Corsair T1 Race v2 review - My experience with the Corsair gaming chair
My first Corsair gaming chair is ready for testing. I bought the Corsair T1 Race v2 for about $ 269 in a special offer, on Amazon it costs around $ 340 and thus already competes with models in a quite good price range. You can see it more often now that gaming brands provide catalog goods from the Far East with their own logo to participate in the gaming chair market.
Corsair has been known for high-quality mice, keyboards, headsets, RAM, SSDs and more. Now the US company has its own chairs on the market for a few months, of which the T1 Race is the very first to be subjected to a test by me. I have the v2 version here, which is the newer one that comes with screwable side panels and a new cushion cover compared to the T1 – otherwise everything is supposed to be the same here.
Corsair
T1 Race v2
Steel frame without cross braces, nylon base, cold foam upholstery, PU cover on contact surface, PVC on backside
4D armrests, non-locking rocker function, backrest can be tilted 180°, smooth-running nylon skate wheels, max. load 120kg
Where to start in my T1 Race Test....
The chair is standing 3 meters next to me while I’m pounding these words into the keyboard. Why 3 meters? The Corsair T1 Race smells. Or stinks? It smells very strongly of plastic & chemicals. Despite it being 3 meters away, I can still smell the cover. Not because the smell pulls up to here, but because I have just neatly fumbled the chair and my hand has taken exactly this smell. So it was obvious to me to mention this point first and foremost.
I’m really trying to find as many positive things as possible about my Corsair gaming chair, so that people don’t scream that I’m too spoiled and that I only badmouth all cheap models. The chair is not one of the cheap ones at all with its almost $ 330 – and yet it’s hard for me to find points that justify the price – because the quality doesn’t really appeal to me, at least not in relation to the price paid.
The structure in the Corsair T1 test
I can’t complain about the assembly. The chair comes in more parts than the S300, Racer 1 or any noblechairs chair, but that’s not really a problem – whether I have to tighten 5 or 15 screws for a chair I want to use in the long term – screw it. So the assembly is a little different from other manufacturers in the price segment, but that’s not a direct criticism.
Design des Corsair Gaming Stuhls
The T1 Race looks like a typical gaming chair at first, and that strikes me as positive. After all, we want a decently designed and shaped chair. The use of different patterns makes the chair particularly attractive. On the armrests we find a 3D pattern that reminds me of carbon, PU variations are also used in other places for a pretty look. Look good? Check. But is the build quality of the T1 Race also convincing?
Corsair T1 Race in practice test - Now it goes into detail
Now it’s time to get down to business. I will now present the chair to you step by step with pictures. If you read my personal evaluation of the individual parts, keep in mind: I always make these evaluations in relation to the price. And this is about $ 340. And this much in advance: It wouldn’t be worth that to me. There are cheaper variants that can do more…
The PU cover of the T1...
… stinks terribly. But we’ve already had that. However, the feel is basically not bad. I directly dug through my gaming chair collection again and found out: The PU leathers at AKRacing, DXRacer, Nitro Concepts and noblechairs feel softer. Only the cover, not the cushion. Whether it feels soft to the hand or not so soft, I don’t really care. We often sit on it with clothes on anyway.
But the smell makes me very suspicious. And I have to be honest: I wouldn’t like to sit on it with naked skin, because the odors are very strong. And if you touch the chair, your hand smells of it for a while. The Corsair T1 Race has now been built for two weeks and unfortunately still smells very strong, so you have to be patient.
By the way, it is also quite certain that the cover smells so strongly, not the upholstery. Because that is made of polyurethane and polyurethane is supposed to be odorless.
Above all, the quality of the cover material seems to be poor. Because from other models in the price range I do not know these strong chemical and acrid odors. I do not know what this cover was treated with, but that it is healthy for humans, I can hardly imagine.
Improperly covered, some wrinkles
In the pictures you can see the many wrinkles that the cover throws. These would not affect the seating comfort, but for $340 we may demand a little more quality. And I’m looking here unfortunately on all corners, but do not quite find.
In any case, this lack of quality is noticeable in many places. But that is still one of the less serious problems. Personally, I wouldn’t mind it at all and would quickly get used to it. But if you know, like I do, that it could be better, you have to criticize it.
Positive: The Rollerblade wheels
They are actually pretty cool and I would like to see them more often with other manufacturers. You get here namely inline rollers made of rubber and they really run absolutely whisper-quiet and noiselessly over the floor. You really hear nothing here and almost floats over the ground. Once tapped, this chair rolls through the very smooth-running rollers several meters.
So I have found something positive: The casters. But just as the unclean cover is not a loss for seating comfort, the casters are not a significant gain when you consider the other ergonomic features of the Corsair Gaming Chair.
