I first reviewed the Herman Miller Aeron in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. At the time, everyone was looking for the best office chair to set up their ideal work-from-home environment, and the chair that had come to signify the excesses of the dot-com era was once again in style.

Five years later, and with workers returning to the office in greater numbers, the legendary design company has tweaked the classic design ever so slightly. Outwardly, the redesigned Aeron looks nearly identical to the original, but the company has made a few alterations to make the chair slightly lighter yet support more weight. And, in a nod to consumers wanting a little more personalization, you can now get the chair in colors other than white or black.

Undoubtedly, the Aeron is still one of the best office chairs around, even if it commands a premium price. I used the chair in my home office for around two months to see how well it compares to the original.

Sizing and pricing

Like the original, the redesigned Aeron comes in three sizes (small, medium, and large), which mainly translates to a wider seat. I, being of medium build (around 6 feet and 200 pounds), chose the middle size; if you have a chance to go to a showroom, I recommend the trip, so you’re not stuck in a Goldilocks-style situation with a chair that’s too small or too large for your carriage. The small-size chair supports individuals up to 300 pounds, while the large chair can comfortably sit those weighing up to 400 pounds.

When configuring the chair, Herman Miller also offers other customizations, from the type of back support, if you want fully adjustable arms, standard or leather armpads, and even the type of casters.

I suspect most people will spend the greatest amount of time picking out the color of their chair. Due to improvements in the manufacturing process, you can now get the chair in all black, all graphite, all white, blue, or green, or select a model with a color for the top, and a chromed-out base. I opted for the all-green design.

While I applaud Herman Miller in adding new colors to its portfolio, it's still dwarfed by the options offered by some of its competitors

This is not a cheap chair - if you pick one that’s fully tricked out, it’ll cost you $2,300. Even if you pick the most basic features (such as fixed armrests and basic back support), you’ll still be paying $1,620.

That said, the Aeron comes with a 12-year warranty, something that’s only matched by Steelcase.

Unlike the Steelcase Karman, Herman Miller doesn’t offer the Aeron in a high-back model, or with a headrest; for that, you’d have to look to its Vantum Gaming Chair.

Packaging and assembly

Unlike many office chairs, which require a little elbow grease to get set up, the Aeron comes fully assembled — a rather large box appeared at my house one day, but all I needed to do was open it up, and roll out the chair, and I was ready to go. Those with narrow entryways may find this a little bit of a challenge; I had to remove the chair from its box outside my house, and then wheel the chair inside.

Support and comfort

While I no longer have the original Aeron chair, I found the new model to be just as comfortable as the old model. I’ve been using it for two months in my home office (and sitting on it for far longer than I should) without issue.

The mesh seat and back provide just the right amount of tension and padding, and its vented design has kept me cool during warmer summer months.

One thing I like are the clearly-marked icons on all the adjustment arms, so you can know at a glance if you’re about to raise the seat, or adjust the tension of the back. Too often with other chairs, you’re left guessing

I really liked the armrests. They have just the right amount of cushioning. You can adjust them up and down, slide them forward and back, and angle the front of them in and out. About the only thing you can’t do is move the entire armrest inwards, as you can with some chairs, like the Steelcase Leap.

Bottom line

I had very little doubt that the redesigned Herman Miller Aeron would be any less of a chair than the one I sat in half a decade ago, but it was still nice to confirm as much. This chair has proved more than comfortable after many, many hours of sitting. Once I (easily) adjusted it to my preferences, I never had any issues with it or my back, no matter how bad my posture might be.

Yes, this is an expensive office chair. Our favorite model overall, the Branch Verve, costs a fourth of what the Aeron goes for, and has a 7-year warranty, which should be good enough for most. But, if you want the ultimate in office chairs — in terms of both design and comfort — the Herman Miller Aeron can’t be beat.

Having to pull out your phone just to see the time or check the weather can get distracting real fast, especially with all those unread notifications waiting for your attention. That’s why I’ve been using one of the best smart displays to get quick info at a glance while working at my desk for the past few years. However, those screens can bring their own distractions if you’re not careful.

Adding a smart display underneath my monitor was a real game changer for my productivity early on. Not only was I putting wasted desk space to good use, but I also had full control over my smart home right in front of me, whether I used a tap on the screen or my voice.

After swapping between Google’s Nest Hub Max and Amazon’s Echo Show 8, though, I realized these more powerful screens might be overcomplicating things. Instead of another standard smart display, I recently switched to one that’s part digital photo frame and part retro desk screen. The coolest thing about Divoom’s Times Frame ($169, Amazon) is its transparent display — and the way its backlight illuminates the space around it.

Here’s what it’s been like spending the past week ditching a traditional smart display for one that mixes analog controls with deep customization.

Trading touch for knobs and buttons

Divoom sent over a Times Frame for me to check out in black, but it’s also available in white or pink to match the rest of your desk setup. In the box, you get the device itself, a power cable, and a cleaning cloth — since its clear 10.1-inch IPS display can be a bit of a fingerprint magnet. Fortunately, you won’t have to worry about smudges too much since you don’t actually touch the screen to interact with it.

Unlike a traditional lightbox that projects light outward behind an opaque sheet, the Times Frame flips this design on its head. Up front, you have a transparent display, while the back of the frame shines light outward. Given that this ambient glow may be too bright for some, Divoom includes an optional paper cutout to place behind the screen. Personally, I love the way it lights up the wall behind my desk, so I chose to leave the device as is.

There’s also a strip of RGB lighting wrapped around the left side of the frame. You can customize its colors, apply several dynamic lighting effects, or even set it to react to music. If you find this a bit too distracting, though, you can easily disable it in the companion app.

On the right side, there are two large knobs that can be pushed in to serve as buttons. The top dial controls screen brightness, while the bottom one cycles through clock faces — including custom ones added through the app. Below the dials, a dedicated settings button pulls up a radial menu to switch between clock faces, a Pomodoro timer, and other tools, with a physical back button next to it.

Powering the device is just as straightforward. It runs on a single USB-C cable, and I really appreciate that Divoom placed the port on the bottom-right rear corner. That placement made running a power cable up from under my desk clean and completely hassle-free.

A portrait-style desk companion

Compared to the other smart displays I’ve used at my desk, what immediately stood out to me about the Times Frame is its portrait orientation. While you can’t put it under your monitor, it serves as a conversation piece that fits quite well on the side of your desk. With the Framework Desktop on the right and my 40-inch ultrawide monitor in the middle, the Times Frame ended up being the perfect size and fit for this particular desk setup.

Its 10.1-inch display gives you quite a lot of screen space to work with and some of the pre-made clock faces make full use of all of it. While I tried out quite a few during my time testing the Times Frame, the one that stuck out to me most — Memphis — features bright colored shapes along with the current time and temperature.

Switching between the device’s various clock faces couldn’t be simpler. You just give the lower dial a twist, find the one you want and push in to select it. From the current MLB Rankings to stock and crypto prices and cartoonish takes on popular works of modern art, there are plenty of clock faces to pick from right out the gate.

Although you can technically set up the Times Frame and use it without the app, downloading it lets you connect the device to Wi-Fi, tweak its settings further, download new clock faces from the community gallery and make your own too.

From twisting to tapping

Once you download the Divoom app for Android or iOS and connect the Times Frame, a massive list of customization features opens up. Right out of the gate, you can remotely toggle the device on or off, adjust screen brightness, or configure the RGB lightstrip along the side.

The app’s main hub features a grid of icons covering everything from photo albums to a tomato-themed Pomodoro timer. Along the bottom, you can manage your active clock faces, while the Community tab lets you browse and download new designs made by other users

While the Aura RGB lightstrip doesn’t quite fit the cleaner look of my workspace, I appreciate just how deep the settings go. The app makes it easy to preview different lighting effects, and the EQ Rhythm mode can even bounce the lights to whatever music or game audio is playing in your room.

If you just want to stay on top of your schedule, though, you can sync the Times Frame directly with Google Calendar or Microsoft Calendar. Once I linked my account, I really loved how the transparent background makes color-coded events pop. That way, your upcoming meetings are almost impossible to miss.

From there, I dug deeper into the rest of the feature set. The Tomato Clock offers surprising depth, letting you tweak work intervals alongside short and long break durations to match your exact workflow. You can even use the frame as a digital scoreboard if you're playing mini-hoops at your desk. Divoom has been building pixel art displays for years, and that heritage shines through in the app’s drawing suite, which lets you design custom animations or static art from scratch.

Overall, the software offers far more utility than you'd expect from a device that looks like a simple desk clock at first glance.

All the info without the wake word

Now don’t get me wrong — I still love my smart displays from Google and Amazon. However, they’re often far better suited for the kitchen counter or a bedside table. The Divoom Times Frame delivers the perfect amount of quick, glanceable info without feeling overwhelming. Since you can’t stream YouTube or launch Fire TV on it, it’s also much less distracting — especially once you disable that Aura RGB lightstrip.

While the Times Frame was on the pricier side at $200 when it first launched, it has since come down in price, and you can often find the standard 64GB model on sale. Divoom also recently introduced a lower-capacity 32GB version for $159, making it a bit easier on your wallet.

Even with the higher price tag, what really sold me on the Times Frame is its intentional focus. It might be a simpler smart display on paper, but it functions as a versatile, multi-use tool — acting as a customizable clock, a color-coded calendar, or a high-tech Pomodoro timer for your desk. After spending a week with it, I don’t see myself swapping it back out for a traditional smart display anytime soon. It’s earned its spot on my desk.

More from Tom's Guide

• I tested Amazon’s new Echo Show 8 with Alexa+ — here’s how it stacks up to its predecessor
• I put 3 stacked monitor setups to the test and this is the one I’m sticking with
• I screenmaxxed my desk setup by going from three to five displays — but they aren’t all monitors

The Herman Miller Coyl Gaming Desk is a sophisticated, dual-motor electric standing desk built for gamers that feels right at home in a high-end home office. While not overly flashy, the subtle red accents on its signature coiled cable and cable management tray give away its gaming DNA.

Much like the Herman Miller Vantum gaming chair, the Coyl is the brand's first desk engineered specifically for gamers. It features a customizable modular setup, and while you can buy the base desk on its own, adding the optional cable tray and metal shroud completes its signature aesthetic. The shroud also opens up a pegboard-style ecosystem for extra accessories like controller mounts.

I’ve been using the Coyl Gaming Desk as my daily driver for a month for both work and play. It offers a spacious work surface, rock-solid three-stage legs, and replaces standard height-adjustment buttons with a slick rotary dial. However, it only comes in a single size, and installing the shroud prevents you from clamping a monitor arm to the back.

My Herman Miller Coyl Gaming Desk review will help you decide if it deserves a spot among the best gaming desks as well as the best standing desks — and whether its unique features justify its premium price.

Coyl Gaming Desk: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A premium, dual-motor electric standing desk.
• Who is it for? It’s designed for gamers but works just as well in a home office setup.
• What does it cost? The Herman Miller Coyl Gaming Desk costs $1,095, but you can also get it with a cable trough for $1,475 or with a cable trough and a shroud for $1,635. It’s worth noting that the desk is currently 25% off, which brings the price down significantly.
• What do we like? Using the rotary dial to adjust the desk’s height, the included surge protector’s coiled cable, the wide and easy-to-access cable management tray, and the three-stage legs.
• What don’t we like? The premium price, that the cable trough isn’t included with the base desk, that you can’t use a monitor arm with the shroud installed, that the desk only comes in one size, and how overpriced the accessories for the shroud are.

Coyl Gaming Desk: Specs

Coyl Gaming Desk: The Ups

From its modular design to its unique control scheme, the Coyl Gaming Desk has a lot going for it. However, it’s how these separate systems come together that really makes this desk shine.

Just a splash of red

At 60 x 28.5 inches, the Coyl Gaming Desk offers more than enough room for one of the best gaming PCs, a giant monitor or a multi-display setup, and all of your accessories. While it’s also available in white, walnut, and ash, most gamers — myself included — will likely opt for the all-black version.

Even if you go with the base desk without any of Herman Miller’s optional accessories, you still get an under-desk surge protector to plug in all your devices, complete with that iconic red cable true to the desk’s namesake. It adds just a splash of color to let you know that yes, this is in fact a gaming desk. Plus, no matter which desktop finish you pick, that coiled cord always comes in red.

For the optional cable trough, the felt front is either dark or light gray, depending on the finish, and its handles match the power cable’s shade of red. It’s a small but welcome touch, though you won’t notice it much while seated. When the desk is raised to its max height of 48.5 inches, though, those red accents really pop.

It’s also worth noting that the Coyl’s red accents, while slightly darker, are a close match to those on Herman Miller’s Vantum gaming chair — perfect if you’re thinking of pairing the two as a set.

On its own, the Coyl looks fairly similar to many of the other standing desks I’ve reviewed. Adding the cable trough and shroud is what really elevates the desk’s aesthetic. They aren’t strictly necessary, but without them, the only extra hardware features you’re getting are the inward-facing cable hooks on either side and the rotary dial.

Speaking of which...

Dialed in

Most electric standing desks feature an edge-mounted control pad with up and down buttons alongside several preset keys, though I’ve tested some desks that opt for touch panels instead, like the Branch Four Leg Desk. With the Coyl Gaming Desk, Herman Miller’s Devin Tran went in an entirely different direction.

