Verdict
This extremely profitable racing seat deserves a correct design refresh at this level to handle a few its shortcomings, however it stays a robust choice for many who want one thing they will pack up and arrange rapidly.
Execs
- Brilliantly handy
- Comfy
- Sturdy, contemplating its design
Cons
- Rigid customisation
- No shifter assist as normal
- Not appropriate for bigger people, or anybody with mobility points
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ActiFit clothThe seat cowl of this model of the Problem is ActiFit, described as a “vertical microfibre” sample that promotes airflow. -
Foldable designThis can be a foldable design that may be stowed away in a matter or seconds, making it probably essentially the most handy seat of this model. -
Scissor bodyThe essential body is much like that of a tenting that, utilizing a scissor hinge on the centre and velcro to maintain it upright.
Introduction
The Problem is Playseat’s most approachable and sensible racing seat for the typical gamer. It’s the most cost effective within the line-up too.
This can be a fold-up racing seat, for folk who don’t have the house to maintain one in place all 12 months spherical. You may pack it up in seconds, even with the wheel hooked up most often.
Playseat has stored the Problem design easy to keep away from sacrificing an excessive amount of structural integrity on the altar of foldability. Nonetheless, this additionally means it isn’t a seat for many who may battle to get out of a bucket-style racing seat. And it’s not fairly adjustable sufficient for some setups. Nonetheless, it’s the resolution lots of you might be on the lookout for.
Worth and availability
This household of seats has been round an terrible very long time, since 2013. Whereas the fundamentals of the design haven’t modified in a decade, I’m reviewing a a lot newer variant of the chair, the Problem ActifFit.
It makes use of a special cloth, ActiFit rather than Alcantara. It’s made to be additional breathable, and cease your again from getting too sweaty. Both mannequin has an authentic really helpful worth of £200/$249.
Meeting
- Simple to stow away
- Not splendid for bigger people
The massive promote of the Playseat Problem is it’s successfully a full cockpit that may be folded as much as a measurement smaller than that of most wheel stands, which don’t present the seat half in any respect. It’s a compelling idea.
The racing bucket seat these chairs attempt to emulate usually has a tough body that kinds a curved form the place your posterior finally ends up pretty near the bottom. Playseat makes an attempt to get the identical impact with what’s extra like a hammock.
Whereas there’s a steel body folding it in a number of locations, it’s principally rigorously reduce materials and gravity doing the work right here. And you already know what? The Playseat Problem is a fairly rattling snug chair. That hammock-like impact makes it conform to your physique, and the best way it’s hooked up to the body by your lower-mid again supplies surprisingly good lumbar assist. That is necessary for longer periods. It’s an oddly near-ideal seat on this respect.
Effectively, so long as you’re not too massive of an individual. Playseat recommends it for gamers of as much as 113kg/270lb. I feel which may be a stretch. There’s solely a lot horizontal clearance within the seat space too, due to the best way the Problem holds collectively. I’m nowhere close to that higher restrict and I nonetheless discover the Problem a little bit of a trial to get out of. You may assist issues by unlocking and swinging open the entrance a part of the body, that means you don’t should raise your self out fairly so utterly.
Nonetheless, I discover this feels precarious in case you have a heavier racing wheelbase. It begins to really feel like mounting a huge digital camera zoom lens onto a tiny digital camera physique.
The steel body has a free-twisting hinge at its center, and Playseat makes use of a sequence of chunky velcro pads to each connect the seat half and cease the entire thing from collapsing to the ground. See these virtually armrest-like components to every aspect? They’re heavy-duty velcro pads that maintain the chair up.
I’ve seen individuals on-line complaining that their elbows preserve rubbing in opposition to these straps when driving. I haven’t had that drawback, however this model is a compromise. And it’s not the one resolution. The cheaper ADX Firebase CC223 makes use of inflexible poles, extra just like the arms of a chair. The Subsequent Stage Racing GTLite has a extra superior body design, with securing mechanisms all through, moderately than counting on velcro.
There’s room on the Playseat Problem to your pedals too, in fact. They sit on foam-lined steel body bars that curl up on the finish, to keep away from you pushing the pedal set off into the space if you depress the brake.
There’s additionally (you guessed it) an optionally available velcro strap that can be utilized to extra firmly cement the board to the steel runners.
If you come to retailer the Playseat Problem away, this pedal mount half flips as much as lie more-or-less flat with the primary a part of the body.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t angle the pedals upwards in any respect, as many cockpits do. You may, nevertheless, push the pedals additional away by extending the steel poles. They’re then held in place by fairly weak-looking plastic screws that merely apply stress to the steel tubing beneath. This is likely to be the weakest a part of the Playseat Problem. Nonetheless, the expertise is appropriate so long as you might be utilizing pedals with a flat backside.
