Ofinto Active office chair: high-end features at a mid-range price

Martin Jungfer

5.4.2025

Translation: Katherine Martin

Pictures: Martin Jungfer

Folks, I’ve done it. I’ve gone ahead and bought the office chair I just reviewed. If you ask me, the Ofinto Active is a roundly successful addition to a working-from-home setup. You’d be hard-pressed to find a better chair in this price range at the moment.

Galaxus regularly publishes reviews of office chairs. We in the Editorial Team consider it a pretty important part of our job. Let’s face it, unlike in a furniture store, our readers don’t have the option of trying out various models. But don’t worry, we’re quite happy to do it for you.

I’m sitting on the Active as I write this review. A chair like this would normally be sent back to the manufacturer once we’d finished testing it, but the Active is here to stay. It’s impressed me so much that I’ve decided to buy it. If you have any questions, just drop me a comment at the bottom of the page. I’m happy to give you a first-hand explanation of any points my review hasn’t covered.

Delivery and assembly

For the first time ever, I’m pleasantly surprised when the supplier shows up with the test chair. The Ofinto Active comes in an almost handy-sized box measuring 40 × 70 × 65 centimetres. Other chairs tend to come in huge boxes. You could build a Wendy house for an entire kindergarten class with those bad boys.

Ofinto has been clever with its packaging. The chair’s base, backrest and seat pad are the three main parts included in the box. On top of that, you get the other bits and bobs. Despite the compact box, Ofinto has done an admirable job at keeping the Active’s individual components protected. Foam and bubble wrap shield them against scratches and breakage. Plus, I don’t need scissors or a knife to take it off. All the protective material is easy to peel off and unwrap. Given how often I’ve been left frustrated after experiencing the opposite, I really appreciate this.

With the unboxing out of the way, it’s time to assemble the chair. There are only ten components involved: three screws, three split lock washers, three washers and a 5 mm Allen key. It just takes one page in the A5 user manual to explain how to put the chair together. You use the three screws to connect the backrest to the seat pad. The mechanism is already fitted on the bottom by default.

Once the screws are in, there are two more things left to do. I press the five universal castors into the base, pop the gas spring on top, then set the seat on top of that. Less than ten minutes later, my work is done and I’m sitting on the Active for the first time.

Quality and finish

Ofinto prides itself on doing a few things differently from its established competitors. The company founders told me as much in an interview. They don’t cut corners when it comes to quality – something I can personally attest to. The base is made of sturdy metal, with no protruding ridges. In the same way, the metal and plastic parts of the backrest and seat feel sturdy and pleasant to the touch. Once it’s all put together, the 18-kilogramme chair is stable and doesn’t wobble or squeak.

The gas spring is produced by KGS, a company that supplies numerous office furniture brands. The Active has a class four spring (five being the highest possible rating), which can bear loads of up to 130 kilogrammes.

I’m a big proponent of mesh backs for office chairs, and not just in summer. While I’m a fan of padded seats, I like the space around my back to feel airy. The Active’s mesh back is functional and looks good to boot. It’s made of Chenille yarn, a material that’s really soft but also durable and hard-wearing.

If I had to nitpick about something, it’d be about the armrests. Don’t get me wrong, the material has a pristine finish. It’s just that the adjustment function is a little too sensitive. Sometimes, I end up accidentally changing the setting.

Functions and comfort

The Active boasts all the adjustment options you’d otherwise only find on more expensive chairs. My test model also has an optional seat tilt function (there’s more information on this in German here). This allows you to mechanically tilt the seat forward by up to four degrees. As a result, you can position your pelvis more naturally, keeping your back straighter. I use it all the time, especially on long days at my desk. This way, I get to do something about my incredibly slouchy posture.

The Active also encourages you to improve your posture. As I’m just over 1.9 metres tall, I extended the seat as far out as it can go. You can choose to set it between 46 and 51 centimetres. That may not sound like much, but since it gives the thighs significantly more support, it really makes a difference.

But that’s not the only adjustment option. Naturally, you can adjust the seat height from 44 to 54 centimetres by pulling the lever under the seat. If you go for the Active with a tiltable seat, the height range goes from 48 to 58 centimetres. I’d recommend choosing that model if you’re tall. I sit fairly high up, but keep about two centimetres of wiggle room. Ofinto says the chair is suitable for people who’re two metres tall. However, whether that really is the case will depend on your body’s proportions. If you have especially long legs, the Active might actually be too small for you.

There are a crazy number of options for adjusting the armrests. They can be positioned in four different ways: sideways, back and forth, up and down, or spread out into a V-shape. I always set mine to the highest height in order to take the strain off my shoulders.

Choosing the right resistance

Then there’s the synchronous mechanism. Put simply, that means the seat and backrest move synchronously, but in different proportions to each other. The Active’s mechanism works really well. Having four settings for backrest counterpressure is more than enough for me. Depending on how I’m feeling on a given day, I’ll go for level two or three, which gives me decent support. If you’d rather not have any resistance, you can also lock the mechanism.

You can move the lumbar support integrated into the backrest up and down, preventing the sort of hunched posture that’d make an orthopaedist break out in a sweat. Mine provides support without me actively noticing it – a feature not to be taken for granted. The design of the Dauphin Indeed (which I also reviewed) isn’t as well executed, as the adjustment wheel feels uncomfortable against your spine.

In a nutshell

This chair is worth every franc

If I’d simply read the list of features and used the chair without knowing that it was from Ofinto, I’d have assumed it to be priced somewhere in the region of 1,000 francs. As a matter of fact, it’s significantly cheaper than that – and, in my book, well worth the money. I was won over by the build quality, materials and functionality. I also think the design is really well executed, but that’s obviously a matter of taste. If you don’t like grey and white, the chair is also available in black aluminium or matt black.

Pro

• Wide-ranging adjustment options; I recommend going for the version with a tiltable seat
• Stable
• Simple to put together (with just three screws)
• Compact packaging, individual components well protected
• Clear instructions including information on seat adjustment, cleaning and maintenance

Contra

• Armrests a little too easy to move unintentionally
• Limited selection of colours

Office chairs

ofinto Active

4

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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