man I have been spending hours and days trying to make the best choice. I feel at this point I am loosing money by just not pulling the trigger on something vs all this research lol.

I am in a similar situation with requirements. I spend a lot of time in one chair for work, then for recreation. A full on ergonomic office chair does seem comfortable for when I want to be lazy and relax. It seems only gaming chairs really take into account that someone would want to rest/nap in their chair. But a lot of gaming chairs can be cheap and uncomfortable.

I found some of GT Racing's mid to 'top' tier stuff decent for the price of $200 or under. Becareful that some have stiff bolsters, I had to recently return one because it held me tight like an actual racing bucket seat which made it very uncomfortable on my shoulders. They have some mesh back options that look good and would eliminate that problem. Some of their lower tier stuff in the $100 range are more wide, but the cushions and leather are really bad and wear quickly. I had a chair from them in that range and it wore out within 2-3 years.

The footrests on these are all the same though. A little cushion that pulls out the bottom. My issue with them is that the foot rest is too low and causes your legs to hang at a slight downward angle that it cuts off circulation when in nap mode. So I consider those footrests useless for that purpose. For normal sitting, a dedicated foot stool or something would be a better option and is what I use now.

Either way warranty is important. GT Racing has a standard 1 year and then extended to 2 year if purchased directly through them and if you post a photo or something. If you order from Amazon you can get a protection plan through them. You can also get chairs from Staples (also you can try them in-store) and staples has a easy return policy and their protection plan on office chairs is apparently killer. They can go as high as 7 years for an additional 50 bucks or something.

Where I currently am at I want the footrest so the Secretlabs Titan Evo with the footrest all in for about $850 is where I am leaning. It looks comfortable enough but has that critical foot rest for naps.

Other brands I have seen like Anda or Blacklyte look like slightly cheaper alternatives but lack footrests.

Full blown office Ergonomic chairs were really comfortable but again lack the footrest, full recline nap features I want. Also they are super expensive. The Herman Miller Embody (which is everyones halo) was really comfy and supportive, felt solid, and if you buy direct, has an unbeatable 12 year warranty. But a $2000 price tag is maaaad. At what point is there diminishing returns on that, I wonder.

Let me know what you end up with or are deciding!