To adjust this desk’s height, you place a finger inside the designated groove of its spring-loaded rotary dial and turn it. When you hit your preferred height, you simply let go, and the desk does the rest.

A small black-and-white OLED screen displays the desk’s current height in inches. Pressing in on the dial acts as a button to bring up the menu. From there, you can save up to three height presets, switch measurement units, lock the desk’s height, or set custom upper and lower height limits.

If you’ve been using a standing desk as long as I have, you start to memorize your exact sitting and standing preferences. What I really like about the Coyl’s dial is how effortless it makes those tiny micro-adjustments. On other desks, I often struggle to lock in precisely 28.5 inches — but with the Coyl, fine-tuning down to a tenth of an inch comes much more naturally.

Soft front, industrial back

If there’s one accessory I consider an absolute must when using an electric standing desk, it’s a cable management tray. That way, you don’t have to worry about your computer or monitor coming unplugged if their cords get snagged when the desk moves up or down. While I would have liked to see a basic cable tray included with the base desk, Herman Miller went above and beyond with the design of its optional cable trough.

From the front, it’s very inviting with soft-touch felt and red fabric straps — which serve as handles — that attach magnetically. Inside, however, the cable trough’s frame is constructed from sturdy metal, making it exceptionally solid.

Another thing I really like about the cable trough is that it spans the entire width of the Coyl Gaming Desk. This gives you more than enough room for the included surge protector and several bulky power bricks. There are also cutouts on either side and in the middle, allowing that coiled red cable to route down cleanly and stay as close as possible to your nearest wall outlet.

Given how easy it is to open and close, along with all of the space it provides, you could even use the cable trough for extra storage. With a mini PC, a soundbar, a Nintendo Switch 2, and a monitor on top of the desk, I only used about a third of the cable trough’s total capacity for the surge protector and their power adapters. I could easily put that extra space to good use storing items I occasionally use, like a spare mechanical keyboard.

Just like the rest of the optional accessories for the Coyl, the cable trough comes at a premium. However, compared to the metal shroud at the back of the desk, I found it to be far more functional and less purely aesthetic.

Coyl Gaming Desk: The Downs

The Coyl is certainly well-designed, and a lot of thought went into making it a more subtle gaming desk. However, it’s not without its faults — which include having to drill a few extra holes during assembly and the shroud’s functional shortcomings.

Not entirely pre-drilled

The Coyl Gaming Desk arrived in three large boxes alongside a few smaller ones because I tested the desk alongside all of its optional accessories. Everything was exceptionally well-packaged.

Unboxing left me with the desktop, cable trough, metal shroud, two motorized legs, and all the hardware required for assembly. Building the desk was fairly straightforward — right up until I needed to route the cables connecting the rotary dial and leg motors to the control box at the center.

Herman Miller pre-drills most of the holes on the underside of the Coyl. However, I noticed there weren't any pilot holes for the plastic cable management clips. On a budget desk, this is par for the course — but on a setup that can reach over $1,600 fully loaded, I expected every single screw location to be pre-drilled.

After mapping out my cable paths, I grabbed my power drill to drill a few pilot holes before screwing the clips in. Given Coyl’s price tag, I was also surprised to find a standard laminate desktop rather than solid wood or a premium veneer. In this case, though, the laminate worked in my favor — it’s one of the easiest materials to drill into, even if nobody buying a luxury desk expects to need power tools to finish the build.

A few pegs short

One trend gaining traction across both office and gaming desks is integrated pegboards for modular storage. However, unlike the Corsair Platform 4: Elevate — which features a tall, full-sized pegboard that extends well above your display — the Coyl’s metal shroud stops short. Very short.

I will give Herman Miller credit: installing the shroud is completely tool-free and ridiculously simple. You slide it over two metal mounting posts at the back of the desk and hand-tighten two bolts on either side. Once installed, however, it rises a mere three inches above the desk’s surface.

Beyond hiding cable clutter and serving as an aesthetic backdrop, the shroud is designed to host a line of proprietary plastic accessories that mount directly to its top edge. Herman Miller offers four options, ranging from a display stand to a round planter bowl.

The accessories function as advertised — I used one for the controller for my monitor light bar, one for my phone, and another for a gamepad. The issue is that on a 28.5-inch-deep desk, you really have to reach to access them while seated. Worse, they aren't included with the shroud; they're sold individually at a steep premium given their basic plastic construction.

You can use the shroud on its own, though, and I found its steel construction great for magnetic cable clips to keep charging cords within reach.

Then there's the Coyl's biggest dealbreaker: the shroud completely blocks rear-mounted monitor arms. Using one of the best monitor arms instead of the stand that comes in the box is standard practice for gamers and WFH professionals looking to free up desk space and give their screens that floating look.

While you can technically clamp an arm to the left or right side of the desk, doing so makes it almost impossible to center your monitor, as most arms lack the reach to extend all the way to the middle.

Coyl Gaming Desk: Verdict

The Coyl Gaming Desk is an exceptionally well-crafted piece of home office furniture with just the right amount of gamer flair for a subdued, modern battlestation. It offers rock-solid motor stability, sturdy three-stage legs, and a unique rotary control mechanism that makes fine-tuning your sitting or standing height effortless. While a single desktop size limits its appeal for smaller spaces, the finish options let it fit seamlessly into almost any room decor.

Where the Coyl falters is in its optional accessory ecosystem. The cable trough and shroud — alongside the signature coiled cable — are what give this desk its iconic look, robust cable management, and modular expansion. At a baseline price exceeding $1,000, it’s a tough pill to swallow that the cable tray isn't included standard, and that adding the shroud prevents you from clamping a monitor arm to the back.

If you have the budget and want a luxury, design-forward standing desk that elevates your space, the Coyl is an impressive performer — especially if you already own a Herman Miller chair to match. However, if you rely heavily on monitor arms or want a fully feature-packed modular desk out of the box without paying extra for basic add-ons, you may be better served by more versatile alternatives like the Corsair Platform 4 or 6.

After spending the last five years testing the best office chairs, I decided to mix things up by going completely chair-free for a week. While I missed the comfort and full-body support of my ergonomic office chair, I found myself moving a whole lot more, which is exactly the kind of thing you need to break up your workday.

Although you can do something similar with one of the best standing desks by switching between sitting and standing, you might not be ready — or even want — to swap out your current desk. Plus, given a good entry-level, dual-motor standing desk costs around $500, that’s a big investment if you just want to be a bit more active while working.

To that end, I decided to try out three active chairs for a week to see how well they supported my body and my workload. Unlike a traditional seat, active chairs encourage small, continuous movements and micro-adjustments throughout the day. Not only does this keep your core engaged and improve circulation, but it can also sharpen your focus and help fight off mid-day drowsiness.

Here’s what it was like ditching my office chair for a wobble stool, a saddle stool, and a kneeling chair. While this experiment was originally supposed to last just a week, it’s now been two — and of these three active chairs, I’ve found one I’m sticking with long term.

Bended knees, better posture?

As the oddball of the bunch, I decided to try out the kneeling chair first. Although this design was invented in the late ’70s and first rose to prominence in the ’80s, it’s seen a massive resurgence recently as more people work from home and look for alternatives to traditional office chairs. Even as someone well versed in home office furniture, it took me a few minutes to figure out how to sit on it properly.

With a kneeling chair, you sit on the top cushion while your shins rest on the two smaller pads below. Doing so drops your thighs from the standard 90° angle of an office chair down to a 60° or 70° angle. This shifts part of your body weight onto your shins rather than dumping all of it onto your tailbone, which helps reduce lower back pressure and prevents slouching in the process.

I learned the hard way what happens when you slouch on a kneeling chair: doing so absolutely kills your shins. After that painful lesson, I made a conscious effort to push my glutes back, straighten up the small of my back, and use the balls of my feet to keep the rest of my posture accountable. This made working in the chair a whole lot more comfortable, though I found myself focusing just as much on my posture as I did on the task at hand.

Many kneeling chairs feature a curved wooden base like the model I tested. This made sitting upright easier while allowing me to rock back and forth to burn off extra energy— a fun mental reset whenever my work got tedious.

While I had hoped the kneeling chair would be my favorite, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me. Still, if you struggle with lower back pressure and want an active way to force better alignment, it could be the right alternative seat for you.

Constant motion, fixed focus?

If you’ve ever seen someone sitting on an exercise ball at work, a wobble stool is the more professional (and much safer) alternative. While the kneeling chair gives you some limited movement, a wobble stool is designed to keep you moving continuously. It features a rounded, weighted base that tilts, swivels, and sways a full 360° — for better or worse.

A word of warning, though: a wobble stool is best paired with a standing desk, as they typically have a higher starting height than a traditional office chair. For instance, with the Secretlab Magnus Evo standing desk I used for testing, I had to raise the desktop up to 33 inches just to use the wobble stool comfortably.

Since you have to engage your core, lower back, and leg muscles to stay balanced, using one is a lot more physically taxing than a kneeling chair. If you’re wondering how wobble stools made the jump into home offices, they actually grew out of physical therapy and sensory education in the early 2000s. They are frequently recommended for people with ADHD or high energy, as the continuous micro-movements help channel extra energy into better mental focus.

Once I got my desk raised to a height where my forearms and monitor were in an ergonomic position, using the wobble stool felt far more natural to me than the kneeling chair. I really liked being able to rock back and forth or sway side to side for quick breaks while typing. I also found the weighted base to be a surprisingly comfortable spot to rest my feet, even if maintaining an upright, backless posture required more core stamina while doing so.

The wobble stool wasn't without its flaws, though. My rear got sore after prolonged stretches, forcing me to take a break every 40 minutes to an hour. Then again, taking routine breaks is something we should all be doing at our desks anyway, and after a quick stretch, I was ready to jump right back on. I also loved its space-saving footprint — it slid right under my desk out of the way and was light enough to move around my office effortlessly.

Saddle posture, perfect perch?

Although it’s a single seat, what makes a saddle stool like this one stand out is that there are actually two ways to sit on it: like you're riding a horse or in a perching position. While this makes it the most versatile option of the bunch, you do lose out on some of the dynamic motion you get with a kneeling chair or a wobble stool.

Just like those other alternative seats, the saddle stool has an interesting history. Back in the 1970s, a doctor noticed that equestrians didn’t suffer from the same back pain that office workers routinely deal with. However, it wasn’t until 20 years later that saddle stools became the gold standard for dentists, surgeons, and others in the medical field who need high mobility without a bulky office chair.

When using one of these chairs in its default saddle position, your spine is instantly aligned, which prevents slouching or rounding your lower back. Sitting astride the cushion automatically tilts your pelvis forward, locking your spine into a natural S-curve without needing a backrest. Like the wobble stool, though, you’ll need an adjustable desk since you have to raise your desktop higher to accommodate its taller height. When used in a perched position, a saddle stool offers more rear cushioning, but you have to engage your core and back muscles to sit upright with good posture.

Although I initially tried using this saddle stool as intended, I quickly switched to a perched position to give my glutes extra support. This turned out to be surprisingly taxing on the rest of my body. Even though I wasn’t in constant motion like I was on the wobble stool, making a conscious effort to keep my core engaged and stay upright wore me out fast.

When I swung the seat back around into the saddle position, everything clicked. Sure, my rear wasn’t quite as cushioned, but with my spine locked into a natural S-curve, the whole experience felt much more comfortable overall — mainly because I didn't have to strain so hard to maintain good posture. As for movement, saddle stools do offer some range of motion, but it is noticeably more limited. While I couldn’t sway side to side, I could rock back and forth ever so slightly. Still, the saddle stool’s instant posture fix more than made up for its subtle motion.

Wobbling won me over

When I first set out to conduct this experiment, I really thought the kneeling chair was going to be my top pick. Of the three, it looked the most comfortable and I had seen it getting the most attention online. On the other hand, I actually built and tried the saddle stool first, so I was already familiar with its design and limitations, though I hadn’t spent much time using it as my daily driver.

The wobble stool surprised me the most. Its seat is very traditional — we’ve all sat on similarly shaped stools before — but what really won me over was the total freedom of moving in a full 360-degree circle. When I was deep in focus on my screen, I could lean all the way forward without tweaking levers or knobs like I would on a standard office chair. Then, when I needed to sit back and look at the big picture, I could lean all the way back just as easily. That complete flexibility of movement felt incredibly freeing for someone tethered to a desk all day.

As you might have guessed, the wobble stool takes the top spot. I don’t plan on completely ditching my office chair now that this week-long experiment has stretched into week two, but I’m certainly not done with the wobble stool either. Thanks to its compact footprint, I plan to keep it stored right under my desk so I can pull it out to break up the day between sitting and standing.

These were the three alternative seats I had on hand after Uplift Desk sent them over for testing. If there’s an active chair you swear by or one you’d like to see me try next, let me know in the comments below.

As for me, I think it’s finally time to wheel the next ergonomic chair into my home office and give my core a well-deserved break.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I tried the Sonic the Hedgehog office chair — and it actually makes ergonomics fun (and fast)
• I ditched my office chair for the Razer Iskur V2 NewGen and it finally sold me on gaming chairs
• I’ve spent a year testing LiberNovo’s viral Omni office chairs — here’s my final recommendation

The Razer Soma Chroma is the latest gaming chair from Razer, taking up the mid-range mantle between the pricier Razer Iskur and slightly cheaper Razer Enki. The Soma Chroma has one major party trick: not satisfied with its usual black and green motif, Razer has added RGB lighting for maximum elite gamerness. The Soma Chroma also boasts Razer’s usual premium design and build quality, a super thick seat cushion and comfortable arm rests.

