Fractal Refine Gaming Chair Review

A more refined take on the gaming chair
For over a decade, Fractal, or Fractal Design depending on how long you have been in the hobby, has been known as one of the more innovative PC Case manufacturers. Since its inception, their Define series of enclosures has been a go-to for many enthusiasts due to its versatility and performance. Over the last couple of years, they’ve also come out with a number of very interesting entries in the Small Form Factor case market.
Like many other case manufacturers, Fractal has expanded their product line to include items like power supplies, fans, and CPU coolers, but now they’ve decided to test the waters of an vastly different part of the PC enthusiast market, and given us the Fractal Refine Gaming Chair.
Specifications
General Impressions
The Refine carries an aesthetic that is reminiscent of Steelcase or Herman Miller office chairs. This bucks the market trend of trying to look like a seat from a high end sports car, but end up looking like a cheap aftermarket copy of a Sparco that someone’s mounted in their pimped out Civic complete with grapefruit-launcher exhaust.
While the Refine still carries a hint of that “gaming chair “ styling with the slight shoulder bolsters, and a foam headrest, in the end, it just looks much more professional and refined. Going with that higher end theme, the foam headrest is fully adjustable, utilizing an internal sliding rail system that is very smooth and premium feeling. There is also a height and depth adjustable lumbar support.
The model I received was the all mesh in what Fractal calls Dark, but is essentially black with some dark grey trim. The Refine is also available in a full fabric or Alcantara with cold cure foam padding. The fabric and mesh are available in Dark or Light. The Alcantara model is only available in the Dark color.
Pricing
The MSRP for either color in mesh or fabric is $549, with the Alcantara model coming in at a premium price point of $899.
Packaging and Setup
As you can expect, the Refine comes in a large box, the contents of which are well arranged and protected. There is a large, easy to follow assembly guide right on top, so you will not have to go digging through the box to find out how to start. As I was taking photographs during the unpacking and assembly, it took my wife and me about 30 minutes to completely assemble the chair, but without stopping for photos, I believe the two of us could have finished the assembly in around 10 minutes.
Fractal really took some nice steps to insure that the assembly will be trouble free, right down to pre-installing two of the screws for the seat back bracket to hold it in place while the other two are installed. I see no reason a single person would not be able to assemble the Refine in about 20 minutes if they have ever assembled a gas cylinder chair before.
Experience
For the last three weeks, my wife and I have been alternating usage of the Refine to get a good gauge of how it works for different body types. To begin with, Fractal has made some interesting design choices on the Refine, some good, some a little strange. The first thing I noticed is that there is no way to lock the forward and back adjustment on the armrests. The angle, width, and height all lock in place, but not the forward/back. At first, I thought this was strange, but in use I really like this. It allows for fluid support of motion.
Doctors and Chiropractors both recommend against static seating if you are seated for long periods of a time, and endorse chairs that move with you. These armrests seem to follow that line of thinking and after getting used to it, I found it very comfortable. This forward and back motion does have a geared internal movement, so there is a clicking sound and feel when they move. I didn’t have any issue with this, but both the resistance, and the sound was uneven between the arms on my sample, with the left requiring notably more effort to slide.
Regardless of this issue, the total adjustment range of these arms was outstanding. I was able to lower them to the point it was almost like being in an armless chair, and raise them much higher than almost anyone could ever ask for. In fact, I was able to find an arm position on the refine that was a better fit for both typing and gaming than any other office or chair I have ever used. My wife also indicated that she really liked the adjustment range on the arms.
The Refine does not utilize a standard reclining mechanism that you will find in almost any other office chair. As you lean back, the seat base changes position by a ratio of 1:2 with the reclined position of the back. Fractal says this is designed to move more in tandem with the body, and it does feel very natural. The odd part of this design is that the only way to adjust the static position of the seat back is to lock the entire seat into position. If you want to utilize the fluid reclining motion, then the seat back is very upright in its static position. You can recline the seat and lock it into position with the lever on the left hand side, but this completely locks the seat back and base into that position, eliminating that fluid motion support I mentioned earlier.
Despite the extremely upright position, I found that the seating position was very comfortable for typing, gaming, or any productivity tasks. My wife did point out that this very straight up seating position might not be the most comfortable lower back position for women who are more… umm… blessed.
One other item of note is that the reclining mechanism does not go back as far as most of your typical gaming chairs. I personally have a bad habit of raising my chair up, reclining back, putting my feet on my desk and listening to music or watching a movie, or YouTube, or sports. The Refine really is neither suitable for such a use case nor designed for it. In the user’s guide, Fractal even warns against leaning back with all your weight on the backrest.
An issue I have encountered on my sample is a very audible popping coming from the recline mechanism. I’ve attempted to determine where this is coming from and it seems to be coming from the lumbar mechanism, which could be shifting as I recline. Much like the arm issue I mentioned earlier, this could simply be a problem with my review sample. Of course, many of the $1000+ chairs from Steelcase and Herman Miller exhibit noise during recline, and I have never used a “gaming chair” that didn’t have some sort of creaking or popping sounds.
I do slightly regret the choice of mesh when I was asked for a preference for the review sample. It is not that the mesh is bad. It is very supportive and breathes well, and in normal circumstances, it is comfortable. It is just that when I am at home working, or gaming, I’m generally wearing tennis shorts, and the mesh fabric used doesn’t feel particularly great against the bare skin on the backs of my legs. My wife had the same issue when she was in a skirt or shorts. If you’re always in longer pants (or dresses) then this shouldn’t present an issue, but it was part of my experience, so I felt I should report on it.
Finally, the last item of note with the Refine is that I discovered that while the 65mm hubless wheels rolled smoothly and almost silently on a hard surface, or a chair mat, they did not like to roll on carpeting. Granted, if you are using an office chair in a carpeted room, you really should get a mat to avoid destroying the carpet.
Overall, when being used like a normal person uses a chair at their computer, the adjustability and comfort of the Refine were top notch. Fractal claims a user height range of 5’2” to 6’6” (1.65m-2.0m) and I believe it. Every part of the Refine chair has enough adjustability to fit just about everybody comfortably.
Of course this brings us to the elephant in the room. Fractal is recommending a max user weight of 125kg (275 lbs). I’ve already seen comments online saying that this lower weight rating in regards to other chairs denotes a lack of quality and longevity. While I found nothing about the construction that appeared to be weak or fragile, I do have some concerns regarding the longevity and strength of the glass fiber reinforced PP/PA frame. Of course Glock has used a non glass reinforced polymer frame on their products for decades, and I’ve never heard of one failing.
Fractal is backing the frame and hard parts of the Refine with a 5-year warranty, and all the soft parts (material, wheel, armrests) with a 3-year warranty, which should ease some of those concerns.
Conclusion
Overall, I really like the Fractal Refine chair. Despite some of the minor issues I’ve mentioned above, for productivity work, gaming, or any other activity where the user is sitting upright in front of their keyboard, it may be the best chair I’ve ever used, and certainly has the best arm position for me. I did find that it was somewhat limited to those uses. The Refine is not quite as versatile as some other chairs in the same range.
If you can afford the $549 price tag and you’re a normal person that uses a chair at your computer as it is intended, the Refine is definitely worth a look, and it’s certainly several steps up from the cheap gaming chairs on the market.

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How Product Was Obtained
The product was provided by Fractal Design for the purpose of this review.
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