Review: LiberNovo Omni

For several months this year, there wasn't a day that I didn't see some social media marketing for the LiberNovo Omni office chair, accompanied by the usual plaudits. I'm always instantly skeptical of any product I learn about first on Instagram, and it didn't help that this was a Kickstarter-funded project, which can be hit or miss. But the last viral office chair I tested turned out to be pretty good, if expensive. Maybe the Omni will surprise.

It's officially shipping now, and you can purchase it directly from LiberNovo's website. LiberNovo is a new company by Alex Yan, whose prior experience includes stints at camera and drone company DJI and Narwal, which makes robot vacuums. Basically, it's a company with no track record. Unlike established brands like Steelcase or Herman Miller, the quality of customer service and support is up in the air if something goes wrong.

LiberNovo also offers a shorter (5-year) warranty than many of its peers. Branch's office chairs cost much less and have a 7-year warranty, and pricier chairs from the stalwarts are often covered for 12 years. The battery and motorized components of the Omni have an even shorter 2-year warranty. These points make me wary of recommending the LiberNovo Omni unless you really love the look of the chair, or you've tried all the others and still aren't satisfied. At least there's a 30-day risk-free trial.

Supremely Soft

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Setting up the LiberNovo Omni is more involved than the typical chair. There are more screws and components to attach, and I wished the directions were a bit clearer a few times, but it didn't take me longer than 30 minutes. The weirdest part was having to connect the integrated USB-C cable to its port and attaching the battery—not something you see often in a chair!

The Omni looks nice. It's a step up from your average office chair design, with a bit of class and a design language on the backrest that resembles the spine-like look of the Herman Miller Embody. It comes in Midnight Black or Space Gray (creative names), and my unit is the latter. The company says the Omni can support people up to 300 pounds.

I don't think I've sat on an office chair with softer padding than the Omni. The multi-density sponge cushion material of the seat and backrest is plush without feeling like you're sinking in, because it isn't super thick. It's very comfortable, and the softness of the material is still what surprises me the most about the Omni after sitting on it for weeks.

It'll be interesting to see how the fabric holds up after more than a year of use. So far, it still looks great after close to a month of sitting, though it likes to collect hair. It's hard to gauge breathability as we're now in the cooler months, but my back feels a little warm after a few hours on the chair. If you're in a hot environment, you'll likely feel sweaty. It's not as bad as the vegan leather-covered foam on most gaming chairs, but it won't offer the breathability of a true mesh.

The armrests aren't much to write home about—you can move them up or down, forward and back, angle them inward or outward, and push them toward or away from your body. It's fairly standard for a chair at this price (which is $1,099 MSRP, though the company seems to have a persistent sale of $848). I appreciate that the arms don't easily shift or slide around, which is a common problem with many chairs. The armrest itself isn't too hard, and the material feels fairly durable.

A Battery-Powered Chair

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

The Bionic FlexFit Backrest is the Omni's highlight, which uses the battery-powered ErgoPulse Motor System for configuration. It's essentially a motorized way to ensure the backrest lines up perfectly against your back; no need to fiddle around with an awkward lumbar support. There are three buttons on the left armrest. The front two shift the backrest support up or down, and the third is a spinal massage function, which I'll address later.

There are eight flexible panels on the backrest, all of which shift slightly to accommodate your movements rather than force you into a static position. Once you press and hold the button, the motor will start moving the backrest (it's not loud), and you decide when to stop it.

You want to align it with the curve of your spine—you should feel it contouring your entire body with zero or minimal gaps. It feels very supportive, and after several weeks, I can say that I have not experienced any back pain or issues sitting on this chair. That's not something I can say for many office chairs I've tried. I don't care for headrests much (I prefer chairs without them), but I like the one here largely because it uses that same, super-soft fabric and foam. It's pillow-like!

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

The big downside is that you cannot adjust the seat pan (seat depth) of the chair. Many office chairs have a lever you press to push the seat out, allowing taller people to get better thigh and circulation support (the rule is usually to have a two- or three-finger gap from the back of your knee to the edge of the chair). Instead, the Omni comes in two seat depth sizes: 45 or 48 centimeters (roughly 18 or 19 inches, respectively) to accommodate people of varying heights.

I have the 48-cm variant, and the seat is still not long enough for my 6'4" frame—I can fit five fingers plus an extra two from the edge of the seat to the back of my knee. That often leaves my legs angled a little lower than I'd like, and I can genuinely feel a little more pressure on my buttocks. To LiberNovo's credit, the company only recommends the chair for people between 5-foot and 6'1", so if you're on the tall side like me, you should look elsewhere. For what it's worth, the seat was adequately wide for me.

There's an optional footrest you can buy, but the overall shape of the footrest had too much height under my desk, so I stopped using it and resorted to my excellent Secretlab plush footrest. That helps me elevate my feet a little so my legs don't feel too droopy.

Still, having an adjustable seat pan means more people in the household can use the chair and tailor it to their body, especially handy if this chair sits in front of the family computer. If you move and plan to donate the chair in a few years, the fixed seat pan may be limiting to some people. It's something I hope LiberNovo will account for in its next chair.

Battery-Powered Massage

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

There's a lever on the right side of the chair that has four recline positions, and you can twist the knob to adjust the recline tension. I usually sat in the most upright position, or the second position, which lets me lean back a bit without feeling too much like I'm on a couch. Go all the way back to the 160-degree position, and you can lie pretty flat.

That's when you'll want to hit that third button on the left armrest, which triggers the OmniStretch Massage. The company calls it a “spinal massage,” and it's akin to rolling your back on a foam roller, with the motorized backrest pushing your spine upward and downward and slightly moving up and down the spine. “Massage” might be too favorable a term for this, though I won't deny that it feels nice after a long day of sitting. Is it so nice that I'd buy the Omni for this massage function? No.

I've spoken to several ergonomics experts over the years, and the longstanding consensus for improving your health if you have to sit on a chair all day is to get up and move periodically, something as simple as a short walk. This massage function is nice, but it's in no way something you should rely on after a long day—introduce some movement into your workday.

The other question is whether you want a chair with a built-in battery. The lackluster warranty is worrying; ignoring the OmniStretch Massage, the only way to adjust the backrest is through this battery-powered motor. Should something go wrong with the motor or battery, you'll have to hope the company will come to your aid. You can easily remove the battery to recharge it, and maybe it's better to keep it somewhere safe if you don't care for the massage function (after adjusting the backrest to your back). But then it feels a little pointless to buy a chair like the Omni when there are so many alternatives.

The LiberNovo Omni is still a strong first attempt from a newcomer. If you've tried other chairs and haven't found one you like, I think anyone within the company's 5-foot to 6'1" height range should give the 30-day risk-free trial a chance (you just need to keep the packaging and all the accessories and manuals that came in the box). It's a surprisingly comfortable seat, just a little over-engineered.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mentioned the arms couldn't move inward and outward, but they can.