Quick Look Review: FlexiSpot SanoDesk Pro Height Adjustable Desk

FlexiSpot SanoDesk Pro Review

A high quality height adjustable desk that doesn’t break the bank.

I'm no doctor, but the consensus appears to be clear: sitting for long periods of time isn't healthy. There are lots of jobs where prolonged sitting can be a problem, and writing about and reviewing PC hardware is certainly one of them.

Our knowledge of the dangers of prolonged sitting or, more positively, the benefits of standing while working, isn't new. Indeed, several years ago when I first started my career focused on online writing I purchased what was then a relatively novel motorized sit-to-stand desk from Steelcase.

That Steelcase desk, which I continue to use to this day, is solid and well built, but it was insanely expensive at the time I bought it. Since then lots of companies have entered the market to offer cheaper sit-to-stand solutions, but few are high quality or feature-rich enough to justify their price points.

In my time looking at options ranging from Ikea to boutique companies specializing only in the standing desk product category, I've found that desks either lack features such as height memory, feel cheap with loud jerky motor movement, or involve a complicated and time consuming assembly process. There are good options out there, of course, and while they're far cheaper than my original Steelcase desk, they're still quite expensive.

But we were recently contacted by a company called FlexiSpot, who asked us to evaluate one of their motorized high-adjustable desks. We receive all kinds of review requests here, including frequent requests related to things on the periphery of the PC hardware industry such as desks and other furniture. But what caught my attention with FlexiSpot's proposal was their claim of an "easy 5-minute assembly" for their desk.

So, intrigued by that, I agreed to a review sample of the FlexiSpot SanoDesk Pro. Priced at $599.99 (now below $300) for the basic desk, the SanoDesk Pro isn't cheap, but in my testing I found it to offer premium construction and operation at a lower price than many alternatives of equal quality. And yes, that "5-minute assembly" claim is actually true.

The desk ships in two boxes, one for the particle board top — which has the power supply and cable management raceway already attached — and a second box with the two fully-assembled motorized legs.

Assembly involves simply unpacking everything, placing the desk top face down, sliding the legs into designated spots, and screwing in four bolts with the included tool. Then just connect the cables from each leg to the power supply, attach the control "handset" to either the right or left side with the included screws, stand the desk upright, and connect to power.

Not factoring in the time to break down and dispose of the shipping material, the entire assembly indeed took less than five minutes, and that's with some extra time to familiarize myself with the assembly instructions. If you were assembling multiple SanoDesks — say, for an office — subsequent assemblies could likely be completed in only two or three minutes.

The desk surface itself is 55-inches wide by 30-inches deep and it's available with either a gray frame and mahogany-colored top or, as reviewed, a black frame and black top.

Once the desk is powered on, you can control it from the handset. Standard up and down buttons let you manually set the height from an advertised minimum of 24.8-inches to a maximum 48.4-inches (measured from the bottom of the desk top), or you can assign up to three memory height positions. And I found the displayed heights to be relatively accurate, down to a tenth of an inch or so.

The SanoDesk Pro also includes a "reminder" feature that you can configure to alert you to change your position at any interval between 1 and 99 minutes. Once the reminder timer expires, a beeping sound will play until you adjust the height of the desk or silence it via the handset buttons.

This reminder feature is handy for those who plan to adjust their working position throughout the day, so that you don’t stay seated too long or get too tired standing, but similar functionality can be found in many other ways, such as the "stand reminders" on the Apple Watch, reminder apps on your desktop, or even just setting a timer on your smartphone. So, it's nice to have, but not essential.

The thing I like most about the SanoDesk Pro, however, is its sturdiness and smoothness of motion when changing height. Although quite basic in design, the desk's sturdiness rivals that of my much more expensive Steelcase, and with a weight capacity of 220 pounds, most users won't need to worry about overloading the motor. And speaking of the motor, the motion of the height adjustments gives the desk a nice premium feel. The motor is relatively quiet at under 50 dBs, and it has a nice smooth operation with subtle ramp-ups and ramp-downs.

The desk's included cable management lets you keep your workstation tidy in any height position, and, although they're not included, Flexispot offers a range of add-ons and accessories, such as monitor arms, keyboard trays, and laptop stands. Of course, none of these are essential — for example, I had no problem using my Ergotron monitor arm with the SanoDesk — so you can customize the desk with your own third-party accessories in most cases.

Other manufacturers offer motorized sit-to-stand desks with more features, such as built-in power outlets, wireless chargers, or storage, but usually at a much higher price point. So if you're looking for a simple, high quality motorized desk without breaking the bank, the FlexiSpot SanoDesk Pro is one to consider.

The desk is available now from FlexiSpot's website and ships to the contiguous U.S. for free. The included warranty is five years for the frame and three years for the motor and electronics. It's also worth noting that the company offers free returns within 30 days with no restocking fees, which is a good option for those looking to purchase their first standing desk and who aren't completely sure about the switch.