The Drift DR175 is available in many different versions depending on your design and color scheme: red and black, which is the model we are analyzing today, green and black, blue and black, pink and black, gray and black, and finally charcoal and black. In this way, the design and the usual accentuated touches of Drift are in all the models, but the user will be able to choose the color scheme that he likes the most and / or that best suits the environment in which he intends to use this peripheral.
To build this chair, Drift has used a resistant steel structure, with high-density foam (48 Kg per cubic meter) and covered by synthetic leather, giving the chair not only good robustness, but also a great feeling of quality. . The armrests, yes, they are only 2D instead of the 4D so common today, which means that we can modify their height and horizontal angle, but we can not throw them in / out or forward / back.
Finally, it must be mentioned that the seat of course has a tilting that we can block, and of course, the gas piston will also allow us to modify the height of the chair comfortably.
External analysis
As is usual when we have a gaming chair in hand, the Drift DR175 is packed in a large hard cardboard box, quite heavy (the chair alone is 18 kg), so you have to be very careful when handling it and, If possible, the ideal is to carry out the assembly between two people (we will go in to see that soon).
The exterior of the box is the usual one for this manufacturer, indicating the brand and model on the outside, while the specific variant (in this case the red, white and black model) is specified on a label and marked on the outside.
As always, all the parts of the chair that we have inside come with a large number of protections to prevent them from being damaged during transport, so we are going to unpack everything and show you the details one by one. We start with the seat, of medium proportions and with its exterior in synthetic leather with high quality embroidery. In the seat we have both the reclining mechanism and the anchors, in the lower area, to be able to screw both the armrests and the base.
The backrest is large and has the same design and color scheme as the seat, with a shape reminiscent of sports car seats, “hugging” the user from the sides to force a correct posture when using the chair. On both sides of the backrest we have in the upper area, embroidered with high quality thread, the manufacturer’s logo. There are also two perforations lined with plastic that, if this were a car, would be for the seat belt; as we are in front of a PC chair, these perforations are to channel the rubber strips of the cushions.
We have already seen the seat and the backrest, so we are going to see the rest of the parts that are disassembled, starting with the 2D armrests that, as we discussed before, only allow you to modify their height and horizontal rotation.
The base is shaped like a five-pointed star, is made of hard nylon, and has red plastic protections on all spokes so that it is not damaged when resting on the feet.
We also have, as we mentioned before, the two cushions (cervical and lumbar). They are padded and on the outside they are made of synthetic leather, with the brand’s logo stitched and with the same colors and motifs as the rest of the chair, but without, in this case, the color white. Both have rubber strips to be able to leave them fixed on the chair, and at the back they have a zipper that will allow us, if necessary, to add or remove the interior padding.
We continue with the accessories, and here you have the anchor of the base. It is made of black painted steel, and in this case it is quite compact and light, since it only has one rod to activate the piston lift and if we put it inwards, block the swing. It also has the typical hand wheel to modify the tension of the rocking mechanism.
The rest of the accessories are made up of the class 4 gas lift piston, assembly instructions booklet, trims for both the piston and the backrest anchors, the five wheels and the necessary hardware for assembly.
The black and red wheels, made of hard nylon, have a diameter of 60 mm and are designed for both hard floors and carpets.
With this we have finished seeing all the components that we find in the box of this Drift DR175, so the time has come to get down to work and assemble it.
This is how you should assemble the Drift DR175
Following the included instruction manual, the first step is to mount the wheels on the star base, and for this we will simply have to press them in, without the need for tools.
After mounting the wheels, the next step is to turn the base and insert the piston, also under pressure (then when we sit down it will finish fitting completely). In this step we can also put the trim on the piston.
With the base ready, it’s time to start working with the seat, and the first step is to assemble the two armrests. To do this, we will simply have to put two screws in each of them, and be careful because they have to be put in the outer holes, since the inner holes are for the base.
We take advantage of the fact that we already have the armrests mounted to show you how they are, as well as the three positions that they allow in terms of horizontal rotation.
