REASONS TO BUY
Durable
Comfortable
Very adjustable
REASONS TO AVOID
Expensive
Harder to assemble
Herman Miller Embody Review
While it might be hard to justify spending this much on a chair, this one is a top performer for a reason
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
RELATED: Best Office Chairs
Our Verdict
The Herman Miller Embody scored exceptionally well in our tests and is a premium office chair. It's incredibly comfortable, and our testers had no complaints about sitting in it for a full day. This chair boasts an excellent set of adjustable features, allowing it to be customizable for many body shapes and sizes. While well-built, the Embody is far from the easiest to assemble. The biggest downside is the price tag, though if you sit at a desk regularly and need a comfortable, high-quality chair, this one is easily worth the cost. Check out our office chair review to see how the Embody stacks up against the competition.
Compare to Similar Products
 This Product
Herman Miller Embody | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Awards |  |  |  | | |
| Price | $1,960 List $1,789 at Amazon | $1,299 List $1,299 at Amazon | $819 List $772.00 at Amazon | $1,150 List | $180 List $139.43 at Amazon |
Overall Score  |
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| Star Rating | |||||
| Bottom Line | This chair is one of the top performers but its high price tag may be a hinderance | Our favorite year after year, this is one of the highest performing chairs on the market | This chair boasts both comfort and high-quality features, though there is room for improvement in terms of providing additional adjustment options | This chair earns high style points and also offers great levels of adjustability and comfort | It's not fancy, but this is our favorite budget-friendly chair for the money |
| Rating Categories | Herman Miller Embody | Steelcase Leap | Steelcase Series 2 | Herman Miller Sayl | Modway Articulate E... |
| Comfort (50%) | |||||
| Adjustability (35%) | |||||
| Durability (10%) | |||||
| Ease of Assembly (5%) | |||||
| Specs | Herman Miller Embody | Steelcase Leap | Steelcase Series 2 | Herman Miller Sayl | Modway Articulate E... |
| Adjustable Seat Pan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Adjustable Lumbar Support | Yes; you can adjust the amount, but not the location | Yes | Yes | Option available | Yes; the backrest moves up and down |
| Adjustable Armrest Width | Yes | Option available | Option available | Option available as a third-party upgrade | No |
| Recline Lever | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Tilt Limiter | Yes; 4 stop points | Yes; 5 stop points | Yes; only locks in the upright position | Yes; 3 stop points | Yes; locks you into a position |
| Swivel Armrests | No | Option available | Option available | Option available as a third-party upgrade | No |
| Armrest Depth Adjustment | No | Option available | Option available | Option available as a third-party upgrade | No |
| Tension Knob | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lumbar Support | Yes | Yes | Yes | Option available | Yes |
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Our Analysis and Test Results
The Embody is a high-end and well-designed chair. If the price tag isn't a stopping block, we think you will be pleased with this product and what it has to offer.
Performance Comparison
The majority of our testers are big fans of the Embody.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Comfort
Our testers rated and scored their overall impression of each chair after using each one for 8-10 hours. We also evaluated how comfortable the backrest, armrests, and seats were, and each tester determined how long they could comfortably sit in each chair without their body protesting. The Embody wasn't the highest scorer, but it fared quite well in our lineup. Most of our test team was happy to sit in it for a long and full day.
The Embody is a comfortable and well-designed chair.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
For most of our testers, the Embody has an exceptionally comfortable seat and backrest, though — as we all know — comfort is highly subjective. One of our judges disagreed, rating this chair poorly in every single one of our comfort tests. For this very reason, this metric encompasses many different kinds of tests, and we try to assemble a diverse testing team. We then average out all the results to give you an idea of a general trend. The bottom line is that the Embody is well-liked by many, but — as with anything this personal — we recommend trying before you buy or ensuring whoever you order from has a good return policy, just in case you agree with our lone dissenting tester.
The armrests weren't universally lauded by our testers, but are still quite comfortable.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Adjustability
This metric focused on each chair's backrest, seat, and armrests, and we scored each product based on the available range of motion. We also looked at the reclining mechanism and if you can easily configure the chair so you are sitting according to ergonomic guidelines. The Embody again did well. The backrest on this chair has lumbar support, though we were quite disappointed that you can't adjust its height, only the amount of curvature. The backrest comes up quite high, and it has four different stop points that you can set as tilt limiters when reclining.
The armrests are quite adjustable, allowing you to move them up and down or closer or further to you, but you can't move them forward or backward or swivel them.
Unfortunately, you can't move the armrests on this chair forwards or backwards or pivot them.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
However, the seat offers a full range of adjustability, letting you move the seat pan forward or backward. It also has a generous range of motion when moving the chair up and down. Additionally, the reclining tension adjustment knob is responsive and very accessible, and we didn't find it to be a hassle at all to get this chair into a position that allows you to sit ergonomically.
It's easy to reach all of the adjustments on the Embody.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Durability
For this metric, we evaluated how durable and sturdy the chair felt. We also included our own impressions of how it held up during our testing procedure and analyzed various user reviews. Some reviews indicated that the chair arrived damaged, though this was rare. The Embody is noticeably sturdy, and we experienced zero issues during our extensive testing process.
The Embody is sturdily constructed.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Ease of Assembly
We judged each chair on how much of a hassle it was to unpack and build. The Embody arrives mostly assembled, but it still takes some time to finish getting everything set up. We spent over 45 minutes and struggled to get the screws in, hampered by a few sloppy tolerances and deformed threads. We were very grateful for the Torx screw heads, as we are convinced that we would have stripped them if they were Phillips-heads.
The Embody took a little bit of time to get together, but overall wasn't too much of a hassle.
Credit: Jenna Ammerman
Value
The list price of the Embody is high and seems to increase yearly. That said, if you sit at a desk for a large portion of the day and are looking for a stylish office chair that provides excellent comfort and a high level of adjustability, this one could be a worthy addition to your shortlist.
Conclusion
The Herman Miller Embody is a nice office chair that mostly doesn't disappoint. We think this is a solid contender if you're patient with assembly and can stomach the price point.
—
David Wise and Austin Palmer
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