Nearly a year ago, we took a look at the Odinlake Ergo Plus 743, an impressive chair from a company we hadn’t yet heard of. It didn’t take long for us to see that the company was up to something special with how well-considered and well-built the chair was. Today, we finally have its successor, the Odinlake Ergo Butterfly 753. It has one of the most unique designs we’ve seen in an ergonomic chair and an array of upgrades that make it a substantial improvement over the original. At $999, it doesn’t come cheap, but its quality and comfort fit its price.
Specifications
Current Price: $999 (OdinLake)
Warranty: 15-years
OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 - Design and Features
The OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 isn't in competition with gaming chairs. It would rather you choose it instead of gaming chairs. Instead it's much closer to what you might consider a typical office chair except it's a very nice one with a lot of adjustments that put your posture and overall health first. This is a chair that is competing with the Herman-Miller and Steelcases of the world. And it's not just a gaming brand trying to break into the ergo scene either. OdinLake is an ergo brand through and through and that shows throughout the design of the Butterfly 753.
The 753 is a mesh ergonomic chair with a breathable and highly contoured design. It's replete with enough adjustments to ensure that it will match your body exactly and provide the support you need. It is designed for ease of use and to promote healthy habits with your sitting. Now all of that might sound a little bit boring as far as your computer use and gaming goes, but if you've ever sat in a gaming chair for a long time and stood up with a sore back then you'll know just how important that support in those adjustments actually are.
The most defining feature of the butterfly is its backrest. Unlike most chairs which have a single piece, or its predecessor, Ergo PLUS 743, which had a dynamically adjusting lumbar beneath its upper back support, its backrest is split into three distinct portions. You can't feel the seam between them when sitting, but this allows the chair to move with your upper body, giving you whole-back responsiveness. You still have the dynamic lumbar which moves in and out to support you no matter how you move, but the upper portion is now split in the middle and contours to support your spine and guide your shoulders into a healthy pasture. The back of this split section is supported by brackets shaped like butterfly wings and finished with a chrome appearance (but both are plastic).
Another major change is that two of the major adjustments have been moved to levers directly underneath the armrests. Unlike the majority of gaming chairs, the Butterfly 753 utilizes a wire adjustment system similar to how the brakes on a bicycle work. This has allowed OdinLake to move them to a more convenient position rather than have bulky levers underneath the seat. Here, you have height adjustment directly under your right hand and tilt lock under your left. Due to their functionality, seat depth adjustment and rocking tension is still under the seat on the right side.
Rocking into reclining work a bit differently in this chair. The seat doesn't actually rock at all. Instead, the backrest moves with your body and can be locked in nearly any position leaning back to 135°. While it is not the full lay that many gaming chairs provide, it is enough to kick back and put your feet up and also ensures that the position of the lumbar support never actually moves and you stay supported even while reclining.
The chair also comes with a full 2D adjustable headrest. It can move up and down or rotate to match the position of your neck. It is made of the same soft mesh and is quite comfortable.
As an ergonomic chair you would expect it to be able to cater to a wide array of different users and that is certainly the case. It has enough adjustments that just about anybody should be able to find a comfortable and supportive seating experience. The backrest, for example, can physically move up and down on a track with a satisfying series of clicks. When you reach the top it simply slides back to the bottom. The seat can slide in and out to make sure you have proper circulation to your legs and the angle it with your back meets the backrest fits your seating style. It offers just under seven inches of height adjustment. The armrests are four dimensional and can move in and out, front and back, up and down, and angle.
Now, it's certainly true that much more affordable chairs offer a similar range of adjustments, albeit perhaps in different ways. What most of those chairs lack however, is the Butterfly’s outstanding build quality. It uses a high quality mesh that is woven with what appears to be rubberized strands for added durability. The wheelbase is heavy aluminum as is the frame. It is a heavy-duty chair that immediately feels built to last. It's also backed by a somewhat incredible 15-year warranty. That's just about class leading even again against the industry's biggest players.
The only thing I wish it had were softer armrests. The ones included aren't bad, but they are definitely harder than I prefer and did make my elbows sore after about an hour of leaning on them. It's definitely something to be aware of, but if you choose to purchase soft covers, you'll need to be selective to be sure they don't block the adjustment mechanisms.
OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 - Assembly
Assembling the Ergo Butterfly 753 is very easy, even for a single person. The process has been streamlined from the 743 substantially and can be completed in less than ten minutes. Thanks to the new wire adjustment system, there isn’t nearly as much assembly as even most gaming chairs. The armrests and levers are all done for you. It’s remarkably simple.
