We really like this chair.  The gray is a little darker than the image, but it goes perfectly with our living room furniture.  It was very easy to assemble and was comfortable for the full 108 minutes it took to watch "Sing" with our kids.  It's lighter than I would expect for a hardwood frame chair.  I'm not an expert (or even an amateur) at wood recognition, but I question the validity of that statement.  Nonetheless, this was a great purchase and we would buy it again.