Unfortunately, it’s let down by a few glaring omissions. Razer seems to think a slight bend in the backrest constitutes lumbar support, and that neck support isn’t as important as RGB lighting. So while your butt might be comfy, your back and neck certainly won’t be without further purchases. There’s also very limited adjustments on offer. Oh, and the companion software, Synapse, is terrible.

All in all, if you want a gaming chair that’s all about looks, this could be the one. But if you’re planning on spending long hours in the hot seat, I’d advise you look for something with more support and adjustability.

Find out more in my full Razer Soma Chroma review.

Razer Soma Chroma review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A mid-range gaming chair from Razer
• Who is it for? Gamers who want an RGB-clad chair
• What does it cost? $499 / £499
• What do we like? The comfy base and arm rests, premium build, attractive styling and ease of assembly
• What don’t we like? Virtually no lumbar support, no neck support, limited adjustability and an awful companion app

Razer Soma Chroma review: Specs

Razer Soma Chroma review: The ups

The Razer Soma Chroma has a few things in its favor, like premium build quality, a striking aesthetic, a comfy base and squidgy arm rests, plus a mostly cable-free design.

Premium build

There’s no denying the Soma Chroma is built well — unsurprising if you have any experience with Razer products. The fabric used is high quality and soft to the touch; there’s thick foam on the seat pad and arm rests; and there aren’t too many scratchy plastics (with the exception of the arm rest tubes.

The chair’s recline mechanism also operates with a very satisfying mechanical clunk — it feels like there’s some heavyweight machinery in there holding it together. It’s a far cry from the janky mechanism used on my Boulies EP460.

Easy assembly

The Soma Chroma was pretty easy to assemble. My team reviews lots of chairs, and I’m usually the one building them — even when my colleagues are the ones reviewing them (I guess that’s one disadvantage to being handy with a wrench).

The Soma Chroma was in the average difficulty range. It was nowhere near as simple to build as the Boulies OP180, which only took me 10 minutes. There were also some heavier components, like the back rest, which may necessitate a second person to help. Other than that, it’s simply a case of putting the bolts where needed, all of which is detailed in the very thorough included instruction sheet. I built the Soma Chroma on my own in about half an hour.

I love that Razer supplies the Soma Chroma with a set of black gloves to wear when building the chair. I've never seen that from other brands before, and it's a nice touch.

Dashing design

The Soma Chroma looks rather fetching, too. It sports the typical streamlined gamer chair design — not a million miles away from the ubiquitous Secretlab Titan Evo. A cutout near the neck and distinctive contouring on both the back rest and seat give it a sports-car-esque vibe. It looks straight out of an esports competition.

With the lighting disabled, The Soma Chroma boasts Razer’s usual sleek, blacked out aesthetic, with striking green accents. With the lighting turned on, it looks about as sophisticated as RGB lighting ever does. If you’re after that particular aesthetic, I’m sure you’ll think it looks great. It’s not for me, but that’s down to personal preference. And besides, Razer has applied the RGB fairly sparingly around the wings.

Comfy base and arm rests

Sitting on the Soma Chroma for the first time, I was very pleasantly surprised at the seat base. I suffer from a type of immuno-arthritis that affects, among other areas, my coccyx. In short, butt comfiness is high on my agenda.

With other foam-cushioned chairs I’ve used, like the Autonomous ErgoChair Pro, seat pad foam usually compresses, applying too much pressure up into my lower back — I often have to use a special coccyx relief cushion with a cutout to relieve coccyx pressure. It’s for this reason I usually choose full mesh chairs like the Boulies EP460, as mesh seat pads provide the best butt support.

The Soma Chroma, though, has probably the comfiest foam base I’ve sat on. The foam is super thick and very squishy. I haven’t had to use my coccyx cushion at all. Also impressively squishy are the arm rests. So often, manufacturers leave arm rests hard and uncomfortable, causing elbow pain. Not so here. The Soma Chroma has about an inch of foam padding on each rest.

Overall, even after longer gaming/work stints of 8 hours, I’ve had no butt and no elbow pain. Unfortunately, as I’ll cover later, I had other types of pain from the lack of back and neck support.

Not fully wireless, but tidy

If you choose to use its lighting, the Soma Chroma needs to be powered via USB-C as there’s no built-in battery. You can either plug it into a wall socket or your PC, or use one of the best power banks.

The latter is the tidiest method — there’s a zip pocket at the back of the base, which will fit a small-ish power bank like my Iniu Ultra Mini ($31). That means no power banks dangling down or cables getting snagged in the wheels as you move the chair.

The RGB lights aren’t too power hungry either. We ran the RGB for 2-3 hours on our product photoshoot and the charge on my 10,000mAh Iniu only dropped by 1%.

Once powered, the Soma Chroma does have wireless connectivity. It comes with a USB-A Wi-Fi dongle, so you can hook the chair up to your PC and control the RGB via Razer Synapse. There are controls on the chair itself, but these are a little clunky unless you keep the instructions with you. I’m not at all keen on Synapse either, which I’ll get onto below.

Razer Soma Chroma review: The downs

Unfortunately, without buying further accessories, the Soma Chroma is downright uncomfortable thanks to no neck support, minimal lumbar support, no included support accessories and limited adjustment. Then there’s Synapse…

Poor neck and lumbar support

Razer claims the Soma Chroma has lumbar support. What it really means is that the Soma Chroma has a slight arch in the backrest. It provides about as much lumbar support as propping one’s self up against a plank of wood. There’s also no neck rest, and no additional neck cushion included — if you want one of those, you’ll need to pay an extra $50.

After my first testing session — about four hours of gaming — I started noticing a slight pain in my neck and upper shoulders. On day two, after another eight hours, I was experiencing full blown neck pain on both sides, up into the back of my head.

As I mentioned earlier, I have a form of immuno-arthritis, and there’s no way in hell I’d sit in this chair on a daily basis, at least not without some neck support. I have pretty good sitting posture (I have to make sure of it) but without anything to support your neck, it’s very hard to achieve that.

Admittedly, the Soma Chroma isn’t alone here. If you know anything about computing chairs, you’ll know that gaming chairs are usually designed for style over comfort. Most of them use the same flat back shaping, like the Secretlab Titan Evo and DXRacer Craft, for instance — the thing is, those two chairs at least come with a neck pillow for support.

If you want proper support, though, you’re better off looking at the Razer Iskur V2 NewGen, with its much better (i.e. existent) lumbar support and neck pillow. Or, a hybrid mesh chair like the Herman Miller Vantum. Or consider an office chair as, believe it or not, gaming chairs are mostly marketing. You can game just fine and much more comfortably in a mid-range mesh office chair like my Boulies EP460.

Limited adjustability

On top of the discomfort, the Soma Chroma offers very limited adjustability. You can do the bare minimum: recline, seat height, arm rest height and swivel. But there’s no way to slide the seat forward or back; no forward or backward arm rest sliders, and no lumbar adjustment.

You can set the chair into a free recline mode, but the mechanism was so stiff on my chair that I had to push off from a wall to get it to actually recline.

The Soma Chroma is also a little low, with the seat height maxing out at 16-20 inches. My Boulies EP460 maxes out at 23 inches, for comparison. A taller maximum seat height is more comfortable for those with long legs.

Synapse really, really sucks

Razer’s Synapse software is one of two ways to control the Soma Chroma’s RGB, in addition to the onboard button controls, which are a little basic. Given the RGB is such a major feature of the chair, Synapse is therefore a pretty important element.

Now, I’ve used Synapse before, so my expectations were tempered. But man oh man, I’d forgotten quite how much Synapse sucks — like, more than any other mainstream companion software I’ve ever used after testing and using dozens of peripherals. I’d honestly prefer Asus’ Armoury Crate, which is seriously saying something.

Firstly, Synapse is incredibly annoying to set up: you have to download the installer; then download Synapse (fighting off the extra bloatware it tries to download at the same time); then install Synapse; then fire up the installed app… and then download Synapse again. Like, what? I can’t even. It’s so needlessly complicated. It also kept failing to install, getting stuck at 45% three times, though that could’ve been a Windows issue.

When you do get Synapse installed, it’s slow, laggy and often takes ages to recognize the chair after booting up your PC, if it even manages to at all. Every time I rebooted, I had to un/re-plug the Soma Chroma’s 2.4G wireless dongle from/into my PC, otherwise Synapse wouldn’t recognize the chair.

The changes I made in Synapse regularly failed to apply, despite the app saying they did — I switched the lighting to static purple, which it changed to for around 30 seconds before defaulting back to unicorn puke RGB. And to top it all off, the moment you close the Synapse app, the lighting switches back to the default rainbow effect anyway. That means you have to keep that crappy piece of bloatware running while you game, if you want RGB.

Oh, and if you want any advanced effects you then have to download Razer’s Chroma RGB controller anyway. Eurgh. It’s not worth dealing with such terrible software for a couple of measly RGB strips on a mostly uncomfortable chair.

Razer Soma Chroma review: Verdict

I’m pretty disappointed by the Soma Chroma. I’ve awarded credit for its premium design, comfy base and arm rests, and its ease of assembly. Unfortunately, my three pros up top are tempered by four pretty major cons, so half marks for this chair is arguably even a little generous.

The Soma Chroma is really rather uncomfortable thanks to its lack of a neck cushion and only a semblance of lumbar support. Meanwhile, the adjustability is pretty scant and the companion software, Synapse, is nothing short of terrible.

So why bother? Just buy a Secretlab Titan Evo and be slightly less uncomfortable. Or do it properly and buy an ergonomic office chair (guess what: you can game in one of those). Before long, your neck will thank you.

From its Bionic FlexFit Backrest made up of eight flexible panels to its cushioned seat wrapped in an elastic fabric outer layer, the LiberNovo Omni immediately stands out. While still relatively new, it’s easily one of the best office chairs you can buy, especially if you value ergonomics and comfort equally.

I first reviewed the original LiberNovo Omni back when it launched at the end of 2025. More recently, I reviewed the more affordable LiberNovo Omni SE. Now, though, I’ve been testing the top-of-the-line LiberNovo Omni Pro. While all three chairs feature a nearly identical design, you might be wondering which is the right pick for your home office.

If you stumbled upon this now-viral office chair and are dead set on picking one up over other premium options like the iconic Herman Miller Aeron or the one-of-a-kind Steelcase Karman, here’s everything you need to know about the full LiberNovo Omni lineup based on their design, features, functionality, and, most importantly, adjustability and comfort.

You can’t go wrong with the LiberNovo Omni, the Omni SE, or the Omni Pro if you’re looking for a supportive yet comfortable chair to spend long hours working or even gaming in. However, now that the lineup has significantly expanded, here’s how to pick the right one for your needs and budget.

LiberNovo Omni Series: Specs

LiberNovo Omni Series: Design

At first glance, all three chairs in the LiberNovo Omni collection look remarkably similar, though subtle material upgrades and structural details set them apart under the hood.

Regardless of which model you pick, you’re getting a deep, multi-density seat filled with high-density foam divided into three distinct zones. The rear section is firm to support your hips, the middle offers a medium density, and the front edge is noticeably softer. This provides firm support under your rear without the front lip digging into the undersides of your thighs or glutes.

The base-level Omni SE and the standard Omni feature seats and backrests wrapped in a breathable elastic fabric. It stretches smoothly around your body as you sit down and offers outstanding comfort for all-day use. However, based on my time testing them, this specific fabric acts like a magnet for pet hair. While a quick vacuum or lint roller brings both chairs back to looking brand new, it is worth keeping in mind if you have pets.

The Omni Pro drops the elastic weave in favor of an upgraded performance fabric across its seat, backrest, and headrest. It's more durable, feels smoother against your clothes, and easily sheds pet hair and debris. The trade-off? You lose just a bit of that plush, immediate surface softness found on the elastic models.

The under-seat housing looks nearly identical across all three units, though the standard Omni and Omni Pro feature a dedicated battery compartment to power their motorized functions. The tilt-tension knob — which controls recline resistance on the right side — also varies slightly. The original Omni uses a slightly thicker control dial, whereas the Omni SE and Omni Pro both opt for a sleeker, thinner design.

Down below, all three models come equipped with floor-safe, dual-wheel casters that handle hardwood, tile, and carpet with ease. The Omni SE sticks to standard black wheels, while the standard Omni upgrades to color-matched hubs in black, gray, or green to match your chosen colorway. The flagship Omni Pro steps things up further, swapping out the reinforced plastic base for a solid metal one paired with quiet-glide casters that are virtually silent on hard floors.

Finally, LiberNovo’s signature Bionic FlexFit Backrest anchors the entire lineup. Built with eight flexible panels, 16 pivot points, and 14 dual-connection points, the structure keeps your lower, mid, and upper back continuously supported. Since the framework is inherently dynamic, it flexes with your spine as you shift or twist side to side.

The multi-angle headrests operate using a similar mechanism, ensuring your neck stays cradled even when you turn your head to look at secondary monitors or someone on the side of your desk.

LiberNovo Omni Series: Adjustability

Just like their design, adjustability remains mostly the same across the entire LiberNovo Omni lineup. To put it simply, you get 12 adjustment points with the Omni SE, 13 with the Omni, and 14 with the Omni Pro.