After inserting the wheels into the base and setting the piston into its slot, I found it easiest to set the seat on top before installing the backrest. This gives you a touch of extra leverage since the chair can support some of its weight. From there, it’s only a matter of screwing the four fasteners into place. The final step is sliding the headrest into its slot and turning the big thumb screw to keep it from coming out when you make adjustments.
I would love to see a model made available that was completely assembled at this price, but this is straightforward enough that you really don’t need to be handy at all to put it together. OdinLake’s refinements were very good and very effective.
OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 - Performance
The OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 is a very unique chair. I’ve used quite a few ergonomic seats at this point, including a number that extend into the four digit range and I’ve yet to try another that uses the split back design. It compares well to similarly priced competition in just about every way. It's comfortable, airy, and supportive. It's also built like a tank and feels every bit of its premium price tag, which is surprisingly not always the case with high-end chairs.
The new split backrest is an interesting addition. What I find most appealing about it isn't even the split, it's the contouring on the outsides. This guides the shoulders into a natural ergonomic posture that makes the chair more comfortable than its predecessor. There's a bit more flex throughout the backrest, similar to how the lumbar dynamically adjusts to your movement. This allows the entire back to be more supportive even as you move and change position in your chair, though I don't really notice the upper back as much as the lumbar when it moves.
The lumbar support is great. Since the chair doesn't use a whole seat recline like a typical gaming chair and instead the entire backrest moves while the seat stays steady, it's able to remain in position supporting your lumbar even as you rock or even recline. It also offers more versatility in terms of where you can lock the recline compared to similar ergonomic chairs in this price bracket. The Razer Fujin Pro, for example, limits where the backrest can be locked. Here you essentially lock it wherever you like and can sit comfortably.
Odinlake Ergo PLUS 743 (left), OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753
I'm also a big fan of how OdinLake has integrated the wire controls into the armrests. Well it's hardly a problem to have to reach down by the seat, especially when gaming chairs typically require you to reach under and grab unsightly levers, this is a much more elegant solution. I only wish that the seat depth slider had also been moved under the armrest so all of the controls, sans tensioning knob, would be right under your fingertips.
The mesh fabric is very good. One of the concerns I always have with mesh chairs is how quickly the material will deteriorate and the likelihood that it could be torn or punctured. I have three cats, so this is perpetually on my mind with this style of chair, especially when it comes at such a higher price. Thankfully the mesh seems very robust. My cats have shown no interest since it's also woven with what seems like silicone strands. Looking closely at it, it seems like it would be particularly difficult to actually break one of these strands by accident. Like all mesh, it's also very breathable and I didn't find it to be uncomfortable on the skin, even in shorts.
The chair is wonderfully supportive. As you can tell in the pictures, I primarily used it at work because I wanted to test it on a daily basis with lots of computer work. It really encourages good posture, the back support is fantastic. I had multiple days where I was working up to three hours after my end time. I also used it at my gaming desk at home for some particularly long sessions. Though the chair isn't great about accommodating lazy postures, like crossing your legs, due to the curvature of its seat, it left my back feeling just fine in every single circumstance. There is no pain overnight and no soreness the next day. It delivers exactly what you would hope for from a high-end ergonomic chair. It gives you what you need from a chair you'll be sitting in all day.
Of course, it also works great for gaming. The arm rests aren't the softest I've ever used, which is something I hope they improve in the future, but they move back and forth and up and down enough to accommodate both controller and mouse and keyboard.
I would also be remiss for not talking about the warranty. OdinLake offers a 15-year warranty, which is even longer than Herman-Miller, and though steelcase has a lifetime warranty, it carves out a 12-year exception for seating products. It highlights that this is an investment product that is made to last, and is in line with the quality that you actually see once you have the chair in front of you. The only thing I am left wishing for, is that the butterfly wings on the back are also made of metal as they first appear. But as a good friend remarked, the chair is heavy enough as it is. Those “wings” really don't need to be metal either.
Overall, this is a stellar chair. It's expensive, but you get what you pay for and that shines through throughout its design.
Final Thoughts
The OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753 is a meaningful upgrade over its predecessor and an excellent chair in its own right. It's not competing against gaming chairs or even operating in that price bracket. Alongside industry stalwarts, like Herman Miller, it stacks up very well and has one of the most competitive warranties I have ever encountered. It's an investment to be sure, in your health and in your work day, but if you find yourself experiencing back pain, soreness, or just want to avoid those things and sit in comfort when you're forced to be at your desk for entire days, it is an exceptionally good option that should last many years into the future.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
