NEMO Stargaze EVO-X review: three months beside the campfire

I pulled the Stargaze EVO-X out of its bag, opened the frame and was sitting down in about five seconds. Three months later, that still feels like a neat trick. The suspended seat is extraordinarily comfortable, and the way it swings and reclines makes a normal folding chair feel rather stiff. It also weighs nearly 15 pounds, so this is a chair for the car, the campsite and the patio, not one I want to carry down a trail.

I paid the full US$179.95 at NEMO's web shop and used the chair for three months of car camping around Quebec, including the Saguenay and Hautes-Gorges areas and the Gulf of St. Lawrence coast. Those trips included hot, cold and humid days and a wide variety of ground. I also hiked on those trips, but the chair stayed close to the vehicle or camp. By my reckoning, I have spent hundreds of hours sitting in it.

The verdict

The EVO-X is the most comfortable camp chair I have used. Its sling supports me without a hard bar pressing into my thighs or back, and the padded headrest lands in the right place. Leaning back moves the seat into a deep recline without fiddling with a lever. Leaning forward brings me upright again. When I settle into it beside a fire, the weight and packing size stop occupying my thoughts.

They return when it is time to move camp. The packed chair is about the size of a small golf bag and weighs nearly 15 pounds. The roll-top case and shoulder strap make the short walk from trunk to pitch more pleasant, but this is a big piece of luggage for a camp chair. It also has two irritating gaps in an otherwise excellent design: open drinks are unsafe in the moving cup holders, and my feet need more support when I recline fully.

For car campers, RV owners and anyone building a comfortable basecamp, those compromises are easy to understand before buying. For a beach reached by a long walk, or for a car already packed to the roof, they will matter every trip. The comfort, instant setup and steady frame earn the EVO-X 4.5 out of 5 for car camping. I would buy it again.

Three months around Quebec

The chair came out repeatedly across three months of camping, rather than for a single weekend. I used it around Quebec national parks and along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, in weather that went from hot and humid to distinctly cold. It stood on uneven dirt, soft sand and sloped grass over many different pitches. That range of ground is a better test of a camp chair than a flat patio alone.

I am a fairly big guy, so seat width, pressure points and the effort required to stand up matter to me. NEMO lists a 300-pound capacity in its main product description, and the sling gives me plenty of room. After hundreds of hours in the chair, I have a good sense of how comfortable it is over a long evening and how the frame and fabric have held up so far.

From bag to seat in seconds

Older Stargaze chairs made you assemble poles before you could sit down. The EVO-X does away with that job. I pull it out of the bag, open the folding steel X-frame and it unfurls and locks into place in about five seconds. There is no little pole sleeve to thread, no separate fabric seat to stretch across the frame, and no reason to postpone making camp comfortable until everything else is done.

Folding it is just as intuitive. The frame collapses back into a long package and goes into the included roll-top case. I do not have to relearn the sequence each time. Packing it away at the end of the night takes seconds, which is a relief when I am tired or the weather is turning.

The steel frame makes the chair feel solid, but I would only carry it from the trunk to a nearby pitch. The adjustable shoulder strap spreads some of the load without making a nearly 15-pound chair pleasant to haul down a trail. If I have a long walk from the parking area, I take something else.

A sling I can sit in for hours

Traditional folding chairs often put a metal tube exactly where I do not want one. The EVO-X suspends the seat inside its frame, so my weight rests in the sling rather than on a crossbar. I can sit for a long evening without a hard edge pinching the backs of my thighs or digging into my spine. The seat has enough space to swallow a bigger person comfortably.

The headrest deserves a mention of its own. It meets my head when I lean back, rather than leaving me craning my neck or hunting for a better position. The flexible back follows my movement, and the seat sits a little higher than the low camp chairs I have used. Getting in feels easy; getting out takes a slight forward roll because I have been cradled in the fabric. Once I know to do that, standing up is not a struggle.

For a few minutes, almost any decent chair can feel fine. This one kept earning its place through repeated hours of sitting and talking at camp. The suspended seat removes the little pressure points that normally have me shifting around. That is the practical advantage behind the hammock comparison. The EVO-X lets me stay put and relax, rather than making me think about the chair beneath me.

Reclining without a lever

The recline is the reason to choose the Stargaze. I shift my weight and lean back; the webbing takes the load and the sling moves smoothly with me. I can stop at the angle I want without finding a pin or tightening a strap. When I want a drink or need to tend the fire, I lean forward and the seat follows me upright. Nothing about that movement feels abrupt or difficult to control.

There is also a gentle swinging motion, which makes the chair feel more like a suspended seat than a rigid recliner. I expected the movement to make me nervous at first, especially with a heavy steel frame beneath me. Instead, the recline and swing became the parts I looked forward to every evening. It is easy to settle back, look up and stay there.

