Your desk is a sacred space. Upon it rests your total faith that all those PC components that you painstakingly chose, purchased, and, perhaps, pieced together will have a safe and solid foundation. Every time you pull up to your monitor(s), keyboard, and mouse, you entrust it to hold everything together during intense boss encounters and late-night raids. At your desk, you may work, play, create, entertain, interact with others, or even replenish yourself with a bevy of beverages and snacks. Whatever you use your desktop for, your desk is hallowed ground.
Secretlab has captured the essence of this concept with the MAGNUS Pro Sit-to-Stand Metal Desk. Its sturdy design and elegant accents give the appropriate reverence to the role that it plays.
Within this review, we are going to be taking a closer look at the MAGNUS Pro XL by Secretlab, the options available to its ecosystem, talking about the overall design, our experiences, and weighing the value of such an investment.
Before we dive in, let’s break down the details of what we’re looking at today.
Specifications
- MSRP: $799 USD (MAGNUS Pro), $949 (MAGNUS Pro XL)
- Dimensions
- MAGNUS Pro: 59.1” (L) x 27.6” (W)
- MAGNUS Pro XL: 70.0” (L) x 31.5” (W)
- Height Range: 25.6 - 49.2”
- Motor Speed: 30mm/s
- Noise Level: <50dB
- Materials:
- Frame: Steel construction
- Desktop: MDF with Steel (SPCC)
- Hinged Rear Cover: MDF with Steel (SPCC)
- Control Module Mounting: Built-in
- Custom Presets: 3
- Load Capacity: Up to 265 lbs.
- Available Accessories:
- MAGPAD Desktop mat - starting at $49 USD
- MAGRGB Smart Lighting Strip - $79 USD
- Secretlab Cable Management Bundle - $49 USD
- MAGNUS Monitor Arm - $149 USD (Single), $249 (Dual)
- PC Mount - $89 USD
- Magnetic Headphone Hanger - $29
- Warranty: Up to 5 Years
Founded by semi-professional Starcraft II players Ian Ang and Alaric Choo in 2014, Secretlab has since become a ubiquitous name within the premium gaming chair market. And, rightly so! Their obsession with quality has earned the brand recognition and partnerships within esports, entertainment, charities, and beyond.
This same obsession with quality migrated beyond the seatback with the 2021 release of the MAGNUS Metal Desk. With a focus on smart cable management and sleek design, the MAGNUS Metal Desk provided a surface without clutter… but that wasn’t enough. August 2022 brought on that next evolution with the release of the MAGNUS Pro Sit-to-Stand Metal Desk.
(If you are interested in more of the history of Secretlab, check out the company’s About Us page)
Built with the same attention to detail and quality, the MAGNUS Pro maintains a number of the core features of the MAGNUS such as a substantial cable management tray, metal framed desktop, full desktop MAGPAD support, and optional accessories to assist with cable management as well as the MAGRBG Diffused LED Strip powered by Nanoleaf. So, with all of these features, where do you go from here? Up.
Featuring motorized legs with precision adjustments with a maximum height of 49.2 inches, the MAGNUS Pro take’s Secretlab’s desktop experience to new heights. While it might have been easy to simply take the same desktop as the MAGNUS, fit it with motorized legs, and attach a control panel to the underside, that is not what Secretlab did.
The desktop was redesigned to integrate the control panel within the desktop itself along with providing a special cable channel for the leg control module and power connectors. But why stop there? If power is provided through the desktop itself, why not build an outlet into the desk as well? That is exactly what Secretlab did; they included an outlet inside the cable management tray.
I could keep gushing about the design, but there is more to share, beginning with the building process!
From Box to Build
For this review, Secretlab sent the MAGNUS Pro XL, the Stealth MAGPAD, a cable management kit, MAGRGB lighting strip, and the Dual Monitor mount. Needless to say, it arrived in a couple boxes! The motorized legs and MAGPAD were bundled together into one box, the accessories in another, and the desktop by itself. Secretlab does recommend that you have help moving the desktop… and I have to agree: it is HEAVY! The desktop was also well packed with several pounds of extra protective foam and rubber, too. While semi-manageable (with a Herculean effort) by one person, products like this advise team lifting and assistance for your own good.
Once everything was unboxed and I took inventory of all the parts, we began to build! The steps for building were well-documented within the materials given and specially branded tools were included to help the process along.
Having considerable experience with flat-pack furniture, I was expecting a few cheap Allen wrenches, but these tools felt like they were a considerably higher quality than what I have been used to. This is usually the part where I scrap the included tools in favor of my own, but that was not the case on this build! Secretlab provided two long handled Allen wrenches alongside a driver handle with a removable, two-sided bit.
