I’ve been on the fence about the viability of standing desks and their benefits. As someone who spends the entirety of their workday at a desk, I often wonder what my life would be like if the option to stand without being bent over a desk. The Anda Seat Xtreme Standing Desk became available not long ago, and I got the opportunity to give it a thorough look to see how my life would be if I had the choice to sit or stand.
As is the case with most large pieces of office furniture, this story begins with the assembly of the desk itself. Arriving in two boxes (the desktop in one and the rest of the desk in the other), I was able to get the entire desk built in just under an hour and a half, thanks in large part to the ever-helpful ambition of my 6-year-old daughter. The biggest issue I had was the motorized mechanism that raises the desk from each leg. I thought I had the extendable bar connected from the motor on the right side to the motor on the left, but apparently, I had not pushed the bar in far enough, resulting in the desk raising on one side only.
A quick check of the mechanics revealed my silly error, and I was able to fix the issue. Thankfully, the design makes the rod readily accessible underneath the desk, so I got it extended properly, plugged everything back in, and everything worked as expected! The legs of the desk are sturdy and well-built, providing a stable base for the desk to sit upon, while the feet give the Anda Seat Xtreme a simple way to move around without worrying about scratching or scuffing your floors or carpet.
The Anda Seat Xtreme allows the user to adjust the height of their workstation from 730mm to 1170mm (28.7” – 46.1”) high. As a guy on the tall side of the spectrum (6’3”), I was concerned that the desk would not be able to reach a comfortable height for me to be happy. Thankfully, I was not disappointed, and the desk reached a height that was easy (arguably easier than sitting) for me to work at while standing, without being hunched over.
“…the Anda Seat Xtreme offers users the option to pre-set 3 different memorized heights using the buttons on the control panel.”
Although the desk raises to a comfortable height for me, it does take a lot longer than I expected to reach that height. The Anda Seat Xtreme raises at a speed of 22mm/s (1”/s), which doesn’t seem like a lot on paper. Maybe I thought it would go quicker, but it felt like I’d have time to go make tea before the desk would be at the right height.
Speaking of raising the height, the Anda Seat Xtreme offers users the option to pre-set 3 different memorized heights using the buttons on the control panel. Perfect for if multiple different users are using the desk or if you just have a certain height preference for your various moods, the Anda Seat Xtreme has enough to offer without becoming excessive.
The desktop itself (I was sent the 1.4m (55.1”) desktop) is made of a high-density fiberboard and finished with an anti-glare and scratch-resistant matte laminate. It’s light enough to not make the desk weigh an absolute tonne, and sturdy enough to provide a reliable home for your monitor(s) and any other peripherals you may see occupying space on the desk. The desktop is also very lightly textured, so it doesn’t have the feel of an ice rink, which I prefer, as ultra-smooth surfaces don’t feel right on a desk for me.
One of the biggest issues I’ve always had with desks at home is real estate. I somehow always manage to accumulate more things than I have space for. This was absolutely not the case with the Anda Seat Xtreme, as the desktop housed both monitors, a monitor stand, a keyboard and mouse, a microphone, a lamp, and a few decorations, and still had almost a full 1/3 of the desk remaining.
One of the biggest misses for me with the Anda Seat Xtreme is the cable-management tray. We all need some cable management in our lives, whether we have a minimalist setup or every cable known to man. The Anda Seat Xtreme falls down a bit in this regard as the affixed tray isn’t exactly readily accessible. Hidden underneath the desktop, it requires some dextrous movements on your part if you want to squeeze some things in, and hopefully your AC power bricks aren’t overly big because odds are it won’t fit between the desktop and the top of the tray.
At the end of the day, I still had a tonne of cables running down the back of the desk because the vast majority of them just aren’t long enough to stay in the tray and reach the PC, especially when raising and lowering the height of the work surface with any sort of regularity.
“…the Anda Seat Extreme Standing Desk is a fine addition to my home setup and provides a low-effort solution to midday fatigue by giving me the option to stand for a while.”
The control panel that raises and lowers the desk features a 6-button array and a 3-digit LED screen that displays your current desk height in millimetres. The left-most 2 buttons raise the desk up and down as easy as you like, the next three are the presets that you can set to your liking. Lastly, we have the Settings button that is used to map the height preferences for your presets, as well as min & max heights. Simple and elegant, exactly the way I like things.
Accessory-wise, the Anda Seat Xtreme offers two interesting options. First is the headphone holder that attaches to the desk right beside the control panel on the right side of the desk. It rotates to hide underneath or to the side to be out of the way. It’s also not too far away that you’d have to strain to reach it, either, so your favourite headset is never out of reach. The other addition is a cup holder that attaches to the opposite side of the desk and sits below the desktop surface. I really like this as it makes accidental spills virtually non-existent, protecting your valuable electronic peripherals.
Overall, the Anda Seat Extreme Standing Desk is a fine addition to my home setup and provides a low-effort solution to midday fatigue by giving me the option to stand for a while. The Anda Seat Xtreme is available in two colours: Matte Black and Arctic White, and I could go either way and be just as happy. There are a few gripes, like the rotary rod that I didn’t extend far enough and the cable management tray being awkwardly placed, but nothing that is too much of a deal-breaker; just more of an irritant should you need to use these things more frequently.
