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Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar
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Credit:
Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar
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This 60-inch wide electric standing desk has all the bells and whistles to make your work day a breeze. Read More
The SmartDesk Core is a high-tech desk with a cool design that is comfortable to use, but it is difficult to set up. Read More
A big selling point for the VariDesk is the sheer amount of space; it can easily fit two monitors, a laptop, and a notebook. Read More
You can set preferred heights with the press of a button and the desk will stop at those pre-programmed heights as you raise and lower it. Read More
The Branch Standing Desk has a great combination of style and functionality. It is efficient with smooth height transitions and would compliment any home office. Read More
Adding a standing desk to your office or work from home setup is a great way to promote more movement throughout the day. Maybe you’re moved by the claims of better focus and improved cardiovascular health, or maybe you’re just tired of sitting all day. Whatever the case, they’re worth looking into.
We spent several years building, working with, and testing these desks. We found that the Vari Curve Electric Standing Desk (available at Vari) is the best standing desk you can buy thanks to its easy build, intuitive design, weight capacity, and extra features. If you’re looking for a high-tech desk for a good bargain, we recommend the SmartDesk Core (available at Autonomous). If you’re looking for something different, we’ve got plenty of options for you to choose from.
The Vari Curve Electric Standing Desk is the best standing desk you can buy right now.
We loved the high-tech and sleek design of the SmartDesk Core.
The Varidesk has a high height range and a smooth transition between heights, meaning you won’t need to take everything off the desk to adjust it.
Easy to assemble
Intuitive height controls
High-quality construction
Features cost extra
Straightforward assembly
Sturdy construction
Appealing design
Fewer accessories available
Smooth height transitions
Beautiful wood finish
Tons of accessories
Difficult to assemble
Lifts 350 lbs
Plenty of workspace
Limited height adjustments
Shaky during transitions
Simple design
Offered in a variety of sizes
Smooth height transitions
Heavy to assemble
Programmable LED controller
Fairly spacious
Confusing instructions
Difficult to assemble
Lackluster design
Easy to assemble
Attractive design
Spacious
Flimsy construction
Difficult to adjust
None that we could find
Limited height range
Low lifting capacity
Difficult to assemble
Easy to adjust
Quick-release keyboard tray
Accommodates a variety of heights
Keyboard tray doesn't come installed
Difficult to move
Comes assembled
Affordable
Missing a keyboard tray
Shaky when adjusting the height
I’m Cailey Lindberg, the Updates Staff Writer on the Product Roundups team here at Reviewed. Since I spend a lot of time hunched over my computer, I was curious to see if a standing desk could improve my overall health. I’ve suffered from terrible posture and back pain since childhood, trying everything from upper back braces to seeing a chiropractor once a week. Testing in this guide was also completed by longtime freelancer Terri Williams.
Former Reviewed writer Courtney Campbell was the original tester for this guide. As someone who frequently walked circles around the office to meet the hourly step goal on her fitness tracker, standing desks were a natural way to add more movement into her life.
The first thing we did was assemble the desks. Setting up the desks helped us determine how complicated it would be for an average person to build alone. We also took note of how long it took and how clear the instructions were.
For most of the testing, we used each desk for two to three days with a control foot mat. We adjusted each desk to our preferred heights and swapped between sitting and standing every few hours or so. We took note of how smooth the transition was, and whether we had to make any major changes to our workstations after the switch.
We also considered aesthetics, since a desk is such a prominent part of an office space. We also noted how sturdy it was and the desktop size, which was especially important to consider with smaller converters.
Some of the desks we tested could be controlled from apps.
A full standing desk is always positioned upright, and adjusts to a sitting or standing position with levers or electric controls. It’s a full piece of furniture that replaces your regular desk.
Standing desk converters sit on top of your desk and adjust the height of your work space. They’re much cheaper than a full-sized standing desk. Be aware that they can’t completely flatten to your desktop, so they’ll always raise your workspace height just a little.
You can choose from an electric standing desk or a manual, hand-cranking model. Motorized standing desks can be convenient, but they’re also noisy, have a limited adjustment range, and need to be plugged into a wall socket. On the other hand, you can find the perfect height for you at the touch of a button.
A simpler hand-cranking standing desk might be a better choice if you tend to keep a lot on your desk and need a heavier lift capacity, but it will be more difficult (and time-consuming) to find your perfect height setting. In order to remember your best heights, you’ll have to count how many turns it takes to go from sitting to standing each time you adjust your desk.
Jack Dennerlein, a professor who studies ergonomics at Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern, recommends starting with the desk at elbow height and adjusting from there to find what’s most comfortable.
While research is still being done, some medical experts believe that standing desks may offer certain health benefits and can even boost your productivity. A National Institutes of Health study reports that 87% of participants felt a standing desk increased their energy levels.
Healthline reports these products can help to moderate weight gain and lower blood sugar levels. They also suggest it could minimize back pain and boost your mood, and that standing instead of sitting for just an hour a day can burn 1,000 more calories over a week.
Additional NIH studies saw a 32% change in the amount of back pain reported by participants after using a standing desk. While these are some big claims, the data suggests that there are definite benefits to standing even some of the time, compared to a sedentary workday.
According to Jack Dennerlein, a professor who studies ergonomics at Bouve College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University, there’s no proper posture beyond what is comfortable for you. He recommends starting with your desk at elbow height and working from there to find what’s most comfortable.
“That’s why I like standing desks, because they give people so much adjustability,” he said. While they do offer control and variability, Dennerlein doesn’t recommend standing all day.
“I have a phrase, ‘If sitting is the new smoking, then we have to remember that standing is the old smoking,” he said. “Professions where you stand all day have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease than people who have a job where you sit.”
Instead, he recommends switching between standing and sitting as often as is comfortable. The amount of time doesn’t matter as much as moving throughout the day. During testing, I kept my arms at a 90-degree angle and stood normally, sometimes shifting my weight from leg to leg to get the most out of each desk.
Courtney is an editor and shopper with a passion for finding the best things on the internet. She's a foodie and will talk about the latest batch of kombucha she's brewing to anyone who will listen. She has previously worked for Country Living, Woman's Day, and Our State Magazine.
Cailey Lindberg
Staff Writer, Updates
Cailey Lindberg is a Staff Writer at Reviewed and full-time Dog Mom to @sandor_thebassethound. In her spare time, she writes about music and history for Mental Floss.
Terri Williams is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.
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