Those extra adjustment points mainly come down to the motorized controls and climate features on the higher-end models. Even so, the base-level Omni SE delivers more or less the same core ergonomic experience as its more premium siblings.

For starters, all three chairs come equipped with 4D armrests that allow you to adjust their height, width, depth, and rotation angle. The key difference on the Omni SE is the absence of electronic control buttons on the left armrest, as that model is fully mechanical.

Underneath the seat, you’ll find a compartment for the rechargeable battery pack on the left side of the Omni and Omni Pro, while the main manual adjustment levers and knobs are located on the right.

The front lever (positioned horizontally) controls the seat height via a standard pneumatic gas lift. The lever directly behind it (positioned vertically) locks in your recline angle. Each chair offers five built-in recline positions — 105, 115, 125, 135, and 160 degrees — allowing you to lock in your preferred angle whether you're typing upright or relaxing. Below those levers, the tilt-tension knob lets you adjust how much resistance you feel when leaning back.

It’s worth noting that none of these chairs feature a traditional manual seat-depth slider to adjust the position of the seat itself. Instead, the Bionic FlexFit frame and adjustable lumbar support dynamically alter your sitting depth as you sit back in them.

The primary difference between the Omni SE and the two motorized models is how you adjust lower-back support. On the SE, you dial the lumbar mechanism forward or backward using a physical turn-knob behind the backrest. Reaching around to turn it can be a bit awkward, but once you find your sweet spot, you likely won't need to touch it again.

On the Omni and Omni Pro, that manual knob is replaced by a motorized linear actuator controlled via two buttons on the inside of the left armrest. Pressing the front arrow moves the lumbar support forward into your lower back, while the rear arrow retracts it.

To power those motorized adjustments on the Omni and Omni Pro, you’ll need to charge up the included battery pack first. It slides into the under-seat housing effortlessly, and a small built-in handle makes removing it simple. Best of all, LiberNovo uses a standard USB-C port right on the battery itself, so you don't have to worry about losing a proprietary charging cable.

LiberNovo Omni Series: Powered features

Besides using battery power to adjust lumbar depth, the Omni and Omni Pro have a few extra tricks up their sleeves that you won’t find on the fully mechanical Omni SE. The first of these is OmniStretch, a motorized spinal decompression and active stretching mode. While you can activate it at any sitting angle, I prefer using it while fully reclined, as the lower-back pressure relief feels much more pronounced that way.

To engage OmniStretch, you press the designated button sitting directly behind the lumbar adjustment arrows on the left armrest. Doing so utilizes the motorized lumbar mechanism in a completely novel way. Instead of remaining locked in a static position, the actuator slowly extends to its maximum depth and then retracts back, giving your lower back and spine a therapeutic stretch.

The cycle lasts for five minutes, but pressing the button again stops the process early and returns the lumbar support to its original resting position.

If you opt for the top-tier Omni Pro over the standard Omni, you also gain access to a second powered feature: Active AirFlow. While you wouldn't notice it looking at the chair straight on, LiberNovo embedded a high-speed centrifugal cooling fan within the seat frame directly beneath the cushion.

To activate Active AirFlow, you press the rearmost button on the left armrest control pad. The system features two fan speeds: a single press turns it on Low mode (indicated by a blue LED light), while a second press bumps it to High mode (green LED light). A third press turns the fan off completely.

Testing Active AirFlow on the Omni Pro revealed a thoughtful touch: built-in auto-pause sensors detect when you stand up and temporarily shut the fan off to preserve power. As soon as you sit back down though, the fan automatically spins back up.

While leaving Active AirFlow enabled and using OmniStretch regularly will drain the power pack over time, battery life impressed me during testing — I was able to go about two full weeks between charges. If you prefer zero downtime, LiberNovo does sell spare battery packs separately, making it easy to hot-swap a fresh one in while the other recharges via USB-C.

LiberNovo Omni Series: Which should you buy?

As someone who has tested all three LiberNovo Omni chairs and spent almost six months using the original Omni as my daily driver, you really can’t go wrong with any of these ergonomic, highly comfortable office chairs. Deciding which model is right for you ultimately comes down to your budget, how much you value those motorized features, and whether or not you have pets.

If you’re looking for a premium sitting experience that delivers the best value, the LiberNovo Omni SE is the smartest choice. You get almost all of the same baseline adjustability and dynamic support found on the higher-tier models without having to worry about electronics failing over time. While the main frame on all three chairs is backed by a five-year warranty, the electronic components are only covered for two years.

If you’d rather press armrest buttons than reach behind your back to tweak a turn-knob, the standard LiberNovo Omni is a worthwhile upgrade over the SE. It’s also available in more colorways — including black, gray, and moss green. For anyone dealing with lower-back stiffness during long work shifts, the automated OmniStretch cycle is a genuinely useful feature to have on demand.

If you want the absolute best LiberNovo has to offer, the Omni Pro steps up with a far more resilient performance fabric, a solid metal base, and Active AirFlow cooling to keep you sweat-free. While it skips the special colorways for now, it comes in a clean, modern dark gray or white finish that sheds pet hair effortlessly.

One thing to keep in mind across the entire lineup is budgeting for optional accessories. LiberNovo’s StepSync footrest is a fantastic addition for shorter users like myself, and its plushly padded top makes taking advantage of that full 160-degree recline infinitely more comfortable.

While the footrest is pricey on its own, LiberNovo discounts it significantly when you bundle it with a chair, and you can order it color-matched to your setup too.

Finally, if you fall into a larger or taller height/weight bracket, LiberNovo also has its recently launched Maxis series. Those models mirror the SE, standard, and Pro in terms of features, design, and adjustability, but feature wider frames and higher weight capacities.

The original Omni made serious waves in the ergonomic chair market when it debuted, and with these newest additions to its lineup, LiberNovo proves it’s definitely here to stay.

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• I tried the Sonic the Hedgehog office chair — and it actually makes ergonomics fun (and fast)

There’s no shortage of small, colorful accessories to give your desk setup a pop of personality — but when it comes to full-on, retro flair, I think I might have just found the fastest upgrade yet.

As someone who tests the best office chairs for a living, sometimes I feel like I’m lost in a sea of black and gray. That’s why whenever I get the chance to try out a more colorful chair, I’m all for it — especially when it’s a new take on one we’ve previously reviewed.

While Branch Furniture is no stranger to more colorful, ergonomic seats for work — like my personal favorite, the Branch Verve Chair — this time around, the company is doing something completely different by partnering with SEGA.

Instead of slapping a logo on a chair and calling it a day, Branch completely reimagined the look of its already excellent Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro, drawing designs from SEGA’s rich 66-year history. SEGA wouldn’t be SEGA without Sonic, so of course there’s a Sonic the Hedgehog Edition chair — but there are also two more designs centered around its most iconic consoles: the SEGA Genesis and SEGA Dreamcast.

Given I had a Super Nintendo at home and grew up playing Sonic on the Game Gear, I decided to check out Branch’s Ergonomic Chair Pro: Sonic the Hedgehog Edition ($569, Branch). Not only did it make my desk setup look as stylish as the Blue Blur himself, it also kept me as supported in my seat as Tails backing up Sonic during a face-off against Dr. Eggman.

Gotta build fast

The Ergonomic Chair Pro: Sonic the Hedgehog Edition chair Branch sent over arrived in a single large box. With everything unpacked, I was left with the chair’s backrest, headrest, armrests, seat, frame, casters, and everything else I needed to put it together.

The assembly process started with installing the casters into the frame — I just had to push down on them to pop them in. With those four red casters in the back and that Sonic-themed accent one front and center, Branch’s vision of SEGA’s iconic mascot — albeit in ergonomic office chair form — was already beginning to come together.

Next up was installing the seat mechanism and getting the rest of the chair ready to drop onto its base. With the included Allen wrench, tightening those four bolts and the two on either side for the armrests was a breeze.

With that done, it was time to put the two halves of this one-of-a-kind office chair together and take this new version of the Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro for a spin.

Ergonomics with a splash of Sonic

Just like with Branch’s original Ergonomic Chair Pro, you get a full mesh backrest and headrest along with a comfy, high-density molded foam seat cushion. While I often sport an all-mesh office chair to beat the heat, I consider this pairing to be the sweet spot, giving you the ideal combination of airflow and lower-body support.

In addition to its Sonic-blue main colorway, Branch has worked in plenty of red, white, and gold throughout the frame to give you the full Green Hill Zone experience. For instance, the pads on the armrests aren’t just racing red — they feature a subtle checkerboard pattern that stands out in the best possible way.

Even though this is a themed edition of the Ergonomic Chair Pro, you still get all the same adjustments. There are 5D armrests you can position to your liking, you can adjust the seat depth to bring it closer or farther away from the backrest and you can even tilt the chair forward for those times when you’re really focused on the task at hand — whether that be back-to-back meetings or trying to make your way through Sonic 2’s notoriously frustrating Chemical Plant Zone.

That single caster emblazoned with the Sonic logo really pops on a hardwood floor, but there’s another great easter egg right above it: Branch printed a series of gold rings on the frame so you know where to install it. As I wheeled this special edition over to my desk, it almost looked like Sonic was speeding along collecting them.

All-day support meets gaming flair

Now I’ll admit, I haven’t tried the Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro before, but I am familiar with its predecessor, the Branch Ergonomic Chair. Essentially, this is an upgraded version of that chair that’s more adjustable and comes with a more densely packed seat cushion.

I’ve been using the Sonic Edition of the Ergonomic Chair Pro for the past few weeks, both while working and, of course, while gaming. One thing I really appreciate about this version is that it comes with a headrest included, instead of being an optional add-on like with the standard model. As I expected, the chair’s seat cushion is even comfier, and I like how you can now adjust both the height and depth of its lumbar support mechanism.

Speaking of the lumbar support, it’s been given a nice, Sonic-themed redesign too. The checkerboard pattern brings back fond memories of playing Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing — which was the series’ first kart racer. To adjust the vertical position of the Ergonomic Chair Pro’s lumbar support, you pull up on those two yellow handles. For depth, you just push the checkered lumbar cushion in or pull it back.

Ordinarily, I would have preferred making these adjustments with a knob like on the LiberNovo Omni SE chair I just reviewed. Here though, interacting with the lumbar support manually reminds me that yes, I am sitting in the only official Sonic the Hedgehog-themed office chair.

Although I spent a lot of my time in this chair working my way through the various islands in Splatoon Raiders on the Nintendo Switch 2, of course I had to play some Sonic too. Even though I’ve been "this close" to finishing Sonic Frontiers for ages now, I decided to go back to the classics with a modern twist by playing through Sonic Mania for the umpteenth time.

Branch’s Ergonomic Chair Pro worked just as well while gaming as it did during my workday. During more action-packed games, I sat upright with excellent posture thanks to its lumbar support mechanism. Then during slower moments and cutscenes, it was nice leaning back since the chair features a synchronized recline mechanism. Basically, the backrest and seat move together so as you lean back, the seat gently tilts upward — keeping your feet planted firmly on the ground and both halves of your body in alignment.

As I mentioned before, you can also tilt the seat forward. This lets you get a bit closer to your display — like during a challenging boss fight in Sonic — without doing "The Gamer Lean." Think Tech Neck when looking at your smartphone, but with your monitor or laptop instead.

Overall, it’s been great trying out Branch’s new take on its Ergonomic Chair Pro. You get sound, solid ergonomics and comfort with just enough gaming flair to add a bit of nostalgia-filled fun to your workday.

Why should gaming chairs have all the fun?

Whether you’re a die-hard Overwatch, League of Legends or World of Warcraft player or even if you prefer single-player games like The Witcher 3 or Fallout, you can easily go out and pick up a themed-version of one of the best gaming chairs from companies like Secretlab, noblechairs or AndaSeat. However, the same can’t be said for those who prefer a more ergonomic office chair for all-day support.

This isn’t the first gaming-themed office chair I’ve tried out as that honor goes to Haworth’s Xbox chairs. Still, I really appreciate how the company took the Haworth Fern and Very Gaming Chair and gave them both Xbox and Halo-inspired redesigns. Now with its collaboration with SEGA, it’s Branch’s turn.

Branch has taken things a step further by incorporating elements of Sonic the Hedgehog as well as SEGA’s Genesis and Dreamcast consoles into every part of the design of these chairs. While Haworth still paid homage to Xbox and to the Master Chief excellently, Branch’s take on SEGA’s most iconic character and consoles is slightly more in your face while also being significantly cheaper.

Granted, the Sonic the Hedgehog Edition is the least expensive at $569 which is the same price you’d pay for that standard edition of the Branch Ergonomic Chair Pro with a headrest. With their vegan leather backrests, headrests and seats, both the Genesis and Dreamcast editions of this chair are slightly more at $629. However, we’re still very much in mid-range office chair territory here.

I’ve always been very impressed with the more vibrant colorways Branch offers with its office chairs, especially as the company typically adds more after a new chair is released. With its SEGA edition chairs though, you now have even more options if you too don’t want to drown in a sea of black or gray every time you sit down at your desk while working from home or in this case, gaming with your posture in mind.

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• I tested a NASA-inspired office chair used by a former US President — and it’s the most comfortable chair I’ve tried yet

The LiberNovo Omni was a surprise hit last year, combining ergonomics and comfort without compromising on either. Following its success, LiberNovo is back with a new version of the Omni that retains the original’s design and key features, but at a more affordable — yet still premium — price.

