When it comes to gaming seats and chairs, sim racers have a wide variety of products to choose from. The market offers a wide selection of products from racing seats to full blown rigs and everything in between.
Pleifactory’s Plei Gaming Chair aims to blur the line between normal furniture and gaming products. Does their product provide the same usability for sim racers than more traditional racing seats? Read the review to find out!
The Product
When first looking at it, the Plei Gaming Chair does not strike you as being gaming equipment. Instead, it looks more like something you??d pick up in your local furniture store.
The chair’s chassis is made of stainless-steel tubes that house a leather-cushion sitting area and back support. What separates the Plei Gaming Chair from other’s is the middle wheel support base that holds the wheel mount.
Both the wheel and the gearshifter are attached to chair, the wheel support is tilt-able thanks to a gas-spring, allowing every sim racer to find a comfortable driving position.
Unlike other racing seats, the chair does not provide a fixed mount for the pedal set. Instead, Pleifactory provides a stainless-steel pedal plate with rubber stops that is being put under the pedals.
Those of you with an ecological conscience will be delighted to know that Pleifactory only uses fully recyclable materials such as steel, leather and wood – No single piece of plastic apart from the top of two screws is being used.
What’s In the Box + Assembly
The Plei Gaming Chair ships in parts, requiring future owners to put it together. But even if you`re not a handyman like Tim Taylor, there’s no reason to panic. Included in the shipment is both an IKEA-style graphical assembly manual that is easy to understand as well as all needed tools to put the chair together.
If you??ve ever put together a small shelf or anything like that, assembling the chair won’t be a big issue. All that’s needed is to put in a few screws and bolts which, at least in my shipment, where put loosely into the packing, making them somewhat hard to find.
I won’t even waste any breath to describe the assembly process in detail as Pleifactory has put up a detailed instruction video on Youtube you can watch below.
Build Quality
Fully assembled, the Plei Gaming Chair weighs over six kilograms, indicating the use of durable materials. And indeed, the use of stainless steel results in a flawless experience when it comes to quality.
I??m not exactly the smallest and lightest guy around but the chair gave me the feeling that it would be able to accommodate even bigger and heavier sim racers than me. Once assembled, the parts form a firm unit, there’s no whining or squealing from the material even under heavy usage. The leather cushions are no exception as the overall build quality can only be described as excellent.
Usage
Let’s get to the most important part – The racing.
When first sitting down on the chair, you??ll immediately notice how comfortable it is. Unlike racing seats or rigs, the chair isn’t mean to simulate the minimalistic and confined experience of sitting in a race car but to provide a comfortable seating position.
The position of the wheel mount is perfect for driving and can be adjusted using the gas spring, the chair provides a comfortable-enough experience even for longer races.
My main grief with the chair’s usability is the pedal plate though. While having the pedals separated from the chair certainly has its advantages when it comes to using the chair for different purposes, it creates the problem of the pedals sliding away on some surfaces. The pedal plate and its rubber stops work reasonably well on carpet but don’t completely stop sliding on wooden surfaces.
Perhaps the most unique aspect about the Plei Gaming Chair is that it can be used for other things than racing. Pleifactory offers a wide range of accessories that turn the wheel support into the perfect place for your keyboard and mouse or your laptop. And once the wheel support is removed, the chair is comfortable enough to just sit on it and relax.
Price & Conclusion
The Plei Gaming Chair sells for 249??? with no controller mount, adding the Logitech, Microsoft or Fanatec support will raise the price to 298???. Add the pedal plate and the whole set will cost you 347???.
What you??ll receive is a well-designed and flawlessly manufactured product that will service more purposes than just be your racing chair. Depending on what other furniture you own, the Plei Gaming Chair blends in very nicely in a living room atmosphere and visitors will most likely not even recognize it as gaming equipment.
If you??re looking for a no-frills racing seat that mimics sitting in a real car, the Plei Gaming Chair isn’t for you. But if your expectations in terms of design and comfort are a little higher, Pleifactory offers a well-designed quality solution you won’t find anywhere else on the market.
More info + webshop: www.pleifactory.com
