Vertagear is a California-based company with quite a passionate and growing fanbase. They are a young up and coming company that pretty much has a singular focus:
- Make the best gaming chairs in the world.
Of course, we’re in the business of hunting down the best gaming chairs and love to hear “We have the best gaming chairs in the world”. That’s when we know that we can go look at the individual chairs and reward or scrutinize them in our reviews.
Vertagear has quite a few gaming chairs; we’ll focus on their most popular SL series chairs, going from SL2000 review and comparing it to SL4000 edition and the latest SL5000 gaming chair (more on that later on).
Here is a quick comparison of SL2000 vs SL4000 vs SL5000; do notice how the measurements and materials are exactly or pretty similar. The composition and the design of Vertagear chairs, however, differ quite a bit from the SL2000 model up to SL5000 model (compare the headshot photos):
Vertagear Gaming Chairs Comparison
| Vertagear: | SL2000 | SL4000 | SL5000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your height: | Up to 6'2'' | Up to 5'11'' | Up to 6'4'' |
| Recommended weight: | 240 lbs | 210 lbs | 260 lbs |
| Build Materials: | - Steel (frame) - High Density Foam - PVC Leather - Aluminum Alloy (base) - 2D Armrests | - Steel (frame) - High Density Foam - PVC Leather - Aluminum Alloy (base) - 4D Armrests | - Steel (frame) - High Density Foam - PVC Leather - Aluminum Alloy (base) - 4D Armrests |
| Full Height: | 49.2-53.2 in | 47.25-51.27 in | 48.6-52.6 in |
| Shoulder Width: | 21.3 in | 20.7 in | 20.5 in |
| Avg. Rating: |  |  |  |
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| Availability: | Buy SL2000 | Buy SL4000 | Buy SL5000 |
The comparison between SL2000 vs SL4000 vs SL5000 makes for a great gaming chair study case; we’ll see how quickly the evolution of a chair can take place, what are the missteps along the way and how Vertagear addressed them to perfect each chair they make.
What is especially welcoming is that the newer chairs don’t come at a steep price hike. For orientation, here are the rough prices for the 3 most popular models:
- SL2000: $290
- SL4000: $380
- SL5000: $390
We’ll also point out which is the best Vertagear chair. For everybody who doesn’t have time to go through Vertagear SL2000 vs SL4000 vs SL5000 comparisons, we can quickly tell you which one is the best:
But the really insightful part of deconstructing these chairs is the case study of how Vertagear chairs started out and innovate their ass off to come up with the SL5000 chair, their prime achievement.
From Zero To Vertagear SL2000: The Original
Given how Vertagear names their chair, you would expect the original S-Line series chair would be Vertagear SL1000, right? The SL1000 is pretty much as talked about as the iPhone 1 and 2 – in short, no one even mentions them anymore.
Vertagear’s original success was the SL2000 chair. It already consists of the basic chair building elements and features that even the newest SL5000 is proud of having.
The basic setup of the SL2000 chair can be summarized in 3+1 points.
- Reinforced heavy-duty aluminum base with the 2.5-inch casters.
- Steel frame, covered by high-density foam.
- Double back support: a) high-back support, and b) lumbar support.
- Adjustable 2D armrests.
- Recommended weight: 240 lbs.
+ point: REALLY easy chair assembly process. Any gamer can put the SL2000 together, thanks to the “slide-in” parts design.
Now, the Vertagear original SL2000 is already a masterpiece. Where can we go from there?
Vertagear SL2000 vs SL4000 Comparison (SL4000 Is Basically SL2000 For Shorter Gamers)
The SL4000 carries over all the important features that make the SL2000 such a great gaming chair. These include the high-density foam, heavy-duty aluminum base, and “slide-in” design, for example.
Of course, there are both similarities and differences between the SL2000 and SL4000. A blog WorkWithPleasure covers the SL2000 vs SL4000 in detail, but basically, the differences between the Vertagear models can be boiled down into one specific difference and one upgrade:
Specific difference – SL4000 is shorter and slimmer than SL2000 (appropriate for guys under 5’11”)
As you can see from the dimensions of both chairs, the difference between the minimum as well as the maximum overall height of SL2000 vs SL4000 is about 2 inches.
Namely, the minimum height of the SL2000 is 49.2 inches while the minimum height of the SL4000 is 47.25 inches. That makes the Vertagear SL4000 a perfect chair for short guys with a recommended weight of 210 lbs (or less).
There is also a 0.6-inch difference in shoulder width. The SL2000 is a bit broader which makes sense; taller people who use SL2000 are usually broader in the chest than shorter people for whom the SL4000 is a more appropriate fit.
Upgrade – SL4000 has 4D armrests (performance-driven gaming)
The perfect position of your gaming hand is essential if you want to squeeze as much skill out of yourself as possible. The SL2000 offered a 2D armrest which is good for basic gaming hand placement.
The primary upgrade that the Vertagear SL4000 comes with is the 4D adjustable armrest. The 4D is not to be underrated; with the ability to move the armrest in 4 different dimensions, you can pinpoint the exact position your shooting hand should rest in.
The 4D adjustable armrest the SL4000 introduced into the Vertagear racing series chairs is used in all the later upgraded models.
Vertagear SL4000 vs SL5000 Comparison (SL5000 Is Just Perfect)
Vertagear learned two things when looking at the SL4000 reviews by gamers:
- “4D armrests are awesome.”
- “I’m over 6 foot, I wish the chair would be bigger.”
They set up to create a bigger chair with the 4D-armrest-are-a-must mentality and that’s the Vertagear SL5000 was born.
When comparing the Vertagear SL5000 vs SL4000 vs SL2000, you can see that SL5000 picked up on the best characteristics of the previous chairs and was designed to be a perfect gaming chair for both normal and tall guys.
- Reinforced heavy-duty aluminum base with the 2.5-inch casters.
- Steel frame, covered by high-density foam.
- Double back support: a) high-back support, and b) lumbar support.
- Adjustable 4D armrests.
- Recommended weight: 260 lbs.
Taller Than SL4000 For A Perfect Fit (Improved Structure)
With most of the gamers being 5’10” to 6’4”, the SL5000 was designed to be taller than the short SL4000 as well as, maybe paradoxically, slimmer in the shoulders because the shoulder width turned out to be too wide in the previous models.
The structure of the chair was additionally reinforced which raised the recommended weight of a gamer to 260 lbs. This is 20 lbs higher than the SL2000 and 50 lbs higher than the SL4000.
With this, Vertagear successfully went through several variations of gaming chairs in order to create one of the best performance-driven gaming chairs in the world – the Vertagear SL5000 model.
The Evolution Of The Vertagear SL Series
Most of the companies that make racing gaming chairs create a single chair. However, the story of Vertagear is unique because they listen to reviews by real gamers, compile them and create new and improved chairs based on their recommendations.
Imagine if EA sports would follow the same principle when creating their games. 🙂