Herman Miller Mirra Chair Review PROS & CONS
Why would anyone spend 1000 dollars for an office chair? Probably o get a chair that fits you like a glove, understands your unique body shape and looks after your health. The Herman Miller Mirra chair does all those things, and is available for a much lower price.
In the 21st century, it should not be difficult or expensive to find an office chair with an ergonomic design, which will improve your seating experience. But with price tags over $1000, you may be a little shocked.
Perhaps a number of CEO’s might not have a problem spending that much on chairs for their office staff as a way of ensuring good company health and safety practice. However, if you want a chair for yourself, what would make you spend that kind of money?
Anyone who has spent any time working at their computer for longer than half an hour at a stretch knows just how important it is to have decent seating. In fact, it is not just important, it is crucial if you do not want to end up with chronic back ache, and a stiff neck.
Amazon.com 
Herman Miller Classic Aeron Task Chair: Standard Tilt - Fixed Vinyl Arms - Hardwood Soft Casters
Walmart.com
Herman Miller Fully Loaded Aeron Chair w/ Lumbar Support - Size B
Herman Miller Mirra Chair Review – What Makes It Special?
Back in 2003 and 2004 this chair won a bunch of design awards from The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Design and Architecture, The Industrial Design Society of America and FIRA International Ltd.
It was the company’s middle range office chair and followed in the footsteps of its famous Aeron range (one is exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art). Now, some 8 years later, is the Mirra chair still the top ergonomic and most green office chair on the market?
The Mirra Chair’s Design
The back is full of holes, which is a good thing. This is a design you see on a lot of office chairs nowadays, allowing air to circulate, avoiding that nasty, sticky back feeling.
The Mirra chair’s holes serve an additional purpose. They create three flex zones, in effect allowing the three parts of the back to move slightly differently in response to the person leaning back on them. This gives a superior ergonomic support, naturally adjusting to the user.
The backrest has a flexible response, so as you shift about in the chair it responds to your movements. But it has a fixed lower lumbar support they call the PostureFit feature which stops you slouching when working at a computer or leaning forward, keeping your low back aligned correctly.
You can see how the no slouching can definitely be of benefit as we all tend to slide down a little in our chairs when working, and its easy to imagine that bosses would like this feature.
The Herman Miller Mirra chair is bottom friendly. With a suspension seat that adjusts as soon as you sit on it, distributing your weight evenly and with air holes to keep your posterior cool.
Even the front edge of the seat flexes, ensuring no gap between the seat and back and adjusting the depth of the seat, at the same time not moving the seat pan, so your spine is always supported.
The tilt mechanism on the Mirra is designed to make sure that when you move that you do so at the natural pivot points of the hips, knees and ankles. The tons of adjustments that they have included in this design means that just about 95% of the population can use this chair, from the smallest woman to the tallest man.
Herman Miller Mirra 2 Ergonomic Chair Review
Herman Miller Mirra 2 Chair - Review
This is a premium office chair that is on the higher end price spectrum.
It’s Made Of Modern and Green Materials
To look at, the Herman Miller Mirra chair is, even nowadays, fairly futuristic, and clearly a work chair with its industrial design. It is made from a combination of flexible polymers and ‘Aireweave’ which is 67% elastomeric (polymer with elasticity) and 33% polyester and contains no PVC or foam.
In fact, 33% of the materials used are from recycled sources and the whole chair is 96% recyclable when it no longer functions; this is a “green” chair. The materials used are designed to be breathable so that you will not get too hot in this chair, and they are also easy to clean.
Will I Need a Degree To Operate This Chair?
At first glance, it does indeed look extraordinarily complicated to adjust this chair to suit your personal preferences, and certainly this is not the kind of chair a lot of people would share. It would be irritating to have to keep adjusting it to suit.
The real beauty of the Mirra Chair is that it needs fewer knobs than the Aeron chair because the flexible back and seat adjust themselves to your shape.
You can adjust the seat height and depth, the latter is great because you can avoid the chair front banging into the back of your legs and it gives good thigh support.
