January 21, 2006

Product Review: The Sumo Omni

Not too long ago, Dr. Rusty Shackleford was approached by the folks at Sumo Lounge and was asked if he could do a product review on their Sumo Omni. Rusty didn't have enough time to do a product review and offered it to his co-bloggers. I took up Rusty and Sumo Lounge on the offer and have put the Sumo Omni through an extensive week long test.

Originally Posted at Conservative Thinking

The Sumo Omni arrived in a battered and tattered box delivered by FedEx. The picture below does the condition of the box no justice. When I was taking the box out to the trash it literally disintegrated in my hands. I figured the Omni would be punctured and beads would be everywhere once I got it out of the box but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Once the Sumo Omni was out of the box I quickly realized this was one tough piece of urban furniture. The claim of a rip-proof nylon cover is a very believable one. Think of the bean bags you and your friends had when you were kids now think of that bean bag covered in a near Kevlar shell; imagine what you could do with it. That’s the Sumo Omni; durable, flexible and form-fitting.

I laid the Sumo Omni flat on the floor in our living room and decided to test this durability. I told my five-year-old daughter and amateur gymnast to have at it. Running jumps, head rolls, belly flops, and the list of punishment the Omni took goes on and on. Not only was the Omni holding up to the test but it was laughing in the face of my daughter. Another thing I noticed is that the Omni, after that extensive torture test, didn’t move around on the floor. It was literally holding itself down to the floor. It certainly wasn’t because of its weight. Coming at under eighteen pounds it’s one of the lightest pieces of furniture in my home.

After the grueling torture test I decided to attempt to put the Sumo Omni into a few of the positions mentioned on the Sumo Omni web page. This is where the folks at Sumo dropped the ball. The pictures on the web site did little to help me mold the beads into any position displayed. I contacted the company regarding a lack of instructions and Andrew informed me:

We are actually just in the process of implementing a video and sending instructions on how to conform an Omni. In the meantime you'll just have to use your imagination. Molding the beads & adjusting the firmness is pretty much the trick!

So in the meantime I decided to set it up in my daughter’s room as a much needed place for two adults or an adult and child to sit. We tested and utilized the Sumo Omni extensively for a week. We played video games, read stories, brushed hair and any number of tasks that you would think could be accomplished on a sofa, love seat, or chair.

The Sumo Omni held in place like we expected it to and provided a very comfortable place to sit in a room that didn’t have a good place for a 6’4� guy like myself to relax before. In addition, the Omni will make a perfect spare bed for my daughter’s friends and young family members.

All in all, I’d say that with the addition of shaping instructions the Sumo Omni would be a formidable opponent for anyone looking for a mid-sized piece of furniture to put in their living room, den, or playroom. It’s an excellent piece of urban furniture that could have an infinite number of uses in any home.