Our Favorite Bean Bag Chairs for Adults (That Kids Will Love Too)

New York Times

2 days ago

I'm a writer who covers home and decor. When I'm not poring over specs or wielding a screwdriver, I'm visiting furniture and home-goods stores and showrooms. My lounging-about coverage includes a guide to the best sofa sleepers, a piece on a cooling mattress pad, and an ode to a luxe hangout for cats. I also write our Lego guides (like this one for adults, and this one about plants), which help me appreciate how childhood memories can enrich our adult lives.
Like all Wirecutter journalists, I review and test products with complete editorial independence. I'm never made aware of any business implications of our editorial recommendations, and follow all of our editorial standards.
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
The basics of bean-bag construction are largely the same — it consists of a cover, made of fabric (or sometimes real or fake leather), that encases an insert. This insert is stuffed with either expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads or shredded foam. When done right, beads provide a smoother experience as you move and adjust, while foam tends to feel a bit chunkier but adds a stronger sense of buoyancy.
EPS beads are made from tiny plastic resin spheres that expand when exposed to heat and steam, and it's the same material used to create packing foam. These beads have been used as bean-bag stuffing since the category's debut with the Sacco, invented in 1968 by three Italians designers and still available today. When it comes to EPS beads, we quickly learned that what sets apart the good from the bad is both the amount of beads used and their size. Our least favorite bag had thick beads, about half the size of a marble, and you could distinctly feel each one under the cover, while the most comfortable bags had beads that were tiny and created a more uniform, yet malleable, surface.
Some bags held so few beads that we sank right through them, others were so overstuffed that our weight barely made a dent. The larger beads we encountered had a bad smell, sort of a wet-dog-soaked-in-formaldehyde stench that refused to go away.
With a couple of exceptions, we tested bags in the four-feet-wide range, a decent middle ground to fit either an adult or child/teen, and a width that doesn't take up too much floorspace but still feels luxurious.
We also prioritized the following: An easy-to-wash cover
a wide selection of color and/or fabric styles to choose from
brands that offer a range of sizes to accommodate different spaces and body types.
After paring our list down to 17 models, we called in 10 to test. The process included unpacking, fluffing, and then lounging in each bean-bag chair. I sat in them while working on my laptop, and I paid close attention to how the covers felt against my skin and how the filling felt beneath my body. Over the course of four weeks, we noted how the foam options held their shape with increased compression over time and whether the stitching held strong.
We also got opinions from about 25 Wirecutter writers and editors, who offered their thoughts on the bean bags during a company gathering. We caught several staffers working from the bags in the weeks that followed, and we paid attention to the ones people gravitated toward the most. Over two dozen kids also weighed in during our annual Take Your Kids to Work Day. Ultimately, we ended up with six picks.
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
This bean bag is hard to beat. There's a massive selection of colors and textures to choose from, and it has a buoyant, proprietary filler. It's also extremely pricey, but it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Why it's great: Of the five size options offered by Lovesac, the MovieSac hits a sweet spot. It's large enough to feel extra luxurious but not so big that it overpowers. When the cover is properly positioned (with the small flap right where your back would land as you sit; see the photo, above), it forms a slight indentation on the top and toward the front. So it looks more like a proper seat than a massive furball. For its filler, Lovesac uses a proprietary blend of three foams with different densities; the company told us this blend absorbs body weight evenly and resists permanent compression. We've found the former assertion to be true, and so far it always puffs back up nicely.
All Lovesac chairs come vacuum-sealed in a large, reusable tote, and it takes a day or two for the insert to completely expand (like a foam mattress). Using the chair as a punching bag speeds up the process, and it doubles as an aggression outlet. If you want to return the bag or place it in storage, you can re-shrink the insert inside the large plastic bag and tote that it came in. If you saved your original tote but not the plastic bag, look for a bag that's around 60 gallons. You can also buy a shrink kit (usually $65) if you've tossed both the tote and the plastic bag. (Lovesac will send you one for free if you're within the 60-day trial period.) Just use a regular vacuum-cleaner hose to suck the air out after you've removed the cover. The time this takes varies depending on the strength of your vacuum cleaner, but expect around 10 minutes (or less if you're using a wet/dry vac).
