I like quite a lot of us here in the UK, I currently have to work from home a few days a week. For this I tried to get myself together with a suitable desk set-up. Coincidentally, it was at this moment that Flex spot reached out to ask me to assess a standing desk. Of course I took my chance.
Standing desks have become very common, along with open-plan offices in workspaces across the country. They are now also becoming something that the home worker is beginning to delve into. The flexibility to adjust the height at the push of a button is a big advantage and makes finding the ideal working position very easy.
I have a fairly small home office with a maximum width of about 1.9 m. My previous office setup was a hodgepodge of IKEA desks and shelves that I had collected over the years. It worked, but it was far from perfect. I need something new and it had to be able to support a few different machines and monitors.
To meet these needs, I decided to work with the L-shaped desk EL1 and this thing is huge as you can see in the image below. However, it just fits!
It just arrived!!
The desk itself comes in a few different pieces and they were delivered separately by different couriers. Feedback has been given to Flex spot about this and it is something that will be explored to change. What this did mean was that I was able to get the first part of the desk setup and in place before the really heavy part arrived, which was lucky for me the next day.
Assembled the first phase
Assembly is pretty straightforward and it’s a simple case of following the instructions and driving in a few bolts and some set screws. Since this is an L-shaped desk, you can see that one side of the desk is longer than the other. This is to support the weight of the L. In the photo above, I actually put the orientation the wrong way, because I wasn’t aware of the size of the desk tops. My plan had been to orient the desk with the bottom of the L to the left. However, as can be seen in the image above, this was not possible due to its sheer size.
I have taken some measurements of the desk for you and they are included below.
Length 1200 mm Width 600 mm Depth 25 mm Total length when mounted 1800 mm
Due to these dimensions, the desk just fits in the room where you install the radiator. It gives a large work surface on which I can spread my kit quite nicely. As you can see from the pictures I’ve added. The minimum height of the desk is 710 mm and the maximum height is 1200 mm. It can carry 100kg and offers a dual motor lifting mechanism for super quiet operation at less than 50dB, which I tested. Raising and lowering the desk is controlled by a simple control panel that can be mounted on either side of the desk (depending on orientation). I managed to attach mine to the desk on the left and it feels like a natural place to have it. This is one of the places where there are no marked screw holes, so you will need to drill your own holes. Here’s a video lowering the desk from a standing position.
In addition to the standard desk, I also added a drawer that I attached to the bottom of the desk. Most agencies do not have this option and you have to pay extra for it. The tray is of very good quality and comes with brackets for easy mounting. Again, there are no pre-drilled holes for this add-on, so you’ll need to add your own, but the designers have thought of this to make it as easy as possible for you. It only took a few minutes to mark the holes with the template provided, attach the brackets and slide the tray into place. Once in place, the tray sits slightly lower than the desk about ?? mm, which actually turns out to be quite useful as the top of the drawer housing forms a useful shelf, the fact that it has a felt surface makes it very handy.
As for the drawer, it’s lockable, which is handy for storing your safe bits and pieces. The inside of the drawer is also lined with the same felt as the top, so you can place things in this space without worrying too much about them getting damaged. Like the desk, the drawer is made of steel, as is the rest of the frame, which is reassuring if safety is a concern for you. I think it justifies the extra cost, especially if you need the extra storage.
Another option you get is the keyboard tray, but I didn’t need it, so I didn’t have the opportunity to test it out. There are a few other things you can add to the desk setup, such as bike-style seating. floor mats, drawers etc. They are all reasonably priced and will definitely work with the desk setup.
Coming back to the height adjustment of the desk, as I mentioned earlier, the desk can be used at different heights between 710mm and 1200mm. The controls are very easy to use and as you can see in the picture below, the control unit has a number of programmable presets that can be customized to suit your needs. It also has the ability to remind you when to sit or stand, depending on a predefined setting that you can adjust. Out of the box, this was preset to 45 minutes. After this time, it will ask you to sit or stand, depending on what position you are in! Another feature I really liked is the fact that the desk has the ability to detect obstacles in the way under the desk when it’s lowered. I have recorded the video below to demonstrate this feature for you.
I have found that the material used for the construction of the desk is very good and it is solid. I see no reason why this desk should not last and I am very happy with it. I have found that the desk helps me with my work and makes it more pleasant to spend at my desk. The ability to switch between sitting and standing at the touch of a button is very convenient and allows me to be flexible in the way I work when I’m at home. I also found that it has helped reduce some of the physical pain that can occur from sitting at a desk for a long time. I recently suffered from a sore neck from a trampoline related injury caused by thinking I was much younger than I was! The ability to change position while working was very helpful while working. I found that sitting turned out to be uncomfortable while standing was much easier. having an agency that I could do this with has been extremely helpful and I am very thankful that something like this exists now!
Yes, they are a bit more expensive than a standard desk, but I think they are worth it if you suffer from back pain or work at a desk for a long time, it really helps. Now is also the best time to buy one of these for your home office as prices have been slashed for Black Friday. For the setup I currently have it should cost me £627.97, but with the current Black Friday deals it’s been reduced by 10% to £566.97.
More deals are available for agencies with up to 50% off some agencies. These deals can be found at Flexspot’s Website between 26 and 29 Nov.
