As previously pointed out in my first article “ 10 Best Ergonomic Chairs for Neck Pain ”, sitting on your butts for long periods of time invites significant health issues, especially if you’re sitting on a bad chair. However, switching chairs isn’t gonna solve all your problems, no matter how nice that new chair is and how ergonomically potent it may be. At the end of the day, you’re just sitting way too much, racing against deadlines and forgetting the fact that stretching out your legs or standing up, moving around every few hours of work are actually pretty necessary things in order to preserve both a good spine alignment, posture and a healthy body. That’s where standing desks come in.

Standing desks are basically like what it says on the tin, they are desks designed to give you a place to rest your wrists while standing, to let your work with the utmost flexibility to stand and move around freely. Sounds good huh? However, they aren’t all magic, some are definitely better than others and some are presumably worse, and even if they do meet the requirements of quality and functionality, they still have to pass the final eye test. Not all desks are created equal, and even more so when we get to specific subcategories like standing desks.

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Now I won’t claim to be an expert on desks, however I’ve used some standing desks and did a lot of research before paying for each of them, and some, enough to pop out this new article. It is one that contains 10 of the best standing desks I’ve chosen based on all the attributes previously mentioned which are quality, function and aesthetic, with height adjustability on the fly as a crucial base.

But... Why is that, you ask (let's assume you will ask)? Because if you suddenly want to sit down, what are you going to do? Move your whole messy dump of documents and paperwork and cool gadgets to another desk that more suits for your desired desk height? No, that would be a nightmare in itself and while I won’t reveal the names, some standing desks don’t offer this height adjustment ability which is most import, and turn themselves into bad and unfavourable products. With that in mind, these selections of mine, being ergonomically engineered to the max as they are (or so I say, which is as legit as it gets), you won’t have to care about maintaining the same productivity level while still staying in good health after getting them.

Ergotron is one of the better brands for ergonomic products and in terms of customizable and adjustable workstations, they are simply one of the best at it, with the WorkFit series as they main flagship products. Similar to WorkFit-A and WorkFit-S, this D one is also designed to allow for easy adjustability without tons of complicated switches and locks, and extremely light for better mobility when needed. There’s an integrated brake system that secures the table height in place, and with just a touch, releases to easily change position. With up to 20 inches of height adjustments in total embedded in its legs the WorkFit-D can certainly serve as the single and only desk you’ll ever need.

Ergotron also produces accessories like underdesk keyboard arms and LCD arms that go with the standing desks, allowing users to build a truly personalized and ergonomic workstation, so bear that in mind as well when you go shopping.

In line with North American and European standards

Light with great mobility

Easily adjusted

Compatible with other products of same brand

I have had the pleasure to try this one out first hand much earlier than most customers, the perks of being a connoisseur of office furnitures I guess, and let me just say that this is without the doubt up there with the best in terms of standing desks. It’s a highly adjustable one with up to 8-lockable levels mechanical locking to offer a monstrous stability and high limits of height adjustment, adding up to this it has built in gas-strut technology that many high-end office chairs use this workstation certainly is primed to compete with top workstations on the ergonomic market. It’s also designed to be compatible with most of the usual suspects like laptops and keyboards etc, with separate areas and underdesk areas large enough to fit multiple of each.

One of the better things I noticed about this product as well was how it came in complete and pre-assembled, which saved a lot of troubles since most stuffs I use require initial assembling.

Built-in gas-strut technology

Immense stability made from structural steel

Delivered pre-assembled

Adjustable large surface area for tops and shelves

When it comes to the Stand Steady products it’s no doubt in my mind that each of them has a high percentage of receiving design awards and whatnot, but that’s not a mock. They are simply, really, really that good, and when concerning standing desk products of theirs it’s nothing short of fantastic. The Stand Steady Standing Desk is the famed award-winning, best-selling standing desk that are still spreading it’s dominance on the market at a fast rate among workplaces. It’s designed with minimalism in mind, with how packed and light it is in order to be placed on top of most existing desks, with it’s legs offering height adjustments and get you ready to work standing up in a hot minute, however the surface area is large enough to hold your monitors, keyboards, coffees, mouses to basically create a new workstation in itself.

The desk is extremely sturdy too which supports up to 75 pounds and most importantly, it is intelligently crafted to come with rubber feet which prevent sliding on most surfaces of desks.

Award winning design

Minimalistic and compacted

Extremely sturdy

Well Desk is a relatively new name on the market but like CavTech Ergonomics, that doesn’t mean they are bad, quite the opposite really. In my opinion this is one of the smartest designs of desks currently, despite its simple looks, with air holes serving as holders for the surface area while the legs are designed with saw teeth spreading out at the front outline to also act as holders, making the whole thing highly adjustable.

