The Odinlake pro is the first chair I have tried that includes a footrest so that it can be used like a recliner. This is an interesting concept for those who want to kick back in their chair. I wanted to take a closer look at the chair and these are my first impressions after spending some time with the Odinlake.
Full Disclaimer: We are an office furniture dealer and sell some of the products we review. To learn more about the products we sell, our review process and why you can trust us, please visit: Why we’re different. Who is BTOD.com and The Breakroom Blog?
Odinlake Links
1. Odinlake Packaging
The unboxing for Odinlake was straightforward and everything was packed well within the box. There were some small boxes inside to protect parts from hitting each other, but unfortunately, these boxes didn’t quite prevent me from scratching the cheap plastic chrome on the base when attaching the castors to it. I would recommend using a blanket to protect the base from the floor as you attach the caster. One reviewer on Amazon did complain that the assembly process was difficult for them because the holes did not align properly for some of the bolts. That wasn’t my experience and everything went together smoothly.
If you follow Odinlake’s directions in the order that they recommend, I can see how the step where you attach the mechanism and backrest to the seat could be a bit cumbersome with the size of all of the parts. Now, I do believe that this could be done in a different order, but once everything was together, it was time to try out the chair.
2. Comfort
A big draw for me to the Odinlake was how thick the seat pad appeared in the images on Amazon. It looked like a nice, soft pillow to sit on and because many of you want something with more cush, I thought this might be it. The seat itself looks nice with black upholstery that’s well-stitched throughout.
Looks can be deceiving though, and honestly, it’s happening more often than not on Amazon. The actual thickness of the pad itself isn’t more than three inches and it sits pretty firm. Now, the firm seat pad is a good thing in my opinion. Since the pad isn’t overly thick, it helps from bottoming out. Now, firm pads also tend to hold up better. There’s definitely a point at which chairs can be too firm, like what we’ve seen on the Secret Lab chairs.
Now, I don’t think that the upholstery used for the seat pad really helps with the firmness. It felt really cheap and rough, and you could actually hear how rough it is when I rub my hands across it. I also don’t think this would be a great option if you’re working from home in shorts.
There is a seat depth adjustment, which I found really easy to use. The lever under the back left side of the seat engages the function and you can easily move it forward and back from within the chair.
3. Seat Height
One of the first things I noticed about the Odinlake is that it sat very low. Now, this is the opposite of what I’m used to with Chinese brands, as most will sit way too high. When I tried to move the chair up, it had a super short height range as well and only moved about three inches. This put me right on the edge of where I should use a chair at six feet tall. But I would definitely be concerned for users who are 6’1” and above.
Because Odinlake has low-end castors, a fix for taller users could be investing in something like rollerblade castors that would raise the chair another inch. Now, this would also fix the problem you’d run into if you have hard surfaces since the castors included with the box are made for carpet.
4. Back Support
Even without an adjustable lumbar support system, the Odinlake had ample lower support. Now, I personally like a lot of lumbar support, and this even felt really good for me. There isn’t any backrest height adjustment on the Odinlake and the back frame is a bit exposed as well. We had zero issues here with any pressure points on the backrest frame, but if you’re on the heavier side or have really wide shoulders, this might be something to consider.
My only real complaint here is with the headrest, it makes it a little bit more difficult to move around, and this is really similar to the Fern chair. So if you’ve read that review before, Ryan mentioned with the headrest, it’s a little more difficult to use. So if I removed it, my guess is like with the Fern, it would probably move a little bit more freely. The mesh upholstery is very similar to the seat upholstery being extremely coarse. Now, my real concern here is that if it comes into contact with your skin, it’s probably not that comfortable. Additionally, this type of mesh is typically more aggressive at pulling fibers from loosely woven clothing.
5. Arm Supports
The armrests are probably the weakest point for the Odinlake. This isn’t because of the adjustments, though; it comes standard with three-dimensional armrests that include height adjustment, depth adjustment, and pivot adjustment. There is a pretty decent range of motion for all of the adjustments as well. The real problem with the arms is how hard they are. They are hard as a rock with zero padding. They also come up short when reclining in the chair, which we’ll talk about next.
6. Reclining in the Odinlake
Odinlake features one of the deepest reclines for chairs that we’ve tested that isn’t a gaming chair. They even claim that it will go as far back as 135 degrees, which I believe after kicking back in the chair for a while. Now, this is really where the headrest on the Odinlake shines. When fully reclined, getting the headrest adjusted to fit my body wasn’t an issue. There is a good amount of height range on the headrest as well, so I can see it working for those who are quite a bit shorter than me. It was also easy to pivot the headrest in a comfortable position so that I couldn’t feel any of the hard edges from the frame.
7. Footrest
How good is a chair with a deep recline that includes a headrest but doesn’t have a footrest? I guess it doesn’t matter here because the Odinlake has a footrest, and this is actually the first time I’ve used something like this, and it’s different. I like the concept for those that use the chair for tasking and then like to kick back to consume some content. The recline feature is actually quite comfortable. The headrest fits me. The seat and back are comfortable in full recline as well.
Now, the footrest also provides good support for my legs and fits me well. The only problem with the footrest is that it feels really cheap. It sort of slides freely as well and it doesn’t want to lock in place, which was definitely annoying. The actual place to rest your legs is bare plastic. Adding some padding or even some nice vinyl here would be better, in my opinion. There was a slight pivot feature, which I found nice to provide some additional flexibility, depending on how you like to rest your legs on the footrest.
The biggest issue I had with the Odinlake recline was the armrest. This is unfortunately way too big of a gap as you go into recline and you have zero support. This is a major miss. Overall, the Odinlake is a decent pick if you can get it for, say, the $399 price point, but at the full retail price of $500, I’d probably look at a Haworth Soji or a EuroTech Vera as a more comfortable alternative.
