After having great luck with the standing desks and desk chairs (as well as our modular sofa!) from Flexispot, we decided we could try one of the brand’s swivel recliners for our house.

We chose to build the lounge chair in our new baby’s nursery, where it’ll be a rocking chair. It can also go down to the family room or to the play space in our basement in the future.

In this review, find out what it was like to build the Lotus Swivel Recliner with the instructions from Flexispot and what it really feels like in terms of quality. At the end, I’ll tell you about if the price matches the value, and where you can get one for your home.

Let’s begin with a summary of the recliner.

Summary of the Lotus Swivel Recliner

This is a supportive and ergonomic swivel recliner that we’re glad we found. Check out what we like and what we don’t like as much.

What we like

Size

This is the most cushioned recliner we have in our house. Size-wise, it is a step up from the traditional rocking chairs and gliders we have around the house, and we happen to have reviewed Flexispot’s original rocking chair. It feels more like a piece of a sofa.

Comfort

It’s the type of recliner that you can sink right into. For this reason, the photos on the website actually do it justice! We were both surprised to see that it can recline pretty far back, which is conducive to resting or napping. With the foot rest up, it can even support a pretty tall person.

Materials

I don’t see anything wrong with the materials used to make this chair. We wound up with the faux leather chair, because the fabric options were not in stock. We’re happy with the ivory white color, as it really brightens the room with a piece of furniture like this. And the chair cover fabric itself is strong, and seems like it would be resistant to water or other liquids that accidentally spill.

One thing to be careful of is nicking or scratching the material, as it’s prone to showing just a little bit.

What we like a bit less

There are a few downfalls to know about, from our experience using the recliner so far.

Foot rest stowing

With the manual version that we have, the one real criticism is that the foot rest is rather challenging to push back in after you have it popped out. It’s almost like it takes a lot of force and strength to pop the foot rest back into the chair to have it folded up.

Of course, to figure it out the first time was much easier for me than it was for Becca, just due to our difference in sizes. It took Becca three times to find the best way with pushing her legs, and at which angle, to push the foot rest back in. For me, I didn’t have far as much of an issue.

Arm rests

This recliner has a nice look, for sure: what’s unique about it is that it doesn’t have formal arm rests, and therefore, it has a more laid-back look than other recliners. This being said, though, the “arm rests” are a bit too low to really rest your arms on. They are more like additional sides of the seat, to keep your body in place. They don’t really work like arm rests.

Difference between the manual and electric models

The Flexispot product page for the swivel recliner aims to tell us, the customers, the difference between the “manual” and “electric” versions of the chairs. I think the first three parameters do a fair job of clarifying, and the rest of the parameters are a bit fluffy (Long-Term Value, Adaptability and Maintenance).

I would describe the main differences as:

  • The manual chair can apparently swivel 360 degrees in all directions, while the electric recliner can do 270 degrees. I’m not sure why.
  • The electric recliner has a USB charging port, which can be used for a reading light or something else. The manual chair does not have this feature.
  • Flexispot describes the manual chair as having a “limited number” of reclining positions, where as the electric version has an “infinite number.” I did not quite understand this, as it seems like my manual chair can do go in plenty of directions for reclining.

The price difference if you were to jump from the manual version to the electric version is (currently) $80.00. Please note that this is bound to change, and Flexispot also has sales throughout the year when you can get a discount on both.

Shipping and unpacking: what to know

As for shipping, the recliner came in two boxes. They even showed up on different days! A giant box came on the first day, and it was followed by a slightly smaller box the second day.

Here’s my note: if you’re going to be setting up the chair upstairs or downstairs, move the chair IN the boxes to the location where it’ll be set up. That’s because moving everything individually after you unpack it is hard. You’ll see why. It’s heavy!

I unpacked everything from the boxes and brought it up all upstairs. It was really challenging to move it up a full flight of stairs on my own. The swivel mechanism swayed back and forth, so this made things more difficult.

Here’s a tip from me: Be careful when opening the box, because the cushion is right there in the box. If you’re not careful with your box-cutter, you could cut into the cushion and puncture it.

If you have any narrow doorways or staircases, then I’d make this clear to you: moving the chair while assembled or as you’re bringing it up might be tight. For us, that would’ve been nearly impossible. The recliner, only with its bottom piece, barely fit up our stairwell because our steps are narrow, and we have a baby gate at the top.

We also have a nonstandard doorframe on the room where this recliner will live, so everything was tight. Hopefully your situation is a dab easier.

Putting it together & Assembly

Thanks to Flexispot’s instructions, the setup of the Lotus swivel recliner was fairly straightforward. Flexispot usually has good instructions for putting their products together.

We experienced this before, and I talk about it in our Flexispot sofa review.

In the instructions, it mentions lifting up the footrest to put the cushion on. Be careful NOT to stand in front of it, because the metal brackets pop open really fast. If you’re not standing back, they can hit you in the shins and that could really hurt.

I would say to ABSOLUTELY not stand in front of the chair while you’re setting it up, as you don’t want to get hit by the footrest without the cushion on it yet.

Overall assessment of the Lotus recliner

It’s really comfortable! It’s big and spacious and feels sturdy, just like the reviews say. It feels sturdy as you recline.

We have the manual version. Because it reclines, you need a spot where there is space to lean back. You cannot have this recliner against a wall because it requires space for reclining!

We have it in a tight space and that’s not a problem because the swiveling still works and the reclining still works.

If you have low or limited core strength (if you’re pregnant, or just gave birth!) popping the foot rest back in can be challenging. I did not have a problem, but I had a big issue getting the footrest back in.

For us, we may be in the clear because we have some columns to hold on to. Becca was finally able to push back the pop-up foot rest, but it took a lot of strength and she probably would not be able to do it if she were holding a baby in her arms, for example. She would need some help.

The electric (non-manual) version would probably solve this, but like I mentioned, we have the manual version of this swivel recliner.

Is the price worth it?

Recliners of this nature tend to retail anywhere between $200 and $800, depending on size, quality, design and brand. Flexispot’s prices tend to line up with the types of prices you’ll see for furniture on Amazon, in our experience. At under $500 for the manual version of this swivel chair, we think it’s a pretty OK price, although maybe expensive for some people or families.

I think it depends if you feel you’ll get a lot of use out of a swivel chair like this. If you plan to put it in the family room, or a baby nursery or a basement where kids will have friends over all the time, it could be a good addition to your furniture in the house, at a pretty average price.

Given the sturdiness of this recliner, plus the five-year warranty from Flexispot, AND how fast it ships, I think it’s a fair deal.

Where to get the Lotus XC6/XR6 Swivel Rocker Recliner

The best place to get this swivel chair/recliner is at the Flexispot website. You’ll get free shipping, you can add promo codes if you have any and you can look out for sale opportunities (there are a lot of those!).

You can also check out if this recliner is in stock on Amazon. Depending on the day and week, you might be able to get it on sale at a discount for 40% off, under the condition that colors in stock may vary!

Why we like Flexispot furniture

We’ve chosen Flexispot as the #1 furniture brand for our two home offices at home. After three years, and four years for some of the products, we have great things to say about the quality, durability and lifespan of the company’s furniture and accessories.

To see more, head to where we discuss and rate:

Thank you to Flexispot for providing us with this product so that we could review it in this product guide. All photos, thoughts and opinions are our own and the content in this article is not sponsored.