You’ve already got the RGB peripherals, but what about your chair? Sure, you might have a high backed gaming chair, but does it have RGB? If you opt for the Vertagear SL5000, it could, thanks to the new RGB Upgrade Kit. Is it unnecessary? Absolutely. But, if you’re looking for a way to make your stream or content stand out, there’s not much else like this, but it also comes with a hefty price tag. Be sure to watch the video to find out more.
I’ll briefly cover my experience so far with the SL5000, but since the chair has been out for a while, most of this review will be about the RGB upgrade kit.
Setting up the SL5000
Getting the SL5000 setup is pretty straight forward. It’s not nearly as beastly as the Andaseat Fnatic chair we checked out recently, so getting it up the stairs and maneuvering it in my room was much easier. Simply attach the bottom bracket, attach the hydraulic cylinder, clip the wheels into the 5-star base and place it on the cylinder. Flip the chair over and attach the reclining backrest. The SL5000 also comes with a headrest and lumbar support pillow if you want to use those.
Design and materials
With six color options and some limited edition colorways, the midnight blue variant that we have is an attractive mix of navy blue and black materials with bright yellow accent stitching. The sides of the seat and backrest have plenty of shape, while the rest of the surfaces remain pretty flat.
Vertagear SL5000 RGB Kit: Video
Comfort and customization
Once all together, the SL5000 is a pretty straight forward racing seat style gaming chair. It does have great armrests with a 4-way adjustment, and the back can recline to almost horizontal.
Ultra Premium High Resilience Foam provides plenty of support throughout the chair, while the straight back can be set to any angle that works for your body and playstyle. It is a bit smaller and doesn’t support as much weight as the AndaSeat Fnatic chair; it actually fits my body better. The SL5000 can support weights up to 260lbs and 6-foot-4-inch heights.
One thing to keep in mind, if you are a taller player, you might block some of the RGB on the front of the chair with your shoulders. I’m 6-foot-1, and especially when I’m wearing a sweatshirt, my shoulders start to block some of the RGB lightings.
Vertagear SL5000 RGB Kit: Setup
Vertagear has made the RGB upgrade kits integrate perfectly into the SL5000 system. To install the top set, just remove the rear and front covers and place in the RGB front attachment. Then, secure the back RGB components with the included hardware.
On the bottom, the control unit easily attaches to the base, and then the five RGB arms attach to the control unit and are held to the base with arms.
Being wireless, there are four batteries included with each kit. They’ll last for most of a work day, but if you’re planning on a crazy long stream, you might need to plug it in to keep the lights on. But, the charging adapter has a 10-foot cable and a super easy magnetic connection to make recharging easy even when using the chair.
Vertagear SL5000 RGB Kit: Light it up
While both sets come with a USB RF adapter, only one is required. If you are purchasing both kits, only one is required to pair and control both units.
Once everything is set up and paired, lighting is controlled through the NZXT CAM app. I did have a bit of trouble getting the controllers to show up in the CAM app when detecting devices, so I followed this help article from the NZXT website, and after removing the drivers and restarting my computer, everything worked perfectly.
Within CAM, once the different kits are detected, there are quite a few different settings you use to dial in the perfect colors. The devices can both be selected to synchronize effects or be adjusted individually.
By default, there are settings for fixed, breathing, fade, and a few different rainbow settings. If you want reactive effects, you can also enable settings that will changes colors based on factors from your computer like CPU temp, GPU temp or FPS, and you can also use audio cues to drive color. There is also a game profile setting, but the only game I saw supported under there was CS:GO.
Though I can’t find a way to adjust the brightness on the top kit, it appears to be plenty bright. Even when filming with my normal studio lights on at the same brightness, the RGB top kit was bright and colorful on camera. Overall, I’m impressed with the build quality and lighting performance on the SL5000 RGB upgrade kits.
Bottom RGB Kit
While not as bright as the top kit, or maybe it’s just because it’s lighting my bright-colored carpet, the bottom kit adds a nice underbody glow to the chair. And the little Vertagear logo in white is a nice touch. There are plenty of different zones on the bottom kit to fully customize the colors to your setup.
9to5Toys’ Take
If all of this looks like something you’d like to add to your streaming or content creation setup, you’ll have to pay for it. At $300 each for the top and bottom kits, getting a fully decked out SL5000 will set you back about $1,000 full price.
Like we mentioned earlier, though, there’s not much else like it. And so far, I’ve been very impressed with the build quality and performance. Everything installs seamlessly on the chair, and there are a ton of color options available in the CAM app. So if you want to take your stream or content creation to the next level, this wireless PC controlled RGB gaming chair will definitely help you get there.
Buy SL5000
Buy Top Kit
Buy Bottom Kit
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