I ditched my basic office chair for this budget model with more support, and now I’m more productive all day long

A huge part of remaining productive all day long is staying comfortable. If my back starts to ache from being hunched over my computer screen for too long, I start to get agitated and completely lose focus. That’s why having one of the best office chairs makes all the difference.

The Boulies OP180 has all of the makings of a great, understated office chair. It’s got great support, lots of adjustability, and is easy to build. But the chair has some competitively priced rivals that may make you think twice about buying such a basic chair.

If you want to find out if this is the cure to your productivity issues or back pain, keep reading this full Boulies OP180 review.

Boulies OP180 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A basic office chair with great support
• Who is it for? Anyone who needs comfort and support at their desk 9-to-5
• How much does it cost? $239 / £169
• What do we like? All-day comfort with great back support and lots of adjustability. It’s quick to assemble and looks good too.
• What don’t we like? That you aren’t getting dedicated lumbar support and that the chair doesn’t come with a headrest.

Boulies OP180 review: Specs

Boulies OP180 review: The ups

The Boulies OP180 is a basic, functional chair that does exactly what you need it to do. It’s also quick and easy to build, making it a great option for bulk-buying to furnish a multi-person office.

All-day-long comfort

I didn’t realize quite how uncomfortable my work-issued office chair was until I sat down on the Boulies OP180. Thanks to the heaps of adjustments (more on that later) and the comfortable materials used in its construction, I had minimal back pain when working at my desk all day long.

The foam padding on the seat of the chair contours to ensure support, while the mesh back has just enough give and is almost bouncy. This means I can pretty comfortably move around and still feel supported, no matter where the most pressure is on my back.

The adjustable armrests are also great for ensuring I don't put too much strain on my wrists and forearms when I’m typing all day. They’re not hard plastic and have some flex and cushioning to them. I especially like that you’re able to angle these inward or outward depending on what you’re doing.

Another shout for all-day comfort is the Steelase Karman ($846). We rate it as one of the most comfortable chairs we’ve tested at Tom’s Guide, but it’s a lot more expensive. In a similar price range to the OP180 is the Boulies EP300, which offers a wider range of support, includes a headrest, and is only $50 more expensive at $289. And if you can stretch an extra $60 to $299, you could pick up the Boulies EP460, which is fully mesh and more supportive overall.

Heaps of adjustments

For what looks like a basic office chair, the Boulies OP180 offers plenty of adjustability. There are four levers on the underside of the seat — three on the right and one on the left — for making adjustments to the seat angle, seat height, backrest angle, and seat depth.

The seat depth can be adjusted from 1.5 to 1.6 inches using the lever on the left side, and this determines how much of your thighs are supported by the seat, so if you have longer legs, you’ll want to extend this. Most budget chairs lack this feature, so it’s great to see it here. The seat height can also be adjusted between 1.4 and 1.7 inches, so again, if you’re on the taller side of the 6’3” recommended maximum height, you’ll want to extend this.

You can also adjust the seat tilt between 2º and 10º. This isn’t something I’ve thought of doing before, but I often slouch down in my seat throughout the day (usually when the afternoon slump hits around 3 pm), and increasing the angle of the chair stops this from happening.

Angling the backrest of the chair can be really useful when doing tasks where you don’t necessarily need to have your hands on your keyboard, like in a video call. You can easily recline with the lever on the right side, between 79º and 103º. That’s 13º backwards and 11º forwards, which may not sound like much, but it can make all the difference for day-long comfort.

The height of the backrest is adjustable between 1.7 and 2.1 inches to fit the contour of your back. This was very easy for me to do as I just needed to lift the back of the chair from the bottom to increase the height, and push it down to lower it. No button pressing needed.

As I mentioned earlier, the adjustable arms are what make this chair so comfortable. The armrests are detachable if they get in your way, but I think they provide a good level of support and help to ensure my posture remains upright, so I left them on. They can have their height adjusted between 2.1 and 2.6 inches. The top of the armrests can also be angled depending on your typing position or what you’re doing in your chair, and can slide forward or backward depending on the length of your arms.

There’s clearly a lot of scope for adjustment here, but people on the taller side of the scale may want to try something that can better support their long limbs and go for something like the Oak Hollow Aloria ($849), as it offers even more adjustment. Or, the Boulies NUBI ($239) could be the right choice if you want a budget option, since it has a higher back.

Simple assembly

When we received the Boulies OP180, it was well-packaged, and nothing was damaged. The box includes bolts and a hex key, so you have all the tools you need for a quick setup. There are only six bolts required when building the chair, so the process is really simple.

You need to screw the bolts into place to hold the arms, which is a little finicky, but following that, everything else is super simple. It’s just a case of slotting the base legs, gas piston and the casters (or wheels) into place. Slotting all of this together takes a little bit of strength; the manual actually recommends that you stand on the legs to make sure they are as stable as possible.

No pins are holding the legs in place, so the mechanism relies on the chair’s weight to exert mass on them to hold them together by utilizing gravity. The backrest also slots onto the seat pretty easily.

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This is hands down one of the easiest chairs to build, and Boulies’ claim of being able to assemble the chair in five minutes holds some truth. Our reviews editor, Pete Wolinski, a seasoned chair builder, put the OP180 together in just 10 minutes — still one of the fastest and easiest-to-assemble chairs he’s ever built.

If you’re going to be bulk-buying these chairs for an office, the OP180 is a quick and simple option. It’s a much better choice than the Boulies EP460 ($299) if you’re looking for something straightforward and understandable, since the EP460 didn’t come with a manual when we tested it.

Non-intrusive

If I were to use one word to describe the Boulies OP1800, it would be nondescript. It’s an unassuming chair with no real identifiable features. It just goes about its day without looking garish and doesn’t stand out.

The chair is black, but the mesh back, being semi-transparent, adds some texture. Since this is one of the more basic models from Boulies, it’s not as much of a statement as the Boulies EP300 or the Boulies EP460, which have a much larger stature and headrests that you just can’t miss.

Where I sit in the office is a pretty tight squeeze between my desk and the wall, and the chair has no problems squeezing into this space. It’s basic and functional, so what’s not to love?

Boulies OP180 review: The downs

Unfortunately, in the U.S., the EP180 costs nearly the same as larger, bulkier models with more features like headrests.

Faces fierce competition

The Boulies OP180 is available for $239 at Amazon U.S. In the U.K., it is known as the EP180 and is available for £169 at Amazon. While the chair is comfortable and offers heaps of adjustments, paying this much for it is pretty off-putting when you see the competition in the same price range.

As I mentioned earlier, for an extra $50, you can pick up the Boulies EP300, which comes with better lumbar support, a more padded seat, and a headrest. The EP460 offers similar features for an extra $60 but has more space for extra comfort.

So why wouldn’t you splash out a little on enhanced comfort? And with a similar style to the EP460, the Shioo M56C is available for just $209 and offers dynamic lumbar support with a mesh back that provides similar flex to the OP180.

Boulies OP180 review: Verdict

The Boulies OP180 has made my work day so much better. It gives all-day comfort with great support to ensure I remain as productive as possible. The chair is impressively easy to build and comes well-packaged from the manufacturer, ensuring everything is in the best condition.

It offers a good level of adjustability across angles and heights, and the non-intrusive design means it fits in well with pretty much any setup. But that U.S. price tag is quite the doozy when you can get more bang for your buck with similarly priced models.

I’d say this is a great choice for U.K. shoppers, and for anyone looking to kit out an office with multiple chairs, but you could go for one of the competing models that are in the same price range and offer more dynamic support.