A couple of years back, we had the privilege of getting our hands on the Secretlab Dark Knight gaming chair. What we found after weeks of use was a sturdy, durable, attractive chair that successfully managed the balance between perfectly nerdy and subtle enough for a shared home office. Now, we're looking at the second generation, the 2020 series, with offers some new features and an important difference from our experience with the original Dark Knight model.

Make that two differences. While the Dark Knight model is still available, the version we're looking at isn't. Our contact at Secretlab managed to dig up one of the few remaining Birds of Prey edition chairs. We're not looking at this chair to tease you, though you can consider yourself teased if you like.

The other big difference, though, is that this chair came in its original retail box, ready to assemble. When we received the original Dark Knight model, it arrived already assembled and ready to sit in. It was a nice experience to be sure, but not the one most users will experience if they decide to pick up a Secretlab chair. So now, with the Birds of Prey chair, we can fill that gap in our previous review.

Assembly

Assembly is, in a word, a breeze. There are a few hiccups, but Secretlab has gone out of its way to make assembly easier than your average boxed chair.

First, everything is tightly packed with what seems like very fine tolerances in its shipping box. Even though the box itself got dinged up during shipping, the parts of the chair arrived in pristine condition at every level. The large instructional card is right on top when you open the box, and all pieces are clearly marked for an easy assembly that requires absolutely no additional tools--though you can provide your own if you have better gear. Nothing in here is proprietary.

Putting the chair together is pretty easy, especially if you have a second person with you. Just like fighting crime in Gotham, you can do it on your own, but better with friends. Was that cheesy? Absolutely. But it's also true.

You start by putting the caster wheels into the sturdy metal base, followed by the piston used to adjust the height of the chair. Once that's done, you add the chair back to the seat; the chair's 4D arms are already attached. The seat of the chair comes wrapped in an extra cardboard wrap letting you know what order to do things in so that you don't end up adjusting the chair back lever before the chair back is inserted; the lever also comes with a red screw that you have to remove before you can adjust the chair back. I didn't try to adjust the recline before I put in the screw, so I don't know what happens if you do things in the wrong order, but Secretlab takes extra steps to make sure that you don't do such a thing without being truly determined to break your new chair.

After that, it's just a matter of lifting the assembled seat onto the assembled caster base which, again, is much easier with two people.

The assembly instructions are broken down into 12 steps, but the process goes so quickly that it feels a lot faster. With help, I had the seat up and spinning in circles in less than half an hour before I sat in it.

Key Features

There are a few noteworthy additions versus the other chair we reviewed. First, this is the Titan model, whereas the Dark Knight chair we reviewed was the Omega. With the Omega, the seat is of a single piece instead of having the sharp, raised bucket seat-style sides, making for a more comfortable seating experience. The Titan also can seat a bigger, taller person, allowing heights up to 6'7" and up to 290 lbs., versus 5'11" and 240 lbs. on the Omega model.

The back of the chair includes a knob for lumbar support that you can twist to fit your preference, while the Titan model includes a memory foam pillow. The seat is different, too, with a leveled seat base instead of the "snug fit" of the Omega model, which feels more like a bucket seat. Both of these work together to give the feeling of a much more flexible sitting experience.

The chairs are otherwise quite similar--they both have a 165-degree tilt, metal "4D" armrests, and a memory foam head pillow with an elastic strap. Both have PU Leather 2.0 material, which is easy to clean, though it really doesn't need that very often. Despite this chair having white material, I haven't had to clean it after a few weeks of sitting in it.

The Harley Look

Of course, the part that stands out about this chair is the Harley-themed look. Compared to the Dark Knight chair, subtle is one of the last words I'd use to describe it. The chair is gleaming white with golden diamond-quilted accents, pink stitching, and black accents. The front of the chair has black text that reads "Harley Quinn," surrounded by pink hearts, stars, a diamond, and XO symbols.

On the back, you'll find an outline of Harley's lips and teeth and big, pink XOs. In the bottom corner is the Birds of Prey movie logo, complete with the absurdly long "and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn" part. Most impressive is that the stitching is so sharp that all of that text is readable despite being quite small. All of the stitched text is crisp and attractive. The gold quilted fabric adds some great texture and visual complexity to the seat, and is taken right from the movie. When we reviewed the Bird of Prey Harley Quinn statue, that same quilting was one of our favorite parts (while the face model... wasn't).

So while you can't buy this chair, it's a great display of Secretlab's flexibility in making attractive licensed chairs for DC properties. The latest model, the 2022 edition, is available in Batman and Joker-themed options. We'd love to have seen a Harley Quinn version that was more tied to her classic look and color scheme, with red and black diamonds, but this model still stands out as a very different look from the subtle stealth of the Dark Knight chair. It's less of a whisper and more of a proud shout befitting Harley's singular personality.

Now, where are the chairs for other parts of the DC universe? Flash, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Green Lantern are all tapping standing around, looking for somewhere to sit.

Disclaimer: We received the Bird of Prey edition Titan chair from Secretlab for the purposes of review and photography. We used it full-time for about two and a half weeks before writing this review.