Fractal Design Refine review

Our VerdictThe Fractal Design Refine is a comfortable chair with some smart inclusions, but it doesn’t accommodate big thighs well—and inconsistent arm rests leave it feeling a little less than utterly ‘refined’.

Our Verdict

The Fractal Design Refine is a comfortable chair with some smart inclusions, but it doesn’t accommodate big thighs well—and inconsistent arm rests leave it feeling a little less than utterly ‘refined’.

ForComfortable materialEasy setupGreat lookAgainstNot great for big thighsArmrests rarely sit still

ForComfortable materialEasy setupGreat look

AgainstNot great for big thighsArmrests rarely sit still

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Ever since it launched back in 2021, theSecretlab Titan Evohas been thebest gaming chairand for good reason. With soft materials, a great look, and a good price point for that quality, it’s hard to justify getting anything else at that cost. The Fractal Design Refine, with its ‘refined’ look and comfortable pads has its work cut out for it, if it wants to knock the king off that top spot.

Starting with the very first thing you will do when you get a new chair, putting the thing together, this is a very easy build. The Refine not only comes with a mini user guide but a huge poster going over the main steps. You only need a few screws and an Allen Key, all of which are provided for you, and mine even had a few spare screws, which can be a blessing if you happen to lose one while moving parts around.

Coming with the wheelbase, backrest, seat itself, and a handful of extra parts, things simply slot together, where you can then put the screws in. The seat itself has a few screws already attached in the box, which require a little bit of effort to get out, but the process itself is otherwise pretty painless.

Fractal Refine Specs(Image credit: Future)Max rec. height:6 ft 6 inMax rec. weight:125 kg (275 lbs)Recline:125°Material:Cold-cured foamArmrests:4DColours:Fabric Light / Fabric Dark / Mesh Dark / Mesh Light / AlcantaraLaunch price:$549|£475

Fractal Refine Specs

(Image credit: Future)Max rec. height:6 ft 6 inMax rec. weight:125 kg (275 lbs)Recline:125°Material:Cold-cured foamArmrests:4DColours:Fabric Light / Fabric Dark / Mesh Dark / Mesh Light / AlcantaraLaunch price:$549|£475

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

Max rec. height:6 ft 6 inMax rec. weight:125 kg (275 lbs)Recline:125°Material:Cold-cured foamArmrests:4DColours:Fabric Light / Fabric Dark / Mesh Dark / Mesh Light / AlcantaraLaunch price:$549|£475

The Fractal Design Refine is a great looking chair, with a whole host of black and white toned colours to choose from. Mine came in the standard ‘Fabric Light’ which is an opaque off-white colour, where ‘Mesh Light’ is more of a breathable transparent shade.

You then have ‘Fabric Dark’ and ‘Mesh Dark’ which are similar to the white options, and the line is finished with Alcantara, which is much more expensive at $899 and made out of the Alcantara, suede-like fabric.

With the Refine, Fractal Design has created a gaming chair that is much closer to an office chair in aesthetic. It doesn’t have stripes, logos, or textures typically associated with the gamer aesthetic and the more muted colour palette of its lineup is indicative of this. It is quite a tall chair with a very slim back and a short seat. You don’t fall into it like with bigger gaming chairs, and the lumbar support helps keep that posture right.

Importantly, the lumbar support can be adjusted very quickly and intuitively. There’s a plate on the back of the chair you can manually move up and down to adjust where your back rests on it, and a knob can be turned which pushes it further into or away from the chair. This means, crucially, you can adjust it while sitting down to find the perfect spot to support your posture.

Image1of5(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

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(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

As is expected from a good gaming chair, you can adjust the height, tilt tension, and seat depth with a number of small handles on either side. For the most part, these function well and are easy to pull, though the seat depth handle feels a tad inconsistent.

The others have defined moments where I can tell the chair has registered the pull but one is a bit mushy. They are directly on the side of the seat cushion, which means you don’t have to reach under your chair, as is the case with many gaming chairs.

The price point puts it at basically the same range as the Secretlab Titan Evo and it makes for a decent competitor

Once sat down and set up, this chair is very comfortable and super sturdy. The materials aren’t super soft but not so hard as to not welcome the weight of your body as you plop it down.

