Update 11/21/23: Flexispot is currently running an early Black Friday sale and will be continuing sales through the holiday season. If you like this desk, this is a great opportunity to purchase it at a discount. Check out the sale here!
Flexispot has always been a company focused on delivering value for the dollar. It’s latest line of Pro series desks aims to continue that trend beginning at only $399. Featuring your choice of two- or three-stage legs for added stability and 220-275-pounds of lifting power, fast and quiet actuation, and simplified assembly, let’s see if the Flexispot Standing Desk Pro is best standing desk for work and gaming.
Specifications
- Current Price: Starting at $399 (Flexispot)
- Details and Dimensions
- Rectangle tops are available in every size
- Contoured tops are not available in some sizes
- Laminate top thickness: 1"
- Natural bamboo desktop thickness: 0.7”
- Bamboo curved desktop includes two grommets for better cable management
- Materials
- Chipboard - A sturdy material that holds up well under pressure, creates stable desks without weak spots.
- MDF(Medium Density Fiberboard) - Does not have knots or kinks that can disrupt the smooth surface.
- Bamboo Desktop -Truly environment-friendly bamboo desktop sourced from sustainable Forests. No pesticides or fertilizers are used
- EC3 Frame Details
- 220 lbs lb lifting capacity (not including desktop weight)
- 43.4" - 66.9" adjustable width
- 28.1" - 47.5" adjustable height
- Dual motor design for higher weight capacity and quicker lift speed
- Industry-leading warranty: 5 year for the frame, motor and other mechanisms, and 2 year for the controller and switch, electronics
- Whisper quiet: Operating noise less than 50dB
- Applied Desktop Size?47.2"-80" wide
- EC4 Frame Details
- 275 lbs lb lifting capacity (not including desktop weight)
- 43.4" - 66.9" adjustable width
- 23.8" - 49.4" adjustable height
- Dual motor design for higher weight capacity and quicker lift speed
- 3-stage desk frame for larger height range
- Industry-leading warranty: 5 year for the frame, motor and other mechanisms, and 2 year for the controller and switch, electronics
- Whisper quiet: Operating noise less than 50dB
- Applied Desktop Size?47.2"-80" wide
Flexispot is no newcomer to the world of standing desks. In fact, the company pretty much made its name on delivering solid desks for affordable prices. In the beginning, the desks weren’t without their issues but the company has stepped its game up over the last several years. When I reviewed Flexispot’s Comhar standing desk, I was frankly struck by how far the company had come with its designs. That desk was functionally competitive with others that cost hundreds of dollars more.
Flexispot Comhar
While the Comhar was a more stylized model with a full metal desk frame and tempered glass top, the Pro series is much closer to a traditional standing desk. It features a wooden top — chipboard, MDF, or solid wood — with a steel frame and control pad. There’s no built-in storage but the desks can be customized with different desktops and color combinations. The actuators in each leg are substantially more powerful and can accommodate larger desk setups.
Flexispot Standing Desk Pro
The Standing Desk Pro is available in multiple configurations to match your needs and potentially save you money. My version was sent with the EC3 legs, which have two stages (or unfolding parts) and is able to lift up to 220 pounds. For another 40 dollars, you can upgrade to the three-stage EC4 legs which support up to 275 pounds and greater stability. Both legs have similar levels of extension but the EC4 goes slightly higher at 49.4-inches versus the 47.5 inches on the EC3. The better choice will depend on how much weight you intend to load your desktop up with but the average gaming setup, including dual monitors, speakers, a tower, and lots of accessories won’t even approach 220 pounds, so it’s a safe bet for most users to opt for the EC3 and save some cash.
This was an especially interesting comparison for me: has the frame improved at all from the similar-in-looks E2 I reviewed back in 2018? The answer is an emphatic yes. Even though the two models look almost identical, the E3 frame is much more stable even when fully extended. The E2, while perfectly safe, did cause my webcam to shake distractingly anytime I was in a standing position. While any desk is likely to wobble to some degree, there was a definite improvement with the Pro series. In fact, I had previously had my webcam set up on a side table behind my desk for online teaching. With the E3, I was able to put my webcam back on my monitor and maintain better eye contact during online meetings.
