Standing Desks
I’ve been looking for a standing desk for sometime … but there are so many options!
Here’s what I learnt …
- The majority of desks out there use motorised frames by Jiacang. They’re not bad frames – but essentially most of the desks out there are the same desk – with a different desk top and brand.
- There’s three ways standing desks are sold – the ‘cheap’ ones sold at online stores (e.g. Amazon / eBay), the direct to consumer brands (e.g. Desky, UpDown, Omnidesk, etc) and the commercial furniture hard to order style.
- The ‘gold standard’ of motorised frames is Linak; a Danish linear actuator manufacturing company.
- There are a lot of options for desktops – melamine / laminate / bamboo is cheap(er) but likely won’t last as long; hardwoods are the better long-term option.
- Look out for the warranty – some are as low as one year; others right up to 10 years!
I ended up deciding I wanted a desk that used a Linak motorised frame as it has a good reputation & warranty + there’s a whole ecosystem of apps / programs / etc to control the height.
Ok … so what options are there? (in Australia)
- IKEA Idåsen – sneaky IKEA actually uses a Linak system for this desk, but the frame’s design I feel will date pretty quickly; especially with its beige legs.
- UpDown Klik Desk – UpDown Desk now have a new range that use a Linak system (DF2 to be precise)
- There’s a few more niche options that start to fall into the ‘hard to order’ category.
I ended up getting the UpDown Klik Desk with an Acacia desktop. Some initial thoughts
- The desk frame OOZES quality – it’s heavy and solid.
- Fairly easy to assemble and (mostly) tool-less; just a few screws into the desktop.
- The quality of the desktop is great too – it looks fantastic and has a super smooth finish.
- Delivery was straight-forward and they’ve taken a lot of care to package it so that nothing gets damaged.
- It’s certainly not the cheapest standing desk out there, but it feels like pretty good value (I did buy it on sale).