Norwegian chair maker Flokk has released the new-look HÅG Futu alongside the cool and breezy HÅG Futu Mesh – but what does our resident Seating Specialist David Kirtley (AKA the Chair Guru) make of this truly dynamic duo?
I wasn’t sure about the HÅG Futu chair when it was first launched about 12 years ago, so I was curious to see whether a relaunch would do away with my initial doubts.
The new Futu Mesh, which coincides with the re-launch of the standard Futu, is a very much improved chair altogether. I thought the original model was a touch clunky, and the seat was too firm. What HÅG has brilliantly done is fine-tuned the chair to be more robust and comfortable.
Built on the established balanced movement mechanism, which is used on the awesome HÅG SoFi, the chair allows you to sit in a position of complete balance. You neither feel like you’re being pushed forwards, nor backwards. You sit in perfect suspension, very much like a rocking chair. It works and it just makes sense. There is no tension control that you see on a number of office chairs, where you have to adjust it to the weight of the user. You sit in it, you decide if you like more movement, or less, and you’re good to go.
The seat has been softened, which offers instant comfort, and there’s a choice of three armrests – standard, padded and 3D. The standard ones are adjustable enough, with height and width adjustment, and seeing as they're set towards the back of the chair, it is not necessary to have the depth adjustment as well. I understand that Flokk is working on a more affordable padded upgrade, which is currently only available in leather.
Aesthetically, it's streamlined, with a thin, yet solid backrest. The Futu Mesh is tight and supportive, and is cleverly created by passing the assembled backrest through a machine that is essentially a giant toaster, which heats the mesh and pulls it irreversibly tight. This means you don’t experience any sagging in the mesh, and if you want additional lumbar support, then the height-adjustable lumbar panel is an option, although personally I don’t think you need it.
As with all the chairs from HÅG, the warranty is 10 years for normal use, which covers all parts of the chair with no exclusions. Environmentally, HÅG is light-years ahead of most manufacturers.
So, if you want an affordable, robust, comfortable chair that's pleasing on the eye and with an all-encompassing 10-year warranty, then the Futu mesh is perfect for you. At this price point, and for larger projects, I genuinely believe that this is the best mesh back chair on the market.