Assembly

The product manual is completely illustrated—there are no written instructions—and can also be found on Cougar's website.


No matter how many times one has assembled a chair, it doesn't take much to do something wrong. Do, as such, take a look at the instructions Cougar provides. We always begin with the five-star base since everything goes on top of it. The five-star base needs to be flipped upside down, and the caster wheels need to be squeezed into their respective openings—make sure to press these in firmly. Once the casters are in place, turn the five–star base the right way and insert the hydraulics into the gap in the middle. The dust cover shroud must now be placed on top of the hydraulics. Flip the base around and install the tilt/height adjustment mechanism by securing it with an Allen key and four bolts included in the bundle. Lift the base and align the opening on the butterfly tilt mechanism on top of the gas lift. To do so, an extra pair of hands may be required since the base is heavy and you might not be able to align it with the gas lift otherwise. The backrest should be installed last.


The backrest must go on top of the seat's base. Each side of the backrest has two openings that must be aligned with the openings on the metal brackets of the seat's base. Four bolts in total secure the backrest. Be careful not to tear the upholstery in the process. Once the backrest is secured, two plastic bits, which are included, need to be placed on top of the bolts, along with two more bolts. Two screw covers are provided for the screws on the seat's mount covers. The only tool we used during assembly was an M8 Allen key Cougar includes in the bundle.

Initial Impression

First of all, the Armor S is a light chair that can easily be carried around by puling it by its openings in the backrest, which is useful for small people like me! This chair just weighs slightly more than 20 kg (44.1 lbs). Additionally, the Armor S seems like a luxurious piece of furniture mainly because of the diamond stitching pattern on the seat's base and the backrest. The stitching at the front and rear of the covering is exquisite. The characteristic orange and black color combination is completely in line with Cougar's logo and makes this product stand out from the crowd, definitely putting it into the gaming chair category. There are raised edges on the seat's base and backrest, which may make big users feel a bit confined. However, these contoured edges keep users in an upright position, which is good for endless hours of gaming.


Cougar's elite chair is covered in PVC artificial leather, which is not commonly found on superior gaming chairs since PU pleather is widely used instead. PVC pleather is manufactured differently than PU pleather and mostly consists of melted plastic particles. Moreover, PU artificial leather is more complex to make than PVC pleather. PU artificial leather is stronger, and its physical properties are better than PVC pleather. However, PU is also up to two to three times pricier. However, the PVC covering the Armor S tries to imitate the texture of real leather, especially on the seat's base and backrest. Cougar says the chair's upholstery to be breathable, but since there are no perforations, we are pretty sure that if skin touches the PVC pleather directly, it'll start sweating after some time, depending on ambient temperatures. So, it is advisable to use this chair in an environment where temperatures are kept under check to minimize sweating, and do keep your pants on to avoid directly touching the upholstery!