Armrest: Cool design, slightly damaged
The 3D pattern of the armrests looks cool, I like that. I can’t say anything particularly good or bad about the armrests either: they are just normal 4D armrests. What I find only a pity is that the one armrest already arrived with a quirk with me.
I would have gotten used to it quickly, but when you buy a chair for just under $ 300, you’re a bit pressed for the time being.
Seating comfort: Why 70% of us can barely use the T1
The main problem with the Corsair T1 Race in the test is probably the overall shape of the chair. After all, I can’t imagine that many of us will be able to sit on it adequately at all, because the strange dimensions exclude what I estimate to be 70% of the buyer base.
T1 Race without lumbar cushion unusable
I’m going to show you why I find the construction of the Corsair Gaming chair so incomprehensible. For the record, when I went to buy a new bed last year, the rude mattress salesman told me I had “a hip like a 9-year-old.” Bum. My hip is actually very narrow. And now this:
The side bolsters of the backrest go absolutely steeply outwards and I even have to press myself into this gap a little. And that with a hip circumference of only 90cm. Take but directly times n tape measure and measure with you.
The question: How many people will fit into this chair?
Women in particular often have wider hips and not all of us men are slim either. Therefore, if you’re not very slim, you’re out of luck.
My test person is also close to the limit: And that at 167cm and 53kg body weight. She really isn’t broadly built.
T1 Race with lumbar cushion also unusable
A lumbar or lordosis pillow is intended to fill the curvature of our spine and thus support and relieve our back muscles. The prerequisite for this is, of course, that the lumbar cushion also has the shape of the lordosis. And now let’s take a look at the lumbar cushion of the Corsair T1 Race in the test:
I would be surprised if this fits at all in anyone’s hollow back. It’s just not that long, the cushion shouldn’t be that deep. Using the chair with the cushion feels just as wrong as using it without. It’s not so much a pleasant support as a foreign body that doesn’t feel like it belongs there.
The cushion forces me to stretch out my stomach. I am quite sure that everyone who already owns this Corsair gaming chair sits on it without a lumbar cushion.
Seat experience with T1 Race - Conclusion
It’s not worth writing further about the seating comfort, because my experience here with the Corsair chair is already clear: I can’t sit comfortably on this. And most of you won’t be able to either. The T1 Race’s side bolsters are just so constricting that I find it uncomfortable to sit on the chair.
Without this faulty design, the chair could be quite comfortable. And for those who are narrower than me, the chair might even be comfortable, I can imagine. As a final point, however, there is now the price, which I feel is not quite appropriate for the performance offered.
Alternatives to T1 Race: More chair for less money
For $ 233-245 there is, for example, the S300 from Nitro Concepts. The armrests are similarly adjustable here. The only difference: The armrests of the S300 cannot be moved from the inside to the outside, so they are 3D instead of 4D armrests. On the other hand, the S300 has no constricting side panels. The T1 Race can support up to 120 kg, the S300 up to 135 kg.
The padding on the seat of the T1 is considerably thinner. A bit more foam would have been appropriate there. The S300 is available with a fabric or PU cover, while none of the covers smells unpleasant here. Overall, the chair makes a much more valuable impression at a lower price. I would definitely go for nitro concepts if in doubt.
The T1 Race’s rocker mechanism has an angle of 0-10°, while the S300’s is 0-14°. The mechanisms are not lockable on either chair. The S300 has steel cross braces in the backrest, while the T1 Race has rubber cross braces. This may not play a role in comfort at first, and perhaps not in longevity either, but it is at least a higher material input.
Alternative for a little more money and much more chair
For hardly more you can buy real premium chairs, like the noblechairs EPIC for $330. Also the ICON is not that far away in price and Secretlab also comes with some more features. The EPIC and T1 Race are similar in design, but in terms of features, quality and workmanship, it clearly surpasses the T1 in my opinion.
Conclusion: Buy Corsair T1 Race? My experience from the test
I can’t recommend the chair for $340. If there was the Corsair T1 Race v2 for $240, it would look different – for the money it would be ok. But with the real price I can not make friends, for that it hapert in too many places and there is simply the competition then rather in question. The most important points again in short:
- Cover smells extremely unpleasant and takes a long time to dissipate
- Backrest very constricting even for slim people
- Lumbar cushion much too large and inappropriately shaped
- Quality does not correspond to the price level of $340
- Rollers are very good
It looks like Corsair tried to save a bit on all corners and edges so that the chair would be cheap to buy. The thin padding, the fragrant cover, the wobbly lever, small damages and unclean seams and dents in the seams. I think there was a savings fox involved.
I am dissatisfied with the gaming chair from Corsair, I expected more. And immediately to those who think I only want to recommend the expensive chairs: The chair belongs to the premium segment in terms of price and I even recommend a chair that costs less instead. So it’s definitely not about money here.