Humanscale Freedom Vs Steelcase Please

Arms · 5 Jun 2020 at 13:31

On a strict budget of £120 and both are available. Neither have headrest, but are both a good choice for a 19stone 6'3 guy. Useage will be working from home currently plus PC gaming and general PC stuff.

MrRockliffe · 5 Jun 2020 at 13:34

I don’t rate steel case - my work uses them and they’re ALWAYS breaking. And they’re a pig to deal with

Personally use humanscale at home, never had issues

Anecdotal at best but just personal experience

Arms · 5 Jun 2020 at 13:37

MrRockliffe said:
I don’t rate steel case - my work uses them and they’re ALWAYS breaking. And they’re a pig to deal with

Personally use humanscale at home, never had issues

Anecdotal at best but just personal experience

Thanks, is your freedom with the headrest? Is it needed on recline?

MrRockliffe · 5 Jun 2020 at 13:40

Arms said:
Thanks, is your freedom with the headrest? Is it needed on recline?

My father has the one with the headrest. I don’t feel it’s worth it.

southernorth · 5 Jun 2020 at 13:52

I currently use the headrest freedom, and have used the non-headrest version previously.

An issue I had with the non-headrest Freedom was the complete lack of upper/mid back support. Particularly as you're 6ft3 this could be an issue. The please has a much higher back and so offers more support across your entire back. The lumbar support on the please also looks more advanced, as when you lean back a gap doesn't happen as it flexes.

And for the Freedom chair do be aware there's no way to lock the recline, so you can essentially just lean backwards without resistance if you're near the top of chair weight rating. A positive or negative I suppose.

Arms · 5 Jun 2020 at 14:46

southernorth said:
A positive or negative I suppose.

You've highlighted all my concerns with the Freedom without the headrest, but the freedom chair has lots of very positive online reviews (which mainly have the headrest) but nowt for the Please.

MrRockliffe · 5 Jun 2020 at 14:50

Arms said:
You've highlighted all my concerns with the Freedom without the headrest, but the freedom chair has lots of very positive online reviews (which mainly have the headrest) but nowt for the Please.

The please is the exact chair we use. It is reasonably comfy, but I find that the arms are a little hard, it’s a bit too square (doesn’t conform to body shape) and as I mentioned previously, they break a lot. It’s important to set your weight properly on the chair so that the recline mechanism works properly, but they are typically quite fiddley.

Probably boils down to whether you want the head support or not

Edit:

The thing to keep in mind though is that I sit on the please for a number of hours during the day (8-5), whereas the human scale is sat on less.

The thing I like about the please is that I can sit on my leg and slouch quite easily - less easy to do on human scale as it’s quite shaped. Also, the actual seat extension mechanism (on human scale) can be a bit annoying - it slides backwards when I push it, where as I should have to unlock it first.

Taking into account the above info, I’d probably rate them both a 7 or 8 out of 10.

Hope this makes a bit of sense!

Arms · 5 Jun 2020 at 15:23

cheers @MrRockliffe . That's not a bad score for a £120-£150 chair I suppose. I'd rate the dining chair a -2 atm.

BigBANGtheory · 8 Jun 2020 at 13:07

MrRockliffe said:
as I mentioned previously, they break a lot. It’s important to set your weight properly on the chair so that the recline mechanism works properly, but they are typically quite fiddley.

That's interesting I've not had any issues with mine there are only two adjustments for recline... travel and tension not hard to change. Are these Please v2 chairs and what tends to break on them?

The only thing I find a touch annoying is you can catch the seat cushion forward/back adjustment quiet easily with you calf muscle, you just have to watch it if you tend to fold your legs a lot either under the seat or on top of the cushion.

Hades · 8 Jun 2020 at 15:20

I have the Humanscale Freedom. I utterly love this chair. But I can't recommend it. I bought it used and repaired it. But in doing so I realised that the arm mechanism has a fundamental design weakness which means it *will* break eventually if weight is regularly put on the arms. I'd suggest reading through my previous thread on the subject:

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/t...nscale-freedom-and-steelcase-please.18857639/

Having said that, if this one were to break again, I'd probably buy a brand new one because I love it so much.

MrRockliffe · 8 Jun 2020 at 16:17

BigBANGtheory said:
That's interesting I've not had any issues with mine there are only two adjustments for recline... travel and tension not hard to change. Are these Please v2 chairs and what tends to break on them?

