You have a HÅG SoFi Mesh at your desk, or one is on the way, and there are four or five controls under the seat that nobody labelled. This guide works through every one of them in the order we use on the showroom floor, with the figures Flokk publishes for each, so you can set the chair up once and stop fiddling with it.
The order matters more than people expect. Seat height decides where your elbows sit, which decides where the desk needs to be, which decides where the screen needs to be. Get the height wrong and you spend the next six months compensating with the armrests. We published the same sequence for the RH range in how to adjust an RH chair; this is the HÅG version, and the SoFi is the chair we set up most often.
What the SoFi Mesh actually adjusts
Flokk builds seven things into this chair, and it is worth knowing the list before you start hunting for levers:
- Seat height
- Seat depth
- Adjustable lumbar support
- HÅG inBalance, the balanced tilt that moves forwards and backwards
- Adjustable tilt resistance, forwards and backwards
- Lockable tilt
- HÅG SlideBack armrests, optional
Here are the ranges, from Flokk's 2025 HÅG SoFi Collection factsheet, for the mesh model. Flokk prints this table in centimetres; the millimetre conversions are ours. Seat heights are measured under a 64 kg load, so an unloaded chair sits a little higher than the figure.
| Adjustment | Published range |
|---|---|
| Seat height, 165 mm gas lift | 39–54 cm (390–540 mm) |
| Seat height, 200 mm gas lift | 45–64 cm (450–640 mm) |
| Seat depth, adjustable | 38–46 cm (380–460 mm) |
| Seat pad | 44 cm deep × 45 cm wide |
| Backrest width | 47 cm |
| Backrest inclination | 30° |
| Neutral tilt position | −4° |
| Tilt movement | 20° forwards and 14° backwards from neutral |
| Armrest height above seat | 185–300 mm |
| Chair weight | 16.7 kg |
| Footbase diameter | 730 mm |
Two of those numbers do more work than all the others. The 390 mm minimum seat height is the lowest of any conventional task chair we stock, and the 380–460 mm seat depth slide means the seat can be shortened to suit a shorter thigh. Together they are why the SoFi fits a wider spread of people than chairs costing three times as much, and why it is the chair we reach for in our guide to office chairs for short people.
Step 1. Seat height
Stand in front of the chair in the shoes you work in. Set the top of the seat level with the bony point just below your kneecap. Sit down, put your feet flat, and check that your thighs are supported without pressure behind the knee.
The lever is under the front right of the seat. Take your weight off the seat and lift it and the chair rises; sit down, lift it, and the chair lowers. Let it settle before you let go.
Now look at your desk. With your feet flat and your shoulders relaxed, your forearms should come to the desk surface roughly level. If the desk is too high, raise the chair and add a footrest rather than working with your shoulders up around your ears. If the desk is too low, that is a desk problem, and we would rather talk to you about the desk than have you sit badly around it.
If you cannot reach a comfortable height at either end of the range, find out which gas lift you have. The 165 mm cylinder covers 39–54 cm and the 200 mm cylinder covers 45–64 cm. A chair on the taller lift will not reach the lower figure no matter how hard you press the lever. The cylinder is a replaceable part, we stock HÅG lifts, and our HÅG spare parts guide covers what that involves.
Step 2. Seat depth
This is the adjustment most people never find, and on this chair it is the one that changes the most. The seat slides forward and back on its own control under the seat, through a range Flokk publishes as 38–46 cm.
Sit back so your lower back meets the backrest, then slide the seat until there is about two to three fingers of clearance between the front edge of the seat and the back of your knee. If the seat is too long for you the chair will push you forward off the backrest all day, and no amount of lumbar adjustment fixes that. If it is too short you lose thigh support.
Wind the slide fully in on the 165 mm lift and you get a 380 mm effective seat depth at a 390 mm seat height, which is the shortest combination of any conventional task chair we sell.
Step 3. The lumbar support
The SoFi's lumbar support is adjustable, and it wants to sit in the hollow of your lower back, not up between your shoulder blades. Set it so you can feel it when you sit back and stop noticing it after a minute. If you are aware of it all day it is either too far forward or in the wrong place.
Do this after the seat, not before. Moving the seat slide changes where your back meets the backrest, so setting the lumbar first means setting it twice.
Step 4. Release the tilt
HÅG inBalance is the reason to own this chair rather than a chair with a backrest. Flokk publishes 20 degrees of movement forwards and 14 degrees backwards from a neutral position set 4 degrees to the rear, and 20 degrees of forward travel is more than anything else we stock.
Find the tilt lock and unlock it. For normal desk work, leave it unlocked. The chair is designed to move with you as you lean into the screen and back off it, and locking it out permanently turns it into a more expensive version of a cheaper chair. Lock it when you want a fixed platform for a task that needs a still upper body — fine detail work, or a long call where you want to stay put.
If you want the longer argument for why a chair that moves is worth the money, our piece on active sitting sets it out.
Step 5. Tilt resistance
Resistance is adjustable forwards and backwards, and it is set by body weight, not by preference. Sit down, unlock the tilt, and lean back. If the chair drops away from you, wind the resistance up. If you have to shove to get any movement, wind it down. You are aiming for a chair that follows you without either catching you out or fighting you.
Set it wearing what you wear to work and sitting how you actually sit. A setting made while perched on the front edge of the seat will be wrong the moment you sit back properly.
Step 6. The armrests, if you have them
The SoFi is sold with armrests and without. If yours has them, they are the HÅG SlideBack type, which pull back out of the way so you can get in closer to the desk. Flokk's October 2019 SoFi factsheet publishes an armrest height of 185–300 mm above the seat.
