When you write for a living, finding the best ergonomic desk becomes a rather high priority. I’ve had my eye on the line of Ergotron standing desks for some time. In terms of staying healthy, a Sit-Stand desk presents a great solution for staying active during what is often a very sedentary type of job. That is when we’re not testing tools in the shop or on the jobsite! While we do tend to move around quite a bit, the writing side of the business stands as a required part of the review process. I personally spend hours and hours in front of the computer as do Kenny, Austin, Josh, and Noelle, who also work here in the office. We all have standing desks.
Much excitement surrounded moving into our office space back in 2017. It gave us a lot more room to work and consolidated our writing team. Attached to roughly 2,000 square feet of shop space, the 640 square feet of air-conditioned office needed a working desk environment as versatile as its occupants. The Ergotron standing desks made for the perfect match. In fact, we grabbed one of each major style.
Best Ergotron Standing Desk for General Use
WorkFit-DL 60 Sit-Stand
Available in three colors—black, maple, and wenge—the Ergotron WorkFit-DL calibrates easily to whatever load you put on it. That means you can manually elevate or lower the desktop using the manual handle without having to apply much effort. It lets you sit or stand at will so you can engage in a full day of computing. This is a premium standing desk that gives you flexibility as you work.
This more economical desk comes in 48-inch and 60-inch wide formats. The one we use features a 60″ x 29″ (152.4 cm x 73.6 cm) work surface. We added an LX Desk Monitor Arm to allow us to mount a 24-inch LCD display alongside our iMac. The work surface height is adjustable from 31.3–51.3″ (80–130 cm) just by pulling upwards on the adjustment lever while guiding the table up or down.
Underdesk Keyboard Assembly
We also added a Neo-Flex Underdesk Keyboard Arm to allow us to place the keyboard at the proper ergonomic position relative to the display height. This keyboard arm lets you tilt it as desired for wrist ergonomics and also stores the keyboard underneath the WorkFit-DL 6 desk. When not in use it gives the desk a cleaner look. This is now the desk of Josh McGaffigan, our tool editor.
Assembly on this desk was straightforward, starting with attaching the base legs and crossbars to the tabletop. Once all of that is in place you mount the controls. Finally, you flip the desk upside down and dial in the tension to compensate for the weight of anything you place on top.
Best Ergotron Electric Standing Desk
Elevate 60
If you’re going to step up from the WorkFit-DL 60, that means an electric desk. The Elevate 60, Electric Sit-Stand Desk adjusts from sitting to standing height with the simple push of a button. The controls even hide neatly away underneath the desk surface. This full-sized 60″ wide (152 cm) desk gives you 29-inches of working depth. That’s plenty of space to handle a computer, extra monitor, and desktop speakers. The electric lift system can handle up to 150 lbs (68 kg). Given the low weight of today’s computers, laptops, and screens—you’ve got plenty of power to get you from sitting to standing. With all that weight, you’d think the desk would be immovable, however, the embedded rear wheels allow simple movement and repositioning.
Even though this Ergotron standing desk provides a powered lift system, it assembled almost as easily as the manual WorkFit-DL 60. The only difference was the power cable leading to the motorized legs and the use of a wired Up/Down remote control in place of a manual cable lever.
We found it both quick and easy to lift and lower this desk. Ours carried an extra monitor and several external drives for whatever video Austin Holloway was working on that day. The monitor mounts let Austin use dual VESA-mount displays. The height adjustment kept up and gave him an ergonomic screen viewing height at all lift positions. The range of motion takes the desk from 28″ (71 cm) to its maximum height of 47″ (119 cm).
Best Ergotron Ergonomic Standing Desk for Video Editing
Elevate Adjusta 60
Before Austin came along, I edited most of our videos. I found the Ergotron Elevate Adjusta 60 Electric Sit-Stand Desk as the best Ergotron standing desk for video editing. Similar to the Elevate 60, the Adjusta adds a “split” desktop. It gives you a way to hold one or two keyboards on the front portion of the desk. It can easily accommodate a mouse or even a Wacom tablet. That front portion can be at a different height than the rear portion which holds your computer monitors. I much prefer this to a keyboard tray, though it sacrifices having a large cohesive desk space.
