This review for the Secretlab Titan Extra Extra Small gaming chair will be a little different. That’s because while I completed the assembly of the chair, I had my seven-year-old son test out the actual hardware. Overall, he has been very happy with his new gaming chair, although a few changes could make it even better for children who are lucky enough to receive this premium option.
While the Titan XXS may have started as an April Fool’s day joke aimed at pets, it has turned into a real product with much of the Secretlab trademark craftsmanship I’ve personally been in love with for years.
Arriving in Style (And Secure)
Before diving into my son’s review of the Secretlab Extra Extra Small, let’s take a look at how the chair arrived, how easy it was to put together, and the overall quality of the build.
First, it’s no surprise that any product from Secretlab will arrive in top-notch packaging. The chair arrives in a black box which clearly labels the product as being from Secretlab.
If you’re worried about anyone knowing about the chair arriving, you’ll probably want to be home for a pickup or have it delivered somewhere outside of your home.
The box is well-taped, and upon opening, the backrest of the chair is covered by a protective piece of cardboard.
I know such a simple piece of cardboard might sound like an afterthought for a product but keep in mind that so far, this is the same attention that Secretlab gives to its much larger and more expensive products.
Removing the cardboard revealed the chair’s components, which are very well packed with individual pieces surrounded by thick styrofoam and plastic where required.
I could legitimately write a review about how great Secretlab packaging is, but the Titan XXS offers much more than some nice cardboard, tape, and styrofoam handiwork.
Under the backrest, each of the main components is also surrounded by foam, including the covers for the sides of the backrest, the chair’s wheels, the pneumatic piston, and even the included toolset.
The toolset features the same quality tools that are offered with other Secretlab chairs. This is important to note because a lot of do-it-yourself assembly tools that come with products these days feature lousy keys and other tools that are usually a pain to use during the assembly process.
Secretlab Titan Xxs Assembly
Just as we’ve seen with other Secretlab products, the simple instructions for assembling the Secretlab XXS chair are included within a single piece of cardboard that is easy to understand while providing very large picture-based tutorials to follow during the assembly process.
The entire assembly process took me less than 10 minutes to complete.
The wheels snapped into the base with only a little bit of pressure being applied, while the piston dropped into the base very easily. The main base that attaches to the bottom of the chair was cut perfectly to fit each corresponding hole, and the included Allen key made assembly a breeze.
I did run into a small issue with the included side covers for the chair. The covers fit very tightly, and I had to push down significantly harder than I expected to get them into place. Still, once attached, they looked great on the chair. Remember that the more expensive, adult-sized versions of the chairs offer easier-to-install magnetic covers in place of a screw-on setup.
Overall, the assembly of the chair, from the wheels and base to the armrests and everything in between, was very simple and definitely a one-person job.
Secretlab Titan Xxs Review: Day-To-Day Use
Editor Note: Before diving into the full review, take a look at the photo above. On the left side is my daughter’s 2022 Titan Evo Small chair, and on the right is my son’s much smaller Secretlab Extra Extra Small chair.
My son is only 3′ 6″, which places him squarely on the smaller side of the Titan XXS. Because of his size, even the 12″ height option leaves his little feet dangling off the floor. I had him sit at the very front of the chair, and his feet still failed to reach the floor.
Unfortunately, 12″ is too small for my son to comfortably reach his keyboard and mouse on his standard-sized desk, so his chair is set to its maximum height of 14″. When the height is fully adjusted upward, he’s able to type comfortably with his feet dangling.
If your children are like mine, they likely sit on their feet or with their legs crisscrossed, making this a fairly moot point.
My son likes that there is some decent depth for him to curl up on the chair. At 10.6″ across and 15.4″ in depth, he’s able to curl up on the chair without any comfort issues. I even walked in on him sharing what I would consider to be a very small chair with his 4-year-old sister.
Admittedly, this might not be the most friendly chair in terms of ergonomics for children; that title may very well go to the Sidiz Ringo Chair. However, the chair is used in exactly the same way my son normally uses chairs, and that’s often without any care for his own ergonomic posturing.
If you have a smaller desk in terms of height, this chair should work for your needs, however, if your child uses a desk that is taller in stature, you’re better off looking for a larger chair that will provide closer proximity to the top of the desk.
Great Fabric
The chair sent to us for review was the option made with the company’s NEO™ Hybrid Leatherette. I was immediately surprised by the quality of the fabric. The stitching is just as solid as the company’s traditional chairs, and the leatherette product is comfortable with a solid base that offers some flex for comfortable while remaining rigid enough to encourage proper posture in little ones.
