Gear Diary

Ultra-Comfy Chair Review: Sumo Lounge Omni Beanbag Chair

If you were a teen or pre-teen in the 1970's, chances are you or one of your friends (or ALL of your friends) had a beanbag chair. The bags of the time were vinyl (or denim) bags filled with polystyrene pellets. Things have come quite a long way – the 1990's saw a resurgence in the beanbag chair, and now it has been reinvented as the Sumo Omni. We first looked at the Sumo Lounge Omni in 2007, and the folks at Sumo were kind enough to send one my way for an updated review; let's see how it holds up to my memory of the past!

The Hype:

Looking for a perfect 10? Omni beanbag chairs, the original super-sized beanbags from Sumo has your number:

Omni Beanbag Chair Features

• Choose the color of your beanbag chair – 10 achingly fashionable colors to choose from
• Configure your beanbag chair in 10 different positions (discovered so far – some say we lack imagination)
• Our giant beanbags measure big – 4.5' X 5.5, but weighs little – just 18lbs
• Space age rip-proof nylon, stays new looking – easy to clean
• Our beanbags are filled with top quality Sumo beads
• Wondering what to do with the best beanbag chair you will ever own? Lounge in your living room, rock out on video games in your bedroom, or just relax next to the fireplace. The possibilities really are endless and it's all up to you, after all its your beanbag chair!
• The Omni is our version of an inexpensive beanbag chair – and we bring it to you at almost $100 less than our competitors. Add in free shipping and our 100% satisfaction guarantee – your perfect 10 has definitely arrived and its name is the Omni Beanbag Chair from Sumo Lounge.

The Reality:

The first 'reality' needed is to check my memories of 1970's bean bag chairs. They were notoriously amorphous, which was good in some ways but ultimately meant there was a single sitting position – and the only way to do something different was to have different size bags or use pillows.

Second, anyone who has owned one of the bean bag chairs from the 70's or 90's knows all too well how easy it was to puncture them or rip them or break the zipper and end up with billions of little beans all over the place!

So when I pulled the Sumo Omni out of the box and saw an amorphous box-shaped bean bag, I didn't know what to expect. But if you check out the video below you will see that once you remove the Omni from the box it quickly lives up to its name – it will reshape to look like just about anything.

We started out just laying it flat and flopping on it – WOW is it comfortable! I had heard it has a memory foam-like material inside, and it certainly feels that way: once you sit in it, it conforms to your shape and is extremely comfortable and stable. You can get up and then return to sitting the same way again without having to mess with the Omni at all!

But if you DO decide to change the shape it is easy to change it up in just about any way you can imagine. We turned it into a traditional bean bag chair, a 'scoop' chair that was popular ages ago, and so on. It was hard to find a position that didn't work.

My wife and I even turned it into a wedge shape, and were able to lay on the floor with our heads propped up to watch a movie on our home theater. The kids wanted to have a turn, and they got theirs … later!

Having my boys test out the Sumo Omni told me two things – it is huge and durable! The boys are 6'1' and 6'3', so finding anything that fits them is a surprise – yet in the weeks since we got the Sumo Omni it is rare to find one of them NOT plopped on it in some configuration! And since they seem to 'plop' on everything, the Omni has gotten the gorilla test – and held up perfectly!

The only criticism I could give is that because of how malleable and comfortable the Sumo Omni is, you will want it in your family room. But as a big amorphous bean bag chair … it isn't the best looking furnishing you could picture! Still, it is not something you want to tuck away – it is just too comfortable.

As I mentioned, I had no idea what to expect when the Sumo Omni arrived, but after a few weeks I am sold – it is amazingly comfortable, incredibly durable, and can be reshaped easily to just about any shape you want. If you are looking for an incredibly comfortable piece of 'flop-ware' for you or your kids, definitely check out the Sumo Omni!

Here is a fun video of my kids and I unboxing and putting the Sumo Omni to use!

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