The E Win Racing “Calling Series” Ergonomic Gaming Chair is their second series of chair to arrive at Console Monster HQ. My overall outlook of their Champion Series gaming chair was very positive, and their suite of chairs have introduced me to the many advantages you get by spending a little bit extra for an office/gaming chair, of which you spend a vast amount of your working/gaming time in. So could the Calling Series gaming chair be just as good? Let’s find out…
The E Win Racing Calling Series gaming chair costs a little less than the Champion Series, whilst also offering less variety of colour options. The Calling Series retails at a RRP of €359 EU / £319 UK / $431 US, although it is currently on sale for €229 EU / £204 UK / $275 US, and you can knock off an extra 15% off with our voucher code ‘consolemonster’. I’ve seen chairs costing much more than this and still have less features and quality. So on paper, the E Win Racing gaming chairs seems a bit of a bargain!
Setting up the Calling Series chair was very simple. The two hex/allen keys included are all that’s required to assemble the chair. The helpful photo guide lists all the necessary steps needed to assemble it, and with most of the chair being mostly pre-assembled you just need to unscrew a few pre-fitted screws, attach the back rest to the seat portion, screw the base plate onto the seat, attached the wheels and insert the rising piston, then finally place everything onto the wheel base, and after just 25 minutes, voila, you’re done!
Just like the Champion Series, the Calling Series uses some good quality parts and materials, with the only let down being the plastic arms. There are many buttons, leavers and switches to help achieve maximum sitting comfort here, however there are slightly less features than the closely-priced Champion Series.
It’s important that the seat has a good amount of padding to it. There is nothing worse then having a thinly padded seat that last barely a year before you begin to feel the framework inside. Thanks to its fairly thick padding of 8 cm, the Calling Series will be supporting your derrière for a long time. The seat’s width is slightly narrower and the side padding is less diagonal than the Championship Series, so if you have a habit of sitting on your crossed-leg, the Calling Series makes this a little more restrictive and uncomfortable to do.
Like the seat, the back support is just as important, and thankfully the Calling Series caters very well in this department too. Although this Calling Series has a slightly smaller frame, just like the Champion Series, the back rest dominates this chair’s overall form factor. I was hoping for a slightly more low profile chair than the Champion Series, but sadly when comparing the two, I saw very little difference in both models.
Adjusting the back position is simply done by pulling on the right side leaver, that is located where the backrest meets the seat. The seat hinges have some fairly strong springs, so the backrest can jump forward fairly rapid if you’re not leaning back on it. Adding a little more pressure whilst leaning back moves the back of the seat backwards very easy, and as you keep leaning back you soon start to notice one of the chair’s key features – the ability to move the back almost fully horizontal! Great for that power nap or brief rest.
Very popular with gaming chairs these days are the lumber and head cushions. These are held on by a pair of elasticated straps and plastic buckle clips. The straps come pre-fitted, wrapped around holes located in the bottom and neck area of the back seat. The lumber cushion alone made a huge difference to my sitting experience; the neck cushion however, probably not so much. Whilst the chair is more reclined, I can see the neck cushion having more of a purpose. Like the Champion Series, the straps could be a little tighter too, or at least hold the cushions in their adjusted position, because I found the bottom lumber support always required adjustment every time I sat back into the chair.
On either side of the seat you’ll find the plastic arm rests. Just like most chairs, each arm-rest can be raised and lowered to your own preference. For me, I wish they could go a little more lower than these currently allow. Unlike the Champion Series, this is where the armrest features end for the Calling Series. So if you require many armrest adjustments, you should maybe consider the Champion Series instead. Each arm comes pre-bolted to the seat, however if you prefer, these can be unscrewed and remove them entirely.
After two weeks using the Calling Series, I found the general build quality maintained the same very sturdy and solid impression that I got when I first sat in the chair, so much so that I can imagine this chair would serve me well for many years. The pleather material used in the seating appears to be of a high quality, and it doesn’t look like it will flake-off for some time. The cushions and the firm seat padding feels like they contain a good quality and density of foam that should take the weight and reshape themselves after use for many sittings.
Once again though, I my only gripe mirrors the same issue I had with the Champion Series, and that’s with its general style. In a small office environment, the back of the chair can look almost monolithic. It was commented to me the other day that someone couldn’t tell if I was in the chair when viewing from the back. For me, the size of the back seat could be much smaller. Any portion of the seat from my neck upwards do not touch, so it feels all this area could all be trimmed down. At 5’8” I also found that my feet would leave the floor when I adjusted the seat to the correct height for my desk height (a standard 72 cm high), and this meant that I had to use a foot rest underneath in order to maintain a decent circulation to my feet and legs.
If E Win Racing took these same materials and build quality, and created a more smaller backed gaming chair, that would make THE perfect chair for me. Perhaps their Flash Series could indeed tick that box, and I hope I can sample that chair also soon. There is very little price difference separating both the Champion and Calling series of gaming chairs, so if you can live without the additional armrest features, you can save a little on the Calling Series. But because there is very little difference in size, the extra colour options and extra armrest features make the Champion Series a slightly better option for your money.
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