LiberNovo Omni Review: A Motorized Office Chair

Omni looks beautiful. It’s a step up from your average office chair design, with a bit of class and a design language in the backrest that resembles a spine-like look. Herman Miller Embody. It comes in Midnight Black or Space Gray (creative names) and my unit is the latter. The company says the Omni can support people up to 300 pounds.

I don’t think I’ve ever sat in an office chair with softer padding than the Omni. The multi-density sponge cushion material of the seat and backrest is plus, without the feeling that you are sinking, because it is not too thick. It’s very comfortable, and the softness of the material still surprises me the most about the Omni after sitting on it for weeks.

It will be interesting to see how the fabric holds up after more than a year of use. So far, it still looks great after sitting for about a month, although it does like to collect hair. Breathing is hard to measure in the cooler months we’re in now, but my back feels a little hot after a few hours in the chair. If you live in a hot environment, you probably sweat. It’s not as bad as most vegan leather-covered foams Gaming chairBut it will not provide one’s breathability The truth is fake.

The armrests aren’t much to write home about—you can move them up or down, fore and aft, and angle them in or out. You can’t push it toward or away from your body like the Embeddy, but that’s standard for a chair at this price (which is $1,099 MSRP, though the company seems to have a constant sale of $848). I appreciate that the arms don’t shift easily or slide around, which is a common problem with many chairs. The armrest itself isn’t too stiff and the material feels fairly durable.

A battery powered chair

Photo: Julian Chokkattu

The highlight of the Omni is the Bionic FlexFit backrest, which uses the battery-powered ErgoPulse motor system for configuration. It’s basically a motorized way to ensure the backrest lines up perfectly against your back; No need to fiddle around with an awkward lumbar support. There are three buttons on the left armrest. The front two move the backrest support up or down, and the third is a spinal massage function, which I’ll address later.