You can order up to five fabric swatches before making your decision, and considering the chair's cost, we highly recommend doing so, or you can visit one of its retail locations. We tested the Chinchilla Dense Phur, and we found the texture to be thick and soft, with no visible shedding.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The price is the one dealbreaker, hands down. The cheapest combination of an insert plus cover is the chenille fabric option, and for the MovieSac size, that currently starts at around $600.
Dimensions: 4 by 3.7 feet (width by height)
Weight: 45 pounds
Cover options: over 150 color, pattern, and fabric combinations
Filler: shredded recycled foam
Return policy and warranty: There's a 60-day trial period; there's a lifetime warranty (if you buy it directly from the company).
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
Is it comfortable? Heck, yeah. Is it also obnoxious? That depends on how much spare room you've got.
Why it's great: First, our apologies to our readers who live in smaller homes, since Lovesac's The BigOne works only in gigantic rooms. If you don't mind spending a lot more, this is a tempting purchase, but you also need to be realistic about your space. Even plopped into our roughly 825-square-foot testing basement, this chair looked enormous (and it infringed upon our appliance team's vacuum-testing area).
That said, this chair is great fun as a soft landing pad for flying leaps and a cozy cloud for snuggling. The website's size illustration shows two adults and two children fitting on it, but of course this all depends on a person's size. We think two adults or one adult and a kid or two, max, is more realistic. We tested the vintage blue rained chenille, and we found it to be pleasantly soft yet durable enough to withstand being dragged across our concrete floor.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: A company rep was candid about The BigOne being Lovesac's most often returned option, largely (heh) due to how big it is. Don't let your eyes get bigger than your available square footage — or your wallet, for that matter. The cheapest combination of insert and cover (the chenille we tested) starts at just over $900.
Muscle strength is also necessary. When this chair arrived, I had to curve my body inside the partially unrolled vacuum-sealed insert and push with my feet to unfurl it, and it took three Wirecutter staffers to ferry it from the testing space to the photo studio.
Dimensions: 6 by 4.1 feet (width by height)
Weight: 95 pounds
Cover options: over 150 color, pattern, and fabric combinations
Filler: shredded recycled foam
Return policy and warranty: There's a 60-day trial period; there's a lifetime warranty (if you buy it directly from the company).
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
We like this outdoor option for indoors too. But due to the chair's rectangular shape, there's a bit of a learning curve to making it comfortable.
Why it's great: We tested the Fatboy Original Bean Bag Chair (intended for use indoors) and the Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair, and we much preferred the latter. Despite its name, the Outdoor bag is just as comfortable in the living room as it is on the patio. All of our testers, including adults and children, found the thick, heavy nylon cover of the indoor version (the Original) to be uncomfortably stiff. By contrast, the outdoor cover is more of a soft, canvas-like texture, and it repels dirt and water; it's made from olefin (a fabric used on many weather-protected products, including outdoor couches and patio umbrellas). Spilled water rolls right off of the Fatboy Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair. Joshua Lyon/NYT Wirecutter
Fatboy uses EPS beads for filler and describes it as 'virgin.' This just means it isn't made from recycled material, which can be more expensive to produce. (That said, Fatboy also told us that they are 'actively transitioning to more sustainable filling alternatives.') Fatboy also makes all types of bean-bag–style seating, from rockers to pool floats. I've tried the float (known as the Floatzac) and am a huge fan of its ability to keep you buoyant almost entirely above water. Fatboy's Floatzac keeps you almost entirely elevated above the water. Joshua Lyon/NYT Wirecutter
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Due to its rectangular shape, the Fatboy Original Outdoor Bean Bag Chair involves a bit of a learning curve to get comfortable. You have to lift it by the top corners and drop it down, and then you sit on the bottom third. This ensures there are enough beads to make a comfortable seat and enough behind you for back support. If you sit down on this chair without fluffing it first, your bottom will likely hit the ground.