The motors powering the desk are also fast, quiet, and smooth. They move at a rate of 1.5 inches a second and only generate about 50dB of noise. In a normal office environment, the noise will go unnoticed but it’s hardly bothersome even in a completely quiet room. The E2 wasn’t bad in either department but the Pro 2 is better in every way.
When you’re spending this much on a desk, you want to customize it to match your environment and living space. Flexispot offers ten different choices but depending on the size you’re looking for, your options may be limited. The desktop comes with nine options for artificial materials as well as bamboo solid wood. Most of these are wood grain but you can also opt for black, white, marble, or graphite-themed tops. Sizing ranges from 48x24 all the way to 80x30-inches depending on which your choose. Doing a little digging, I was able to find that you can mix-and-match your own Pro series with the Willow Desk configurator as it offers the same frame and accessory option. This provides three more solid wood tops in Cherry, Black Walnut, and Red Oak.
I opted for the Black Walnut top and was very impressed at the quality of the top. Like the laminate tops, it was a full inch thick (the bamboo is only 0.7-inches) and very well finished. There were no visible seams and the lacquer was impeccably smooth. I wondered, in fact, if it were a laminate at first but you can clearly feel the wood grain under your fingertips, and drilling into it proved the fact. There were also pre-drilled holes to streamline the assembly process — at least in most places. I still had to drill a couple, which I’ll get to soon.
When it comes to control, the Pro uses a mid-level control pad with three memory slots and an LED read-out of your current height. The pad also supports standing reminders and customizable anti-collision customization. One of the things you sacrifice at this price point are control options, so you won’t find advanced features like smartphone control. I rarely use those features, however, and was content to program in my sitting and standing heights and call it a day but if you want to control height from across the room, you’ll be left wanting. I also wish there was a child safety lock. Likewise, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my unit came with anti-collision disabled, which could have been a concern had one of my littles decided to play with the keypad. (Editor's Note: We are inquiring if this might be a defective control pad).
Assembly
Assembly has been streamlined from the E2 but this was definitely a more involved build process than the Comhar which was done inside of twenty minutes. All told, I spent around an hour assembling the Standing Desk Pro. It probably would have been faster had I had an extra set of hands. This is highly recommended if you follow Flexispot’s guide since you’ll need to flip the desk.
The Standing Desk Pro arrives in two boxes. One houses the desk surface and the other holds the frame and electronics. It comes almost completely disassembled but small elements have been streamlined from earlier models. The crossbeam, for example, is put together out of the box and just needs to be adjusted for your desk width. Once everything is unboxed, you shouldn’t need additional tools unless you find the need to drill like I did.
Building the frame wasn’t hard but did take fifteen minutes using a drill. The included tool would increase this, so bring your own driver set. The instructions are clear and straight-forward, so I wasn’t left guessing at all assembling the frame. The only issue I ran into was when it came to attaching it to the desktop. Flexispot advises putting the top face down and putting the frame on top. This is clearly the best way to complete this step but it also means flipping the desk back over, which can be difficult for a single person without also straining the screws. I opted to leave the frame upright and climb under the desk, which added time and effort.
Unlike the metal-framed Comhar, there were no metal threaded inserts, just pilot holes in the wood. This added time and limits the amount of assembly/disassembly cycles you’ll have before needing to drill new holes, so I would love to see Flexispot shift to inserts in the future.
The only challenge I ran into came with some missing pilot holes. Oddly, even though there were holes for the frame and for possible accessories, there were none for mounting the power supply under the table. My top was also missing pilot holes to secure the center of the cross beam. I happened to have a drill and matching bit, so drilling my own wasn’t an issue but it was odd to find extra pilot holes for optional accessories but no place for something as important as the power supply.
Final Thoughts
The Flexispot Standing Desk Pro is a big improvement over the original E2 and definitely demonstrates how far Flexispot has come with its designs and the quality of its products. For the money, it’s a great desk at a competitive price. Even with the quirks of the missing pilot holes and needing to enable anti-collision detection, the Standing Desk Pro series is an easy recommendation to make if you’re looking for a high-quality desk on a budget.
The product described in this article was provided by the manufacturer for evaluation purposes.