Steelcase Leap V1 vs Leap V2 (2026)

The V2 adds arm depth adjustment and better back coverage for taller sitters. The V1 has thicker padding and a lower remanufactured price, which makes it the better buy for most people shopping rebuilt.

Side-by-Side Summary

The V1 is discontinued new, so a buyer comparing these two chairs is usually choosing between two remanufactured chairs at different prices. The V2 is also sold new on Amazon, at roughly three times the price of a rebuilt V1, for anyone who wants an unused chair.

Where a figure for either chair is not listed, this page leaves it out and says so.

What Changed Between the Generations

Steelcase’s changes from the V1 to the V2 fit in a short list:

• The V2 added arm depth adjustment. The V1’s arms move for height, width, and pivot, with less depth travel.
• The V2 has cleaner styling, a visual change with no adjustment attached.
• The V2 offers better back coverage for taller users.
• The V1 has thicker seat and arm padding.
• The V1 has a lower remanufactured price.

Arm depth is an adjustment you either use or ignore, and styling has no effect on fit. Back coverage depends on your height, and the last two items favor the older chair. The weight rating is unchanged: both generations are rated to 400 pounds for 24/7 multi-shift use.

Both generations keep adjustable lumbar and pair LiveBack flex with the Natural Glide System recline. The Steelcase Leap V1 review and the Steelcase Leap review cover each chair on its own.

Armrests, the Clearest Functional Gap

Arm depth is the one difference that can decide the comparison on its own.

The V1’s arms adjust four ways, covering height, width, and pivot, with less depth travel than the V2’s. The V2 added depth adjustment, which lets you slide the arm pads toward the desk edge or back toward your torso.

If your keyboard and mouse stay in fixed positions and your forearms land in the same place every time you sit, the V1’s arms cover the adjustments you will use. If you switch between typing at a desk, holding a tablet, and leaning back with a laptop, the arm pads need to follow you, and the V2’s depth adjustment does that job.

Set seat height before arm position. Work through the guide to setting up an office chair in its stated order before deciding you need arm depth.

Lumbar and Back Support

The Leap V1’s lumbar adjusts for both height and firmness, so you can move the support up or down to meet your lower back and then set how firmly it presses.

The V2 has the same pair of controls: a height-adjustable lumbar plus a separate firmness dial. A lumbar travel range in inches is not listed for either chair.

Both backs use LiveBack flex paired with the Natural Glide System recline. The V2 has a 5-position tilt lock with tension control; the V1’s tilt lock positions are not listed.

If lower back pain is the reason you are shopping, the explainer on office chair lumbar support covers which adjustments do the work, and the best office chairs for back pain guide covers the wider field. This page compares fit and adjustments and is not medical advice; persistent pain is worth raising with a clinician.

Padding, Seat Fit, and Long Days

The V1 carries thicker padding in both the seat and the arm pads, and the V2’s padding is thinner. If you sit on thin padding and feel the seat pan under you, the V1 is the safer pick.

Seat depth, meaning how far the pan extends under your thigh, is the other fit question. The V2 has a seat depth slider listed at 15.75 to 18.75 inches. No seat depth figure is listed for the V1, so measure yourself and compare against the listing for the unit you are considering. The explainer on office chair seat depth covers how to take that measurement and what to do when a chair does not match it.

The Leap V1 Highback

The Highback answers the main fit argument for the V2 on the older chassis.

It is the same V1 chassis with an extended backrest that adds upper back and shoulder coverage, and it is the V1 version for taller sitters. Back coverage for taller users is one of the V2’s advantages, so if height is your reason for leaning toward the V2, the Highback addresses it while keeping the V1’s thicker padding. At Crandall it costs a little more than the standard V1 and still less than a rebuilt V2.

The Highback keeps the V1 arms, so it does not add arm depth adjustment. A tall sitter who also wants arm pads that move forward and back is the one buyer for whom the V2 is clearly correct. For sizing across more chairs, see the best ergonomic chairs for tall people guide.

Buying Remanufactured and What the Warranty Covers

A remanufactured chair from a specialist is rebuilt and sold with a written warranty, which is what separates it from a used chair sold as-is.

Crandall Office remanufactures both Leap generations, and its remanufactured chairs carry a 12-year warranty. The cover includes parts and excludes labor. It applies to the original owner in the US and cannot be transferred, and returns are free.

Read the Crandall listing for the configuration you are considering before you buy. Both chassis carry the 24/7 multi-shift rating.

Price and Value

The price gap between these chairs is larger than the feature gap.

A rebuilt V1 costs roughly a third of a new V2 and around 60 percent of a rebuilt V2. The V1 Highback sits between the rebuilt V1 and the rebuilt V2. The money separating a rebuilt V1 from a rebuilt V2 pays for arm depth adjustment, cleaner styling, and better back coverage for taller sitters, and you give up some padding in exchange.

The editorial on whether the Steelcase Leap V2 is worth it makes the case for the newer chair on its own terms.

A new V2 makes sense if the chair is going into a client-facing room or you want a chair nobody else has owned. Bought new, the V2 carries Steelcase’s Limited Lifetime warranty with 12-year coverage.

Alternatives Worth a Look

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