Just what is a “perch stool”?
You might have heard about how some people work at “standing desks”. Basically, a standing desk, as its name implies, is a desk raised high in the air so you have to stand in order to work at it. This trend is to help encourage people from sitting down all the time, which can cause back and other health problems over time unless you are careful. This HON Perch Stool basically allows you to “perch” (between sitting and standing) at your desk.
So this is called a “perch stool” because the central column of the stool can slightly rock forward or backward — any direction, really — allowing you to perch with your feet on the floor and pivot in a variety of directions. This is not a flaw — it’s actually meant to be a feature. The seat also turns, allowing you to swivel as well. In fact, if you raise your feet off the ground, it will slowly return you to the forward facing position.
The stool comes disassembled, though it took all of five minutes to put together. You don’t even need any tools, as it comes with its own Phillips head tool you will need. So you can really go from unboxing to perching in almost no time.
My seat color is charcoal gray, and the rest of the chair color is light gray. Overall, the stool looks minimal and functional — my wife called it an industrial style. I had just wanted something to perch on while doing product reviews and making videos — the lack of a seat back is good for me because it does not cause a distraction in the video, so the stool works for me. It should also work well for those who don’t really want to sit in a seat at work — maybe you have a standing desk yet still want a way to work while perching for a bit. Or maybe you want to enforce good posture while sitting.
Where this stool may not work the best is if you want to slouch in your chair — this stool is not meant to be used like a chair. The pivoting central column can make you feel unstable in your seat if you raise your feet off the floor, as if you are balancing on a pole. Again, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as it keeps your back muscles engaged and your posture will always be in a “good” configuration. Some people sit on “stability balls” for similar reasons.
The seat can be raised and lowered through a pneumatic mechanism, and the seat heights range from about 24″ to 34″. Since there is no foot rest, you will really wobble around if your feet are not firmly planted on the floor.
I am not certain why the seat is so deep, because if you are meant to just perch on the seat, you don’t need as much seat. However, after perching for more than an hour I did think the seat could use more padding.
One nice feature of the stool is that the seat has a built-in handle, so the stool is easy to pick up and move around (the stool weighs about 22 pounds). The base of the stool is weighted, so the stool itself feels solidly built (from the manufacturer, the user weight capacity is 250 pounds), and the materials seem of high quality.
Just remember it’s really a stool for perching, not sitting. Especially if you love your standing desk, this might be a good addition.
I hope you found this review of the HON Perch Stool helpful!
Pricing and Availability on Amazon: HON Perch Stool (aff)