The only thing I find a touch annoying is you can catch the seat cushion forward/back adjustment quiet easily with you calf muscle, you just have to watch it if you tend to fold your legs a lot either under the seat or on top of the cushion.

If memory serves correct it tends to be the tilt mechanism and the adjustment knob for the degree of tilt

However I’ve seen chairs with broken arms, especially the padding on the arm rest - I would say about one third of the chairs in the office have broken/split padding

hyperseven · 8 Jun 2020 at 16:49

I have a Steelcase Think, had it for a few years and has been flawless. The thing is built like a tank and all the adjustment mechanisms are working as well as the day I got it.

BigBANGtheory · 9 Jun 2020 at 18:39

MrRockliffe said:
If memory serves correct it tends to be the tilt mechanism and the adjustment knob for the degree of tilt

However I’ve seen chairs with broken arms, especially the padding on the arm rest - I would say about one third of the chairs in the office have broken/split padding

Maybe we are talking about different seats because the Steelcase Please I have the armrests aren't padded, and the recline controls are pretty straight forward. The seat and back cushions will wear out eventually like 10-15yrs but you can refurbish (or replace) them because they are detachable which is really handy in fact that is why you see a lot of refurbished chairs for sale.

MrRockliffe · 9 Jun 2020 at 20:42

BigBANGtheory said:
Maybe we are talking about different seats because the Steelcase Please I have the armrests aren't padded, and the recline controls are pretty straight forward. The seat and back cushions will wear out eventually like 10-15yrs but you can refurbish (or replace) them because they are detachable which is really handy in fact that is why you see a lot of refurbished chairs for sale.

It’s definitely the please that we use. The arm rests are slightly spongy, but I think are plastic, which has a habit of splitting over time.

You’re right in that the recline mechanism is simple, but they would frequently seize and stop you from selecting the amount of recline

As I say, just in my experience. We probably have 200 or so of them in the office

BigBANGtheory · 9 Jun 2020 at 21:18

I think you are talking about the Please v1, does it have an oval lumbar support cushion?

or does it look like this:
https://www.steelcase.com/eu-en/products/office-chairs/please/#features_made-to-measure-comfort

Arms · 12 Jun 2020 at 18:21

Well the Please V1 arrived and very disappointed. Its a bit battered and the worse thing is the controls are very stucky and leave a black paint-like substance on your hand. I've tried to wipe it off but after a pack of wipes its still the same and its getting everywhere.

Speaking to 2ndHnd support: we have been spraying a hand alcohol spray on our chair parts and for some reason, the Steelcase Please plastic parts have not had a good reaction to it. it is the only chair we have had an issue with and our warehouse has been told to stop on the please chairs do the spray. sorry about that we were trying to be proactive

see https://photos.app.goo.gl/fJZcjQirWgNEYjCf6

A for effort but I'm asking for an exchange.

Anyone with the V1 got a couple of questions.

The recline lock, does it only lock in upright, can you not lock in a partial recline?
The control knob numbered 1 to 5, I believe it adjusts the ease of recline but doesn't seem to do anything, the recline seems to be the same on each.
What does the front right knob do (attached to the gas up/down paddle)

Arms · 15 Jun 2020 at 16:42

They are exchanging. They are sending out a Freedom in its place. I like the high back on the Please, maybe I'm picky, but it's not in great shape and wouldn't want another in a similar state.

welshdragon · 21 Jun 2020 at 20:59

Arms said:
They are exchanging. They are sending out a Freedom in its place. I like the high back on the Please, maybe I'm picky, but it's not in great shape and wouldn't want another in a similar state.

My Please V2 from them arrives Tuesday... hope Ive done the right thing

Arms · 21 Jun 2020 at 21:00

I considered a Please 2 but it was an extra £70. Still waiting on the freedom to be delivered.

EdButler · 22 Jun 2020 at 13:54

You'll not be disappointed with the Freedom - its a fantastic chair and looks awesome. Im your height, but at 13st its amazing for me. I have the seat fully forward, back rest on the second highest and headrest highest also.

Completely agree with @Hades on the arm-rest comment. Mine has broken within 6 months on the plastic that meets the inner top arm pin. Looking at the plastic, it had a manufacturing flaw as it was partially hollow. 2ndHnd were awesome and had one in the post with me the very next day!! Humanscale also sell replacements for about £20.

I found the leather-look material on the arm rests a bit poor. I trimmed mine with leather at home and it now looks awesome!