AndaSeat Jungle 2 Gaming Chair Review

Welcome to the Jungle, where we have fun and a footrest! AndaSeat’s original Jungle gaming chair is a great place to hang out in all day. It has neat reclining features, a solid tilt function, and a narrow seat. The $300 Jungle 2 already has a 1up on the original chair because of its footrest. Now, let's see if it can improve with its wider seat and adjustable armrests. 

The Jungle 2’s design is luxurious. I don’t know too many chairs that can pull off the color orange. Thank God the Jungle 2 doesn’t try to go all out—it makes the orange an accent stitching color against all of the black. The orange stitches run along the PVC leather and velvet fabric. To be fair the chair is mostly PVC leather, including the lumbar support and neck pillow, but the backrest is where the velvet fabric is introduced. It sits on the outskirts of the chair. Then we see the velvet fabric again on the footrest. 

That main material is a DuraXtra AD leather which is smooth to the touch, scratch and stain resistant. This type of PVC leather is made from vinyl and a flexible plastic resin that helps keep the shape and resists wear and tear. 

Since there are two fabrics on the chair, it does make it a bit more difficult to clean. The leather can simply be wipped off, while the velvet extracts every piece of dust. Underneath that DuraXtra AD leather is high density foam covering a steel frame.

 The lumbar support and neck pillow are just packed with foam making them both stiff. The lumbar being stiff comes down to preference. How do you like your mattress, firm? Then this lumbar support is great for you. The neck pillow being firm, however, plain doesn’t feel good. And they’re both hard to adjust. Even with the Jungle 2 being a racer chair design and having the holes in the back, adjusting the neck pillow and lumbar support to where I want is no easy feat. I’m almost fighting with the straps to get it perfect. 

The backrest is 57.5 cm which is about 35 cm wider than the first Jungle chair. The seat width jumps up about 10 cm as well. Having a wider back and a wide seat means more comfortable seating for people up to 300 lbs. A bigger chair, a heavy duty 4 gas piston, nylon five star base, and caster wheels makes the tilt function on the chair feel a lot more sturdy, too. 

Even with such a big chair, the wheels glide seamlessly over my hardwood floors and low shag carpet. Not completely sure how it'll do on super shaggy carpet, though. 

And then there's the newest addition: the footrest. 

It's worth noting this chair is for someone 5’9’’. I am 5’8” and the footrest is barely at my ankles. It sits more on my ankles and calves than it does on my ankles and feet. I don’t really know how I feel about the footrest, but it's probably not good. It depends on where you like your support to be. 

Like, I’ve sat in chairs with footrest under my calves and closer to my knees, it was uncomfortable. I was hoping for a longer or adjustable footrest. The footrest is covered in the same velvet as on the sides of the chair, and I've got to say, having velvet on the footrest feels weird. I’m also not a huge fan of velvet. And it's not a plush velvet, either; it’s closer to a crushed thin velvet. The velvet makes the chair look more posh but doesn’t add to the feel. 

This creates an inconsistent sensation because most of my body is on PVC leather. And who are we kidding? I don’t wear pants while in my gaming chair. Therefore, my upper body is feeling leather and my legs are feeling velvet. That’s a bit too close to sensory overload for my liking. 

The footrest is supposed to fold up and tuck nicely underneath the chair. It folds up just fine, it's the tucking that's an issue. While trying to stow away the footrest, the footrest bar hits the lever that controls the chair height while pushing it in, making it hard to push in or pull it out. While trying to pull out the footrest I do have to use a bit of elbow grease to get it all the way out. To be honest the whole footrest thing feels like an afterthought, and this results in the footrest feeling flimsy. 

AndaSeat usually has great prices for its chairs, and the Jungle series is not exempt. The comfort of the Jungle series for anyone who isn't a size medium and under is limited, but while the Jungle 2 may be wider than the original, it could still be more accommodating for people with wider or thicker hips. The padding on the chair is great until we’re looking at the seat and its width. There are what I like to call bumpers on the chair. Like if you go bowling and they put the bumpers in the gutter, that’s what they feel like, though I guess that is the racing chair aesthetic.

It works on the track, and on a bowling lane, but not in a gaming chair.

Using different materials, and making the chair a bit wider with more padding than its predecessor, the impact on its stability is noticeable. Even while using the tilt mechanism, I can rock back and forth without sliding around my room. It doesn’t take a lot to move the chair around or to recline, either. 

In terms of the out of box experience, the Jungle 2 is fairly easy to put together. For some reason, the instructions for the footrest were separate. So instead of taking 25 to 30 minutes to put together the chair it takes about 40. That part is awkward to set up, just like actually using the footrest. 

While putting together the chair, I noticed the armrests have adjustable slides for the screws whether I want them closer to my side or further away. This contributes to the adjustability of the armrest. Adjusting the screws makes them move side to side. They can also be turned inward and outward. The armrests are covered in soft PU leather so there is some cushion to them. My elbows and forearms don’t get fatigued or feel like they’re digging into the chair. My least favorite thing about the armrests is they don’t slide back and forth. This is always a nuisance especially since the chair is capable of reclining up to 160 degrees. 

For maximum comfort while reclining, I tighten up the tilt knob located underneath the chair to stop the chair from rocking. Then I use the lever that controls the height of the chair to turn off the tilt. After that, I reach for the easy to use lumbar support lever on the right side of my seat to start my descent into relaxation. This assures me that I won’t get that jarring feeling of tipping over. 

I always get nervous about tilting back in a chair that I don’t feel supports my height or weight during recline. But the Jungle 2 doesn't make me feel nervous reclining or when it's time to sit back up at 90 degrees. The backrest reclines slowly and doesn’t snap back up like an ejector seat, either. 

Overall, the Jungle 2 is an upgrade from the OG chair. It's better padded, it's wider, it even has a footrest feature. Which I'm still not convinced about. I like the pop of color. I've also never seen orange on a chair that was bearable and the Jungle 2 plays it off very well. For anyone wanting to improve their posture, wants a simple chair that’s not too flashy, this is for you. Flimsy footrest aside, this is a good chair. Not great, but decent support and build quality for the money.