Designer Velvet Hi-Back Gamer Bean Bag Review

When I first moved into my house 11 years ago, I had no sofas. It turns out there’s a reason sofa companies in the UK have sales every bloody week - it takes literally months for anything you buy to get delivered. In the three-month waiting period between my sofa purchase and SCS delivering the damn thing, I decided to buy a bean bag to use as a substitute for actual furniture. It was a faux leather affair from Hi-BagZ and cost about £40. It did the job and I still have it, but it never really felt like I expected a bean bag to feel. The back support was an absolute arse to mould into place, and it didn’t ever match the comfort levels I wanted. 

So, when I was kindly offered the opportunity to review the Designer Velvet Hi-back Gamer Bean Bag, my expectation was pretty high. Retailing at £188.99, it’s almost as expensive as a fancy office chair, but would it be five times better than my current mediocre bag?

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Aesthetic

While supplier GreatBeanBags.com offers faux leather alternatives, I really like the look of the velvet bean bag. As a bonus, they come in no fewer than ten different colours. I opted for platinum grey to blend in seamlessly with my living room rug, and also because I don’t have kids or work in a Silicon Valley office where most of the decor comes straight out of a candy factory. The velvet covering is soft but surprisingly rugged, and the stitching is impeccable. 

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The bag’s contents are accessed from the base via a double zipper, ensuring you’re not going to accidentally spill beans all over the place. And other than a small label, there’s no fancy (or cringy) gaming branding. This is a bean bag you can be comfortable putting a friend, loved one, or cat in. The last option may not be something you want, but my cat is fussy as hell and was very pleased to sit in it, so chalk that up as a point in the bag’s favour. 

It does beg the question: what specifically makes it a gamer bean bag? To that end, I’m not entirely sure, but the most important factor is that it needs to be comfortable to sit in, for gaming or anything else.

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Comfort

My biggest gripe with my old bean bag is immediately solved with the Velvet Hi-Back. You’d hope so, given its name, but the back support is very easy to smoosh into place if you want to use it like a bean bag chair. And yes, it’s high enough for you to support your head and neck comfortably.

The velvet covering is high-end fabric which is lovely to touch, and won’t make you shiver like a leather or faux leather bean bag if you touch it with bare skin. Given the nights are drawing in and the temperature is dropping, the last thing you want is a feeling of dread about sitting on a cold bean bag while you wait for your body to acclimate to it. Similarly, velvet is preferable to leather in summer when things get a bit sweaty and sticky. In hindsight, I’m not entirely sure why I didn’t go for a velvet covering the first time around… 

Because it’s a bag of beans rather than a chair, you shouldn’t expect anything fancy in the way of specific lumbar support, tiltable armrests or so on. However, it is hands-down one of the most comfortable things I’ve sat in for hours at a time. Three hours passed while playing Ghost of Tsushima and I barely noticed. It can be easily adjusted to fit the body shape of all but the tallest or widest people, and unlike many bean bags I’ve sat in, it’s actually easy to stand up from a seated position without comically flailing your limbs around. And of course, unlike a sofa, you can move it wherever you want in the room in seconds — in my case, as close to my TV as possible to absorb the full 4K experience. It’s 80cm in width and can be easily lifted with one hand, so transporting it around the house is simple.

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Maintenance

We’ve established that, just like its high back, the Designer Velvet Hi-Back is velvet (kudos to the marketers for really nailing the naming here). However, as a material, velvet is not the most forgiving when it comes to staining or marks. The supplier has advised the bag is only spot cleanable, so emptying the bag of its beans and shoving it in the wash doesn’t look like a possibility, unfortunately. 

Even so, my cat sheds hair like nobody’s business and brings in all manner of gunk on her paws and, despite her best efforts, I’ve been able to keep the bean bag in immaculate condition with a vacuum and a wet cloth. How clean it will be in six months’ time after the inevitable wet UK winter is another matter. This is possibly the only mark in favour of a more wipe-clean covering. 

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Conclusion

If you’re in the market for a bean bag, you probably have an idea of what you’re after. You probably also have a budget in mind. The Designer Velvet Hi-Back Gamer Bean Bag is likely to smash quite a few budgets in truth, especially if bought at its retail price. However, it appears to be discounted by a significant amount on a regular basis (at the time of writing, you can pick one up for £112.99) which makes it a far more appealing prospect and competitive with other high-end bean bags. It’s super comfortable and supportive, well made with quality materials, and comes in a range of colours to fit any room’s decor. And as long as you’re careful not to spill anything on it, it’ll last you a long time and look pretty swish to boot. Ignore the “gamer” tag in its title; it’s a bean bag which is versatile enough for any occasion.