My son loves the feel of the leatherette; he says it’s firm but comfortable and that he doesn’t slide around on the chair. He likes curling up on the chair while watching his favorite YouTubers and other videos, and he prefers his XXS over other chairs in our home.
Some Notable Absences
There are a few notable changes that the Secretlab Extra Extra Small as compared to more expensive models.
First, the armrests are able to move up and down; however, they do not feature the same inward, outward, front, and back movement that the company’s Cloud Swap-based arm-rests offer. This limits the ability to customize the armrests for comfort.
My son is still so small that his arms are spread too far apart to make effective use of the armrests at this time, but I can see how they might fit larger children with the chair supporting people up to 5′ 2″ in height. He says that the armrests are pretty “useless” for him and that he has to spread his arms too far apart to rest his arms on them comfortable when typing or using his mouse. I have yet to see him resting his arms on the armrests when using his computer or even when sitting back to watch videos.
Another notable change is the lack of a reclining feature. The chair is stuck in an upright position. Given that the upright nature of the chair promotes better posture, I’m okay with this feature for gaming and schoolwork; however, my daughter has the Evo 2022 Small version of the chair, and she likes to recline back while reading books or watching movies and TV shows on her gaming PC. My son says he would like a recline feature, but he also admits that it’s not a huge issue for most of his everyday use. I have noticed him attempting to lean back more, and he says sometimes he forgets it’s not an option. Based on his attempted usage, this is a feature that would be a “nice have” from Secretlab.
The other lacking feature is lumbar support. This is more of an adult feature, and my daughter doesn’t touch her lumbar support on her higher-end chair, so this isn’t really missed. In fact, my son often turns off the extra support when he uses my 2020 Titan chair while gaming on my PC. He told me that on my 2020 Titan chair, the lumbar actually bothers him, which explains why I always find the feature “turned off” after he uses my chair.
A Lack Of Change To Actually Appreciate
One other note is that the chair features a pillow that straps on like older models. In comparison, new versions of the Secretlab chairs offer a magnetic pillow. Honestly, the magnet in the magnetic pillows is not very strong, leading to my preference for the traditional strap option. My son doesn’t really use the pillow at this time because his head doesn’t reach the pillow easily at this time.
My seven-year-old says the pillow is “too big” and pushes his head forward into uncomfortable positions. He is also short and has to set up “really high” in order to place his head on the pillow, which isn’t really situated for shorter users.
A Unique Feature That Makes Sense But sometimes Misses The Mark
One unique feature added to the Titan XXS is the inclusion of locking castor wheels. Each wheel features a tiny tab that can be pushed down to lock the wheels in place. This is a great feature if you have little ones who like to roll around when they need to be still.
However, my son’s wheels keep locking on their own, creating a momentary annoyance several times per day. Several other reviews have complained of the same malfunction in the locking mechanism, which should be addressed by Secretlab for any future versions of its XXS lineup.
According to my son, the wheels are “annoying,” even if he almost never actually moved his chair around.
A Premium Cost
At a cost of $299 for the leatherette version and $319 for the Plush Pink and Plush Blue versions, it’s not anywhere close to the cheapest option for a children’s chair. However, Secretlab has made no secret of the fact that they focus on quality more than most gaming companies, so the premium cost doesn’t really come as a shock.
Overall, the Titan Evo XXS is an aesthetically pleasing gaming chair that started as an April Fool’s Day joke but which has turned into a suitable 2:1 model of the company’s already amazing gaming chairs.
While it lacks some of Secretlab’s unique features, it’s still a comfortable chair my seven-year-old son loves.
As a Secretlab family, the company’s chairs are a must-have in my household, and getting my son started with the Secretlab Titan Extra Extra Small Chair seems like a natural fit. I understand there are better ergonomic chairs on the market, but in his words, “this is the most comfortable chair I’ve ever used for gaming.”
If Secretlab was to announce a slightly more expensive price point with the missing features included, I would personally be willing to pay for those added features. I asked my son if he would like the missing features that are found on the other Secretlab chairs in our house, and he said, “definitely, but not the back (lumbar) feature.”
With a five-year warranty, a solid build, and a good amount of comfort, I’m calling this a win, and my son agrees, even if some improvements can still be made.
Check out the official Secretlab website for more details.
