
If movement throughout the day is so important, why do so many task chairs have us sitting statically in one single position? That’s really the question behind the HÅG SoFi chair, a wildly different, wildly wonderful way to sit that is being distributed in North America by 9to5 Seating.
The chair is part of the 9to5 Seating @NCE collection and it is packed with innovative features that truly make this chair different than anything else on the market. Sick of the same? The HÅG SoFi chair is far from cookie cutter seating.

Aesthetically, it looks a bit different than most task chairs (when I received my test chair, I initially thought the arms were installed backwards), but it sits like a dream. And just because it looks different does not make it unattractive. In fact, within a few days of the chair’s arrival, my 16-year-old daughter snatched it to use with the desk in her room and it hasn’t made its way back to my office yet.
Luckily, I did have some time with the chair before it was purloined. In fact, I’ve used a few HÅG chairs in the past, notably the even stranger looking, but equally excellent HÅG Capisco.

What makes all HÅG chairs fantastic — though it does take some getting used to — is the movement that is built into all of them. And when I say built in, I mean it. You literally cannot sit in a HÅG chair without moving, which is the whole point behind its designs.
HÅG SoFi has an innovative mechanism that lets users shift forward or backward, naturally finding balance in motion. The mechanism providing the motion is not a novelty. It really works to energize the user, which makes HÅG SoFi a good choice for workplaces that prioritize health and well-being.
It’s what makes the chair truly different. The HÅG SoFi doesn’t just “allow” you to move, when you are sitting in it with the tilt mechanism free. You are in constant motion. I found the core of my body moving slightly as I typed or scrolled through the internet. It was odd for the first few hours using the chair, but quickly became my favorite feature. Called the HÅG in Balance mechanism, this balanced, flowing tilt function is where the chair really shines.
What I really like about the HÅG SoFi is that it is complicated where it needs to be and simple where it doesn’t. Let me explain. The arms, for example, can be moved up and down easily with a push of a button behind the armrest. If you want to move the arms closer or farther away, the user must unlatch it from the bottom of the arm stalk and pull it out or move it forward. So the functions the user commonly needs to adjust are intuitive and easy to find while ones that are rarely used are tucked out of the way.
The lumbar support found on the HÅG SoFi is a good example of the intuitive functionality. Simply pull the support up or down to adjust.
The seat pan is simply perfect. Even though it is smaller than the typical North American seat pan, it has ample cushioning for long work sessions while not feeling over bloated.
It has a great environmental story as well as the HÅG SoFi is made with 41% recycled material and has reached BIFMA level 2 certification and Greenguard Gold. It comes with a limited lifetime warranty and is tested to 300 pounds.
If anything lets the chair down a bit, it’s the mesh used for the back. I found it mushy and too yielding. The mesh loses its shape like a stretched-out shirt and does not snap back into shape as it should.
Still, it is a very small quibble about a very good chair.
With Flokk´s acquisition of 9to5 Seating in November 2019, the North American market is gaining better access to more of HÅG’s great seating products, including the Capisco and Puls family. Assembly and upholstery were moved to 9to5’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., which allows for shorter lead times and opens up a range of new upholstery options through 9to5s extensive carded and graded-in collections.
“We’re excited to introduce another high-design product from HÅG,” said Dara Mir, president and CEO of 9to5 Seating. “And combining that with 9to5 Seating’s @NCE line that meets a need for efficiency and flexibility in the marketplace, it was a perfect combination.”