What’s special about this system is that the same electric lift raises both desk sections up or down as desired. You simply press the Up or Down button on the 60″-wide (152 cm) dual-surface Elevate Adjusta, and both the front and back desk surfaces move together. This is the best ergonomic desk for anyone who needs a lot of space for keyboards and other input devices.
Additional Features
If you do want to make an adjustment to the independent height of the front keyboard surface, you simply squeeze a lever to place it right where you want it. It actually adjusts both above and below the rear desk surface. The tilt can also be adjusted from 9° forward to 15° backward. In terms of the keyboard surface support—it alone can handle up to 40 lbs (18.2 kg).
The Assembly of this Ergotron standing desk was actually a bit more involved. It included having to add and configure the adjustment arms for the front keyboard tray as opposed to simply placing the legs and crossbar on a single desk surface. Still, we had it together in no time—and since we did it last, there were very few surprises.
Like the Elevate 60, the Elevate Adjusta 60 can electrically lift up to 150 pounds. The range of motion on these Ergotron standing desks is from 28″ (71 cm) to 47″ (119 cm) in height. The system consistently and quickly lifts my 2017 iMac and 27-inch LED display. We attached both using an Ergotron LX Dual Side-by-Side Arm VESA mount.
Best Ergotron Standing Desk for Mobile Use
Ergotron WorkFit-PD Sit-Stand Desk
In addition to the three primary Ergotron desks, we also utilize two WorkFit-PD Sit-Stand Desks. These serve as mobile workstations and allow us to take notes and document results during our tool testing in the shop. One WorkFit-PD lives in our shop and the other now lives with Tim Johnson at Shop Tool Reviews.
I want to go through the features and advantages of each desk that Ergotron offers. I’ll start with the manual model, and then move up through the two electric models we use.
Ergotron Standing Desk Connectivity
One of the questions we often get with respect to ergonomic standing desks revolves around cabling. Since we tend to connect so much equipment to the desk, people wonder if anything gets caught up when the desk goes up or down. Surprisingly, there’s absolutely no interference between the desk movement and the cables of connected devices. Because the power strip we use rises and falls with the desk, the only space needed is for the singular power strip supply cord. With that free, I’ve yet to see any problems with cords or cables catching during the movement of the desk.
Best Ergotron Standing Desks Common Features
All of the Ergotron standing desks feature very cool “Tilt-and-go” wheels on the rear that let you lift the front and move them forwards or backward as needed. This made it very easy to maneuver the desks into place once they were assembled in our office. Each of the desks also uses an Elevate Power Bar with 12 outlets. This lets us plug all of our cords into a single power strip. We like this power bar because it has multiple mounting methods and also spaces the receptacles 2 inches (5 cm) apart. Given the number of transformers we use, this comes in handy.
When finding the best ergonomic desk, don’t forget that you’ll spend considerable time on your feet. With any standing desk, you’ll definitely want something soft to stand on. This makes ALL the difference in the world when using these systems. We chose three Neo-Flex Floor Mats which measure 36″ x 24″ (91 x 61 cm). They slide easily underneath the Sit-Stand desks when not in use, and pull out with the slide of your foot.
Finally, cable management matters. To dress up your Ergotron standing desk, we recommend grabbing a Cable Management Kit. This helps you organize and route equipment wiring as needed.
Where to Find the Best Ergotron Standing Desk
It doesn’t matter if you’re a construction business owner, bidder, or simply filling out paperwork at home. Using Ergotron standing desks will be much more healthy than just sitting. If you already have a desk, Ergotron also makes WorkFit Desk Conversions that go right on top of your work surface. They even have models for corner desks. You can find Ergotron standing desks online from various retailers including Amazon and the Ergotron website.
One final tip: Be sure to vary your time standing and sitting. It’s recommended that you switch every couple of hours. Standing all day isn’t more healthy than sitting—in fact, it may be worse. There are other companies that make these types of desks, but I’ve followed Ergotron for years and found them to make high-quality products that last. When it came time to find the best ergonomic desk, these had everything we needed.
