Nitro Concepts S300EX Review

The highly regarded Nitro Concepts S300 gets a makeover with a leather covering, but does the S300EX warrant the additional £25? Read on to find out.

Product on Review: Nitro Concepts S300EX
Manufacturer: Nitro Concepts
Street Price: £239.99 / $289.99

Back in January of last year, we looked at the excellent Nitro Concepts S300 in all-black. The design and value were fantastic and we praised it highly. We also requested in our conclusion that Nitro Concepts introduce a pink/purple option to their available colours and not long after, they introduced the Nebula Purple.

Well, carrying on from the original design, Nitro Concepts have now presented their latest model for review, the S300EX. The only major difference over the S300 is a new covering; while the S300 used an all-cloth fabric outer, the S300EX has been lavishly upgraded with PU faux leather for a more premium feel.

The S300EX also features a large flame stitched into the back section, matching the colour scheme of the chair. Available options are black/white, black/red and black/black; we will be reviewing the Stealth Black today.

The S300EX conforms to DIN EN 1335 and BIFMA standards for ergonomics and is capable of supporting up to 135KG (21 stone). You will also find lumbar and neck cushions included with the chair upon purchase.

Pricing in the UK, at noblechairs, is £239.99, and $289.99 in the US. This puts a small premium on top of the S300, at £25, for the PU leather covering. Is it worth it? Let’s have a look.

Nitro Concepts on the S300EX:

In the age of RGB-lit motherboards, graphics cards, mice, keyboards and monitors, a matching gaming chair was needed in order to complete the scene. The Nitro Concepts S300 EX is breaking new ground, combining optimum ergonomics with extravagant racing looks in bright colours. This symbiosis makes it the ideal gaming chair for lifestyle-conscious gamers.

Technical Specifications

Height Specifications:
Total Height (with base): ca. 128 – 140 cm
Seat Pan Height (with base): ca. 48 – 61 cm
Backrest Height: ca. 87 cm
Backrest Width (shoulder height): ca. 53 cm
Backrest Width (pelvis height): ca. 56 cm
Backrest Width (contact area): ca. 47 cm
Outer Backrest Width (widest point): ca. 57 cm
Inner Depth of Seat Area: ca. 47 cm
Total Depth (without base): ca. 55,6 cm
Armrest Width: ca. 9,5 cm
Armrest Depth: ca. 25,5 cm

Weight:
ca. 24,5 kg

Rocking Mechanism Tilt Angle:
max. 14°

Backrest Tilt Angle:
90° to 135°

Material:
Steel (frame)
Cold Foam (cushioning)
Fabric (contact area + cover)
Nylon (base)
Nylon / Polyurethane (castors)
Polyurethane (armrests)

Colour:
Stealth Black

Maximum Load:
135 kg

Manufacturer’s Guarantee:
2 Years

Features:
Practical rocking function
3D-Armrests with maximum adjustability
Adjustable backrest angle (90 to 135 degrees)
Flexible seat surface area
Two comfortable pillows bundled in
Deform-resistant cold foam
Hydraulic gas lift (class 4)
Strong 5-point base in nylon
50 mm castors for hard and soft floors
Stable steel construction in core
Base comes with matching coloured accents
Supports up to 135 kg S300: Fire safety compliance BS 5852 (UK versions only)

Packaging & Included Parts

As you’d expect, the box a gaming chair arrives in isn’t going to be small. Weighing in at around 25KG with all of the packaging. The box is made of thick cardboard and will offer ample protection during the courier process.

The 5-prong wheel base is made of a tough plastic with coloured in-lays on the top of each leg. They’re black on our model but would be red or white if you ordered those colours.

Flipping the base over, the underside is reinforced considerably to ensure it lasts a lifetime. One up-side of using a plastic base is that it’s much easier to remove the piston if you ever wish to swap it for a shorter piston.

There’s 5 hard plastic wheels, a class-4 gas piston with included shroud, a rocker mechanism offering up to 14° of lean, all bolts and fixings required, with spares, and covers for the hinges on the side of the chair.

Cushions on a gaming chair are part and parcel of the appeal, allowing you to customise the comfort completely. These are the same cushions as you receive with the S300 but we can understand why Nitro Concepts chose not to cover the cushions with leather instead of cloth.