Set them last, and set them low. The height you want is the one where your shoulders stay down and your forearms rest level when your hands are on the keyboard. Armrests set too high lift your shoulders; armrests set too low do nothing. Then slide them back so the chair tucks under the desk and you are not steering around them all day.
If you are choosing between the two configurations rather than adjusting a chair you already own, our SoFi Mesh review works through that decision on the published figures.
Step 7. The desk and the screen, in that order
Once the chair is right, everything else moves to meet it. Set the desk so your forearms come to it level. Set the top line of text on your screen at or just below eye height, an arm's length away. If you wear progressive or bifocal lenses the standard advice is wrong for you, and we wrote a separate guide about that.
If the desk will not come down to the chair, a monitor arm and a footrest will usually get you the rest of the way. Tell us the desk height and we will tell you what is needed.
Castors, and keeping the chair working
Flokk's own user guide for the SoFi gives the castor convention: hard castors for carpet, soft castors for hard floors such as timber, tile and polished concrete, and all five castors must be the same type. If the chair has moved from a carpeted office to a hard floor at home, changing them is a five-minute job and makes the chair feel new.
The same guide asks you to keep the chair free of dust and dirt and to clean upholstered parts with a damp or dry cloth, and not to remove covers or open the seat mechanism. Gas lift replacement and technical maintenance go through an authorised dealer, which in Australia is us. Our cleaning guide quotes Flokk's care instructions in full.
Where the SoFi is not the right chair
The SoFi is a conventional task chair, set up conventionally, and it suits the great majority of desk workers. Three jobs call for something else in the range:
- Working at standing height, or sitting astride the seat. That is the HÅG Capisco, which is built for it, and our Capisco buying guide covers which gas lift you need.
- Fitting out a room on a tighter budget. The HÅG Tion carries the same ten-year guarantee and the same build philosophy at a lower price, and our Tion buying guide compares the four models. Note that no Tion has an adjustable seat depth, so if the seat slide is the reason you are here, stay with the SoFi.
- A larger frame, or a chair specified for long shifts. Talk to us about the RH range and bring your measurements; the full HÅG collection and the RH chairs sit side by side in the Pyrmont showroom.
What it costs in Australia
The HÅG SoFi Mesh is $750 without armrests and $950 with the SlideBack armrests, in stock and shipping Australia wide. Prices checked live on 29 September 2026.
Flokk's guarantee is ten years against production defects in normal use for up to nine hours a day, five years beyond that, and five years on fabrics and leather. Normal wear, labour and transport are excluded. Our warranty page sets out the detail, and Australian Consumer Law rights apply in addition to anything a manufacturer offers.
The chair is certified to EN 1335 Class A and ANSI/BIFMA X5.1, and carries the GS mark, NPR 1813, Swedish Möbelfakta, GREENGUARD, the European Ecolabel and Oeko-Tex Standard 100. Flokk publishes 46% recycled material, 90% recyclable material and a 73 kg CO₂e carbon footprint for the mesh model.
Frequently asked questions
What order should I adjust a HÅG SoFi Mesh in?
Seat height first, then seat depth, then the lumbar support, then release the tilt and set the tilt resistance, then the armrests if the chair has them, and the desk and the screen last. Seat height decides where your elbows land, so every adjustment after it depends on getting it right first.
Where is the seat height lever on a HÅG SoFi Mesh?
Under the front right of the seat. Lift it with your weight off the seat and the chair rises; lift it with your weight on the seat and it lowers. Flokk publishes a range of 39 to 54 cm on the 165 mm gas lift and 45 to 64 cm on the 200 mm gas lift.
How do I adjust the seat depth on a HÅG SoFi Mesh?
The seat slides on its own control under the seat, forward and back through a range Flokk publishes as 38 to 46 cm. Slide it until there is roughly two to three fingers of clearance between the front edge of the seat and the back of your knee.
What is HÅG inBalance, and should I leave the tilt unlocked?
HÅG inBalance is the SoFi's balanced tilt: Flokk publishes 20 degrees of movement forwards and 14 degrees backwards from a neutral position set 4 degrees to the rear. Leave it unlocked for normal desk work, because that is the movement the chair is built around. Lock it when you want a fixed platform for a task that needs a still upper body.
How far do the armrests on a HÅG SoFi Mesh move?
The optional armrests are the HÅG SlideBack type, which pull back out of the way so you can get closer to the desk. Flokk's October 2019 SoFi factsheet publishes an armrest height of 185 to 300 mm above the seat. Set them so your shoulders stay down and your forearms rest level.
My HÅG SoFi will not go low enough. What can I do?
Check which gas lift is in the chair. The 165 mm lift starts at 39 cm and the 200 mm lift starts at 45 cm, so a chair on the taller lift will never reach the lower figure. If you are on the 200 mm lift and need to sit lower, the cylinder is a replaceable part and we can supply the shorter one. Ring us with the chair in front of you.
Which castors should I use on carpet, and which on hard floors?
Flokk's own user guide for the SoFi gives the convention: hard castors for carpet, soft castors for hard floors such as timber, tile and polished concrete. All five castors must be the same type. If you have moved the chair from a carpeted office to a hard floor at home, the castors are worth changing.
Can I get a HÅG SoFi Mesh set up for me in Sydney?
Yes. Our Pyrmont showroom has the SoFi on the floor, and we will set one up to your measurements and write the settings down so you can repeat them on the chair that arrives. Ring us or book a time and bring the desk height you work at.
References
- Flokk, FS_ENG_HÅG_SoFi_Collection_2025 — HÅG SoFi Collection factsheet
- Flokk, HÅG SoFi Collection factsheet, October 2019
- Flokk, HÅG SoFi mesh user guide, article no. 137269, rev 01
- Flokk, HÅG SoFi product pages and user guides, flokk.com
- Chair Dinkum product pages. Prices and stock checked 29 September 2026.
