What is it?
Bean bags are no longer the preserve of student houses. In fact they've had something of a renaissance thanks to premium bean bag manufacturers. One such company is Big Bertha which has an almost endless range of bean bag designs from bean bag sofas and footstools to outdoor sun loungers and even memory foam bean bags. There's also a huge children's range including neat little armchairs.
We're testing the Ultra Lux Gaming Bean Bag Chair which like the rest of the Big Bertha range, comes in a variety of colours and materials. We've got the pom pom finish instead of cord, finished in Charcoal Grey but there are brighter colours like pink and turquoise. It's currently for sale on the Big Bertha site for £109.90. You can buy it here.
It is treated with a stain resistant coating while all the seams are double stitched to prevent splits. There are double zippers for extra safety with a child safe zip, to stop little ones getting in. Part of the Lounge Pug range, it also comes with a two year guarantee.
What is it like?
Our Big Bertha delivery arrived the day after our order which was a good start. It comes ready to use so there's no having to stuff the filling in yourself, you simply plonk it down and make yourself comfortable. And indeed, comfortable is the word. Having not sat in a bean bag chair (or indeed bean bag anything) for a very long time, I wasn't expecting too much but this is very different from what I remember.
First off, the material is wonderfully soft and thick too. It feels very much like a good quality sofa - in fact, it matches our own sofa really well. But what really surprised me was just how genuinely comfortable it is. Once you get settled in, it's a very pleasant place to sit.
The design of the Ultra Lux Gaming chair, with it's back rest, gives you extra support that, being 6ft2, I find really helpful. We tested it over several two hour plus gaming sessions and found it more comfortable than sitting on our usual sofa. In fact, I didn't really have to adjust my position once and found myself leaning forward less than usual.
Thanks to the fact it's so light, it's easy to move from room to room and also to store, although it does take up a fair amount of space. If, like us, you don't have a dedicated gaming space, then being able to drop this down where you want it when you get a spare hour on the PS5 or Switch, makes a big difference. No more leaning forward on the edge of the sofa.
If your beanbag starts looking a little flat over time, or indeed you lose some of the filling, replacement bags of the same filling are also available from the Big Bertha website.
There's also a neat footstool that accompanies it, priced at £24.90, so you can get even more comfortable. We will be investing in one given how impressed we've been with the chair itself.
Our two eldest children (aged 11 and 9) are also fans and will regularly argue over who gets to sit in it. Handy then that there's a children's equivalent priced from £60 which will doubtless be heading their way come Christmas.
Should I buy one?
As an alternative to a standard gaming chair, the Big Bertha Ultra Lux makes a lot of sense. It's affordable, comfortable and easy to move around. So an ideal choice if you're short on space. We found it good for our posture and preferable to sitting on the sofa.
It's not just for gaming of course. It's a comfortable chair for watching TV, reading or just chilling out in. The material is lovely and soft plus it feels like a quality product which is going to last. We just need to try and get it back from the children now...