If you're shopping for a bag with a fluffy surface, the Fatboy chair isn't for you. The covers for their indoor models are available in nylon, recycled velvet, and terry cloth only, and in fact, this bag came in dead last with our kid testers. It just couldn't compete with the snuggly faux fur on many of our other models.
Dimensions: 4.5 by 5.9 feet (width by length)
Weight: 13.5 pounds
Cover options: 12 colors, all in olefin fabric (except the red, in Sunbrella)
Filler: EPS beads
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within seven days of receipt; there's a one-year manufacturer defect warranty.
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
The insert, a folded-in-half mattress stuffed with shredded foam, provides the perfect amount of give and support in both its bean bag and sleeper forms.
Why it's great: The genius of Cordaroys Convertible Bean Bag is that it's two loungers in one. Instead of having the standard spherical innards, this chair is actually a folded-in-half mattress stuffed with shredded foam. When you remove the cover, you've got a guest bed that's perfect for children's sleepovers, and it's even a decent bed for unfussy adult visitors. We tested the queen-size-mattress version, and we were pleasantly surprised by how relatively comfortable and supportive both the bag and mattress pad were.
To keep this chair's proper form as a bean bag, you fit the cover over and around the folded mattress (rather than stuffing it back in willy-nilly, which results in a lumpy seat). The company claims its shredded foam is 'hypoallergenic,' and while we can't confirm that detail, Cordaroys is up to date on its CertiPUR-US certification status, as of 2025.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: We initially tested a faux-fur cover in white-with-brown-spots, and the bovine pattern was a huge hit with kids and adults alike. However, during our initial unboxing and testing, we noticed a lot of flyaway strands. We ran the cover through the washer and dryer, and it shed a shocking amount of strands, so we hoped the issue was solved. But it continued to shed, and even after a second cleaning, the cover released puffs of flyaway fur whenever we sat on it. So we ordered a corduroy cover for the chair instead, and we loved its soft, textural surface, with ridges about three times as thick as what you'd find on a pair of corduroy pants. After one round of washing and drying the Cordaroys Convertible Bean Bag's faux-fur cover, the amount of fuzz we collected was quite substantial. (The second round trapped less but did little to reduce the flyaway strands.) Abby Balter/NYT Wirecutter
That said, during our testing by kids, one staffer's daughter fell in love with the cow version, and the family will be long-term testing it. ('We have a gazillion vacuums going due to our dog and allergies, so I think some shedding is probably fine,' her mom said.) We'll see if the strands calm down, and we'll report back when we update this guide.
Dimensions: chair, 48 by 48 inches (width by height); bed, 60 by 80 inches (width by length)
Weight: 29 pounds
Cover options: 13 fabrics; 18 colors and patterns
Filler: foam
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 30 days of receipt (but you pay for shipping); it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Michael Murtaugh/NYT Wirecutter
Our smallest pick holds its shape well, and it offers surprisingly decent lower-back support, even for some adults.
Why it's great: The smallest bean bag we tested was the large version of the Pottery Barn Teen Sherpa Ivory Bean Bag Chair (just under 3.5 feet wide). Some of the other bags we tested, which came in under 4 feet, had too many or too few EPS beads, so we were either perched uncomfortably on top or sank right to the floor. Pottery Barn Teen's bag was just right, with a seat that was deep enough for lounging and supported the lower back. So for an adult, this bag serves as more of a squishy, form-fitting chair than something to curl up in, but it's still a fun alternative to a bed or a regular chair when you're reading or watching a movie.
