Secretlab is back with a new, more affordable version of its SKINS gaming chair sleeves with the SKINS Lite. Made of a new elastic fabric, it comes in at only $99 and can make your chair new again. I was sent one of two brand new World of Warcraft themed SKINS fresh out of the Black Temple and ready for Illidan Stormrage himself. With this new more affordable price, if you’re rocking a Secretlab chair, it’s a great deal to completely change the look of your chair at a fraction of the price.
Specifications
- Current Price:
- SoftWeave: Starting at $139
- SKINS Lite: Starting at $99
Secretlab SKINS Lite - Illidan Stormrage (WoW) - Design and Highlights
It's been two years since the launch of the original Secretlab SKINS. When I reviewed them at the time, I was impressed by how easily they were able to change the look and feel of my Secretlab Titan gaming chair. I had acquired the chair in Leatherette, but with the help of the SKINS, I was easily able to transition to a SoftWeave look and feel. Visually, there was just about no difference; if you took a close look, you could see that it was a cover, but the attention to detail was fantastic, and it looked almost identical to the real thing.
The biggest issue at the time was pricing. The SoftWeave SKINS launched for $170 a piece for basic solid colors. This was expensive, but if, like me, you wanted to turn a leatherette chair into a fabric chair, it was a way to accomplish that without having to replace the whole thing, which would have cost $200+ more. Since that time, the company has launched many more themed editions from major properties, including Batman, Fortnite, League of Legends, Overwatch and even Harry Potter. As of this writing, you can get a number of them for about $140 while others extend all the way to $200. Very cool, very well done, but expensive.
Secretlab SKINS Lite is an answer to that and opens the door to more partnerships and more gamers being able to afford them for themselves. These new sleeves start at only $99 and work much like the originals. The biggest difference is that SKINS Lite uses a new elastic fabric. It's not a SoftWeave-type fabric, but it is closer to neoprene, which gives them a smoother feel. Just like the originals, however, the detail and stitching are a perfect match for the original chair. It's even harder to tell it's a SKIN this time.
This new release has allowed the company to debut a number of other partnerships. World of Warcraft is only one of the new collaborations. There are also new SKINS for Dragon Ball Z, League, Naruto, Cyberpunk 2077, and more. Each of these begins at $99.
While there is a sense that the SKINS Lite are a bit less durable due to the thinner material, the craftsmanship is no less than the original softweave variants. The installation process is dead easy; the company quotes somewhere around three minutes, but that feels a bit generous to me. There were no instructions in the box I received and I'm embarrassed to admit that I started by putting the backrest sleeve on backwards. I was able to find an assembly video for the SoftWeave version, however, and I noticed my mistake right away.
Secretlab SKINS Lite - Illidan Stormrage (WoW) - Assembly
Apart from my initial fumbling with the orientation of the backrest assembly, this is dead simple. You start by sliding on the backrest cover and zipping up both sides. Next, you slide a portion through the bottom of the backrest where it meets the seat. There are two helpful tabs to make this process easier. Once that's pulled through, zip up the back and then pull to help align it with the backrest.
Next, you do the same thing with the seat. This part of the SKIN uses two clasps that go underneath the chair to secure it in place. It's very simple to do, and I also appreciated that the seat SKIN included two plastic tabs that snap into the plastic surround at the back of the seat rest. This made it simple to ensure the material was taut and wrinkle-free.
From there, all you need to do is smooth out the material and pull or tuck the edges to ensure they completely cover and align with the original upholstery. When you're done, it should look just about perfect.
Secretlab SKINS Lite - Illidan Stormrage (WoW) - Impressions
I was impressed by the original Secretlab SKINS and remained so with the new SKINS Lite. The final product really does look like your chair was originally finished in the new material and theme. The fabric is soft to the touch and comfortable to sit on. The little touches, like the thicker stitching along the bolsters and smaller contrasting accents really sell the high quality of the product.
The Illidan Stormrage theme is also very well done. I like that it's a mix of deeper black and then various shades of purple and green. It adds depth to the artwork and looks very good. It has been a long time since I've been to Outland. Returning to World of Warcraft has been on my mind over the last couple months, and this chair may well be the thing that sets me over the edge. It sounds silly, but it genuinely got me a little more excited for Warcraft again.
One thing with the new material that does betray its lower cost is how it feels when you're actually sitting in it. The texture is perfectly fine, but the elastic fabric does have a bit more give and pull to it than the SoftWeave version. As a result, you can tell when you touch it and feel it stretch that it's a cover versus the real thing a bit more than the OG SKINS.
You'll also note that in the pictures here, I've put the Illidan version on a white chair. Obviously, if I had picked this out for myself, I would have chosen something that matched its light color in the first place. Hopefully you can still see how well it matches the cut of the cold-cure foam and overall design, despite not being black, which would clearly match a bit better.
Still, this is an impressive showing from Secretlab and feels like a good value at about $100. While the original was significantly more and brought into question even saving up for a new chair, these new SKINS feel more like a reasonable upgrade for a wider range of users.
Final Thoughts
If you own a Secretlab gaming chair and are ready to change it up or perhaps need to cover a bit of wear and tear, Secretlab SKINS are a great way to do that. They look good and are more than a simple cover once you examine the detail that went into the stitching to perfectly match the original chair. I have used many seat covers in cars in time, which feels like an apt comparison in both materials and why you might use something like the SKINS in the first place. I have never seen one match as closely as the Secretlab SKINS do to my Titan Evo. With this new pricing scheme, it finally feels like these are a good value and are a viable option for a high-quality upgrade to your existing chair within the Secretlab ecosystem.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.