Everything has this rigidness that feels quite comforting and makes me feel less guilty about my posture after a long gaming session. The recline on the Refine is comfortable too, giving just enough space in between each position you can lock it in to lean back a little.

As well as this, there’s some smart bits of design, like the headrest that can be popped off with a button and hooked in with metal prongs on the back. This not only allows you to change where it sits on the chair but avoids you accidentally knocking it out of place.

Image1of3(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

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(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)(Image credit: Future)

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

(Image credit: Future)

Pictures of the Fractal Design Refine gaming chair

This rigidity is one of the better parts of the chair, for me, but is also responsible for my biggest problem. The seat itself has curved edges shaping up at the sides, so, if you have particularly big thighs (like myself) or like to pop a leg under yourself as you sit, the cushion will jut into you.

Buy if…✅You don’t like the aesthetic of most gamer chairs:This is the least ‘gamery’ chair I’ve used in some time, with a clean and pretty aesthetic.✅ You like a smaller seat:From both its length to its width, the shape of this chair helps sit you uptight, which is a pretty smart design.✅ You don’t want a Secretlab:At its price point, this offers a good alternative to the best gaming chair you can currently buy.

Buy if…

✅You don’t like the aesthetic of most gamer chairs:This is the least ‘gamery’ chair I’ve used in some time, with a clean and pretty aesthetic.✅ You like a smaller seat:From both its length to its width, the shape of this chair helps sit you uptight, which is a pretty smart design.✅ You don’t want a Secretlab:At its price point, this offers a good alternative to the best gaming chair you can currently buy.

Don’t buy if…❌ You have bigger legs:If your thighs are a little on the big side or you like to partly sit on your leg in your chair, the curves at the side of the cushion will likely dig into you.❌You like your armrests a certain way:Despite how sturdy everything else is, the armrests move back and forth with little pressure, which can be frustrating once you’ve gotten themjust right.❌ You don’t like a firm chair:Though comfortable, the cushion is quite strong, and this means you can’t fully collapse into it like you might some other chairs.

Don’t buy if…

❌ You have bigger legs:If your thighs are a little on the big side or you like to partly sit on your leg in your chair, the curves at the side of the cushion will likely dig into you.❌You like your armrests a certain way:Despite how sturdy everything else is, the armrests move back and forth with little pressure, which can be frustrating once you’ve gotten themjust right.❌ You don’t like a firm chair:Though comfortable, the cushion is quite strong, and this means you can’t fully collapse into it like you might some other chairs.

The recommended height and weight for the chair will, of course, warn you of that a little—but using weight to gauge how your legs may react to the cushion is an inaccurate science.

The armrests are comfortable, though being simply made out of plastic and being quite large, they move back and forward with very little effort. With a click of the button on the outer side of it, you can push them up and down and they snap into place, which is very intuitive but there’s no such defined lock for pushing it back and forward.

Though these flaws definitely betray some of that otherwise premium feel, I do appreciate some of the nicest parts of this chair. The price point puts it at basically the same range as the Secretlab Titan Evo and it makes for a decent competitor with a nice feel and great look.

There’s an elegance to a lot of Fractal Design’s choices here that really comes through in the Refine’s presentation and feel, but given some of the drawbacks, it’s hard to choose this when you have so many excellent alternatives out there.

The Verdict75Read our review policyFractal Design RefineThe Fractal Design Refine is a comfortable chair with some smart inclusions, but it doesn’t accommodate big thighs well—and inconsistent arm rests leave it feeling a little less than utterly ‘refined’.

The Verdict

75Read our review policyFractal Design RefineThe Fractal Design Refine is a comfortable chair with some smart inclusions, but it doesn’t accommodate big thighs well—and inconsistent arm rests leave it feeling a little less than utterly ‘refined’.

75Read our review policy

Fractal Design RefineThe Fractal Design Refine is a comfortable chair with some smart inclusions, but it doesn’t accommodate big thighs well—and inconsistent arm rests leave it feeling a little less than utterly ‘refined’.

Fractal Design Refine

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Our Verdict#

Our Verdict