Included Parts (Continued)

Featuring a large flame pattern, the signature of the Nitro Concepts brand, is the back of the back of the S300EX. The PU leather looks of good quality and is pulled taught to reduce unsightly wrinkles. The logo is also stitched into the top of the chair. This stitching will match the colour choice, as will the flanks of the chair.

The rear of the chair is plain leather apart from a Nitro Concepts flame at the top.

Where you’ll place your bottom is rather boring, as far as gaming chairs go, there’s no pattern or breathability built in via perforations or anything of that kind, like we’ve seen on the noblechairs range. The armrests are 3D adjustable which means they can rise and fall, slide forwards and backwards and angled inwards and outwards.

The underside of the seat exposes the steel chassis, showing off its strength and durability. You can also see here the 3 bolts holding the arm-rests into place. These arm rests can be removed entirely if you wish, with them offering no structural support, or adjusted up to roughly 30mm outwards (a little over an inch)

Finished Look

Constructing the chair was as easy as any other “gaming chair” that we’ve reviewed. They all go together in an almost identical fashion which takes around 10-15 minutes if you have enough room to move around. You’re best off asking a friend or partner to help, especially when fitting the backrest, but it’s also easily possible to do on your own.

In the all-black stealthy colour option, the chair looks absolutely brilliant. We love the Nitro flame up the back of the chair and the overall rather plain design which does little to distract you from anything else, though some additional stitching or perforations onto the seat and back sections would be welcomed for lengthy sessions in the summer, no explanation should be needed there.

Clipping the cushions into place adds a touch of colour to the chair, but only on the lumbar pillow. The Nitro flame on the neck pillow is stitched with colour to match the chair, so red or white is also available.

The backrest can be adjusted from 90° upright to 135° using the handle on the right, with an additional 14° from the rocker mechanism under the chair allowing a total of 149° which isn’t far from horizontal and, quite frankly, terrifying the first time you do it. You almost feel as though the chair should tip over backwards, but somehow, it doesn’t. Physics.

The handle underneath locks the rocker mechanism in place and is also used to adjust the height of the piston.

If you wish, you can also forego the backrest entirely and have yourself a very odd-looking stool.

Conclusion

As you’d probably guess, there’s only one tangible improvement over the Nitro Concepts S300, with that being the high-quality PU Faux Leather upholstery. It’s more comfortable to sit on and will almost undoubtedly be easier to clean as time goes on, helping to improve the life of the chair.

Of course, there’s the subjective improvements too, with the PU Leather covering looking much more stylish and more expensive to boot. However, this does come as a trade-off in the way of a vastly reduced range of colours. We loved the S300 because of the ability to pick whatever colour you fancied, within reason, but that appeal has disappeared with the S300EX which is a crying shame. Perhaps Nitro Concepts, as they did in our S300 review, may listen to feedback and introduce more colours, but as it stands, black, white and red just isn’t enough.

Having spent a few days adjusting to the S300EX from my usual office chair, the Nitro Concepts is a comfortable option for a smaller user but we wouldn’t offer this suggestion towards anyone over 6’ (182cm) or 90kg due to the small dimensions of the seat and the tight bolsters on the back. It’s a comfortable chair that invites relaxation because of the way it hugs you and holds you in place, but larger users may struggle to find that same comfort.

Build quality is decent but the 3D-adjustable arm rests and plastic 5-prong wheelbase are visible cost saving measures over slightly more expensive options, where metal and 4D-adjustable are standard. If you’re happy to wait for the next sale, which are frequent, the noblechairs EPIC can be had for a little over £40 more. Sadly for the S300EX, that’s just a little too close for comfort for us to recommend confidently. However, having said that, as a direct MSRP comparison, the £60 difference could be significant enough to influence a sale.

Construction is an almost identical process across all gaming chairs, with their being a well-established “best course of action” in the industry. They’re all relatively easy to construct, even on your own.

The Nitro Concepts S300EX is a good mid-ground option with decent comfort, but it’s very close to the noblechairs EPIC in price and offers too few colour options to improve over the S300 in any meaningful way. The unique appeal of the S300 was the vast array of hues to choose from.

Pros
+ Snug and very comfortable
+ Great adjustability
+ Easy to construct
+ Lumbar and neck cushions included

Neutral
+- Cheap feeling arm rests that lack on-the-fly width adjustment

Cons
– Too few colour options
– Leather base/back could benefit from perforations/ventilation

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