Anyone who has read T3.com for a while will know that I have serious expertise when it comes round to reviewing and rating the best gaming chairs.
And during my time reviewing gaming chairs one brand has stood out above all others – Secretlab. This pioneering gaming chair maker has really spearheaded the evolution of the product for gamers over the last 5 years, with its 'SoftWeave' fabric upholstery one of its biggest achievements. I raved about this fabric first back in 2020 when I crafted T3's SecretLab Titan SoftWeave review.
Now, in 2022, we've got the next-generation of that fabric upholstery, SoftWeave Plus, now on offer on Secretlab's Titan Evo gaming chairs, and right here I am reviewing a Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus seat in the firm's brand new 'Soda Purple' colorway.
Read on to see if this is the right gaming chair choice for you.
Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus review: price and release date
The Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus release date is right now, with the chair available to order on the official Secretlab website.
The new Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus colorway, Soda Purple, is now available, and joins Black, Cookies & Cream, Mint Green, Arctic White, Plush Pink and Frost Blue There are also a brace of special editions, too, including a Minecraft and D.Va SoftWeave Plus option.
The Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus price on test, in the new Soda Purple colorway, is $569 in the US and £499 in the UK, in its regular sizing.
In terms of Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus sizing, the chair is available in small, regular and XL variants. Sizing specs for each chair can be found on Secretlab's website.
Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus review: package and setup
I've written numerous times about how well Secretlab gaming chairs comes packaged, and how easy they are to set up, and unsurprisingly the Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus proved to be no exception.
The chair comes in a large black box and each component is individually wrapped in its own protective sheeting and nestled in internal foam supports, so there's literally no chance of any in-box scratches or breakages occurring.
A few new things I did spot, though, when taking the components out this time was that Secretlab has added in some new clear plastic protectors for its arm rest struts. I am guessing this is to make sure they don't get marked when the buyer extracts the seat base from the box. Whatever the reason, more protection is to be celebrated.
As ever, after removing the chair's components from the box and discarding the protective materials I then proceeded to build the Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus chair. As with all Secretlab chairs, the seat comes in four main pieces, with the arms and seat base coming out of the box as one unit, and the seat's backrest, wheel base and hydraulic lift the others.
Secretlab provides a large cardboard sheet printed with very clear assembly instructions on it, so putting these components together is super straightforward, requiring just a few bolts to be tightened across the chair with a hex key tool (supplied in the box).
You screw the backrest onto the seat base, then flip the seat over to affix the hydraulic lift mechanism to the bottom of the seat base. Then it is simply a matter of slotting the chair's castors into the wheelbase and then inserting the hydraulic lift into that wheelbase.
One thing I did do this time, which I'd learned from past Secretlab gaming chair builds is to adjust the wideness of the pre-installed armrests before constructing the whole chair.
This is because these armrests typically come at a far-to-wide position out of the box, with me needing them much closer into my body to provide support for my elbows when in use.
To do this you need to loosen 3 bolts on either side of the bottom of the seat's base and slide the armrests inwards before re-tightening. Unless you are a very large gamer, then I'd suggest you do this too at this stage to prevent more faff later when the chair is fully assembled.
You finish the Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus build by affixing its magnetically attachable head pillow and armrest covers, as well as a few magnetic plastic bolt cover plates. Job done.
Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus review: performance and features
The first thing I noticed about the Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus is that this new Soda Purple colorway is a triumph. It's just so zingy, vibrant and bold, really standing out even in the flattest of light.
It's like somehow Secretlab has baked mithril or some other magical luminescent material into the SoftWeave Plus fabric, as it seems to have an internal glow about it. I love the full commitment to the purple colorway in Soda Purple.
You can see from the nearby images just how Soda Purple stands out. It looks really classy in my mind and is a welcome break from the more neutral fabric upholstery gaming chairs that dominate the market.
In terms of the SoftWeave Plus fabric itself, it remains in my mind the best fabric upholstery in the gaming chair market available today, delivering a soft but robust ergonomics. I've tried both Secretlab's faux leather upholstery and its SoftWeave Plus, and I'd opt for the latter if I had to choose.
Did I notice a difference between the SoftWeave Plus fabric over the original, as demonstrated on the SecretLab Titan SoftWeave? I can't say I did, but it was just as luxurious to use and I've tested nothing better to date. Secretlab says that SoftWeave Plus is 3.5 times more durable than SoftWeave, though, so if anything it looks like this new variant will offer even more longevity.
In terms of the chair's base design, as I've reviewed previously, this chair makes use of Secretlab's Titan EVO gaming chair model, and that is the model that we say is number one in the market today in 2022.
Titan EVO is so good due to its customization options, which include in-built and invisible adjustable lumbar support, seat height adjustment, 4D armrests that can move in, out, up, down, forward, backward, and rotate, as well as allow its owner to change up its armrests and head pillow on the fly thanks to magnetic hot swapping. The Titan EVO also offers really impressive recline options
Simply put, when you combine these customization options with the Titan EVO's comfort, which is very high, and the ability to spec the chair out in a variety of upholstery types and colorways, it delivers a superb all-around case for purchase. The fact you can also buy the chair in three different sizes, too, means that regardless of your size or weight, you can grab a Titan EVO that will suit you.
I used the Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus for both play (Cyberpunk 2077, Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, Hitman 3, Sigil, Deus Ex: Human Revolution) and work (editing T3.com and, in part, writing this very review), and just like in past Secretlab gaming chair reviews, I was incredibly impressed by the chair's comfort and performance. It's business as usual for Secretlab here and, in my mind, there isn't a product on the market at this price that beats it.
Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus review: verdict
I hope this Secretlab Titan EVO SoftWeave Plus review has communicated what it is like to build and use. From my point of view, as someone who has built and used a lot of gaming chairs over a 5-year period is that, unsurprisingly, Secretlab continues to lead the market with its Titan EVO seats.
And the new Soda Purple colorway really is fantastic. There's a vibrancy and zinginess to the upholstery that really pops every time you see it, even in flat light. It's like there is some sort of luminescence built into the fabric, which itself remains the gold standard for fabric gaming chair material.
I gave the original SoftWeave Titan EVO 5 stars and, with this new iteration improving on that, the SoftWeave Plus naturally also walks away with a maximum score, too. Secretlab continues to evolve its products in small but impactful ways, and when there are so many me-too firms simply skinning the same old basic chairs and offering them as a gamer's choice, to see this dedication to serving gamers is really, really refreshing.
Secretlab Titan Evo SoftWeave Plus review: Also consider
The obvious choice to also consider is the non-SoftWeave Plus Titan EVO, which comes in a smart faux leather on offer in a selection of nice colorways.
Moving away from Secretlab, if you want a fabric gaming chair then you should also consider the Corsair T3 Rush. This chair doesn't offer quite the package that the Secretlab does but is markedly cheaper.
For incredibly high-end real leather gaming chair choices, the Noblechairs Epic Real Leather range is worth perusing.