The LiberNovo Omni SE ditches its predecessor’s electronic adjustments and battery pack for a more manual approach. Instead of pressing buttons on the left armrest to adjust the lumbar support mechanism, you now use a knob behind the backrest. While you do lose access to the original’s spinal stretch functionality, there’s also no battery to charge and no electronic parts to worry about breaking in the long run.

I spent the better half of this year using the LiberNovo Omni as my daily driver long after my review before swapping it out for the Omni SE. Even though this is a mechanical take on the chair, it’s still just as comfortable and supportive as the original, albeit with slightly fewer extras.

My LiberNovo Omni SE review will help you decide if this is one of the best office chairs for your workspace, or if it’s worth spending a bit more on the original or going all out on the new Pro model.

LiberNovo Omni SE: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A dynamic, highly adjustable ergonomic chair that swaps the original LiberNovo Omni’s motorized lumbar controls for a manual knob.
• Who is it for? People who spend long hours working in their office chair who want top-tier ergonomics combined with excellent comfort and like the look of the Omni, but not its high price tag or electronic parts.
• What does it cost? The LiberNovo Omni SE costs $899 on its own or $1,097 bundled with a footrest. The chair can currently be picked up at a pre-sale price of $569 until July 31.
• What do we like? The chair’s highly engineered backrest, its very comfortable fabric-covered foam cushioning, the straightforward assembly process, and its manual adjustment controls.
• What don’t we like? The premium price for what was supposed to be a budget-friendly alternative, the awkward reach for the lumbar knob, and how the footrest is still an optional accessory.

LiberNovo Omni SE: Specs

LiberNovo Omni SE: The Ups

If you liked the look and features of the original, the LiberNovo Omni SE delivers a nearly identical experience for less. You’re still getting the same highly engineered backrest, very comfortable fabric-covered foam cushioning — and straightforward assembly process.

No electronic parts here

The LiberNovo Omni SE sent over for review arrived in one carefully packaged, large brown box. Once I took out everything, I was left with the chair’s base, seat, backrest, headrest, and all of the necessary parts to put it all together. Just like last time, I really appreciate how LiberNovo prints the chair’s instructions on a large, easy-to-read cardboard poster.

Putting the chair together began with inserting its casters into the base. Despite being a premium office chair (more on that later), the base is made from plastic, though the one on the original Omni has held up well over time. If you want a sturdier metal base, you’ll have to jump all the way up to the Pro model.

After dropping the chair’s frame onto the base, it was just a matter of tightening a few bolts to connect the lumbar support bar to its Bionic FlexFit backrest. Since the Omni SE is entirely manual, I also didn’t have to connect a USB-C cable from the frame to the base like I did with the Omni. Nor did I have to charge up a battery before making adjustments to its lumbar support mechanism.

With assembly out of the way, it was time to take the Omni SE for a spin to see how it compared to the original.

Space-age ergonomics for less

When viewed from the front, the Omni SE looks just like a standard office chair, but its fabric-wrapped seat, backrest, and headrest are immediately more inviting. The seat is made from high-density foam that’s organized in such a way that it’s firmly closer to the backrest and softer at the edge. This gives your glutes plenty of support without the edge of the Omni SE digging into your hamstrings or your calves if you’re using LiberNovo’s optional footrest.

With the Omni SE spun around, though, its Bionic FlexFit Backrest gives it a much more futuristic look. Made up of eight flexible panels held together by 14 connection points with 16 pivot points, the backrest is able to flex and respond to your body’s movements as you shift in your chair throughout the day. Its design is reminiscent of the Haworth Fern, but between the two, I’ve found LiberNovo’s approach to be more flexible overall.

The biggest differentiator between the Omni and the Omni SE is how you adjust its lumbar support mechanism. On this chair, there’s a knob behind the backrest on the right side that you turn clockwise to bring its lumbar support closer to the small of your back, or counterclockwise to move it away from you.

In practice, I found it slightly awkward to adjust while seated in the Omni SE. Reaching behind my back and turning the knob was a stretch for sure, so I got up while doing so instead. Fortunately, once you get the Omni SE’s lumbar support in the right position, you likely won't have to adjust it again.

Still cloud-like comfort

Compared to the other ergonomic chairs I’ve tested over the years, the original Omni remains the most comfortable — and this holds true for the Omni SE as well. I love how its stretchy elastic fabric wraps around my body when I sit down, and the soft yet firm seat cushion remains a highlight.

While headrests are often a point of contention with ergonomic chairs — which is why you won’t find one on the iconic Herman Miller Aeron — I like that LiberNovo includes one here right out of the box rather than making it an optional add-on. Just like the Omni SE’s backrest, the headrest flexes with you as you turn your head from side to side. It also pivots with your head as you recline to keep your neck fully supported.

The Omni SE is definitely the kind of office chair you can spend long hours working in. Beyond its cushioning and flexible backrest and headrest, a big part of this comfort comes down to how it reclines. Next to the lever used to adjust the chair’s height, there’s a second handle that controls the recline.

It’s clear a lot of thought went into this aspect of the Omni SE, as it features five distinct recline positions tailored to different tasks — ranging from an upright 105 degrees, all the way back to 160 degrees. By comparison, other chairs I’ve tested with built-in footrests, like the Hinomi X1 or the Hbada X7, only recline to 135 or 140 degrees respectively.

If you want to practice good posture while seated at your desk without feeling stiff, the Omni SE is certainly worth considering. However, like the original Omni, it remains a serious investment for your home office or gaming setup.

LiberNovo Omni SE: The Downs

The LiberNovo Omni SE is a comfortable and supportive ergonomic office chair, but it’s not without its downsides — which include its high finalized price and the fact that you’ll need to opt for the bundle to get its best accessory.

Still in premium territory

When I first heard the news that LiberNovo was going to launch a more affordable version of the Omni, I was ecstatic — especially considering you weren’t really losing anything except for the electronic adjustments and the rechargeable battery pack, all for $569. Then I read the fine print.

Like a lot of other companies do, LiberNovo launches its new products at a discounted rate before they eventually go up to their actual cost. With the Omni SE, that full sticker price is $899 — taking the chair from mid-range to premium instantly.

Things were similar but slightly different with the original Omni. That chair started on Kickstarter for $698 before having a pre-sale price of $849 on LiberNovo’s site. Given that the company wasn’t established at that time, this was quite a lot to invest in an unproven chair. Now though, with the Omni SE, LiberNovo has a solid track record and picking one up at a pre-sale discount makes a lot more sense.

Still, when I first heard "more affordable Omni," I really thought the Omni SE would be closer to $500. At $899, we’re very much in premium office chair territory — and unless you work from home or spend countless hours gaming at your desk, it's definitely an investment. You can’t put a price on your health, but I wish the chair was slightly less expensive. Then again, you are getting an almost identical design to the original with only two of its core features cut.

Locked behind a bundle

With both the original Omni and the Omni SE, LiberNovo was kind enough to send along its StepSync Footrest. As someone on the shorter side at 5’4”, using it alongside both chairs has definitely made a difference — placing far less strain on my legs by relieving pressure on the back of my thighs.

The footrest isn’t just about upright work, though. Its upper platform features the same fabric and padding as the Omni SE itself, which becomes essential when taking advantage of the chair's excellent recline. When you’re reclined all the way back at 160 degrees, you definitely want somewhere to kick your feet up.

While I appreciate the quick convenience of a pull-out footrest like the ones on the Hinomi X1 or Hbada X7, being able to manually position LiberNovo’s standalone unit let me fine-tune my setup — to the point where I built a rolling workstation just to use my laptop while lying almost completely flat.

Though frequently on sale, the StepSync Footrest costs just under $200 on its own. You can soften the blow by bundling it directly with the Omni SE, but doing so pushes the total price from $899 to $1,097 — turning an already premium home office upgrade into a significantly larger investment.

Given that the footrest shares the chair’s exact design language and the two are explicitly built to complement each other, I’d love to see LiberNovo ditch the bundle structure entirely and ship a footrest in the box with every chair.

LiberNovo Omni SE: Verdict

The LiberNovo Omni SE is an exceptionally comfortable and supportive office chair that — rather than cutting corners — simply strips away the excess of the original. You’re still getting the exact same ergonomic design and core functionality, but without the hassle of recharging a battery or the looming worry of electronic components failing down the line. It’s just as effortless to adjust and assemble as its predecessor, while remaining a genuine head-turner in any home office setup.

While a slightly lower price tag would have been welcome, the Omni SE never feels like a stripped-down compromise. Instead, you’re getting practically the exact same chair, albeit at a price that firmly remains in premium territory. Still, if you want an outstanding office chair built for long work sessions — and if the original Omni I still use daily is any indication — the Omni SE will comfortably serve you for years to come.

There comes a time when doing things easier and faster becomes your sole motivation and the driving force behind learning new things on your computer.

Whether that’s doing complex Photoshop edits in fewer clicks or mastering even the most obscure keyboard shortcuts, once you fall down that rabbit hole, it seems like you’ll never reach the bottom.

Like with most people, this started small for me. A keyboard shortcut here and a keyboard shortcut there, until I was outright remapping them to buttons on my mouse. Then I took things a step further and did so with a tiny controller from 8BitDo and even a foot pedal connected to my PC. However, there was an easier way: macropads.

Designed to work alongside your keyboard and mouse, macropads are fully customizable accessories where you can map whatever you want to each key. From simple things like copy and paste to full-on commands, the possibilities are truly endless. However, what if you only had a single, comically large key to work with?

Well, that’s exactly the position I found myself in when I decided to add Keychron’s Q0 Mini 8K Action Key to my desk setup. While a traditional macropad certainly would have been more useful, reaching over to slam this one down throughout my workday has been a whole lot more fun.

Not your typical Keychron keyboard

From a super budget-friendly wired board to a split ergonomic one, I’ve tried out a lot of Keychron’s keyboards over the past few years. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the company makes some of the best mechanical keyboards you can get today without breaking the bank. Keychron’s Q0 Mini 8K Action Key may only have a single key switch, but unboxing it still gave me the familiar experience I’ve come to expect from the brand.

In the box, you get the Q0 Mini 8K Action Key itself along with a braided USB-C cable, and just in case you don’t have any free USB-C ports, you also get a USB-A adapter. For a device that could have easily been an April Fools' joke, everything feels a whole lot more premium than it has any right to be.

The first thing that stuck out to me about the Q0 — besides the fact that it’s massive at 3.65 x 3.25 x 3.25 inches — is its heft. This thing isn’t going anywhere on your desk thanks to its machined aluminum base. Even with its oversized keycap, the Q0 weighs nearly a pound on its own.

On the backside, there’s a single, recessed USB-C port and that’s all you get. While I would have loved for it to have Bluetooth or wireless 2.4 GHz connectivity, Keychron went overboard with its wired connection. A single key like this doesn’t need to be that fast, but the company went ahead and gave it a polling rate of 8,000 Hz anyway, which I consider overkill in the best possible way.

I have to admit, I didn’t read the instructions as I was just too excited to try out this single-key macropad for giants. But before I took it over to my desk and plugged it in, there was one more thing I wanted to try, and boy am I glad I did.

One key to rule them all

Unlike those cheap membrane keyboards you find in offices or libraries, one of my favorite things about mechanical keyboards is that they’re just as easy to clean as they are to customize. And that all comes down to the fact that with a bit of back and forth, their keycaps pop right off.

Now if the Q0’s keycap had been permanently attached to the switch underneath it, I wouldn’t have knocked Keychron for it in the slightest. Much to my surprise though, when I gave its double-shot PBT keycap — with a rocket ship emblazoned on top — a bit of a wiggle, it popped right off. Oh, and if you don’t like rockets, Keychron has the switch and keycap spec drawing on its site so you can make your own with one of the best 3D printers.

Not only did this let me see the inner workings of this extra-large 3 x 2.5-inch keycap, but I also got a closer look at the mechanical key switch underneath it. By working closely with Outemu, Keychron created a scaled-up version of a traditional key switch that’s actually 64 times larger. It has your standard MX-style cross stem and a south-facing LED for the RGB goodness often associated with mechanical keyboards.

I’ve been using a mechanical keyboard for over a decade now, but I wish there was something like this when I first got into the hobby. It’s one thing to see a diagram of how all the various types of mechanical key switches work and it’s another thing to hold an oversized one in your hands.

With my curiosity piqued, it was time to plug the Q0 in and see if a massive macropad was as fun to use as it was to hold in my hands. Spoiler alert: it definitely is.

Bottoming out never felt this good

Next to the mechanical keyboard on my desk, the Q0 looks almost absurd. It’s about the size of a coaster, and unlike the rest of the peripherals in my current desk setup, it’s the only wired one.

Still, being able to reach over and slam it down to pull off pretty much anything I can think of is absolutely worth it. And for the keen-eyed among you, yes, the keyboard I’m currently using — the Keychron Q11 Ultra — already has five programmable macro keys.

With the Q0 plugged into the Geekom A9 Max mini PC under my monitor, I pressed it and ... nothing happened. Yeah, I was a little surprised at first, too. I figured the Q0’s massive key would be mapped to Esc or Enter out of the box, but that wasn’t the case. This is a device for tinkerers and mechanical keyboard enthusiasts after all, which is why Keychron likely decided to ship it unmapped.

