When they first started appearing in the market, it seemed that Herman Miller-style minimalist gaming chairs would remain extremely expensive options. The Herman Miller X Logitech G Embody chair obviously stood out at $1,600, but even Mavix’s more affordable offerings ranged from more than $500 for the M5 to nearly $1,000 for the M9. Respawn has a much cheaper alternative: the Specter. This chair is a simple, mesh-backed gaming chair that’s similar to the Mavix M5, but it’s available for just $319.99. It makes a few compromises to reach that price, but it offers almost the same experience as the M5, and that kind of value easily earns the Respawn Specter our Editors’ Choice award.
Assembling the Respawn Specter
Putting together the Specter is a simple process, in line with standard gaming chairs. Put the wheels and air piston cylinder in the solid plastic base. Bolt the armrests to the bottom of the seat, then the back of the seat. Place the nearly assembled chair on the cylinder. Finally, and optionally, screw the head rest onto the top of the chair’s back.
Dimensions and Build Quality
The Specter consists of plastic frames with mesh fabric suspended over them for the seat and back, like the Mavix M5. The frames are hard plastic rather than metal, but so are the frames on the more expensive M5, and they will likely hold up to most use and occasional impacts without chipping or breaking. The mesh feels similar on both chairs, both in softness and strength. The Specter’s headrest uses faux leather instead of mesh, also suspended on a plastic frame, just like the M5. However, this material feels a bit thinner and less supple on the Specter.
Larger gamers should be wary of the Specter; with a 275-pound weight capacity, it’s one of the less accommodating gaming chairs we’ve seen; the M5 has a 300-pound capacity. The seat measures 19.7 by 18.3 inches, and the chair back is 26.4 inches tall. If you need a more capacious gaming chair, consider the SecretLab Titan XL, which has a maximum weight of 390 pounds.
Chair Adjustments
The Specter’s adjustments are the same as Mavix M5 and M9‘s, and appear to be the standard for mesh-backed chairs. You can’t recline the back with a lever or tilt the entire chair like you can with a more conventional gaming chair like the excellent SecretLab Titan. Still, you can tilt the chair back while keeping the seat flat, and lock the chair’s back into a tilted or vertical position. In addition, you can slide the seat backward or forward from the back to provide the most comfortable distance between the small of your back and the chair’s curved lumbar support.
The headrest can be adjusted up and down, and tilted vertically to best support the back of your head (no separate lumbar or head rest pillow is included). The armrests can be adjusted up and down, forward and backward, and twisted left and right to one of three horizontal angles. That said, you can’t slide them left or right as you can with many conventional gaming chairs (though not on the M5). And, of course, you can easily adjust the chair’s height.
Sitting Experience
While I am a relatively larger gamer, I found the Specter to be quite comfortable and supportive. Its suspended mesh feels as sturdy as the M5’s mesh, and the lumbar support nicely conforms to the small of my back. The reclining motion is smooth and relaxing, but offers enough resistance that I don’t feel like I could fall backward when I’m sitting upright in the chair. The fairly wide wheels roll a bit roughly under my weight, but they otherwise move smoothly. Unfortunately, the chair lacks the M5’s wheel locks, so you can’t keep the Specter securely in place.
An Affordable, Mesh-Backed Alternative
The Respawn Specter is a well-made, wallet-friendly, mesh-backed gaming chair. In comparison to the Mavix M5, its headrest doesn’t feel quite as comfortable, its wheels lack locks, and it has a lower weight capacity. Still, those are fairly small sacrifices (if the weight capacity isn’t a major issue, of course) for a minimalist gaming chair that costs significantly less money than what Mavix and Herman Miller’s offerings demand. With those factors in mind, the Respawn Specter earns an Editors’ Choice award for mesh-backed gaming chairs.
If you’re looking for a more conventional, high-backed, gaming chair with a pull-lever recline function, our Editors’ Choice picks are the $399 SecretLab Titan and the $549 AndaSeat T-Pro 2. They’re pricier than the Specter, however. The $259 GTRacing Ace M1 is closer to the Specter in price, though it makes some compromises in quality compared with SecretLab and AndaSeat’s chairs.
