Outdoor activities are not only associated with adrenaline, but also with comfort and relaxation. A good, easy lightweight chair can become your go-to tool for this. There’s a lot of choice on the market that makes it difficult to make a (right) decision. That’s why we’ve made a list of the four most talked-about outdoor chairs in the market today and conducted an extensive comparison.
After careful market research, we have come up with four high-profile chairs to compare. Below is an overview of the chairs that we have reviewed. With a special winner!
1 | Cortazu Outdoor Chair
The Outdoor Chair from Cortazu came out as the best outdoor chair in our test. Mostly due to the incredibly good price-quality ratio that Cortazu offers for this product. Ultimately, the chair only weighs 965 grams, but it is packed with 20+ features, among which a 2-bar frame and useful pull tabs for better leverage. In addition, the chair is super comfortable due to the large seat and the breathable mesh fabric. Cortazu has executed the basic principles of comfort and quality extremely well, and for a fraction of the price compared to, for example, the Helinox Chair One, which is second best in terms of quality.
Also, the chair is available in a wide range of colours. With a very compact carrying case of ~37cm in length, the chair is also ideal when wanting to zip it to your backpack or throw it in your trunk when you go out there. Why do we think Cortazu is worth the extra praise? Besides technical, high-quality, outdoor products, they are, as an official certified B-Corp, actively committed to nature and they offer free shipping within Europe. One thing to note though, the set-up time of Cortazu’s chairs is on the longer side compared to, for example, the click function of the Cliq Chairs, but comparable to that of Helinox and REI Co-op.
2 | Helinox Chair One
In second place is the Chair One by Helinox, perhaps the most well-known outdoor chair out of these four brands. With a comparable carrying-case size and weight to Cortazu’s, this chair doesn’t compromise on its compactness. However, due to the hefty price and remarkably less stability and sturdiness, the Chair One is less of a pleasant chair to sit on for a longer period of time.
What’s nice about Helinox products is that they come with a 5-year warranty. Helinox also claims that their chair can support up to a weight of 145 kg. However, we doubt this claim because of the previously mentioned lack of stability of the frame. The fabric of the seat and its mesh is comparable in quality and comfort to that of Cortazu and indeed improves the air circulation and breathability.
3 | Cliq Products Cliq Chair
The Cliq Chair offers the fastest set-up time. The chair can be set up within seconds with one push of a button. Nonetheless, we would like to make a side note that the first couple of times we had a hard time finding out how the set-up system actually works. Due to the design, the compactness of the folded chair is as large as a water bottle, which is ideal for easily carrying it in your backpack. However, we find the extra 1.65 kg a bit on the heavy side for an outdoor chair, especially if you want to take several with you on, for example, a hike.
The Cliq Chair can carry up to around 135 kg and is slightly more expensive than the Cortazu chair. Ultimately, due to the heavier weight of the chair itself, the lower quality of the seating area and its limited features, it ended up in third place.
4 | REI Co-op Flexlite Air Chair
In last place is the REI Co-op Flexlite Air Chair. Remarkably, because it is priced the lowest, but therefore also has the worst quality of the four chairs. In our opinion, the light (or cheaper) materials are the main reason why the carrying weight of the chair is so light (765 gr.). We do like that, just like Cortazu, the materials are sustainably sourced. The products REI Co-op uses all bear the bluesign® label. The ripstop nylon fabric of which the entire seat is made is water-repellent, which is certainly an advantage, although you soon feel that your seating is less comfortable because of it.
REI Co-op advertises that this chair is mainly intended for camping and/or backpacking use. We agree with this, but we doubt whether the chair will be resilient in tougher weather conditions such as wind, rain and storms. As of yet, we haven’t been able to test this sufficiently. As a first entry-level model, the Flexilite Air Chair is recommended, but for the more invested outdoor enthusiast, the chair has the necessary limitations in terms of quality and usability.