Design and Options
- Restricted adjustability
- Pedal mount design is slightly crude
- Feels sturdier than you may guess
The energy of the Playseat Problem is much less the body, and extra the material of the seat itself. Playseat makes chairs made from Alcantara and its ActiFit cloth. Alcantara is a high-quality man-made suede. I’ve the ActiFit model, which is nearer to the sort of porous cloth you may discover on the again of a ventilated rucksack.
It’s designed to cease you getting sweaty, though I’d advocate the Alcantara model if you need a extra luxurious really feel. In both, you get racing seat-like cut-outs in the direction of the highest of the seat, which look the half and are cushioned.
I attempted each the Thrustmaster T-LCM, which work nice, and the C. These are usually not well-suited to the Problem because the Fanatec’s rubber ft don’t correctly line up with the slim foam cowl of the pedal stand right here, and the pedal set doesn’t have a flat base. And when you plan on utilizing a strong load cell brake, you’ll seemingly wish to get one thing extra substantial both manner.
I additionally discover that, when testing the Thrustmaster T818 on this case, the Playseat Problem lifts the wheelbase excessive sufficient that it obscures a part of my TV whereas enjoying. It’s one to remember for lounge rigs the place you’ll play off the TV, notably as the primary seat adjustment doesn’t actually assist. Whilst you can regulate the armrest-like velcro straps to change the seating place, if you try to lift the seat a bit, the wheel rises too.
You may solely regulate the angle of the wheel independently, not its distance from you or its peak. It sits on a plastic ratcheting system that permits you to alter the angle fairly dynamically. This appears a daring alternative on Playseat’s half when the simplicity of the body design appears to be right here to maximise structural integrity. It really works superb, however does introduce some up-down flexion that in any other case wouldn’t be right here.
The Playseat Problem’s precise wheel mounting plate is a sturdy block of steel. It’s impressively robust, and has mounting factors for hottest wheel types. Playseat additionally employs slightly telescopic steel arm that pops out of 1 finish of the bottom. It’s a wise transfer that considerably will increase lateral stability right here.
Given you may assume it is a “weedy” racing wheel seat, I’ve been impressed by how sturdy it feels as you really drive. Whereas there’s extra flex when you drive underneath stress, you’re typically transferring together with it because of the body design. It’s a lot much less distracting than the “wobble” of a stand the place the wheel is held up utilizing a column sat between your legs.
There’s no approach to connect a devoted shifter or handbrake, however shifter mount mods are available on the time of evaluation. It’s one of many advantages of shopping for a mainstream, fashionable chair like this.
Newest offers
Must you purchase it?
You need compact comfort:The Playseat Problem is a king of comfort. You may pack it away in a minute, and it may be folded as much as a reasonably compact bundle when you take away the precise racing wheel and pedals.
You need cutting-edge design and a bigger construct: This decade-old design is unsurprisingly exhibiting its age a bit in its pedal board mount and considerably fundamental match customisation. It’s additionally undoubtedly not the fitting choice for the bigger people on the market.
Closing Ideas
The Playseat Problem is a fundamental racing wheelchair that’s massive on comfort, however not fairly as scorching on customisation. It’s what you’d get when you merged a cockpit with a tenting chair. And maybe that’s precisely what you want.
It’s snug, and there are sufficient good design touches to make it appropriate for reasonably heavy wheel setups, as much as no less than the Thrustmaster T818 direct drive wheelbase.
Nonetheless, you don’t get a lot in the best way of tweakability right here, and a few people will discover it an excessive amount of of a ache to easily get out and in of the chair. 10 years down the road, different manufacturers have unsurprisingly taken the fundamentals of this design to new locations, maybe most notably the Subsequent Stage Racing GT Lite.
How we check
We use each gaming chair we evaluation as our principal chair for each work and gaming for no less than every week. We additionally construct the chair ourselves to check out the meeting course of, and make use of each obtainable function. We take a number of components into consideration for the ultimate verdict, together with consolation, construct high quality, options and worth.
Examined over a number of weeks
We assemble the chair ourselves to see how straightforward it’s to construct.
FAQs
We discover it snug to take a seat on for longer intervals, however it’s not splendid for bigger people and isn’t the simplest to get out of.
We don’t assume it’s match for the heaviest of racing wheels, however the sturdy body and stabiliser arm make it appear sturdy contemplating the design model.
It’s reasonably adjustable, though the scissor hinge design means the wheel peak and chair peak are interconnected.