Just like with the rest of Keychron’s more recent keyboards and mice, complete customization is just a browser tab away. So I loaded up the Keychron Launcher in Chrome and the Q0 was instantly recognized. Normally in this browser-based launcher, you’re treated to a whole keyboard’s worth of keys you can tweak and customize to your liking. Here though, as you’d expect, there’s only one key to work with.

Sure, you could program it to Esc, Enter, or even the Windows key, but where’s the fun in that? Likewise, since it’s compatible with Mac (and Linux), you could have it work as a giant Command key too. However, I immediately went to the Special Keys option in the Keychron Launcher and saw what was available for each platform.

If I wanted to lose my work every time my 4-year-old came to my desk, I could have easily programmed the Q0 to shut down my computer, but I’m not a glutton for punishment. Alternatively, it would also work quite well as a massive mute/unmute button for video calls.

Remember what I said before about fewer clicks? Well, opening File Explorer on Windows is something I do quite often, and who wants to mouse down to their taskbar or open the Start Menu? After trying out a few different customizations with the Q0, I settled on having it open a new File Explorer window.

At the same time, you can take things even further by recording your own macros — think complex multi-key commands — and programming them to the Q0. I wanted to keep things simple though, so I’ve mainly stuck to File Explorer for now. Still, it’s great knowing that when I do think of a unique new use case or come up with a clever macro, reprogramming the Q0 is dead simple.

Besides remapping the Q0’s single key, you can also customize its RGB lighting in the Keychron Launcher. There are several colors and lighting effects to pick from, but I ended up going with something as close to turquoise as I could find to match my keyboard’s Esc and Enter accent keys.

During the time I’ve had the Q0 on my desk, slamming down its extra-large key has helped break up the monotonous parts of my day.

For instance, when I’m moving photos off my camera and need an extra File Explorer window to drag the keepers to, I just press it down and one appears instantly. Likewise, if one of my coworkers needs a file like a deal badge or even a Photoshop template I previously downloaded, the Q0 has made quickly pulling those up a lot more fun.

From micro to a macro macropad

Even though I had known about macropads for years, I actually built my first one. You see, back then, I had a lot more time on my hands and had previously built my own custom mechanical keyboard. This was back before hot-swappable switches were a thing, so I had to solder each switch individually. While that took a bit of work, I learned a lot going through the process.

When I saw a two-key macropad kit with a hot-swappable PCB pop up online, I figured it was worth trying out, even if I didn’t have a dedicated use case for it in mind at the time.

At first, I thought about taking the easy way out and mapping one key to copy and the other to paste. However, since I work with large blocks of text while writing and editing every day, I already had Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V mapped to my trusty trackball mouse. There was one thing my PC — or should I say my monitor’s built-in speakers — didn’t have at the time: a volume knob. So that’s what I used my tiny, two-key macropad for.

Besides their excellent build quality and value, one of my favorite things about Keychron’s keyboards is that many come with a built-in volume knob as standard. I’ve been using a keyboard with one such knob for the past few years, so my old macropad has gone to the box of decommissioned gadgets in my closet.

Going from two keys to one might seem like a downgrade at first. However, thanks to Keychron’s excellent launcher and everything I’ve learned in the years since, it’s been surprisingly useful having it on my desk.

Is it unnecessary though? Sure, but that defeats the purpose. A fun little — or should I say big — gadget like the Q0 was just what my desk setup was missing. Instead of being utilitarian like the rest of my accessories, it adds a touch of personal flair, while slamming it down brings a bit of fun my workspace was sorely lacking.

Now, I don’t know yet if the Q0 will remain a permanent fixture on my desk, but for now, I’ll gladly slam it down every time I’m looking for a local file.

More from Tom’s Guide

• I tested the Keychron Q1 Ultra 8K and this full-metal body mechanical keyboard is a game changer for my workflow
• I finally tried a vertical mouse and it was the ergonomic upgrade my desk setup was missing
• I tried this mechanical keyboard with a built-in pointing stick and it almost convinced me to ditch my mouse

I’ve been a gamer for as long as I can remember but when it came to my home office setup, I just couldn’t imagine using a gaming chair over an office chair.

While gaming chairs typically have racing bucket-style seats with a faux-leather finish, the best office chairs come in a wider variety of designs and styles. From task chairs without headrests to ergonomic ones with dedicated lumbar support and my favorite, full-mesh office chairs with plenty of airflow, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Back when I first set up my home office, I wanted it to look as professional as possible. This meant a clean setup with few distractions. That’s why I opted for one of the best standing desks and a nice ergonomic chair with a mesh backrest to go with it. Over the years, I’ve built countless desk setups while trying out dozens of different desks and chairs.

Still, I had yet to try a ‘true’ gaming chair, even if I did test out a few hybrid ones like the Herman Miller Vantum. That all changed recently when I reviewed the new Razer Iskur V2 NewGen gaming chair. Although I’ve always considered myself an office chair purist, Razer’s latest finally won me over. Well, mostly.

A gaming chair with an ergonomic twist

The Iskur V2 NewGen sits right at the top of Razer’s lineup as its flagship gaming chair, and for good reason. Alongside an upgraded EPU leather finish, this is the company’s most adjustable chair to date — and that’s exactly what drew me to it in the first place.

Compared to office chairs, gaming chairs often get a bad rap when it comes to their adjustability and fit. While many office chairs are engineered to conform to your spine’s natural curve and dynamically move with you as you shift throughout the day, a lot of gaming chairs feel rigid and stiff by comparison.

Although the original Iskur from 2020 suffered from these design flaws, Razer has since taken massive steps to completely overhaul its design and comfort. This started by completely reimagining the backrest and the adaptive lumbar support mechanism housed within it.

Instead of being static, the Iskur V2 NewGen’s lumbar support system now actively swivels and moves with you, while still allowing you to manually tweak it to your liking. A knob on the left side of the chair lets you move the mechanism up and down to align perfectly with the small of your back, while the knob on the right side allows you to control how far it extends out.

Not only is this a first for a gaming chair, it’s a feature you typically only find on premium office chairs — and even then, it’s not one I see all that often. What’s great about this updated system is that you can dial the lumbar support forward to keep your spine supported if you're leaning in close to your desk to focus. Then, when you want to sit back in a more relaxed position, you just turn the knob on the right to retract it so you can sit straight with plenty of lower back support.

Dead simple adjustments (and recline)

One thing I’ve noticed with some of the higher-end office chairs I’ve reviewed is that their manufacturers often make them overly complicated — especially when it comes to their adjustments. The Iskur V2 NewGen, on the other hand, keeps things simple with a hand-brake style lever to adjust the chair’s recline and a series of buttons for its armrests.

These 4D armrests can be moved up/down, forward/backward, closer/further away from you and angled inward or outward. There’s nothing worse than having your chair’s armrests move on their own after you’ve painstakingly adjusted them to your liking, which is why I really like how the buttons on either side keep these ones from moving.

You don’t get a built-in footrest like with the Hinomi X1 or the Hbada X7 I reviewed, nor is there a separate one like on the LiberNovo Omni, but I still really enjoyed leaning back in the Iskur V2 NewGen. With the lever in hand, you just lean back as far as you want and when you let it go, the chair’s backrest stays locked in place. When it’s time to get up, you just grab the lever again and sit up.

With a max recline of 152 degrees, the Iskur V2 NewGen is great for kicking back, but it’s not really the kind of chair you’d want to take a nap in, especially without a built-in footrest.

Super supportive but not quite mesh cool

Now don’t get me wrong, I found the Iskur V2 NewGen’s backrest to be incredibly supportive — which makes sense given it’s a lot thicker than the backrests on the office chairs I routinely test. And while the cooling tech embedded in its EPU leather did help somewhat, it just couldn’t beat the airflow you get with a mesh office chair.

While a mesh backrest may be good enough for some people, I actually prefer an all-mesh chair that has a mesh seat too like the high-back version of the Steelcase Karman pictured above. Since I live in Houston, Texas where it gets both hot and humid, I need as much airflow as possible year-round.

If you still prefer a gaming chair with a racing-style seat, there are things you can do to mitigate the extra heat that comes with a faux-leather finish. For instance, while testing the Iskur V2 NewGen, I had a tower fan pointed at me at all times. However, when I moved it into a smaller room with an overhead fan, that really did the trick.

Now after two months, would I daily drive a gaming chair? I still don’t think I would, given I live in a hotter climate. However, when the sun goes down and it finally gets cooler, kicking back in the Iskur V2 NewGen to play some games has been an absolute delight. It might not be the ideal work-from-home chair — at least for me — but it is an excellent chair to game in.

More from Tom's Guide

• I made one of the best gaming chairs even better by turning it into a recliner — here’s how
• I tested The Folding Gaming Chair and now I may never go back to the couch
• I just sat on my dream gaming chair, and now I’m fighting the urge to take a nap to tell you about the Cougar Arker

Just when I thought this flagship gaming chair couldn’t get any better, Razer has released its upgraded Iskur V2 NewGen. While the V2 had plenty of improvements, this new model features a comfier yet more supportive dual-density cold-cured foam cushion and upgraded EPU synthetic leather with built-in cooling tech.

I still remember trying out the Iskur V2 during my first trip to CES and walking away very impressed with its upgraded lumbar support system. The Iskur V2 NewGen isn’t a complete redesign as it retains what made that model one of the best gaming chairs. Instead, it’s more of a refinement designed to be more comfortable while feeling significantly more premium.

Although I typically spend my days (and my nights) sitting in one of the best office chairs, the Razer Iskur V2 NewGen has been a nice change of pace. From the instant I sat in it, I really liked its stiffer backrest and wide, comfy seat. Likewise, it was a breeze to put together and locking in the perfect fit comes easily too, thanks to the knobs on either side and the lever to control its recline. Still though, this is a high-end gaming chair with a $649 price tag and unfortunately, there isn’t a fabric option like with most of Razer’s other chairs.

My Razer Iskur V2 NewGen review will help you decide if this is the right gaming chair for you or if you’d be better off going with the cheaper yet less full-featured Iskur V2 X instead.

Razer Iskur V2 NewGen: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A premium gaming chair with a strong focus on ergonomics and cooling.
• Who is it for? People who want a very adjustable seat with dedicated lumbar support which they can use for long stretches at a time comfortably that still looks like a gaming chair.
• What does it cost? The Razer Iskur V2 NewGen costs $649 regardless of which colorway you choose.
• What do we like? The adaptive lumbar support system, the wider backrest and seat base, the extra thick foam seat cushion and how easy it is to adjust using the built-in lever and knobs.
• What don’t we like? That the upgraded synthetic leather can still feel hot after extended periods and the higher price compared to other similarly-specced gaming chairs.

Razer Iskur V2 NewGen: Specs

Razer Iskur V2 NewGen: The ups

The Razer Iskur V2 NewGen offers exactly what you’d expect from a premium gaming chair in terms of design and comfort. However, it doesn’t skimp on ergonomics either with an adjustable lumbar support system that moves with your back as you shift in your chair while gaming or even working from home.

A color-coded build

The Razer Iskur V2 NewGen arrived in a single large brown box with everything packed neatly inside. While I wish it came as pre-assembled as the more expensive Herman Miller Vantum, it was surprisingly simple to put together.

With everything unpacked, I was left with the Iskur V2 NewGen’s backrest, frame, seat, casters and the rest of the parts needed to assemble it. One thing I really liked is that the armrests did come pre-attached, which is a nice touch given how tedious installing them yourself can be.

While other companies will often have you scan a QR code to view their assembly instructions online, Razer includes a large printout with key steps highlighted in the company’s signature Razer green. Speaking of which, you also get a pair of black gloves with that same accent color in the box so you don’t get any grease on your hands when installing the chair’s lift mechanism.

Building the Iskur V2 NewGen was a straightforward process using the included Allen wrench. I’d say the hardest part was connecting the seat to the backrest but honestly, this was quite easy to do compared to some of the office chairs I’ve built over the years.

With the Iskur V2 NewGen fully assembled, it was time to take it for a spin.

Wider all around

When looking at the Iskur V2 NewGen, it’s hard not to notice its curves. In fact, this gaming chair almost has an hourglass figure since it’s skinniest at the center where the seat meets the backrest and extends out in either direction.

This was intentional on Razer’s part as a big focus of this NewGen refresh is comfort. The chair is just under 16 inches at its skinniest point. However, the seat extends out to 20.9 inches at its edge while the backrest goes even wider at 21.3 inches. The extended seat allows you to sit cross-legged in this gaming chair while the extended backrest provides plenty of room for those with wider shoulders.

As someone on the smaller side at 5’4”, I still found this extra space to be quite nice to have. I had plenty of room as I shifted from side to side in the Iskur V2 NewGen’s seat and the same was true for my shoulders when my back leaned from left to right.

While I would have preferred a magnetic head cushion like on the Secretlab Titan Evo, I did find the included one made from sculpted memory foam to be quite comfortable even for long stretches. However, I did swap it for the Razer Clio when playing PS5 at my desk since I had a pair of Razer Nommo V2 Pro speakers connected to my gaming PC via USB-C and to my Switch 2 over Bluetooth.

Just the pull of a lever

One thing I really prefer with the Iskur V2 NewGen over some of the more over-designed office chairs I regularly test is the simplicity of its adjustments. Fine-tuning this chair for the perfect fit only takes a few minutes and the more complicated adjustments come with illustrations to further simplify the process.

