E-Win Racing Flash Series Gaming Chair Review

Introduction

The gaming chair arena is dominated by some pretty big hitters that have a huge share between them. The odds are stacked against any new comers throwing their hats into the ring, and aiming to make a real impact… but that’s just what E-Win Racing are planning to do!

Founded in 2016, E-Win Racing promises “Quality but cheap office gaming chairs”. Surely that’s the holy grail of any product, right? They sent us one of their Flash Series chairs for us to judge for ourselves.

Specifications

• Style Name: Flash Series
• Load Range: Up to 150kg
• Chair Type: Gaming/Office Chair
• Foam Type: High Density Memory Foam
• Foam Density: 55kg/m3
• Frame Construction: Metal
• Adjustable Armrests: 4D
• Mechanism Type: Multi-functional Tilt
• Gas Lift Class: 4
• Adjustable Back Angle: 85-155 Degree
• Adjustable Lumbar Cushion: Yes
• Adjustable Headrest: Yes
• Base Type: 5-star Wide Aluminium Base
• Caster Size & Material: 3″ Caster/PU

Closer Look & Assembly

As with all gaming chairs, the box is huge and fairly heavy, so bear that in mind when taking delivery. Each part of the chair comes wrapped in plastic bags, sandwiched between thin sheets of polystyrene. Pay attention to the top right picture below, where we can see the impact of the base on the polystyrene sheet.

As you will no doubt see below, this packaging isn’t substantial enough to stop the 5-star base from making an impression on the seat back. This is a real shame, and not something I would expect to see. Upon closer inspection, there is also a puncture to the surface of the PU leather. This is not a good start, and a little more thought needs to go into the packaging method employed by E-Win to ship their product in.

Once completely unboxed, we get to see the full contents ready for assembly. All pretty standard so far, and a very similar looking parts list to just about every other gaming chair we have seen… with the notable addition of a pair of cotton gloves!

Just before we start to build the Flash, a quick inspection of the constituent parts of the chair are in order… and it’s immediately apparent that some corners have been cut with regards the quality. The reclining mechanism doesn’t look the sturdiest we have seen, and the thickness of the plastic cover for the gas lift is very thin. The plastic hinge covers are also made of a low-quality plastic, and surface already shows some general marking up and scuffs.

Flipping the seat base over, and things do improve somewhat. The quality of the upholstery folds all look neat, and the bolts are all polished to a nice finish. There is some scuffing of the paintwork to one of the armrest brackets however, where the arm has no doubt been push inwards whilst the bolts were tight.

Assembly is very straight forward; bolt the seat back to the brackets on the seat base, push the castors into the 5-star base & insert the gas cylinder, attach the reclining mechanism to the base of the chair… and finally slot whole seat onto the gas cylinder. For anyone that has built a gaming chair before, this will all sound very familiar. For those that have never done it before, there’s nothing to worry about, it really is as easy as it sounds.

The Finished Look

Standing back to admire the completed chair, and it does look striking, thanks to its bold white accents. The seat back on the Flash series is really tall, so combined with the black & white colourway, the chair is a fair old size which dwarfs some chairs on the market… and this isn’t even the XL version!

As mentioned before, the back of the chair is marred with the imprints of the base, thanks to the poor packaging. It’s possible that these indentations may recover, thanks to the memory foam construction, but I’m not hopeful that they will disappear completely. I’m also not a huge fan of the elasticated straps used to hold the pillows in place. Whilst they do a job, they kind of ruin the aesthetics of the chair for my taste.

Speaking of the support pillows, these are nice & soft, and offer a good level of support. I’m not a fan of lumbar pillows, and this one is HUGE, so for my taste I would remove this personally.

The stitching and piping work all round the chair is one of the Flash’s best features, with everything nice, neat and uniform. The contrast of the white piping again the black PU leather looks really nice too.

Conclusion

Performance

The Flash scores well in the comfort stakes, thanks to its soft foam construction. Personally, I’m not a fan of the huge lumbar support pillow, but that’s just my opinion. The fact that it can be easily removed means that it’s not a big issue.

The rocking mechanism is really tight straight out of the box, even at its lowest setting. Time will tell if this improves and eases up somewhat, but I suspect I may have a defective unit.

Design

Whilst the chair does look good, it doesn’t push any boundaries when it comes to design. We have seen this style of chair a thousand times over before, and if E-Win Racing want to stand out, they need to come up with their own USP. Now I realise that this is easier said than done, but both Quersus and noblechairs have achieved this recently, so it can be done!

Value

OK, let’s talk about the price… bear with me, as it’s not as straightforward as you might think!

At the time of the review, the Flash Series “Normal” size has an RRP of £305 on the E-Win Racing official website. However, it’s currently on sale at £279… although there seems to be reductions all over the site constantly! But wait, there’s more! A quick search of Twitter, and there are discount codes everywhere! Most offer 15%, but I did find a 20% code. This then brings the Flash down to £223. Confused???

This pricing & discount scheme is a shambles, but let’s take the chair at face value at a cost if £223. At that price, it’s an okay purchase, but it’s up against some stiff competition even at that price.

Final Thoughts

I have real mixed emotions about the E-Win Racing Flash Series chair. It looks good, and really is quite comfortable straight out of the box.

However, there are some flaws here. The packaging is not up to the job and really needs to improve, otherwise more chairs will arrive with damage. The rocking mechanism isn’t as good as others we have seen, and the quality of the plastic components could be improved upon.

Therefore, whilst the Flash isn’t a bad chair, there are certainly some improvements that can be made. Therefore, the E-Win Flash Series gets the Play3r Bronze award.

Buy the Flash Series at www.ewinracing.eu

Huge thanks to E-Win Racing for sending the Flash Series in for review.