The biggest name in gaming chairs is making its biggest seat yet. The Secretlab Titan XL is, for the most part, just a larger version of the 2020 Titan, but built for taller and heavier (220-390 lbs) people. It has all of the same features that make the the 2020 Titan IGN’s favorite gaming chair at the moment: Great build quality, a nice look, and built-in lumbar support. It also carries some of the same flaws: Most notably that the firm padding, while helpful for your posture, isn’t ideal for every situation. Still, the Titan XL brings Secretlab’s well-designed, well-postured chair design to a larger group of people, and that’s no slouch.
Design and Features
Given that it’s a big-and-tall remodel, the most novel specs of the Titan XL are the ones you bring to the table. The Titan XL is designed for people from 5’11” – 6’10” tall, pushing the high end of the standard Titan’s range (5’9” – 6’7”) up by three inches. Despite this, the seat is actually closer to an inch taller than the original: The backrest is up half an inch, 33” on the Titan, 33.5” on the XL. The floor-to-seat measure is slightly less than that: It’s 18.7” – 22.4” on the Titan, 19.1 – 22.8” on the XL. Both models have the same range of height adjustment via the hydraulic piston – 3.7.”
The Titan XL shows bigger gains in terms of width and accommodating extra weight. The seat is just over two inches wider, 22.6” up from 20.5” on the Titan, and just under half an inch wider on the back; 22” versus 21.7.” The seat is only .2” deeper, but 19.9” from back to front is pretty accommodating.
Beyond the seat itself, the chair is built to accommodate wider people. The width of the wheelbase has increased from 27.5” to 31.5.” The hydraulic piston that keeps supports the has been replaced with a “heavy-duty” model, which is standard operating procedure for big-and-tall chairs. Likewise, the “multi-tilt mechanism,” which allows the chair seat to angle backwards, has been replaced with a so-called heavy-duty model.
The multi-tilt feature, used in most of SecretLab’s chairs, allows you to create a wide range of reclining angles through two reclining mechanisms: First, pulling a switch on the right side of the seat adjusts the seat back to one of a few reclining angles. Second, leaning back in the seat allows you to tilt the entire seat upwards while maintaining your back position. Having two reclining mechanisms offers you more choice and the ability to actually feel like you’re lying down. Using the two together offers a pretty comfortable full recline, though your legs are still in a seated position with your knees bent, so it’s not a great way to nap. Then again, I did fall asleep that way once.
It also leads to some unique and comfy positions: Tilting back while keeping my back straight was actually more comfortable for “kicking back” to watch videos on my computer than lying with my back reclined.
From there, the best thing I can say about the Titan XL is that it hews very closely to the Titan. My review unit features Secretlab’s basic PU leather, a plastic faux leather designed to be stain and scratch resistant. While you aren’t going to mistake it for real leather – it lacks the supple give of the real thing. It looks like a higher quality material than most of the leather alternatives I’ve found on gaming products like chairs and headsets.
The leather has its faults, though. As my colleague pointed out in the 2020 Titan review, PU leather isn’t an especially breathable material, so if you work up a sweat on a hot day, you will start to feel the heat in your seat.
The Titan and Titan XL both have a unique feature, a built-in lumbar support system, rather than simply including a lumbar support pillow. The lumbar dial on the right side of the chair extends a support from the base of the chair’s back. The internal lumbar support is far more subtle than usual lumbar pillows: You likely won’t feel the extra pressure of the support on your back after you finish adjusting it, nor will you see it unless you look closely. That said, the support is definitely there, helping you keep your back straight for long periods of time. Is it the same as having a large lumbar support pillow? Not quite – I wouldn’t mind if it could go a little further – but it is enough to make a sizable difference and keep your back straight.
In fact, the whole chair feels like it prioritizes “support” over traditional comfort. The Titan XL, like the Titan, has a uniquely dense padding in its upholstery. Made with what Secretlab calls “cold cure foam,” the chair’s cushions are very firm. My butt actually hurt after sitting in it for the first time. Over time, I’ve found that the padding is very supportive and helps you maintain good posture, as you don’t sink into the chair. On the other hand, it simply isn’t as cushy as other chairs. This is a chair for getting things done – playing games, doing work, whatever you want to do – but probably not the best for lounging in on a lazy Sunday when you aren’t quite sure if you’re watching Netflix or going out to brunch.
The armrests have what Secretlab calls 4D customizations, which allows you to slide them forward and back, rotate to one of three positions, and raise up and down. People tend to have strong feelings about whether they prefer armrests to be useful or stay as far out of the way as possible: These are definitely made for pro-armrest people.
Assembly
The Titan XL, like the 2020 Titan, is not difficult to assemble. I put the chair together in just under an hour by myself, which seems about average based on my past gaming and office chair-building experiences. The process was similar to other, similar chairs I’ve put together, so if you’re upgrading from another “gaming seat,” the steps should be familiar.
That said, the process is slightly more streamlined than the average gaming chair, particularly right out of the box. The parts are packaged intuitively; the smaller parts, including the casters, hydraulics, and screws, are all packaged in a box so that you’ll remove them in the order the instructions call for.
The instructions recommend you assemble it with a second person, and I agree: The two primary pieces of the chair are heavy enough that handling them can be onerous on your own. That said, if I can build it solo, you definitely can too.
The only hiccups I had during the process were caused by the instructions. The directions, printed on a large piece of cardboard, are easy to follow, but could do more to show you exactly how all the parts fit together. Secretlab has a more thorough set of video instructions, which cleared up most of my questions.
I also didn’t love that the instructions are not specific to the Titan XL. Some of the mechanical parts in the diagrams do not look identical to what’s in the box. Cautious person that I am, that made me uncomfortable and slowed me down in a couple of spots. It’s a relatively minor gripe – the instructions still apply – but it seems like an odd oversight given all the work Secretlab does to streamline the process.
Gaming
Whether you’re playing games, doing work, or watching videos, the Titan XL feels like it’s made for doing. As I mentioned before, its very firm padding goes a long way to keeping you comfortable in a posture-friendly position. When lined up correctly with your monitor (or monitors) you can easily keep your back straight and your head focused forward for long stretches of time without feeling any bodily fatigue. I also found that tilting the seat back while keeping the chair back upright was a nice way to achieve a more relaxed playstyle.
As someone who can overdo it and play for longer than I should, the chair does start to become slightly uncomfortable when your body gets tired. This probably isn’t a bad thing: If your body doesn’t want to stay upright in an office chair, you probably should move to a couch or go to bed, but sometimes duty (or fandom) pushes us beyond our limits, and the Titan XL isn’t great at accommodating that.
Purchasing Guide
The Titan XL has an MSRP of $559 but is available for $479 direct from Secretlab.
Source: IGN.com Secretlab Titan XL 2020 Gaming Chair Review