Atlas headrest for Herman Miller Aeron chair
Owners of Herman Miller Aeron chair would probably discover that the ergonomic chair lacks support for the upper neck and cranium. In your quest to tackle this, you are likely to have come across headrests from companies like Engineered Now and Atlas. After some comparisons, I settled for the Atlas’s suspension headrest and I got it for S$232 during Shopee 9.9 sales.
Why Atlas and not Engineered Now?
I chose Atlas because the headrest is wider (than Engineered Now’s HR04 headrest). With the shallower curvature, it should have less obstructions when I wear my headphones. The other reason is the vertical and horizontal adjustments are clearer to me – I adjust either the up/ down or front/ back position of the headrest. This is unlike Engineered Now’s headrest that seems to dip slightly lower when attempting to adjust it forward.
One down point of the Atlas headrest is that it will be impossible to adjust the headrest position while you are sitting if you had overly tightened the knobs. Well another way to look at it is that once you can lock it in place once you found the perfect position.
Unboxing and mounting the Atlas headrest
Atlas head support for the Herman Miller Aeron chair. Unboxing the Atlas head support for Aeron chair. The back cover for the head support, Allen/Hex key, and screws to mount the head support. The instructions for mounting the Atlas head support for Aeron chair. The Atlas head support for Herman Miller Aeron chair.
The installation is straightforward. The attachment mechanism is brilliant, it attaches onto the edge/ border of the back of the Aeron chair via an adjustable clamp. The only difficult part is centering the mechanism which measuring tape helps a lot. The dots (in my case two dots for size B) does not help. In case you are unaware, the top inner side of the chair’s back has dots to represent the size of the chair.
Attached the Atlas head support to the Herman Miller Aeron chair (classic). 
Attached the Atlas head support to the Herman Miller Aeron chair (classic). The Atlas head support attaches to the back of the Aeron chair. A closer look at the attachment point. The “claws” hook onto the Herman Miller Aeron chair. This knob adjusts the resistance of vertical (up/down) movement of the head support. This knob adjusts the resistance of the horizontal (front/back) movement of the head support. The headrest pivots at the area where the rods meet the headrest.
Closing note
The headrest is a great upgrade to the Herman Miller Aeron chair. When I am reading documents, I can rest back entirely on the chair. I have to lock the chair’s recline distance else I will be (literally) looking down at the documents.
If you need to frequently adjust the Atlas headrest’s position, you can loosen the knob slightly so that it is not stuck in a fixed position. However, this also means that the headrest will shift when you recline backwards forcefully. Personally I lock the vertical and loosen the horizontal slightly. For micro height adjustment due to the forward/backward position of the headrest, I would pivot the headrest slightly.
Is the Atlas suspension headrest for Herman Miller Aeron chair a worthwhile purchase? Definitely yes due to the current work-from-home arrangements.
