GoKawiilTips and Frequently Asked Questions Is a Standing Desk Worth It? AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron New research shows that while standing desks can potentially mitigate some health risks by limiting your sitting time, standing too long isn't all that great and can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. I reached out to Anne-Kristina Arnold, a kinesiology expert and senior lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University. She says the results from this recent study “illustrate how challenging some of this epidemiological research is." “To say standing workstations are good for everybody in every situation all the time is never going to flow,” Arnold tells WIRED. "There are so many variables, so many varied kinds of work we do—we're varied in our body sizes, in our fitness, in the shoes we wear. It's really hard to be able to say definitively that standing workstations are good. The research is mixed." Switching from sitting to standing doesn't solve all problems, and standing too long can cause its own problems. If you want to work with a standing workstation, Arnold recommends to use it in the standing position for 20 minutes per hour. If you have a normal desk, get up and move every 15 to 20 minutes. However, there's no definitive guideline. “The standing workstation isn't necessarily the answer—getting up and walking is better,” Arnold concludes. —Julian Chokkattu Electric vs. Manual Standing Desks AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron Our guide here focuses largely on electric standing desks, which have motors in the legs to smoothly move the table up and down. However, we have a few manual standing desk recommendations, too. If you're planning on switching up how you work a few times every day, an electric desk will simply be more convenient. However, if you just want to be able to adjust the height of your desk and won't be changing it all that often, then maybe look at manual standing desks. They're often cheaper. How to Properly Stand and Sit With a Standing Desk AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron The same ergonomic rules you follow when sitting at a workstation apply when you're standing. When your elbows are at a 90-degree position, you want the desk keyboard to be elbow height. Your monitor should be at eye level (a good rule of thumb is the top of your monitor should meet your eye), and if you're using a laptop, you should keep it angled with a laptop stand for a more ergonomic typing position. Be sure to adjust your office chair appropriately to the floor before adjusting the height of your desk. Watch Your Wires! AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron Cable management is exceptionally important when it comes to standing desks. After setting up your standing desk, make sure you keep an eye on every single wire that's connected to something on the desk when you start raising the desktop. Otherwise, funny things start to happen: wires come undone, or scoot light objects off the desk. WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu has unboxed and set up many desks over the years, and yet he still made a rookie move. As he was raising a desk, he didn't realize his Ethernet cable was taut, and it broke cleanly off the back of his PC when the desk reached a certain height. Welp. As for me, I'm a naturally distracted person, and so I need to tack my cables down or suffer grievous consequences on the regular. Keep an eye on the wires. Keep an eye on stuff near the wires. If you're not careful, you can even accidentally knock art off your wall. —Matthew Korfhage How We Test AccordionItemContainerButton LargeChevron I and other members of WIRED's Reviews team test standing desks in our own homes and in our own home offices. We use desks for months at a time (even years, in some cases), jotting down every flaw we see over the course of that time and noting any highlights. We look at building materials, motor noise, motor speed, preset options, cable management, and ease of use—and of course, the simple intangibles like aesthetics. We gauge the difficulty of the assembly and setup, as well as the difficulty of disassembling or moving each desk. Desks are a solid investment, and so we expect a desk to be with us for years, perhaps longer than we live in a city. And so we also look at both the length of the warranty and the service reputation of each company. Sometimes a small detail can take on outsized importance when using a desk over long periods, whether the existence or nonexistence of a grommet, a rounded edge, or a bolt that gets a little wobbly over time. That's why WIRED's Reviews team believes in the value of long-term testing, and why we do so in our own home offices. This long-term testing also means it's not easy for our small team to test every single desk out there, as these are bulky, big pieces of furniture and the setup is fairly involved. This means you may see a few missing brands in this guide, but we're always testing and adding more desks. —Matthew Korfhage
Other Standing Desks to Consider
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
Ergodriven Tempo Automatic Standing Desk for $629: It was only a matter of time before desks got “smart,” right? This Tempo from new-ish company Ergodriven is designed to automate the process of standing or sitting, with a Cruise Control function that will encourage you to change position during the day by, well, automatically doing so. A “wiggle” will alert you when the desk wants to change position, which you can override manually if you're eating lunch or in a meeting. A sensor will register your presence, so the desk won't move when you're away. WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning found that this all works as promised—as does a little app that registers “achievements” like standing time. But note the desk, while sturdy, is also a bit heavy, and a slight cosmetic crack formed early on the rounded edge. The 16-year warranty provides a bit of assurance.
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
Luxor Compact Electric Standing Desk for $200: The Luxor is a no-nonsense standing desk that does exactly what you expect and takes up minimal space. It’s perfect for students, small apartments, and anyone who needs a compact, budget-friendly setup. At 23.5 inches deep, the tabletop is shallow enough to fit into tight corners or shared spaces. The electric lift moves steadily at an inch per second, whisper-quiet, and the 154-pound weight capacity can handle a laptop, monitor, and a few textbooks with no sweat. The lift mechanism is exposed underneath, so you’ll want to leave some legroom when at sitting height. —Nicole Kinning
Simple Height Adjustable Desk for $850: The Simple Height Adjustable Desk lives up to its name. Assembly is straightforward and cable routing is tidy thanks to an integrated channel that keeps everything corralled. The T-shaped legs slide into a bracket instead of screwing or locking into place, which feels a little ambiguous, but once it’s upright, the desk is solid and sturdy. In practice, the desk became everything I needed. It’s smooth, quiet, and spacious, with four height presets. The laminate top is durable and forgiving—ideal if you’re like me and regularly forget that coasters exist. There are no fancy gimmicks, which is exactly the point. It's a dependable, fuss-free desk that prioritizes function over flashy. —Nicole Kinning
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
Eureka Ergonomic Opal Standing Desk for $2,250: WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning was a big fan of the, well, opaline looks of the Eureka Ergonomic Opal standing desk. It's a sturdy, milky-toned, downright fancy-looking pillar of vaguely art-deco luxe: beaded cabinets on each leg, gold hardware, marbled top, integrated drawer, hooooooey! It all makes for a quite distinctive aesthetic, and setup is a bit tricky given the heft of the desk. But unlike most standing desks, this one is outfitted quite beautifully as a full workstation, with roomy cabinets in each leg and a drawer offering ample storage. Just be sure to put grips on the bottom; it slid around on Kinning's hard floors like a curling stone, she noted. Once it's in place, bask in the stateliness. It's the rare standing desk where she could see herself writing a Great American Novel.
Autonomous Desk Pro for $600: The standout feature here is the new Desk AI, a separate control attachment that tracks your standing habits along with environmental factors like air pressure and quality, temperature, humidity, and noise. In theory, it’s meant to help you work smarter, but in practice, it mostly flags things you can’t control from the desk itself. If it came with an air purifier or fan to manage these conditions, then we’d be talkin’. Still, it’s a fun and techy bonus on an otherwise reliable desk.
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