Retooled to Perform TodaySince Aeron debuted in 1994, we at Herman Miller have learned a great deal more about how best to support people in the varied postures they adopt throughout the workday. With the new chair, we incorporated two decades worth of technological and ergonomic enhancements to improve the health-positive design, and widen the range of cross-performance capabilities. With updates that include a more refined tilt mechanism, adjustable PostureFit SL, and 8Z Pellicle suspension, the new Aeron performs smarter than ever before—so you can too. Get into the ZonesPellicle, the innovative, elastomeric suspension of the original Aeron, eliminated circulation-restricting pressure points and stretched the boundaries of material design. New 8Z Pellicle pushes the material to a whole new zone—eight of them. Across the seat and back, eight latitudinal zones of varying tension—tightest at the edges and more forgiving where the body makes contact—envelope the sitter to deliver increased comfort and ergonomic support.
Stay CoolBy doing away with foam and fabric, Aeron solved one of prolonged sitting’s biggest predicaments: the buildup of heat and humidity close to the body. Pellicle allows air, body heat, and water vapor to pass through the seat and backrest to help maintain even and comfortable skin temperatures. While many chairs have adopted mesh as a way to deliver some performance, there’s only one Pellicle. A Stance Worth BackingIf an active body is at its strongest when standing, chest open and pelvis tilted slightly forward, it makes sense that you would be better off sitting like that too. And that’s exactly where PostureFit SL comes in. Adjustable, individual pads stabilize the sacrum and support the lumbar region of the spine to mimic that healthful standing position. Combined ComfortAll of the enhancements to the new Aeron were designed to work together to comprehensively support the human form. PostureFit SL and 8Z Pellicle represent a higher level of ergonomic expertise and state of the art support to improve the experience for the sitter.
Together they create total spinal support—calculated, localized support that moves the skeletal system into a position that provides ultimate spinal support. This is achieved both when the person is still, and when the person moves, to provide more active support. If You’re So ReclinedStaying in one position reduces the natural pumping action of the muscles that deliver nutrients to the intervertebral disks. The Aeron Chair’s tilt allows it to move with the body in such a natural way that people can shift from forward to reclining postures intuitively. Today’s slimmer, updated tilt mechanism delivers an even more seamless experience of movement (and stasis) to the sitter through a smoother trajectory and optimal balance point. Aeron is designed to keep people in contact with the back of the chair and in control of their continuous movement throughout the entire range of recline. A Seamless ShiftThe new Aeron enables people to shift from an upright position to a full-recline smoothly and simply.
While the original design supported numerous positions and postures, the frame angle has been adjusted 1.8 degrees forward to better support the body in the upright position and across a wider range of postures. Whether a person is positioned forward for typing and intense focus, or fully-reclined for conversation and contemplation, they will find the new Aeron moving with them—without any trouble—to offer proper ergonomic support across a larger variety of tasks.Free Standard Shipping On all our office chairs and many other designs storewide. Remastered for today’s work and workers Lean, light, and responsiveas your own shadow Fewer parts, less material, and stilleverything a good chair should be Support you can see and feel Learn how original co-designer Don Chadwick and Herman Miller remastered the Aeron Chair. Made up of just six elements, the Plex family flexes on demand. Hear how Embody supports the research of ophthalmic neurobiologist Budd Tucker.
5 star66%4 star7%2 star20%1 star7%Thinking about getting an Aeron? Please read my informed decision points firstI've purchased 5 Aaron chairs within the last 14 months. I've had the technicians out to replace parts under warranty. The ones I purchased include three highly adjustable models with lumbar support and two of the PostureFit. To be certain I know what I'm talking about, you can see my verified purchase logo on my reviews for both types here Aeron Chair - Highly Adjustable Graphite Frame - Carbon Wave (Large) by Herman Miller and here Aeron Chair - Highly Adjustable Graphite Frame - with PostureFit - Carbon Classic (Large) by Herman Miller. Below I offer inputs based on recent experience with these chairs. I've had back problems - I had spinal fushion surgery (it was successful). I mention that because it explains why I was motivated to research ergonomic chairs.We'll get to what to do if your Aeron chair has problems, but first let's cover the basic decisions to get the right chair.
This is an expensive chair and yet it costs less than most true ergonomic chairs. Unless you're into fashion and have the budget, forget about almost all competitors to this chair. As style increases, price increases geometrically. So far nobody beats Herman Miller, in my view, probably because it benefits from scale. It produces a lot of Aeron chairs. Herman Miller sells large orders direct to the federal government too - using a GSA Schedule (contracting vehicle to sell to the feds). By definition, that's the lowest price anyone pays for this chair. As soon as I find a worthy competitor to this chair with at least equal value, I'll update my review.Unfortunately for me, I found out late that Herman Miller runs semi-yearly sales on the Aeron. I called Herman Miller to ask only after my last purchase. Their sales run starting the day after Thanksgiving (Black Friday) and for about a week, and then again about six months later. Typically, Herman Miller allows its authorized vendors to sell at a 15% discount from suggested retail price - but only during an official Herman Miller sale.
