quite premium as well. It just the embody feels more premium.
Design & Comfort
Both the Steelcase Gesture as well as the Herman Miller Embody have sleek and on-size-fits all types of design. Both of these chairs have embraced simplicity and minimalism.
And it didn’t prevent them from giving off that premium feels to their users. Both the Gesture and the Embody models have excellent adjustability as they feature adjustable height, seat depth, and armrests.
The Herman Miller Embody comes in four distinct colors and designs that the customer can choose from. And those are graphite, graphite titanium, white, white titanium.
On the other hand, the Steelcase Gesture comes in ten different colors. That way, you can easily match your chair to fit your taste and decor.
Both of these chairs provide exceptional comfort to their users.
The fabrics of the chairs can adjust themselves at the microscopic level to accommodate the user.
The Embody chair seats the user in a natural position so that he/she can comfortably work on the chair for hours on end.
Summary:
Although the Heman Miller Embody is better at providing comfort to the user, the Steelcase Gesture wins the round when it comes to choice of colors and design.
Size and Weight Capacity
The Steelcase Gesture has a weight capacity of 400 pounds. It’s perfect for taller and heavier individuals. The Herman Miller Embody has a weight capacity of around 300 pounds.
Let’s have a look at the weight and dimensions of these two products:
| Model | Steelcase Gesture | Herman Miller Embody |
| Weight | 57 lbs | 51 lbs |
| Dimensions | 23.63″D x 34.63″W x 44.45″H | 28″D x 27″W x 38.25″H |
So, Which One Is Better: Steelcase Gesture or Herman Miller Embody?
It’s quite difficult to explicitly choose one of the chairs out of Steelcase Gesture and Herman Miller Embody to be the better option.
These two chairs were made to go head to head with each other.
Nevertheless, since we have to pick one to be the winner of this battle, we have to choose the Steelcase Gesture. It’s better pricing, superior build quality, fabric, adjustability made it my favorite out of the two.
Both embody and gesture are super comfy and adjustable. Once you adjust both of these chairs to your optimal settings or levels, both chair feels more or less similar in terms of sitting experience.
Long hours of sitting are comfortable with both of these chairs. Although embody feels more premium but I think Steelcase gesture is easier to recommend.
Final Thoughts
That’s all, folks! We hope that now you have a clear idea about these two premium office chairs. As you can see both Steelcase Gesture and Heman Miller Embody have a lot going for them.
If you’re in search of a high-quality ergonomic chair that provides a lot of adjustable features then you can go for either of them and you won’t be missing out on anything.
But, overall the Herman Miller Embody is the better option out of the two, in our opinion.
Thanks for reading through to the very end. Till next time!