The cover, insert cover, and beads are all UL Greenguard–certified. For an additional $16, you can get the bag monogrammed with up to three characters in five different fonts (though this voids the return policy). The zipper is lockable and comes with two adorable little keys (to keep very young kids from getting to the insert's beads). The Pottery Barn Teen Sherpa Bean Bag Chair has a lock on the zipper, to keep the youngest users from accessing the insert and beads. Joshua Lyon/NYT Wirecutter
Flaws but not dealbreakers: We suspected that Wircutter staffers' kids would have a discerning eye, yet we were still surprised by just how many of them noted that the white fabric would likely get dirty fast. And while they're probably right, we haven't noticed any egregious build-up, even after we dragged the bag around our offices for over a month. Like the rest of our picks' covers, this one is machine-washable. If you want to avoid white altogether, the bag comes in over two dozen colors and fabrics. We also found that the EPS beads were a bit larger than the ones in most other bags we tested; the larger beads created a slightly more textured surface, but it didn't bother us.
Dimensions: 41 by 24 inches (width by height)
Weight: 8 pounds
Cover options: 31 fabric, color, and design combinations
Filler: EPS beads
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 30 days of receipt (void if monogrammed); there is no warranty.
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This chair's foam filling is stiffer and much more noticeable than that of our other picks. But the bag still offers plenty of support, and it costs a lot less.
Why it's great: We tested the roughly 4-foot-wide Ultimate Sack 4000 after editor Kalee Thompson told us about the 5-foot version (the Ultimate Sack 5000, which appears in our gift guide for tweens). Kalee and her family have been enjoying this chair for over five years, and she said there are no signs of its flattening, despite near-daily use. When we were testing the 4000 model, the chunks of memory foam were a bit stiffer than the fillings of our other picks, but the 4000 chair was still squishy enough to be comfy while holding you aloft. The best thing about the Ultimate Sack, though, is the price: At the time of writing the 4000 was $225, from Ultimate Sack, compared with $600 for the cheapest iteration of a similarly sized MovieSac. (Indeed, Kalee bought the 5000 after her family fell in love with Lovesac's The BigOne on a trip to the mall, but understandably she balked at the price.) If you order direct from Ultimate Sack, you can have a full name embroidered onto the bag (for an additional fee), and all of the available covers are machine-washable.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Compared with the fillings of our other picks, the Ultimate Sack 4000's shredded foam is bigger and chunkier, with edges you can distinctly feel through the fabric. The teal polyester cover (the company calls it 'suede') we tested felt cheap to the touch, but it proved durable when we hauled it around the office. Plusher covers are available, for a slight increase in price.
Dimensions: 48 by 28 inches (width by height)
Weight: 40 pounds
Cover options: 17 fabric and color combinations
Filler: foam
Return policy and warranty: Returns are accepted within 15 days of delivery (including for customized bags) from Ultimate Sack; there's a 10-year limited warranty.
At first, the Big Joe Fuf Large Foam Filled Bean Bag Chair held a lot of promise. We liked the terracotta color we selected, as well as the soft, thick corduroy cover, and it initially felt nice and cushiony. Within just a couple of days, however, we found ourselves sinking all the way to the floor whenever we sat on it, despite fluffing it up each time.
With its EPS bead filling, the Muji Body Fit Cushion seemed like a great contender, thanks to its chic covers (sold separately) in grown-up colors like mustard. But we should have paid better attention to the name — it really is more of a large cushion. It feels stiff to sit on, but if you prop it up against a surface, like a wall or the front of a sofa, it provides nice, squishy support. Still, a couple of large pillows would work just as well.
Our hunt for an inexpensive bean bag brought us to the Posh Creations Bean Bag Chair, X-Large. It was an immediate dismissal due to the rank stench of its cheap, oversize EPS beads, and its overly stuffed insert provided almost no give, so it felt like sitting on a box.
This article was edited by Joanne Chen and Daniela Gorny.