The missing footrest is most obvious at the deepest angle. My upper body is supported, but my feet are still on the ground and can feel as though they are dangling rather awkwardly. I would welcome an integrated way to support them. That would make the chair a more complete recliner without asking me to bring another piece of camp furniture.

More planted than it looks

Before my first full recline, I wondered whether I was about to fall backwards. The EVO-X never gave me that sensation once I was in it. The steel X-frame has a wide stance and six points of ground contact. Even when I swing or shift quite forcefully, the base stays planted while the seat moves above it.

I have used it on uneven dirt, soft sand and sloped grass. The chair has stayed steady on those pitches, rather than turning every lean to the side into a balancing exercise. I still choose a sensible place to set it down, as I would with any chair, but I do not have to hunt for a perfectly flat square of ground before sitting.

I can relax more when I do not have to worry about tipping. My Helinox Chair One is much easier to carry, but I have tipped it while leaning over to reach something. The EVO-X gives me far more freedom to shift around, and I can feel the benefit of its heavier frame whenever I do.

A strong frame and troublesome cup holders

After three months, the frame and fabric still feel substantial. The steel structure does not creak or flex when I drop into the seat, and the suspension webbing is thick. I have moved the chair between camps and used it on many kinds of ground without developing a rattle or finding wear that worries me.

The cup holders are less successful. There are two of them, but they move with the sling. Stand up and the chair changes angle; a drink in an open cup or can can tip with it. A capped bottle is a much safer choice. I find that especially irritating because sitting forward to grab a drink is otherwise so easy. The holders are convenient in the upright position, yet they demand more attention than a camp chair cup holder should.

That is a design issue I notice more than any missing pocket or gadget. A stable place for an open drink would suit a chair made for long evenings beside a fire. I would happily trade one of the current holders for a fixed holder on the frame. As it stands, I keep the bottle closed and put an open drink somewhere else before getting out.

The cost of all that comfort

The chair takes up real room in a vehicle. Packed down, it is long and thick enough to make me think about where it goes when I load the trunk. The roll-top bag keeps the frame contained, and the shoulder strap is a welcome detail, but neither changes the basic calculation: I have to want this chair badly enough to give up space that could have held other camp gear.

On a car camping trip, I do. On a hiking trip, I would bring a smaller chair or none at all. The Helinox Chair One is the obvious portable alternative from chairs I have used. It gives up the deep, supported recline and some stability, but carrying it is a completely different experience. The EVO-X belongs at the destination, close enough to the vehicle that its weight is a brief inconvenience.

The included case also makes it reasonable to keep the chair ready for an evening in the backyard. I can pull it out and be sitting down before I have finished deciding where to put it. That is another situation where its size matters less and the five-second setup matters more. The same logic applies to an RV pitch or a tailgate with room to unload beside the vehicle.

Value beside other camp chairs

US$179.95 is a lot for one camp chair, and I paid that full price. I keep taking the EVO-X on trips because I enjoy sitting in it, and because I can have it ready before I have even finished unpacking the rest of camp. After hundreds of hours, the hammock-like comfort and easy recline still feel worth paying for.

The GCI Outdoor Kickback Rocker is a good chair in its own right. I have used it, and I like being able to rock, but its spring-loaded mechanism and rigid seat make for a different kind of comfort. The EVO-X removes the seat from the frame and lets me recline more freely. The Helinox Chair One goes in the other direction: it is the one I would carry, while the NEMO is the one I would choose when the vehicle does the carrying.

For a comfortable car camping setup, our NEMO Roamer Mattress review covers the sleeping end of the same idea: accepting more bulk for a better night at camp. Our YETI Tundra 65 review looks at another piece of heavy basecamp gear whose performance has to justify the space it takes. Neither is a chair comparison, but both help put this kind of comfort-first packing decision in context.

I would buy the EVO-X again. For a backpacker or anyone short of vehicle space, it is hard to recommend. For car camping, an RV or an evening in the garden, it is the chair I want to sit in when I am done moving for the day. I would still like better cup holders and somewhere to put my feet. They do not erase how good the seat feels.

NEMO Stargaze EVO-X specifications

The figures below combine NEMO's published capacity and construction with the setup and carried weight I used.

Overall score: 4.5 out of 5. An extraordinarily comfortable chair for car camping, with instant setup and a steady recline. Bulk, moving cup holders and no footrest are the tradeoffs.

About the tester

Adam Whistler

Outdoor Expert, Adventure Guide & Long-Distance Sailor.

Adam is a seasoned outdoor guide with more than 300 weeks of adventure sports guiding experience across six countries. He has sailed 10,000+ miles aboard a cruising catamaran he rebuilt from the hull up. His reviews focus on reliability, repairability and how equipment performs when space, weight and dependable function matter.

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Editorial disclosure: Adam bought the Stargaze EVO-X at full price from NEMO for US$179.95.