It’s gimmick, or should I say more politely it’s strongest point, is how each of them is made entirely by hand, from all-American craftsmanship, containing precision cut premium birch plywood for a stable, long standing desk that can even withstand the sharp tears of man pride from our all-American hero Ron Swanson.

Made from all-American craftsmanship

Stable premium birch plywood material

Intelligently designed adjustment system

While the Well Desk prides itself on its craftsmanship and simplistic designs, this Ergo Elements team is proud of its innovative integrations, especially the height and length mechanism system that gives its users an extreme freedom in personal adjustment. The Ergo Elements is one of the few desks on the market right now, not just standing desks, that can claim to be the closest to perfect adaptability, as it offers an extremely wide range of usages that comes with its electric programmable button base, being able to turn itself from small and compacked to big and lengthy with the touches of a button.

One thing to keep in mind though, only assemble this after you’ve got the desk top, as doing it the other way around will take more time for tweaking afterwards.

Has extremely high limits of adjustment

Fantastic adaptability with electric base

Also another new brand on the ergonomic market, but this Ergonomia standing desk certainly proves itself and deserves to be noticed more. The desk holds its strength in how sturdy it is, judging by the lever positioning and how the legs are placed within all the other pieces to only make short, stable movements, and despite that it comes with hydraulic pump which offers effortless height adjustments.

The Ergonomia is delivered fully assembled, so it’s length is absolute, however that’s not to say it’s small, it’s heavy duty frame which can support up to 50 pounds and offers an area that fit up to 2 monitors side by side or more. The con is that you have to use it on a full sized desk due to it’s weight and length not making it as ready-install as the Well Desk above.

Designed to increase stability

Delivered pre-assembled

Heavy duty frame with large surface area

What I like the most about this standing desk is how cheap it is in relation to it’s quality, and that’s not an understatement, as at circa ~$300 the LUXOR can be said as one of the very best standing desks at the price. Besides the very professional and sleek looking design that it displays to the world, it is actually extremely sturdy with a durable steel frame that has powder coated finish, coupled with the crank allowing for effortless height adjustment from sitting to standing, smooth enough to not spark big movements.

Assembly does take some patience and crafting skills however it does come with all the needed tools included, with an easy-to-read instruction manuals.

Professional and sleek looking design

Sturdy durable steel frame

Crank offering effortless height adjustment

Stand Up Desk, is no doubt one of the best in the business. The thing I notice about their brand is how they dedicate every fiber of their engineers’ being into integrating the best adjustment system and options possible at hand to accommodate with their designs, giving customers a better time, and this standing desk is no exception. To that point, this innovative standing desk features a fantastic electric operated push button control that quickly adjusts from sitting to standing positions in mere 20 seconds, which is much less than I could say for a lot of desks with electric bases.

The desk top and frame come in a variety of unique color options to fit personal style or work environment, with a surface area of choice able to fit up to 4 monitors side by side. With all of this, the Stand Up desk is still very mobile and light, owing to the 3* furniture casters on it’s legs with a locking brake system that offer immense stability. Assembly was relatively easy for a product that can claim to hold up to 154 pounds too. So go wild.

Innovativeelectric operated push button adjustment system

Wide range of color options for personal style

Mobile with 3* furniture casters on the legs

Conversion kit is just what Uncaged Ergonomics decided to call it, however in essence it’s a pop-up desk, a very good one too. Like the Well Desk or the Stand Steady, the LIFT’s job is to be placed upon another existing desk and in turns turn the whole thing into a standing desk to it’s owner’s satisfaction, however the gimmick here, what makes it different in my opinion, is how it’s designed to be folded up and compacted to the max and saving as much space as possible, giving you the feeling that you can fit it inside your pocket easily (maybe Chaplin’s pocket?). Although the surface area is quite small, that does say a lot to how intelligently crafted it is, considering the organization and holding space for work materials.

As a plus, the product comes in with an adjustable ergonomic keyboard tray that adjusts both in height and angle, which solves the why-is-my-keyboard-level-with-my-monitor century-old question.

Extremely compacted

Adjustable shelves including keyboard tray offering more surface areas

Smooth, stable top

ApexDesk has a lot of standing desks currently on the market, and this one is… just one of them. I couldn’t choose, as every single one follows a simple protocol that’s extremely successful: sturdy desk top, stable frame and high limit of height adjustment. Simplistic in the way it’s constructed, holding the 60”x30” top with scratch-resistant high-pressure laminate is an extremely stable and sturdy industrial-grade aluminium underframe that meets the requirements of ANSI/BIFMA standards and more.

The adjustment is done smoothly and soundly, with the ApexDesk offering a standard 2-button control with anti-collision function it’s able to raise from the lowest point to the highest point of standing in less than half a minute. The work surface area has a nice cherry finish, and the edge banding is excellent, almost seamless, making waves into it’s whole minimalistic and very clean look. At the price of $500, the thing looks locked to surpass any high-end standing desk that comes it’s way in terms of quality and endurance.