Sihoo M57 Review: The Ergonomic Chair Everyone Keeps Recommending
Two years in, the M57 remains the default Reddit answer to 'cheap good ergonomic chair UK'. We tested one for six weeks. Here's why the recommendation sticks.
Who this review is for
You searched “best office chair under £250 UK” and the M57 appeared in every single result. You’ve seen it recommended on Reddit, on Amazon’s “Amazon’s Choice”, and on every budget ergonomic chair roundup published in the last three years. You wanted to know if the hype is justified or if it’s just a chair that happens to have a lot of reviews.
Short answer: the hype is justified, within limits.
The lumbar support, which is the thing people buy it for
There’s a small knob on the left side of the backrest and another on the right. The left adjusts lumbar depth (how far the support pushes forwards into your back), the right adjusts lumbar height (how far up or down the support sits). Both are continuously adjustable within about a 10cm range.
This is unusual at this price. Most chairs under £250 give you a fixed lumbar curve, a single knob for height only, or nothing at all. The M57 lets you dial in the support to your actual spine, and once you find the right position it stays there.
It’s less sophisticated than the Doro S100’s dual spring-panel system, because the S100 tracks your movement and the M57 doesn’t. For anyone who sits mostly upright and doesn’t swing between postures all day, the M57 support is genuinely good.
Check the M57 on Amazon ~£230Full mesh
Back and seat are both mesh. This matters more than you think if you run warm, live somewhere that gets hot in summer, or work a full day in one position. Traditional foam seats are fine for three hours. After six, you’re sweating through the fabric.
The mesh here is the thicker-grade plastic-weave mesh, not the flimsy nylon you get on £80 chairs. It doesn’t sag over time, doesn’t catch on clothing, and cleans with a damp cloth.
One caveat: the seat mesh is slightly firm. If you prefer a soft cushioned seat, this isn’t it. The Sihoo M18 uses a foam seat and a mesh back, and that’s the one to look at if you want the middle ground.
The headrest that’s actually useful
The headrest adjusts in two ways: it slides up and down by about 10cm, and it tilts forwards and backwards by about 45 degrees.
The tilt is the useful bit. Most chair headrests are fixed at one angle, designed for someone staring straight ahead, which is useless when you lean back. The M57 headrest tilts forward when you’re upright and rotates flat when you recline, which means it actually supports your head in both positions. Small feature, big difference.
Fit for a small room
The footprint is 71cm x 71cm. Backrest height at max is 123cm. Seat height adjusts from 45cm to 55cm.
Wheels are standard 50mm casters. They roll fine on hard floor and on low-pile carpet. On thick carpet they drag, which is true of every office chair in this price range. Buy a hard plastic chair mat if it matters.
What doesn’t work
The armrests. Sihoo calls them 3D. They adjust up/down, forwards/back, and rotate at the pad. They do not slide inwards or outwards, which is the adjustment that matters most for shoulder width. If your shoulders are narrower than standard or wider than standard, the armrests won’t sit under your elbows correctly. You can work around this by moving them out of the way entirely (the M57 armrests flip up if needed), but it’s a real limitation.
The assembly time. Most reviewers claim 20 minutes. We took a full hour the first time, mostly because the bolts that join the backrest to the seat-plate are in awkward positions and the supplied Allen key is too short to get good leverage on them. Have a longer hex key ready or budget the time.
The look. This is subjective, but the M57 looks like a budget ergonomic chair. It’s not a Herman Miller. If you’re setting up a home office that’ll appear on video calls and aesthetics matter, factor that in.
Two years of reliability data
We’ve been running an M57 in a separate setup for 23 months. The gas lift still holds position. The mesh shows no sagging. The lumbar adjustment knobs haven’t seized. One caster needed replacing at the 18-month mark (snapped off when the chair rolled over a cable). Replacement wheels cost £8 for a set of five.
How it compares
Against the Sihoo Doro S100 (£249), the Doro is a better chair. Dual spring-loaded lumbar, slightly better build, proper seat depth adjustment. At current prices the gap between them is small enough that the Doro is the one to buy for most people. The M57 makes more sense during sales when it drops below £200, or if you specifically prefer the more traditional high-back look.
Against the Hbada Ergonomic Office Chair (£145), the Hbada is cheaper and has a similar mesh design, but the lumbar only adjusts in one direction, the armrests are shorter, and the weight capacity is lower. It’ll last you two or three years comfortably. The M57 will likely last five.
Against an IKEA Markus (£219), the Markus is a completely different chair style with a padded high back rather than mesh, a chunky leather-padded armrest, and a fixed lumbar curve. Better build quality, less adjustability, different aesthetic. If you can get to an IKEA and try both, do that. Online, the M57 is the safer buy because you can adjust it to fit you.