A Sit-Down With Acer’s Predator Thronos Air, the Ultimate In-Home Gaming Battlestation
By Got $13,000 to burn and a gaming den big enough for a monster, all-purpose, multi-screen gaming cocoon? The second generation of Acer’s epic Thronos has got you covered.
Acer’s Predator Thronos Air chair has been making the rounds at various conferences and events for roughly two years now, and I’m still amazed when I see it every time. There’s nothing quite like the Thronos Air, and while some might argue that there shouldn’t be, personally I’m a big fan of the audacious, over-the-top nature of everything it sets out to do. Calling it a mere chair does undersell it a ton; it’s a gaming station that features three monitors, a shelf for your keyboard or racing wheel of choice, superb cable routing, and now, side doors.
This year at CES, the company told us that it has managed to drop the price of the Thronos pretty significantly, from $24,000 for the original Thronos down to “just” $13,000 with the Air. One area where a lot of this cost-cutting likely came from, though, is the fact that a deluxe Acer Predator gaming PC was included standard with the first-gen chair. It’s not included anymore; you would bring your own desktop gaming rig to hook up to the Air.
Acer has also removed any automatic hydraulics. Now, all elements of the chair must be manually adjusted to get your setup tuned just right. Finally, Acer includes a white-glove delivery service in that $13,000 price tag. A representative for the company will come out to your home and set up the whole thing from start to finish, including measuring your space and testing the floor for weight restrictions to ensure that the structure can support the chair.
The Thronos Air is definitely made for the 1 percent of the 1 percent of gamers, but for those who can afford it, there’s no other gaming experience like it out there today. Here’s a first look at our experience with the Thronos Air on site at Acer’s CES 2020 suite.