After assembling the desk, I installed the MAGPAD… which took a couple of attempts to get right. This, however, was my own fault; I should have read and followed the instructions closer. If I had, I would have seen that the MAGPAD comes with metal guides that need to be installed before the magnetic mat is unrolled. It was a rookie mistake, but not a catastrophic one.
Once the MAGPAD was in place, I measured out where I wanted to install the dual monitor mount and did so accordingly. With a 32” monitor and a 27” one, I wanted to ensure that there was enough room on either side of the monitors for my PC tower and other content creation devices. The base for the monitor mount was secured to the desk via clamp and tightened down in place by a hex bolt. Like the desk, the monitor mount came with its own set of tools. And, yes, their quality was consistent with the MAGNUS Pro’s tool kit.
While I did most of the build solo, I did have to call in some help to flip the desktop over and to attach the hinged cable management tray cover to the desktop. Overall, the unboxing and assembly took me around two hours plus a few more for obsessive cable management and visualizing where I wanted everything before it went on the desktop. With that in mind, your mileage may vary. During assembly, I also took my time taking pictures, examining parts, and to reason with my dog that it was not cuddle time… even though I was the one on his floor!
(Cable Management Tray, NZXT Function Keyboard for scale…)
Observations from Daily Use
I have had a standing desk for a few years now and the number of times I have actually used it in the standing position is shockingly low. Why? Simply put: cable length. I’m a tall guy, so the difference between my sitting height and standing height is drastic - especially if we’re going for ergonomics. With the amount of devices I need to power on my desktop and the awkward dance to make sure nothing was going to unplug or be pulled off the desk, it never made sense to use the standing feature if I was going to endanger the gear on top of it. The Secretlab MAGNUS Pro removed that fear with the built-in outlet; it is a game-changer for me.
With this newfound freedom, I was able to easily dial the right settings for me. The controls for the MAGNUS Pro are super simple, allowing for smooth, precise adjustments and the storage of three different height presets. For me, this is the perfect number: one setting for sitting, one setting for using my PC in a standing position, and one setting at just the right height for PC building. No more hunching over PC parts!
While my experience with the MAGNUS Pro XL has been overwhelmingly positive, I did find a few things that are a bit irksome. Most of those things fall into a singular camp: mounting devices to the desktop.
We will start with the MAGPAD because it was the part of the installation that gave me the most fits. It stays, largely, where it is supposed to, but after installing the monitor mount and a microphone boom arm, it does not lay quite as flush to the surface as I would like. Unfortunately, I did not notice this until after I had everything installed. Fixing this would require a full teardown… and I’m not sure it bothers me that much.
What bothers me a bit more is that there are not many mounting options for devices that are not specifically designed by Secretlab for this desk. For instance, the desktop mounting hardware for the Elgato Key Light fits within the space between the back of the desk and the hinged tray cover, but the handles used for tightening them to the desk do not have enough clearance to make their full rotation. As a result, they cannot be securely mounted onto the back of the desk. There is enough of a lip to (mostly) mount them on the sides, but I’m not sure how much I trust this long-term. This isn’t necessarily a complaint against the overall design of the MAGNUS Pro, but it is something to be aware of if you have existing hardware. Perhaps, light and camera mounts are accessories that Secretlab will release in the future.
Then, there is the MAGRGB… which was designed for this desk.
This lighting strip is exceptional in its own right. The integration with the Nanoleaf ecosystem, the control through Apple’s Homekit and Google’s Home apps, the build quality, and the general aesthetics are fantastic, but if you are going to use a monitor mount, installing the MAGRGB is less than seamless. While the magnetic strip still works, the pathing is less graceful. I can’t help but feel that there might be a better place to mount it other than where Secretlab recommends.
Final Thoughts
Your desktop is a sacred space and there are many worthy options to choose from. What Secretlab delivers with the MAGNUS Pro Sit-to-Stand Metal Desk is a premium and, dare I say, elevated standing desk experience. With its sturdy design, the smooth leatherette of the MAGPAD, integrated control mounting, and generously sized cable management tray, the MAGNUS Pro carries on Secretlab’s obsession with excellence.
Even the accessories we received carry that same attention to detail and quality as the main product. The MAGRGB LED strip provides programmable, diffused lighting with a magnetic strip for easy mounting and integration within the Nanoleaf ecosystem. The cable management kit (which, I would argue is more of a must than a set of accessories) offers three options for actually managing cables instead of simply hiding them. The dual monitor mount also stays true to the vision of clean cable management with purposeful function and compatibility with larger monitors.
All of this does, however, come at a premium price. Starting at $799 USD, the MAGNUS Pro is an investment and requires a pretty significant amount of space - especially if you are looking at the MAGNUS Pro XL. However, if you are looking at investing in a standing desk that delivers form and function as well as providing generous cable management for an uncluttered space, there are few options on the market that build quite as cleanly as the Secretlab MAGNUS Pro XL.
The product discussed in this article was provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of review.