The tilt tension adjustment lets you tighten or loosen the amount of bounce you get as you lean back in the chair, and the tilt limiter does just that, limits how far back or forward the chair reclines.
The forward tilt function is useful for close up keyboard work and mirrors the kneeling chair designs you see in some office chairs.
The armrests can be adjusted up or down, towards you or away from you and angled inwards when using a keyboard, and outwards when using a mouse, giving your arms support in every conceivable position and taking pressure off your neck and shoulders!
Finally, you can adjust the lumbar support up or down so that it fits where your spine curves and the depth can be adjusted to fit into the small of your back. In total, there are nine aspects of this chair that you can adjust to make it fit you perfectly.
This may seem like a lot of fiddling about but, you are paying for a chair that fits perfectly, and this is the way that Herman Miller has ensured that the Mirra does just that.
Choosing The Right Office Chair Model
Of the top 20 best selling office chairs on Amazon.com, there are two styles of Herman Miller Mirra chairs, and three versions of the company’s Aeron office chair, all retailing for over $600. So clearly, people who are serious buyers of office chairs are happy to pay for top class design and features.
Among the customer reviews on this chair there are very few owners who have anything bad to say about their Mirra chair, other than some who would prefer it to have a headrest. The fully loaded Mirra chair with forward tilt is the recommended version out of three versions available.
All users of this chair and other office chairs they compared it with say that it is crucial to check out thoroughly the comfort of a chair before buying. Now, you may not feel all that comfortable with sitting in a chair in a showroom for up to half an hour, but if you are going to spend your money, I think the salespeople can indulge you, just bring something to read with you.
What Mirra Chair Owners Think?
The consensus of opinion on the Mirra is that the forward tilt feature gets a gold star for usefulness and comfort when using a keyboard. The front edge adjustment makes for good support without cutting off circulation as with some other chairs and the lumbar support being totally adjustable wins hands down over chairs without this feature.
If you are very slim and very tall, you may find that this chair does not suit your shape. But the company does say that it “only” meets 95% of the populations’ shape and size. The chair does need to be assembled when you first get it, but you only have to attach the back part to the base with two bolts and this can be done with a standard wrench. Although it is ideal if you use a torque wrench.
It is certainly not difficult to do, just make sure the bolts are tightened well. The one feature that very few customers complained about was the price, as the majority bought the chair at significant discounts off the list price, and the price on Amazon was found to be the best deal.
The chair is comparable to Herman Millers’ famous Aeron chair, but most reviewers actually preferred the Mirra, saying that it is more comfortable, especially the seat area, than the Aeron, and it is considerably less expensive.
One feature that gets a real thumbs-up is the air mesh design that keeps the chair cool to sit in, and is noticeable among small-business owners working from home offices without air conditioning.
Who Would Benefit Most From a Herman Miller Mirra Chair?
The typical Mirra chair owner is likely to be the small to medium-sized business owner, who may well work from a home office but spends a lot of time at their desk. This is a chair for somebody who works at a computer for most of the day, or a full-time student writing a lot of essays.
While this chair is quite comfortable to recline in, its an ideal choice if you plan to spend most of your chair time sitting up.
It would be ideal for writers and journalists and others whose working day is spent at a keyboard. The forward tilt function on the chair is important as it makes a noticeable difference to comfort levels and usability of keyboards. The Mirra in the loaded version can help your lower back as the adjustable lumbar support makes it very easy to get the right fit.
A small and interesting fact, the name Mirra, was supposed to describe a chair that “mirrors” the person sat in it and was totally adjustable to their needs. The Mirra chair is very close to achieving these ideals and, if it is within reach of your budget, go and treat yourself to a Mirra chair. It will improve your working environment.
Prices and Best Place to Buy Herman Miller Mirra Chair
The fully loaded Mirra chair usually retails for $900 to $1100. We found that the best prices for the Herman Miller Mirra chair (which usually include free shipping) can be found on Amazon.com.
If you are interested in other office gaming chairs, comfortable office chair or best ergonomic reclining office chair like Modway Edge, and Ergo Value, be sure to check those too.
