Noblechairs Icon TX Review

In our recent gaming chair Labs, the noblechairs Hero Black Edition came out on top, earning points for its smart styling, build quality and features, but that prowess came at a high price. That was down to its optional ‘high-tech’ faux leather upholstery, but also because it’s a fairly large chair. The Icon, though, is a slightly more compact model and the new TX fabric option is cheaper too, resulting in this version coming in. Read our Noblechairs Icon TX Review.

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The TX fabric might be cheaper than high-tech faux leather, or the real leather option, but in many ways, it’s a better choice. It’s soft and warm to the touch, and it looks superb in this anthracite grey colour, which is currently the only option. The fabric also offers more support than leather, as its higher friction means you don’t slide down the chair.

The downside is the material’s greater vulnerability to grot. You can use a carpet cleaner to keep it fresh, but it’s a far cry from the wipe-clean ease of use of leather variants.

Also, the slightly fluffed finish to the fabric leaves a very obvious bum print when you get up.

The shape of this Icon chair is much more akin to a standard office chair than the more bucket seat style used by most gaming chairs. Combine this shape with the simple grey fabric, unobtrusive stitched logo, and all-black arms, legs and wheels, and this chair is among the best options for doubling as a smart home office chair and chic-looking gaming throne.

The shape also helps with comfort, as the lack of shoulder wings means you don’t feel at all hemmed in and hunched over. It also accommodates different sizes of sitters better than some chairs – our three testers of heights between 5ft 2in and 6ft 2in all found it worked for them.

However, the seat cushion isn’t the most comfortable. It’s a touch firm, and the front edge rises up slightly, so it can dig into the underside of your legs. This is a common problem with gaming chairs – and the Icon TX far from the worst – but the AKRacing chairs we’ve reviewed suffer less from this issue.

This chair doesn’t include the built-in adjustable lumbar support of the Hero either, but instead comes with a lumbar cushion. As with many such cushions, we found it too large and firm to be comfortable, preferring the chair without it, and the same goes for the headrest cushion.

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There are plenty of adjustment options, though, with handles on the right side for height adjustment and reclining the back of chair, and on the left for locking and unlocking the tilt system. The latter is easy to use and locks in any position, but its balancing isn’t quite right. We couldn’t get the chair to just tilt back by leaning back, instead needing to prop up our feet – the heavier-backed Hero tilts back more easily (depending on the sitter’s weight).

Meanwhile, the armrests slide forwards and back, in and out, and up and down, but don’t rotate. Their padding is a very stiff foam plastic that’s hard-wearing but not all that cushioning. One other slight disappointment is the castors, which don’t roll all that freely. Finally, assembly is fairly easy, but the included right-angled Allen key/screw tool is a bit fiddly to use compared with a T-shaped tool.

Conclusion

The noblechairs Icon TX gets a lot right. It’s a great-looking, robustly made chair with a shape that will suit a variety of sitters. The TX fabric feels superb and the chair as a whole is reasonably comfortable too, although the tilt system could be better balanced. The fairly throwaway lumbar and headrest support cushions are disappointing when you’re spending this much money on a chair though.

EDWARD CHESTER

8Expert Score

Noblechairs Icon TX Review

Great styling, robust build quality and decent fabric define this slimline gaming chair, although there are a few compromises.

PROS

• Smart design
• Solid build quality
• Decent overall comfort
• TX fabric feels great

CONS

• Tilt system not balanced
• Pointless neck and lumbar pillows
• Raised front edge of seat
• Poor castors