Is a Gaming Chair Footrest Worth Paying Extra For During Click Frenzy?

For most people, no.

That's not the answer a chair brand is supposed to give, and it's easier for us than for most, because we don't build one. No chair in the Xallking range has a footrest, so we have nothing riding on talking you into the feature or out of it.

What follows is the honest version. A footrest helps two specific groups of people. For everyone else it just sits under the seat doing nothing, and it takes away clearance you probably need for something else.

So before you spend Click Frenzy budget on it, work out which group you are in. The same four minutes also tells you what to buy instead if the answer is no, whether that is a different ergonomic gaming chair or a twenty dollar stool.

The Short Answer: It Depends on Where Your Feet Are

A footrest solves one problem. It gives your legs somewhere to go when they are not carrying weight through your feet.

At a desk, your feet should sit flat on the floor with your thighs roughly level. In that position your feet are doing a job. They anchor the pelvis and stop you sliding forward on the seat. A footrest can't help, because there's nothing to help with.

Lean past about 125 degrees and the job changes. Your weight moves onto the backrest, your legs stop anchoring anything, and they start to feel heavy hanging off the seat edge. That's the moment a footrest earns its keep.

So the question isn't whether you want one. It is how many hours a week you spend past 125 degrees.

Who a Footrest Actually Helps

Two groups, and it is worth being specific about both.

Controller and console players who recline

If you play with a controller from a deep lean for hours at a time, a footrest changes the session. Your legs stop hanging, the pressure comes off the front edge of the seat, and you can hold the position longer without shifting.

Watching counts too. Streams, cutscenes, a film between matches. Anything where you are reclined and not reaching for a keyboard.

Shorter users whose feet do not reach the floor

If you sit at a desk that forces the seat high, your feet may not reach the floor at the height your arms need. That's a real problem, and it causes pressure under the thighs rather than comfort.

A footrest is one answer. A separate footstool is usually a better one, and we will come back to why.

What a Built In Footrest Costs You

The feature is rarely free, and the price isn't only money.

• Depth under the seat. A retracted footrest stows in the space between the seat pan and the base. That is the same space your desk frame, drawer unit or keyboard tray wants when you pull the chair in.

• Seat height. Some designs raise the minimum seat height to make room for the mechanism, which matters if your desk sits low.

• Weight and moving parts. A footrest adds a slide, a hinge and a catch, and every one of those is something that can develop play over three years.

• A load path outside the base. That one's important enough to deserve its own section.

The Stability Question Nobody Asks

A chair stays upright because your weight sits inside the circle drawn by its five castors. Engineers call that the base of support, and it's the whole reason chair bases have five arms rather than four.

A footrest puts load outside that circle. Rest your calves on it and the effect is small. Sit on it, push off it to stand, or let a second person perch on the end, and you are levering the chair forward on two castors.

Maximum weight ratings do not cover that. Every chair we make carries a 150 kilogram limit, and that figure describes a person seated in the seat. It isn't a load rating for an arm sticking out the front.

So if you buy a chair with a footrest, treat it as a place to rest your legs and nothing else. Don't stand on it, don't sit on it, and don't push off it to get away from the desk.

The Posture Detail That Decides It

Sit upright with your feet flat and the load runs down through your sit bones and out through your feet. Three contact points, weight shared between them.

Now let your legs hang without floor contact. The load has nowhere else to go, so more of it lands on the front edge of the seat, right under your thighs. That edge is the most pressure sensitive part of any chair, which is why every chair we build uses a waterfall shaped front cushion to soften it.

Supporting your legs moves that load back onto the seat and the backrest where it belongs. That's the actual argument for a footrest, and notice that it only applies once your feet have already left the floor.

It also explains why a footrest does nothing at a desk. Your feet have not left the floor, so no pressure has moved anywhere, so there's nothing for the footrest to relieve.

Footrest or Not: The Decision Table

Find your row. The right hand column is what we would tell you on the phone.

Why a Separate Footstool Usually Wins

This is the part that saves people money, so we'd rather say it plainly.

A standalone footstool sits on the floor on its own base, so it adds nothing to the chair and takes nothing away from your desk clearance. You can set its height independently of your seat. You can push it aside when you pull in to type. It costs a fraction of the price difference between a chair with a footrest and one without.

It also stays useful if you change chairs. A built in footrest leaves with the chair.

The one thing a stool can't do is travel with the recline. If you want your legs supported at exactly the same angle every time you lean back, a built in unit does that and a stool does not. For most people, that's not worth the trade.

If You Do Buy One, Check These

• Retracted depth. Measure how far the stowed footrest sits below the seat, then check it against the clearance under your desk.

• The catch. A footrest that does not hold retracted will drag on the floor and on your desk frame.

• Minimum seat height. Compare it against the same model without a footrest if the brand sells both.

• The warranty wording. Check the footrest mechanism is named, not just covered under a general clause.

• Whether it locks at more than one height. A single fixed position suits one leg length and one recline angle.

Check the floor under your desk too. A stool on carpet sinks a centimetre into the pile and slides when you push against it. A wider base or a hard floor protector is worth the extra few dollars. On a hard floor, felt pads stop it wandering every time you shift your weight.

And if you already own an ottoman, a storage box or a firm cushion of roughly the right height, test the idea with that before you spend anything. A week of using it tells you whether leg support actually changes your sessions or whether it was a feature you liked the sound of.

Two Situations That Change the Answer

Two situations change the answer.

If you use a chair for medical rest or recovery rather than gaming, leg support is a different conversation and the advice here is not aimed at you. Speak to a physiotherapist or your GP about what position suits your situation.

And if you already own a chair with a footrest and it works for you, nothing here says you were wrong. We're talking about whether to pay extra for the feature, not about whether the feature is bad.

Taking It to the Click Frenzy Sale

Work out your hours past 125 degrees first. If the answer is most evenings, buy a chair with a deep recline lock and add a stool, and the Click Frenzy Sale is a good moment to do it.

If the answer is rarely, put the budget into the things you touch every session. Armrest travel, seat height range and a lock position near where you actually sit. Every Xallking chair ships free across Australia with a 3-year warranty and 30-day returns.

Conclusion

Brands price footrests as comfort. The feature is really a posture tool, and it only works in a posture most people hold for a few hours a week.

Count your reclined hours. If they are high, buy the recline depth first and worry about leg support second. If they are low, skip the feature and keep the clearance.

We have been building gaming seating since 2014 and we have never added a footrest to the range. The space it occupies is space our chairs use to tuck under a desk. That's a design choice rather than a verdict, and now you have the reasoning behind it.

Sources Referenced

Xallking Australia product pages for the X5F, X5C, X5S, X5 Pro and X3 Pro. No model in the Australian range lists a footrest. Retrieved 12 September 2026.

Xallking Australia, X5F product page: seat height 41.5 to 48 cm, the lowest minimum seat height in the range, 150 kg maximum recommended weight, $699 from $849. Retrieved 12 September 2026.

Xallking Australia, maximum recommended weight of 150 kg listed on the X5F, X5S, X5 Pro and X3 Pro product pages, and 136 kg on the X5C. Figures describe a seated user.