There are adjustment knobs on the left and right side — but more on that later — and a lever that controls the chair’s recline. Everything is right there within reach and I never had to get out of the Iskur V2 NewGen to make adjustments.

The chair also comes with 4D armrests that you can move up or down, forward or backward, closer or farther away from you and angled inward or outward. Unlike some of the 4D or even 6D armrests I’ve tested on office chairs, I really like how the ones on the Iskur V2 NewGen stay firmly in place. One of my biggest gripes with Herman Miller’s Vantum gaming chair is that I’d need to readjust the pads of its armrests almost every time I sat down.

Given that a lot of office chairs require you to unlock a lever and then lean back whenever you want to recline, the larger, handbrake-style lever on the right side of the Iskur V2 NewGen was a welcome change for me. I’d just hold onto the lever and lean back to my preferred recline position with it in my hand.

Although I spent a lot of my time gaming upright while trying out the Iskur V2 NewGen, I did put its recline to the test while using the Razer Kishi Ultra and my Lenovo Legion Tab 3 for some remote gaming.

While an integrated footrest like on the Hbada X7 or even a standalone one like with the LiberNovo Omni would have been nice, it was still quite comfortable playing some PC games using the Steam Link app while laying almost completely flat in the Iskur V2 NewGen.

Lumbar that moves with you

Just like with the Iskur V2, the adaptive lumbar support is one of the standout features of this gaming chair. After using it as my daily driver for the past two months, it’s easy to see why.

Unlike a traditional lumbar support mechanism, this one is able to move with you as you shift from side to side in the Iskur V2 NewGen. For instance, you can feel it move if you look over to either side from your desk. However, I found it to be even more useful in fast-paced games where I tend to move around a bit more than I normally would while working.

While the lumbar support systems in some of the office chairs I reviewed are completely static — meaning they don't pivot or track your spine dynamically as you shift — Razer's system lets you fine-tune its position both vertically and horizontally.

A knob on the left side of the Iskur V2 NewGen allows you to move the lumbar support up and down so it can perfectly align with the small of your back. The knob on the right side is what really impressed me with the original Iskur V2 and this refreshed model.

When you turn this knob, the lumbar support mechanism either extends or retracts. As 1HP’s Dr. Matthew Hwu explained to me a few years ago at Razer’s CES booth, if you tend to lean forward while playing the best PC games at your desk, then you might want to extend the Iskur V2 NewGen’s lumbar support all the way forward. That way, you can sit in your preferred gaming position without hurting your back.

As for me, while I did play some Death Stranding 2 on PC while seated in the Iskur V2 NewGen, I actually spent the majority of my time testing the chair out while playing Star Fox on the Nintendo Switch 2 ahead of my review. During those epic interstellar dog fights with Star Wolf, I put the chair’s adaptive lumbar support to good use as I dodged incoming enemy laser fire.

Razer Iskur V2 NewGen: The downs

The Razer Iskur V2 NewGen certainly performs as a gaming chair but it isn’t without its downsides which include its higher price and how the upgraded cooling tech in its EPU leather just can’t match mesh.

Cooler but still not cool enough

Since I live in Houston, Texas, using a mesh office chair like the Steelcase Karman or the more affordable Branch Aire Chair really isn’t an option — it’s a must.

Given we’re at the start of what’s already looking to be a very hot and humid summer, I was initially a bit reluctant about testing the Iskur V2 NewGen. However, since I tried and really liked the standard Iskur V2, I figured I’d see how well this chair’s new cooling tech performed in a less than ideal situation.

To make this refreshed chair cooler, Razer switched to a new version of its EPU synthetic leather which has CoolTouch fibers embedded within it. On paper, this sounds like it should really make a difference but in my testing, even this high-tech new material fell a bit short for me.

When I was using the Iskur V2 NewGen out in my game room with just a tower fan — alongside central air — to keep me cool, I found that I got sweaty faster than I normally would with a mesh office chair. It got so bad that I moved my Govee Smart Tower Fan 2 Max from in front of our couch over to my desk at the back of the room. That made things slightly better.

In my final week or so testing the Iskur V2 NewGen, I brought it into my office which has a large overhead fan. Maybe it’s due to the room being much smaller but this certainly made a difference.

Now, if you’re using the Iskur V2 NewGen in a more temperate climate, I doubt you’ll run into the issues I did with it. However, if you’re in a warmer and muggier location like I am, I’d recommend the Razer Fujin Pro, which is designed more like a mesh office chair than a traditional gaming chair.

Upgrading at a premium

At $649, the Iskur V2 NewGen is certainly an investment. However, if you have a bad back or want a chair with a wider seat and backrest, it could definitely be worth it. While you might look a tad silly in video calls, I found the Iskur V2 NewGen just as comfortable to work in as it was to game in.

If you’re after a premium gaming chair but want to pick one up at a slightly lower price, the Secretlab Titan Evo starts at $549 and unlike the Iskur V2 NewGen, it’s available in both fabric and leather. Then again, if you like the design of this chair and don’t necessarily need adaptive lumbar support or 4D armrests, you could always opt for the less expensive Razer Iskur V2 X NewGen for $349.

While the Iskur V2 NewGen is on the expensive side, it is cheaper than the Herman Miller Vantum which costs nearly $1,000. On the other hand though, the Vantum won’t look out of place in a video call for work as from the front, it looks just like any other mesh office chair.

Razer Iskur V2 NewGen: Verdict

The Razer Iskur V2 NewGen is an excellent gaming chair with a one-of-a-kind adaptive lumbar support system that makes a major difference every time you sit in it. While its high-tech EPU synthetic leather left a bit to be desired for me personally, this new material is still a significant upgrade over past versions and under the right conditions, it can keep you cool while gaming for longer. Likewise, the Iskur V2 NewGen is incredibly easy to put together and to fine-tune its adjustments to your liking.

If you’re looking for a traditional, racing-style gaming chair but still want the ergonomic support you get from an office chair, you’d be hard-pressed to find this level of comfort and polish anywhere else. Still, you are paying a bit more for the privilege. However, if you game for long hours daily or plan to have the Iskur V2 NewGen serve double duty as your work-from-home chair, then it could certainly be worth it.

If you’re looking for the best budget office chair to get you through your work day, then you can stop your search because the Boulies EP200 has everything you could want. It’s highly adjustable, so it’s guaranteed to suit your posture, and has a breathable mesh back that flexes with your movements. The assembly is straightforward with easy-to-follow instructions, and the price tag also makes it a real crowd-pleaser.

Unfortunately, the upholstered seat isn’t as durable as I would like, showing signs of wear after just a few hours. That said, it wouldn’t stop me recommending this chair to anyone — and certainly doesn’t stop me from using it every day.

To find out more, you can read my full Boulies EP200 review.

Boulies EP200 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A mesh desk chair with adjustable support
• What does it cost? $209 / £189
• What’s good? The mesh back design, the highly adjustable support, the easy assembly and the competitive price tag
• What’s not? The upholstery’s durability is disappointing

Boulies EP200 review: Specs

Boulies EP200 review: The ups

The Boulies EP200 has a competitive price point and offers a whole lot of adjustment to ensure your posture is as good as it can be while sitting at your desk all day. The mesh back design and adjustable lumbar support make this chair a winner for anyone with lower back strain.

Mesh back design

The back of the EP200 is made from a synthetic mesh, just like most of Boulies’ other chairs, including the EP460 ($299). I much prefer this design to the fabric back of a chair like the LiberNovo Omni ($1,099). Fabric becomes quite warm on hot days, whereas the mesh stays breathable.

There’s also not much flex with fully upholstered chairs like the Boulies OP300 ($289), but the mesh back of the EP200 has a lot of flex when you lean back. It feels like it molds to the contours of my body.

Adjustable lumbar support

The Boulies EP200 has adjustable lumbar support. There’s a twistable knob at the back of the chair, which you can turn to relieve the pressure on your lower back, and the mesh back of the chair means it’s easy for the chair to adjust to the shape.

I found this very effective, and I felt the relief almost immediately. The support isn’t as pronounced as you get with the Boulies EP500, but it was enough for me. You also get a lot more adjustment with the EP200 than with the EP500, which is only adjustable by a small amount.

Find your position

The lumbar support was the star of the show for me with the Boulies EP200, but the adjustment doesn’t stop there. It’s extremely customizable for your individual posture and helps to relieve any aches and pains you may experience while sitting at your desk all day.

Firstly, like with most chairs, the height is adjustable. Also, the armrests can swivel and change height, and the seat depth can move forward and backwards. There’s also an adjustable head and neck support, which I found very useful for maintaining an upright posture, although I have to have it on the lowest setting since I’m short (5’4”), and anyone shorter than this may find it redundant.

The chair can also recline to angles of 95º, 113º and 135º. This means you could use it to relax. Not something I personally needed as I just used the chair at the office during my working day.

Easy build process

The Boulies EP200 arrived packaged well, just like every other Boulies chair we’ve tested here at Tom’s Guide. However, the plastic cover for the aluminum base was cracked when it arrived. Luckily, with the purchase of the chair, you get a two-year warranty that covers damage like this. And I think the chair looks a lot more sleek without this cover anyway.

The chair needs to be fully assembled and comes with clear instructions. The package includes a hex key, but it’s quite long, so if you have a shorter key on hand, it’s easier to use that instead. Bolts are packaged separately and given letter codes, making the build simple.

The chair took me around 30 minutes to build, and although I found it more complicated than the Boulies OP300, the process was straightforward enough that most people won’t be troubled by it.

Decent price point

The Boulies EP200 is available to purchase from the Boulies online store for $209 / £189. Given the amount of adjustment and level of comfort you get from the chair, this is a very competitive price point.

For comparison, the Boulies OP180 costs $239 and is a very basic chair, so it doesn’t include the same levels of adjustment. The OP180 also doesn’t have a head and neck rest, which can make working in the chair for long hours a challenge.

You can get a similar chair style from the ProtoArc EC100 for $189, but it doesn’t have the adjustable lumbar you get with the EP200. The Boulies EP500 is an option that provides a more relaxed feel with a built-in foot rest, but that will set you back $389. The EP200 is sufficient for working at your desk all day long.

Boulies EP200 review: The downs

While the Boulies EP200 is very comfortable to sit on all day, the seat isn’t very durable, showing signs of wear, such as the fabric creasing, after just a couple of hours.

Creasing seat

The Boulies EP200 is a very comfortable chair, but after sitting on it for just a couple of hours, I noticed that the upholstery on the seat was pulling and creasing. This was disappointing to see, given that the chair was essentially fresh out of the box.

Granted, sometimes when sitting at my desk for hours, I shift positions — I even cross my legs at times — but this kind of change to the material isn’t something I experienced when testing the OP180. The creasing didn’t affect the functionality of the EP200 in any way, but aesthetically, I’d expect something more robust for the money — especially as office chairs are designed for daily use.

Boulies EP200 review: Verdict

The Boulies EP200 desk chair is one of the better options out there for someone who doesn’t want to spend too much money but still wants effective support for all-day use. The adjustable support meant I could customize the chair to suit my posture, and the breathable mesh back is flexible, so I was never uncomfortable. The assembly of the chair was easy, although it came with a broken piece. But since there’s a two-year warranty included with purchase, this isn’t a big issue if the same happens to you.

My only concern was that after just a few hours of use, there were signs of wear on the upholstered seat of the chair, which I did not expect to see. This was disappointing, but honestly, it wouldn’t stop me from recommending the chair. It’s incredibly comfortable and does the job for the average office worker at a reasonable price.

I’ve sat my big British butt down on quite a few Boulies chairs now. We get a lot of Boulies’ stuff in for review here at the Tom’s Guide U.K. testing lab, and I’ve built almost every single one that’s come through our doors.

Usually, my team loves Boulies chairs. They’re almost always comfortable, supportive and fairly affordable relative to their features. Humble heroes, you might say. I’ve used the Boulies EP460 for around 18 months in my home office and have no complaints yet.

But this one, the EP500, which I’ve been testing for around four months now, is a little more complicated. Ostensibly, it offers many of the typical Boulies boons: comfort, support, and surprisingly premium features for a reasonable price.

Unfortunately, undermining all that are some baffling design choices. Think arm rests that don’t adjust downwards (so when you recline, your arms stick bolt upright in the air like a zombie) and a lack of adjustable lumbar support.

So, is this one of the best office chairs around? Nah. But if you want to find out more, keep reading my full Boulies EP500 review.

Boulies EP500 review: Cheat sheet

• What is it? A reasonably-priced full mesh office chair
• What does it cost? $389 / £349
• What's good? The price, the comfortable full mesh design, plus a recline function and footrest
• What's not? The arm rests pivot with the back, making recline uncomfortable, and the lumbar cushion lacks adjustment

Boulies EP500 review: Specs

Boulies EP500 review: The ups

Given its price, the Boulies EP500 has some seriously impressive features on paper: a mesh seat and backrest, lumbar support, recline and a foot rest. It’s comfortable, and not a bad looker, either.

Comfortable, supportive mesh design

The Boulies EP500 features a mesh backrest, seat, lumbar pad, head rest and foot rest. This is what sets it apart from the Boulies EP460, a chair I reviewed in late 2024 and since have continued using in my home office: the EP460 is mostly mesh, but its folding foot rest uses hard plastic, which is way less comfortable.

The full mesh design gives the EP500 a premium look, as it’s something we see on super expensive rivals like the Herman Miller Aeron. The primary benefit is comfort, though. My previous chair, the Autonomous ErgoChair Pro, only used a half mesh design with a conventional foam padded seat. Foam is great at first, but tends to flatten over time, causing discomfort.