Once we have the armrests already assembled, and taking advantage of the fact that we have the seat turned over, we can proceed to assemble the base anchor. Pay attention to the orientation when doing it (the seat has a sticker that says “Front” to indicate its front part, and the anchor is also engraved in the steel itself so that there is no room for doubt). In this case we will use four screws.
At this point, the instruction manual tells us that we must mount the backrest on the seat; The problem with doing this is that you have to put the seat on a surface, and since we have already mounted the anchor of the base, it would not stay still in place. For this reason, we prefer to already mount the seat on the base at this time. To do this, simply position it so that the hole in the anchor matches the piston. It fits under pressure, so you should not use any tools.
Now yes, we place the backrest by matching its side holes with the seat supports and screw it. At this point we recommend inserting the screws on one side first, but without tightening them completely, so that it is easier to mount those on the other side. Once the four screws are already presented, you can fully tighten to leave the backrest fixed.
Once the backrest is assembled, it is time to put the side trims so that these screws are not visible. To do this, simply present the part and screw it in with the screw provided for that purpose.
Now, we only have to place the two cushions to have the chair ready for use (obviously, the use of these cushions is optional, so we recommend you to try with and without them until you find the way in which you feel more comfortable).
We already have the chair assembled, so we are going to test it and tell you how it works.
Testing the Drift DR175
The first thing that is surprising about the Drift DR175 is that, despite its asking price (which is well below the average in this market segment), the quality of all its components is excellent (Maybe the plastic of the trims is of low quality, but that’s what they are… trims that do not have any wear and tear once you mount them). In other words, possibly this chair is one of those best value for money they have on the market today.
The second positive point is the ease of assembly: a user accustomed to assembling chairs will not take more than 5-10 minutes to have it ready, and even a person who has never assembled a chair, following the instruction sheet is a process that will not take more than 20 minutes.
With that said, we are going to talk about the comfort and ergonomics of the chair. At 1.80m tall and weighing 87kg, this chair may be a bit tight, especially on the backrest, but it is still quite comfortable from the get-go. The seat is neither hard nor soft, it is simply correct for a person of this weight, although we repeat the fact that perhaps it is a little fair, so what we can tell you is that it is not a chair recommended for very people. tall or very heavy.
The rocking of the chair is correct, and its recline system works perfectly. As for the armrests, although only their height and horizontal rotation can be modified, they are also quite comfortable and in fact they fit the arms very well thanks to their contoured shape: they are comfortable.
Continuing with the comfort, we have to talk about the two cushions included: the cervical one is perfect, and also as it can be placed on the outside (as in the images that we have put for you) or using the two holes in the back, it will allow us to put it on the height that we need without problem. As for the lumbar cushion, we may notice it too protruding, and surely many users prefer to do without it when using the chair; In any case, this is already to everyone’s taste.
Conclusion and verdict
As we have been telling you throughout this analysis, the Drift DR175 is a chair that surprises in the first instance due to the high quality of materials and its robustness, despite what its selling price of 169.90 Euros may suggest. It is a very solid chair that supports no less than 150 kg, and is also very easy to assemble even for novice users, so you have nothing to worry about if you have never assembled a PC chair.
In addition, in this model Drift has created a sporty design in both shapes and aesthetics that will appeal to all types of users, and is that in addition to this aggressive design with red, white and black colors, you have other variants with blue, green, pink, gray and charcoal, so you definitely have a choice (you can buy this chair at VS Gamers, for example).
As for the negative aspects, which also have them, it should be mentioned that the armrests are 2D and offer us less customization than other more advanced models (4D), but it really is not something that is missed either. What we have already commented to you and now we repeat is that if you are a big person, maybe you should go for another model of a bigger chair because at 1.80 m tall, this chair suited us a tad fair.
That said, we are facing one of the gaming chairs for PC with the best performance / quality / price ratio on the market, and of course it takes our recommendation for it, as well as our Gold award.
