My First Look at Haworth's NEWEST Zody Chair transcript

the original Hayworth Zodi is one of my favorite high-end chairs but there's certainly room for improvement I'm excited to finally get my hands on the brand new Zodi 2 to see if Hayworth improved upon the previous design we've seen successful redesigns from Steelcase with Elite V2 and from Herman Miller with the air on remastered both of these redesigns breathed new life into their Flagship products and I think the Zodi 2 has the opportunity to do the same thing for Hayworth the Zodi 2 will be priced at over a thousand dollars and I will say that it does feel like a thousand dollar plus chair hey we're stuck with almost an all metal frame and base which I really like the chair just feels super solid they did change the design a bit on the base and the arm frame though they went with a lower profile base with a more modern design they also tapered the armrest frame a bit which gives it a sleeker look another noticeable change in look from the Zodi to the Zodi 2 is the seat adjustment levers again nothing major but they do have a more updated look I considered the original Zody to be one of the most well-built chairs on the market they are very prevalent on the used Market because of their longevity I think the Zodi 2 feels very well built as well and I think the updates Hayworth made will give it even more longevity than the original model when I first sat down on the Zodi 2 I immediately noticed how much firmer the seat was compared to the original the original Zody still has a firm seat in the grand scheme of things but it's definitely one of the softest seats in the high-end Market the Zodi 2 seat is more comparable to the fern or the leap I still find it to be comfortable and supportive but it is certainly a change from the original design aside from the firmness of the foam the only other major difference is the fabric the basic fabric on the Zodi 2 feels like an upgrade to the original while the foam makes the seats feel different the biggest change with the seat may be the height adjustment range the original Zodi has a standard seat height range of about 16 to 21 inches which is very common on the high-end ergonomic chair Market the Zodi 2 has an option to also go with the seat height range but Hayworth introduced what they call a dual posture adjustment range option which gives you a seat height of 17 and a half to 24 and a half inches this pairs amazingly well with a standing desk the seat height range plus the forward tilt function allows you to use the chair in a perched position instead of using a secondary option like a perching stool or a standing chair you can get the same functionality out of your high high-end ergonomic chair and not have to go back and forth between two different products the next thing that I notice when sitting in the chair is that the arm pads are quite a bit different on the Zodi 2. they're not as soft as the previous model this is both good and bad the original arm pads are more comfortable because they are softer but they're very prone to wearing out because of that softness the pads on the Zodi 2 feel similar to the fern arm pads they're still comfortable but they offer better durability than the previous version the adjustments are still going to be very similar with four-way adjustment all of them offering good ranges one thing I did notice is that the arms on the Zodi 2 take quite a bit more effort to move I actually like this change because the pads are less prone to moving when I don't want them to and they aren't so much more difficult to adjust that they're annoying for me to use I didn't notice any major change from the back rest on the original Zody to the Zodi 2.

I think it was already a pretty solid design and Hayworth must have felt the same way and I'm sure they wanted to keep some of that original look to be tied to the Zodi name the mesh is good quality and offers nice flexibility and I find it to be very comfortable the plastic frame is also nice for moving and stretching because it does Bend with you when you move they stuck with the original flared design which I'm not a huge fan of now that I get to use the fern every day the thin back design on the fern is just much better for overall range of movement and with the amount that I move around in stretch it's very conducive to my sitting style I do like the lumbar system quite a bit more on the Zodi 2 though as compared to the fern the height range is massive and I also like being able to control both sides of my back as far as the tension goes it's not an overly aggressive system like I would consider the fern of the leap to be which is probably why I prefer it but I have been known to like lesser lumbar systems so if you do like something more aggressive this may not be the best fit for you the recline and overall tilt of the Zodi 2 was one thing that I was really curious about because the tilt on the original Zody was often the deal breaker for people the original Zodi he had a mechanism that offered two modes of recline a forward tilt position and then a forced recline position a lot of people don't like this because there is no in between Hayworth stuck with the same design on the Zodi 2 but they did decrease the tilt on the seat quite a bit in the starting position the original Zodi starts quite a bit further recline and then you go back from there whereas the Zodi 2 starts out much flatter I think the changed seat angle will be the fix a lot of people are looking for with the Zodi the one drawback though is that the recline is not deep overall like we saw on the original version which is one thing that I really liked because it gave you a very similar feeling to chairs like the Herman Miller Aeron and the Hermann Miller embody you're not going to get that on the Zodi 2 instead it's going to feel much more like the fern chair but for me the chair still does not sit upright enough in the reclined setting like the fern will do the backrest still has a bit of an angle to it which is very very noticeable my preferred way of using the Zodi 2 right right now is with the forward tilt position engaged with the tension setting a bit loose so that I can recline back a bit still sit upright while getting that full range on the recline overall I think this is a good remake Hayworth stayed true to the original design enough for it to still be a Zody while improving on some problem areas with the previous model I'm excited to get to spend a prolonged period of time in the Zodi 2 and report back on how this thing performs over the long run