Boulies EP400 Chair Review

I’ve long been an advocate of gaming chair usage. I’m not saying that it’s made me a better player, but it’s ensured that I’ve been able to take in some seriously lengthy gaming sessions in comfort. The likes of Noblechair, SecretLab and AndaSeat have all kept me gaming over the course of the last few years, and now so are Boulies with their EP400. 

Whilst not specifically sold as a ‘gaming chair’, the Boulies EP400 can certainly hold its own in similar company. I can’t say that I’d ditch off my Noblechairs Hero, or even my SecretLab Titan Softweave, in place of it, but as an option alongside those behemoths, it more than does the job. 

We’ll start by taking a look at how the Boulies EP400 is assembled, and whilst the included instruction pamphlet suggests a couple of people put this together, in reality, it’s such a cinch that you could get away with one. I assembled this, alone, in all of ten minutes with hex bolts and allen keys coming to the fore. 

It arrives in the box in multiple parts too, and none of those are particularly heavy, mostly as the EP400 is made out of a reinforced plastic. Honestly, that was a bit of a shock initially, with concerns that the plastic nature may come across as a bit ‘cheap’, but in reality that is far from the case. This is a quality seat that looks great when assembled. Attaching backrests, a headrest and armrests to the seat base just takes a few minutes and from there it’s just a case of slotting in the gas strut that powers things, and attaching the casters to the base. There are some additional trim pieces that need pushing in – push harder than you think you should, would be my top tip – but in all, set up and assembly is super easy. 

Once in place, the Boulies EP400 is going nowhere. With a mesh fabric stretched tight across the plastic outerframe, it all provides superb support, across minutes and hours of being sat in it. We’ve used the EP400 for the last few weeks, switching in and out with another Boulies product – our review of the NUBI Series is coming – and the EP400 has turned out to be our preferred seat. It’s super comfortable, high enough in the neck line to allow for reclining as and when. 

What’s more, the EP400 seems to contour nicely to your back, with a lumbar support in place to ease any pains. Boulies sells this with ‘dynamic spinal support that adjusts to your movements’ and whilst we couldn’t sit here and explain how that works, we can hype the comfort this chair brings. And that’s even with the fairly narrow side-profile that this chair comes with.

Pushing better posture is the key with the EP400 and that, when combined with the mesh, reduces any pressure that may come about through hours of sitting. And as gamers, hours of sitting is something we do on the daily. Throw in an adjustable neck pillow and it’s very easy to find the comfort you need. 

There does however need to be a note on that neck pillow though, and at times we’ve found it a little too easy to knock downwards, clicking with each notch. It’s fine when the seat is reclined a little, but when more upright, it becomes an annoyance, refusing to stay put in its heightened position. Perhaps we’d have preferred to have been able to lock this in place. 

The armrests are decent too. Whilst a teeny bit smaller than we would have liked, these adjust some six ways – up, down, in, out and sideways – to again ensure the EP400 fits your everyday needs. They are nicely soft too, at least enough for us to rest our elbows on. There can be no complaints there. 

There’s more adjustment in the seat itself too. A Class 4 gas strut ensures that moving the EP400 up and down is as easy as can be via under-seat levers, whilst chair base adjustment is there if you need it, alongside a backrest recline. Whilst we’ve used the latter very regularly, the former of those has very much been a ‘set it and done’, as we’ve preferred to keep things stable. Frankly, much like with any other chair – gaming or otherwise – once you’ve found the fit you want, you’ll be likely to stick with it. 

The Boulies EP400 also comes with a pull-out, flip-out footrest. It’s a nice enough option to chuck in, especially as for the most part it is hidden away, out of sight, out of mind, under the seat, dragged out whenever the occasional use is required. For us at 188cm in height, it’s possibly not quite long enough in use, and we’d have killed for just a few more centimetres in footrest length, but shorter folk should be able to make the most of this. Just be in mind that we’re right at the top end of what Boulies recommend for the EP400, with a lower height limit of 170cm and upper of 190cm. They recommend you to be less than 130kg in weight too. That plastic footrest has vented holes in it, I’m guessing to match the mesh of the rest of the chair, but I’d have preferred the mesh vibes to continue down to that element. 

Rounding things off at the bottom of the EP400 is an aluminium wheelbase with five tasty wheel casters attached. Whilst not a massive fan of the aluminium, it does fit well with the grey version that we’ve been using. Whether that chromey shine is capable of sliding with the black edition we’re unsure…

With an easy set up, tons of flexibility in terms of adjustments, and a comfortable mesh seating that allows for airflow, we’ve been very impressed with the Boulies EP400 chair. A locking neck support would be preferred, as would a tad more length on the footrest, but if you’re in the market for a new chair that is extremely comfortable and looks good to boot, this one should certainly be considered, no matter whether you’re gaming or working. 

Huge thanks go out to Boulies for providing us with the EP400 for review. Grab one for yourself from Boulies direct. There are both a grey (the one we recommend) and a black version available, each priced at £289.99.