The Cougar Terminator Chair has sparked my interest as one of the most interesting additions to the gaming chair world. With its unique spine-like backrest and a price tag of $749, my curiosity has been piqued. Key questions linger: Does the spine do anything? Is it actually comfortable? And does the chair live up to its price in terms of build quality? Let’s dive into the details.
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Terminator Couger Comfort Links
1. Unboxing Experience
The first thing I said when unboxing the chair was…this is the most ridiculous base I’ve ever seen. The base is made from aluminum, which is extra-large in every direction. The trend continued with the beefiest 3” casters I’ve seen come on any chair.
2025 Price: $749.99 Where to buy: Amazon
During the unboxing process, the Cougar Terminator Chair revealed disappointing scuff marks, likely a result of bad packaging. I did notice the cylinder was flopping around in the box. Despite the scratches, the backrest’s hefty and seemingly good build was evident. Assembling the Cougar is an easy process, but due to its size and weight, having another person to secure the massive backrest to the seat is recommended.
The unboxing of the Cougar Terminator Chair offered a unique experience. While many gaming chairs have mimicked the unboxing of the Secret Lab Titan, the Cougar’s approach was a hybrid, featuring large assembly instructions. However, it fell short of the premium feel offered by Secret Lab chairs, particularly with the cylinder issue during unboxing.
2. Build Quality
From unboxing to assembly, one thing that really stands out is just how much chair there is. This thing is an absolute beast and feels like it is built like a chair that is $749. The base and wheels of the Cougar Terminator Chair stand out with their oversized design, uncommon in our testing. Featuring 3″ soft PU casters suitable for carpet or hard surfaces, the wide legs of the base could either get in the way or provide an ideal seating position.
Moving up through the chair, the mechanism appeared to be average, but the actual seat and backrest looked nicely upholstered. Through the seat there was additional molded plastic, which didn’t do much for the chair except add to the cost and make it look different from most bucket style chairs.
The Cougar Terminator Chair includes Premium Hyper Dura Leatherette upholstery, which, despite sounding like marketing jargon, feels luxurious with great stitching. The spine design on the backrest, while intriguing, appears to be largely plastic and may not serve a functional purpose. Cougar advertises optimal lumbar support mechanisms for stress and fatigue. Maybe I was wrong, but we’d find out when I finally sat in the chair.
3. Natural Adjustments
Running through the adjustments on the Cougar, there was a multi position tilt lock that had its most upright position actually slightly reclined. There is also a middle-locked position and fully recline as well. If you want to keep it unlocked, you can adjust the tilt tension to accommodate your weight.
The seat height adjustment range is somewhat limited. The four-dimensional armrests, while nice, can be cumbersome with multiple buttons for adjustments. The arms offer height, depth, width and pivot adjustments. The closer the arms get to the backrest; they want to hit the backrest as you pivot them around. The arms are really solid on the cougar.
The headrest also has a pivot feature, which doesn’t include height adjustment, which is interesting. There is some adjustment for lumbar with the pillow system we see on a lot of gaming chairs. But to be honest, this just ruined the experience.
4. Superior Comfort
Lastly, judging the comfort of a chair requires prolonged use. This initial impression highlights the firm seating, similar to the Secret Lab Titan but offering a different experience due to the design of the seat, backrest, headrest, and arms. The complete experience will be evaluated after 30 days of using the Cougar.
The seat is narrow, which is a little surprising, considering how massive the chair is. This could be restricting, especially if you have large legs or a bigger bottom. Crossing my legs in the chair worked only because the side bolsters have some give, but I’m not sure how comfortable this would be long term.
The backrest, in contrast to the seat, is notably wide, suggesting a unique frame design. Considering the lumbar pillow, which has limited height adjustment and is attached with straps similar to those on a $100 gaming chair, its use proved uncomfortable, pushing me out of position and limiting access to the upper backrest and headrest.
Avoid this, especially since the chair has a superior natural curve in the backrest, much better than the flat designs of typical bucket chairs. For those who sweat, there’s a mesh cutout for breathability, but it’s not the most comfortable as your back tends to sink into the hole.
This must not be a surprise though, because Cougar includes a random formed foam pad to plug the hole. This is the more comfortable setup, but looks and feels cheap, while the rest of the chair doesn’t. The armrests are rock hard. This will likely help them hold up over time, but don’t plan on anything plush here.
The headrest is intriguing, with a unique pivoting motion instead of a true height adjustment. While I can get it to fit my height when upright, Ryan, who is a bit shorter, struggled to find a comfortable position. When reclining, the headrest ends up too far away, requiring an effort to scoot forward to reach it. In Ryan’s case, scooting up too far resulted in tipping the chair backward and breaking the spine.
Bottom Line
I’m curious how the next 30 days will go sitting in the cougar. While the design may not seem ideal for comfortable and productive office work, I’ll give it a shot. The major letdown for me was the spine, serving no functional purpose, purely aesthetic, and susceptible to breaking if someone like Ryan sits in your chair. However, priced at $749, this chair is overbuilt and likely to withstand the test of time.
