The Coleman name has withstood the test of time, much in the same way that their products weather yearly camping trips season after season. After so many decades of outdoor excellence, they’ve brought their A-game to this affordable and feature-rich piece of folding furniture. After our product team extensively researched the market, a group of editors with a wide range of camping experiences gathered in our New York City lab to test 29 of the best portable outdoor chairs.
Portable outdoor chairs are also helpful for anyone who doesn’t have the room or budget for permanent backyard furniture. And they can save your back, make it easier to juggle a picnic plate and a cold beverage, and generally help you to relax comfortably outdoors. In terms of comfort, the Co-op Flexlite Air Chair has the perfect amount of give.
Between the integrity of its build and the wide, solid feet and base, you can throw the Cooler Quad on most any approximately level surface. I found that the hardest part about using the chair was deciding how I wanted to stock the cooler. Artful employment of padding along the seat makes the Cooler Quad a little more than just an oversized camp chair. Just a thin layer of foam that adds something to the polyester does the job without making it feel like you’re sitting in a pile of mashed potatoes. It had some thickness, with at least a couple layers of fabric making up the body, but this doesn’t help the integrity.
We later found, after six months of frequent use, that the stitching along one arm had come unravelled and that the small straps holding up the back of the armrests had both ripped in half. Overwhelmingly, the Coleman came out on top, with campers praising its comfort and stability. A low-to-the-ground chair can be ideal for outdoor movies, concerts, theater performances, and other events where you want to avoid blocking other people’s view. Our testers liked the comfort and back support of the GCI Outdoor Everywhere Chair, as well as the ability to adjust it to sit on uneven ground. They also appreciated its cupholder (rare in chairs of this sort) and its quick close-up-and-carry design. The coleman camping chair is big and durable, and of all the upright chairs that our panel of campers tested, it was the most comfortable.
But after half a dozen excursions, we found—as we had with the Renetto Original Canopy Chair—that having a chair you can easily carry without a bag is preferable. In real-world conditions, you’re often packing up fast to try to get ahead of crowds or traffic. So you can easily misplace a carry sack on a dark night in a crowded field, especially coleman cooler if you’re in a large group or have a lot of stuff. At a fireworks show and at the beach, we appreciated a chair that was ready to go without even 30 seconds of hassle. The Everywhere Chair closes like a book—simply lift the padded strap and go. The Renetto chair usually comes in between 8 and 10 colors and is rated to hold up to 350 pounds.
However, since many campers prefer chairs at a traditional height, the Kelty Lowdown narrowly missed winning our Best Overall pick. Thoughtful features like a zippered pocket for securing valuables, a mesh cell phone pouch, and two cup holders make the Kijaro exceptionally coleman canopy convenient for everything from tailgates to beach days. It’s available in 11 colors, many of which are unique in the outdoor product space. The chair comes with a carrying bag but also has a shoulder strap attached directly to its frame in case you want to ditch the sack.