It’s tough to keep cool during a long gaming session, both in the figurative, mental state and the physical, sweaty and gross state. The people at Cooler Master created a chair that is not only comfortable enough to sit in for those long sessions, but keeps the seat physically cool for the entire time with the Caliber R2C Gaming Chair.
The Cooler Master Caliber R2C is a beautiful chair, but built for more than just looks. It is built from formaldehyde-free material which is incredibly durable. It is waterproof and scratch resistant and undergoes a number of durability tests at Cooler Master, being able to withstand 30,000 tests before any fabric ripping occurs.
The chair comes with adjustable pillows for the back and neck to allow for a customisable level of comfort, no matter the size of its occupant. They are also removable for those who prefer not to have them at all.
The Caliber R2C comes with many of the features that come pretty standard in a gaming chair. It has adjustable armrests, where both the height and angle of the armrests are adjustable to your needs. The chair back can also be adjusted from a posture of a perfect 90 degrees to an unexplainable 180 degrees. I am not sure who needs to lay all the way down between gaming sessions, but if you do, Cooler Master has you covered.
“The Cooler Master Caliber R2C is a beautiful chair, but built for more than just looks. It is built from formaldehyde-free material which is incredibly durable.”
The gas lift is also the quality you would expect of a higher end chair. I have bought cheaper chairs in the past where this was the biggest problem. I bought a new gaming chair at the beginning of the pandemic (around March) for working from home, and that thing started consistently sinking when I sat in it before the summer began. You get what you pay for when it comes to the lift capability.
But the Caliber R2C’s main claim to fame is that it’s cool. Made from a yarn that is optimized to be breathable and using their proprietary COOL-IN fabric technology, the chair is designed to absorb the heat and distribute it away from the body, never letting the heat return to where you are sitting. That’s what they claim, but what is the truth?
Spoiler alert: They were not lying. I can say that after a couple of weeks spending a lot of hours in this chair, I have never once been hot or sweaty in the seat. To give an example of what kind of hours I spend in the Caliber R2C, let me give you a rundown. Two nights ago, I ran a 3-hour stream, shot a video for an hour and edited for another 2. Every day I work from my home office, it’s a ten-hour day. After all those hours, when I stand up, the seat is cool to the touch.
“The gas lift is also the quality you would expect of a higher end chair. I have bought cheaper chairs in the past where this was the biggest problem.”
Further to the long-term coolness of the chair is the long-term comfort. The Caliber R2C doesn’t feel as puffy as some chairs, but the quality of the foam is fantastic. My old chair felt amazing at the beginning. But the foam eventually compressed, and it left the chair looking shabby and feeling even worse. A couple of hours in the chair and I needed a break, whereas I have spent full days in the Caliber R2C without the slightest hint of butt fatigue, if such a term exists.
The lumbar and neck support are really firm, which meets my needs exactly. I also like how easy they are to remove in the event that they are not your cup of tea. If you are in the market for other accessories, you can buy a cupholder and floor mat from Cooler Master that matches with your chair perfectly.
A price point of $299 USD is not the most expensive chair out there by any means, but expensive enough that you know you aren’t buying a budget chair. For a piece of furniture that you will undoubtedly spend a lot of time sitting in, the Caliber R2C chair is a more bang for your buck option for sure.