When you buy this chair, hopefully it will qualify as a business expense. The tax code currently favors furniture purchases by businesses that have offsetting revenues. If you want to know more about this, look up "Section 179" on Wikipedia. Take assurance from the fact that I do not regret buying these expensive chairs nor has any other purchaser I've talked with. I say this despite the problems I've had that caused me to repeatedly contact the vendors, Amazon, Herman Miller and the local chair technicians.Second decision point is the warranty. You always get a 12-year warranty when you buy an Aeron from a Herman Miller authorized dealer, period. Try to get the chair with the valuable 12-year warranty by getting it from the correct channel. I have no insight into whether Herman Miller will be a viable company 12 years from now, but the warranty is valuable.Third decision point is size. You can get sizes A, B or C. You can find Aeron chair dimensions for all 3 sizes posted on the Internet.
A is the smallest, C the largest. I've never seen size A. Most people should go to a brick & mortar store that carries Aeron chairs and sit on the sizes they carry. B, the medium size, will cut off short on the bottom thigh for many. I believe size C will fit many more people than B. Beware that if you're quite tall, then size C will cut off short under the thighs and you might not even want an Aeron. Also, there is one easy way to tell the size of an Aeron: stand behind chair and feel under inside of upper frame lip (just behind the embossed Herman Miller logo) for Braille-like dots. 3 dots is for size C, 2 for B and so on.An ergonomic chair is not supposed to cut short under your thighs. For some, there'll be a tradeoff because size C is a little wide. I have size Cs, all my Aerons. You can get used to sitting on a wide chair but you need something that supports out along the bottom of the thighs. Notice the waterfall edge of seat shape on all Aeron chairs - that is to easily allow blood circulation when seated and it works.
Fourth decision point is the Aeron model type. This is where I'm likely to be most helpful to you. For most people the highest end model, the PostureFit, is not the best. In fact, the highly adjustable with lumbar support is superior and I'd rather buy it even if it cost more than PostureFit. That's because the one with lumbar support has a padded support bar that can be placed to support the lumbar curve whereas the PostureFit can only be placed to support just above the sacrum. The fifth lumbar vertebra is by far the most common site of spondylolysis and spondylolisthesis.Please get this right because most of us, including me, are probably going to be working through old age, given economic conditions, and we've got to make our backs last as long as possible. Here's an intuitive way to understand this important difference: the PostureFit gives you support at about your belt, while the highly adjustable with lumbar support model gives you support within a range above your belt. Now look hard at the pictures of these two models right on Amazon.
The PostureFit is low support. Recent research shows conclusively that support should be for the lumbar curve.Further, to understand PostureFit, it only allows you an in-and-out control. You cannot move the support parts up or down. Further, the highly adjustable with lumbar support model actually protrudes out more - as it certainly should. I'm telling you based on having both models, being aware of the research and being hyper-aware of healthy back maintenance, you should get the highly adjustable with lumbar support model no matter your height, weight or posture. The fourth decision point is really no decision at all.Fifth decision point is color and perhaps mesh pattern. I don't have a notable preference regarding colors or mesh patterns and have no advice on the fifth decision point. From an ergonomic standpoint, you care that the mesh is tight.Assembly is easy, especially if you avoid getting the PostureFit. No specialized tools are needed. Assembly will probably take 10 to 15 minutes, with most of that unwrapping the parts.
Assembly for the PostureFit may take 25 minutes if it is your first time because you have to place a wire mechanism and poke a hole through the mesh. But if you believe me, you'll get the highly adjustable with lumbar support model and have zero trouble in assembly. If you get the chair with lumbar support, you will ONLY have to attach the back of the chair to the rest of it by screwing 4 bolts with the Allen wrench that comes in the box.You may experience problems with defective parts. One of my chairs came with loose arms, and they were so loose that they couldn't be tightened and fell to the lowest adjustable position immediately. I called Herman Miller and they only asked for the number on the little sticker on the bottom of the chair (literally - no other information was requested). For goodness sake, don't unpeel or lose that number!! That sticker is only about a half inch by a half inch and could easily be peeled off. Write it down to keep a duplicate record. Herman Miller then provided me with the contact information to a nearby store with technicians.
This store then sent out two techs to my office to document the problem. They then returned a couple months later and after I called a few times to expedite the process, and they installed new and good arms. They also gratuitously gave me a used lumbar support part and installed it on one of my PostureFit chairs. The techs confirmed that the lumber support part was better than the PostureFit mechanism, and more desired by experienced users, which I found interesting.But that was not the end of my problems. One chair came with loose mesh in the seat. You want that seat to feel like a taut trampoline, not spongy. The technicians, two really nice guys, are supposed to arrive today or tomorrow with my new seat. Three chairs came with 2 bolts instead of 4 in the sealed plastic envelope. The authorized dealer (an Amazon vendor) expedited delivery of the missing bolts. One chair came without the all-important sticker on the bottom that gives the Factory Order Number and the Born-On date, needed to exercise the 12-yr warranty.
The dealer is having Herman Miller mail me a Certificate of Authentication. My most recent order showed up on Amazon as delivered, but had actually not been sent. After a few communications the chairs were delivered, much later than expected. Please note that I've now ordered 5 chairs and I experienced all these issues.If you have any problems, a service technician will come to your home or business and take care of it. They in turn charge Herman Miller for the service. Separately, the service techs informed me that the most common complaint is that the height adjustment stops working. These chairs are designed to handle the weight of up to a 250 pound person. Somebody heavier than that will often cause this up-down function to cease working, but the techs say it's a real easy thing to fix and the warranty covers it.Finally, you are considering making a big purchase so I've done my best to help you through the process. I'm very happy I got Aeron chairs. It took me awhile to graduate to increasingly more expensive chairs until I finally caved and got this expensive chair.