Fractal Design is known for many things, from power supplies to cooling and unique cases. We even pack the 2024 Club386 test PC inside one. Now, the brand has taken to Computex to try something a little different, presenting its first-ever gaming chair and headset.
Moving away from the divisive racing designs that are so prominent in the space, Fractal Refine fills the gap between bucket and office chairs. It’s much more akin to options from Herman Miller and Flexispot than the likes of Secretlab or DX Racer. The brand tells us this is intentional, as it wants to target gamers who appreciate the extra bit of luxury. After all, it only gets one chance to make a good first impression and doesn’t want to be regarded as cheap tat.
Fractal says it takes inspiration from Scandinavian furniture design and merges it with ergonomic research to better the posture of gamers specifically. You can really see the Scandi influence in the muted tones across the five options. They aren’t as striking as the limited editions other brands tout, but you can pop them anywhere, in any setup without clashing. There are dark and light models in both fabric and airy mesh, and there’s a special edition Alcantara version that’s more suede-like.
Fractal Refine gives you plenty of adjustment features to conform to your preference. You can alter the headrest, seat, and armrest height, the depth of your seat and lumbar support, and twist the armrests in four directions. A synchro-tilt mechanism reclines the chair back smoothly as you lean, and you can lock it in thirteen different positions.
The brand didn’t say when it’ll make the gaming chair available, but you can sign up for email notifications on the product page. The fabric and mesh Fractal Refine will set you back $599, while Alcantara asks for a premium $899. It is the same tough material Louis Vuitton uses in the lining of its bags, so you can see why it’s so pricey.
Fractal Scape
It’s tough to stand out in the gaming headset space with so many rivals, but Fractal gives it a go with Scape. The gorgeous white look leans into the minimalist approach of its gaming chair, adopting an almost Apple ethos to the design language. It’s still distinctly gaming, with fabric ear cups and a Super Wideband flip-up microphone, but it’s definitely cleaner than most models. It also comes in black and grey versions, I’m just very taken with the bleached one.
Scape is a wireless solution that charges every time you put it back in its wireless charging cradle. It’s an elegant solution but you’ll need to make some desk space for it. You can connect it to virtually any device using Bluetooth 5.3 or cut out any latency with the included wireless dongle.
You might never need to head into the app since you can mute the mic by flipping it upright, but Adjust Pro offers a few features. Here, you can alter the ambient lighting and tinker with your audio presets. I didn’t get to try the headset first-hand to judge whether the default profile does the trick, but the option to change it is reassuring.
Once again, we don’t know when the brand will release the headset, but you can get notifications by signing up to the product page. Fractal Scape ships with the charging stand, and the bundle will cost you $199.