The EP500’s mesh seat suspends your butt in mid air — it’s like being on a trampoline (or is it a Tramampoline?! Trombopoline?!) — providing plenty of natural, ergonomic support with no firm plastic base underneath to dig in and cause discomfort. The same is true for the back rest and other mesh components. The result is a highly supportive and comfortable chair, even during long working days.

I have a type of immuno-arthritis, which affects my back and joints. I’ve found the EP500 perfectly comfortable… mostly. I say “mostly” because there’s one thing kinda letting the show down, which is the lumbar support pad. More on that later.

Premium features, attractive price

One of the things we always love about Boulies chairs are the premium features they provide for reasonable prices. You can spend a lot of money to get things like full mesh, lumbar support, a head rest and a foot rest.

The EP500 provides all of those. There’s a flip out foot rest for full reclining comfort, and a head rest to keep your neck supported. There’s lumbar support and, as I mentioned above, full mesh.

Yet the price is extremely reasonable! Officially, the MSRP is $389 / £349. But Boulies keeps most of its stock virtually perma-reduced and you can pick the EP500 up as I write this for $309 / £289. I’m no fan of fake MSRPs/discounts as a sales tactic, but the fact remains that this is a very reasonably priced chair.

Well-packaged and straightforward(-ish) to build

Like all Boulies chairs I’ve built, the EP500 came very well packaged, with no damage to the box and plenty of padding inside. Nothing was missing from the box and there were clear instructions with all the components/bolts labelled.

It took me around 40 minutes to assemble the chair. That’s not as quick as the Boulies OP180, which took me just 10 minutes to construct. However, the EP500 is a much more complicated chair, so it makes sense for the build to take longer.

Despite taking some time, the assembly was very straightforward. The only difficult bit was lifting the heavy backrest into the base — I did this on my own, but it’s definitely more of a two-person job if you don't want to risk an injury. If you're in an office that'll probably be fine, but it could be an issue if building solo at home.

My only other issue was the hex key that Boulies supplied to build the chair. It’s unnecessarily long, making some of the harder-to-reach bolts virtually impossible to tighten as the key didn’t have space to rotate. I had to switch to a more compact hex key.

Boulies EP500 review: The downs

Unfortunately, Boulies has made some truly baffling design choices that undermine the EP500’s strengths. Who thought it was a good idea to link the arm rests to the reclining back? And why is there so little lumbar adjustment?

Stupid arm rests

While I love a recline function, I hate reclining on the EP500 — which is a shame given its high level of comfort, support and the mesh foot rest. It’d be the perfect place for a mid-work nap.

But why? The arm rests. For some reason, Boulies’s design department attached them to the chair back, which means the two move in tandem. Now, Boulies claims the arms pivot “up and down,” but they don’t. They go from flat to up. There’s no downward movement possible.

The result is that, when you recline, the arm rests point upwards. It’s like you’re in a hospital bed with both arms plaster-casted and outstretched. Or you’re a zombie. Or you’re riding a chopper. It’s so stupid, and not at all comfortable.

It didn’t have to be this way, either. The Boulies EP460 has a similar recline function, but its arm rests are decoupled from the back and attached to the base instead. This means they stay flat (and you can lower them), letting you use the arm rests while reclined.

Intrusive lumbar support

I’m glad the EP500 has lumbar support — many chairs don’t. I’m no fan of the EP500’s lumbar cushion though. It’s very large, sticking too far into my back and making me arch my spine if I want my shoulders and neck to touch the back/head rest.

Again, the lumbar cushion is supposedly adjustable, but by such a small amount that it may as well not be. I hate to be constantly banging the EP460 drum, but the lumbar cushion on that chair offered better adjustment, proving way more comfortable.

Boulies EP500 review: Verdict

Alas: so close, yet so far. The Boulies EP500 ticked all the boxes on paper, with its full mesh design and other premium features. Oh, and the usual Boulies affordability, of course.

Unfortunately, the comfort it offers is undermined by a lack of adjustment in the lumbar cushion. The reclining function, meanwhile, is similarly subverted by the ridiculous arm rests, which have you lying arms-up like a Thriller backing dancer.

It’s not a terrible chair, but the EP500 nowhere near reaches its potential. Seriously, did nobody at Boulies sit on this thing?

I recently had surgery on a critical part of my body required for sitting. The recovery process required me to be on my backside for no more than two hours at a time, which meant I'd need to either stop working for long periods or get one of the best standing desks.

Space constraints made the standing desk option challenging, but it seemed preferable to missing a bunch more work. So I set out to find a small standing desk that would let me get work done without eating too much of my tiny office.

This led me to the Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk, which has one of the smallest footprints and the lowest price point of any I could find. At $315, it won't break the bank , but it still has a single electric motor that makes bringing the desk up and down quick and easy, perfect when you're in a compromised physical state post-operation.

Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? The Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk is a single-motor, compact standing desk designed to work in all kinds of spaces. It's affordable enough to serve as a secondary desk, but large enough to be the primary if needed.
• Who is it for? Anyone who needs an electric standing desk and doesn't have room for the bigger options on the market will benefit from the Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk.
• What does it cost? The MSRP is $393, but you can typically order the Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk from the company's website for $315.
• What do we like? I love that the setup process doesn't take too long and can be done with only one person (though the single leg is quite heavy). I'm a big fan of the desktop's multiple finishes, so it'll match any space, and I'm happy with how easy the controls are to use.
• What don’t we like? I wish it were available in a rectangular shape, as the depth makes this desk less than ideal for really small spaces. It fits in my office, but it's a little tighter than I'd like. I also feel the single leg makes the desk less stable, but the large floor stand counteracts that.

Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk: Specs

Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk: The ups

There's a lot to love about this desk, especially when you consider the relatively low price point. Electric standing desks typically come at a premium, so being able to get one in your home for a little more than $300 is great. And if you're not as space-concerned, the larger tabletop might be perfect for your needs.

Straightforward assembly

I hate building furniture, appliances and other similar things. I dread these sorts of tasks more than anything.

Which is why I didn't mind putting together the Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk. It took almost no time and there were only a few short steps. I did it with no help, which is always nice, as I don't want to drag anyone else into the process unless absolutely necessary. The single leg does make it a little on the heavy side, but it was manageable.

Running the wires was a quick and painless process, too. The only part that took a little thought and effort was mounting the controller to the bottom of the desk, as there aren't pre-drilled holes. Instead, it's up to you to decide where to mount it.

Smart controls

In terms of controls, it has all the key functions you'd expect from an electric sit/stand desk. You can raise and lower the desk with the arrows, and set specific heights as presets so you can quickly return to them. There's nothing worse than dialing in the perfect height and then not remembering the exact number to reproduce it.

I have tested other sit/stand desks with wireless connectivity to control the desk from a smartphone or other device. I do find this to be a cool feature, but it also feels a little gimmicky. It also made those desks a lot more expensive, so I can't help but question how worthwhile smart features actually are in a desk.

It does have anti-collision technology, so if something (or someone) goes under the desk while it's lowering, it won't crush them. This feature is fairly common on sit/stand desks, but I tested it, and it worked as advertised.

Overall, between the four presets and the standard arrow controls, you get exactly what you need to use the desk without issue. Add in collision detection and the overall speed at which the desk goes up and down, and you have a well-rounded desk.

Lots of colors to choose from

One of the most underrated aspects of purchasing any piece of furniture is the color options. Sure, you can make a desk with good functionality, but you want it to match your space. That's especially true with a space-saving desk like this, as the kind of person who needs a small desk probably will need it to serve multiple functions and possibly even have it in their living room.

In this case, you can snag the desk in six different tabletop colors and two frame options. You can choose from warm white, bright beech, gray oak, dark cherry, roasted walnut and ebony oak for the table. The frame comes in white or black, and you can pair either color with any of the tabletops to best match your space.

Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk: The downs

The Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk isn't perfect and it has a couple small flaws, though none of them are severe enough for me to say you shouldn't get one, they're just things to be aware of.

Not the best shape for small spaces

My biggest gripe with the Progressive Mini Ryzer is the shape of the tabletop. It being a square means it sticks out a lot further than a rectangle with the same width, and a lot of the space at the back of the desk is out of reach anyway. It means you're giving up precious floor space for something that probably won't benefit your day-to-day work too much.

For me, I'd rather have it two feet deep to save that extra foot of floor space, and I have to assume the target market of a small desk would be in a similar situation.

Obviously, this is just a matter of preference and space. If you know you have enough room for the extra depth and think you could benefit from some more workspace, then this will be a non-issue for you.

Single leg doesn't feel as stable

Due to its square shape, Progressive is able to use a single leg to support the desk instead of two legs. It has a big, wide base on the bottom to keep it in place and stable, but I think I'd prefer two legs with a smaller ground footprint and a little extra stability.

Now, I never had a problem with the desk falling over or tipping, so it's really just a matter of perceived stability versus actual stability. I have no evidence to suggest the desk will tip over, I just feel like with kids running around and animals being animals, I'd feel safer with two legs.

Progressive Mini Ryzer Standing Desk: Verdict

Overall, I'm very happy with this sit/stand desk from Progressive. It has some design aspects I might change, but at the end of the day, it does two crucial things: takes up a relatively small amount of space and is affordable.

After having surgery that stopped me from sitting, it came in clutch to allow me to keep working, which is really all I can ask for.

If you're in the market for a budget-friendly sit/stand desk that doesn't skimp on quality and you have enough room for the square shape, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Progressive Mini Ryzer desk.

The Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk is unlike any standing desk I’ve tested before. Instead of just the desk itself, you get a complete desk setup in a box with a heavy-duty monitor arm and an extra-wide cable management tray included. However, adding Corsair’s optional multi-frame pegboard takes things a step further by adding convenient and modular storage for all of your controllers, keyboards and other accessories.

Unlike with other standing desks that I’ve used for weeks or months at a time, I spent almost an entire year testing out the Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk. During that time, it served me just as well for work as it did for gaming with plenty of desk space for either thanks to its deeper 30-inch top. However, unlike its six foot wide predecessor, this desk will be a better fit in most homes thanks to its 48-inch width.

Putting the Platform 4: Elevate Desk together was a straightforward process and the desk has held up very well with no noticeable scratches or wear and tear. Corsair also sent over its optional pegboard accessory which attaches to the back of the desk and that extra vertical storage space has been a game changer. However, it was slightly more difficult to assemble than the desk itself. Likewise, the Platform 4: Elevate Desk only has two height presets which is surprising given its higher price.

My Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk review will help you decide if this is the best gaming desk for your battlestation, as well as one of the best standing desks overall.

Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A dual-motor electric standing desk with a built-in monitor arm and cable management system.
• Who is it for? Gamers, streamers, and people who work from home that want a desk setup in a box.
• What does it cost? The Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk costs $999, but is frequently on sale for half its list price.
• What do we like? The T-Channel mounting system and the included monitor arm, the extra-wide cable management tray, the desk’s sturdy build quality, and its smaller size compared to Corsair’s Platform 6: Elevate Desk.
• What don’t we like? That there are only two programmable height presets and that the full package with the multi-frame pegboard costs more than most other standing desks for gamers.

Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk: Specs

Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk: The Ups

The Platform 4: Elevate Desk sets itself apart from other standing desks for gamers in a number of ways. However, what stood out to me most is just how well its massive cable management tray and premium monitor arm form a complete package so you don't have to waste time (and money) shopping for additional accessories.

Packed to perfection

The Platform 4: Elevate Desk arrived in a single yet considerably heavy box. While many standing desks come in two boxes with one for the desktop and one for the legs, Corsair managed to pack everything into one. However, you’ll likely need help bringing this one inside your home.

Speaking of packaging, I was thoroughly impressed by the care and attention to detail that went into how the various parts of the Platform 4 were placed into the box. Everything was laid out neatly and protected with plenty of foam packing material to keep it safe during transit.

With everything unpacked, I was left with the desktop itself, the desk’s legs, the T-Channel rail and monitor arm along with all of the other parts I needed to put the Platform 4 desk together. I also liked how the monitor arm was in a separate box so I didn't get its pieces mixed up with those for the rest of the desk.

Assembling the desk was a straightforward process thanks to clear instructions and the fact that it doesn’t come in a variety of different sizes. After attaching the frame to the desktop, I dropped the legs in and secured them using bolts and the included Allen key.

Then I attached the cable management tray at the back of the desk and plugged in the cables from the legs to the control box in the center of the desk’s frame. I’ve built dozens of desks over the years and honestly, this was one of the easiest ones to put together despite having a more complex design.

With the desk itself built, I flipped it over onto its feet and began putting together the T-Channel rail system. This sits along the back of the desktop and serves as the mounting point for the included monitor arm and Corsair’s optional multi-frame pegboard.

Desk setup in a box

With a starting price of $999 without the optional pegboard, the Platform 4 is certainly an investment. However, given that Corsair includes everything you need to work, game, and stream, it’s actually a strong value proposition. And if you pick up this standing desk at a steep discount during a sale, it's even better.

Instead of having to mess around with the clamps that the rest of the best monitor arms use to attach to your desk, Corsair does things a bit differently. The T-Channel rail system extends from one side of the desk to the other, and the Platform 4’s included monitor arm attaches directly to it. Not only does this prevent additional wear on the desktop itself, it also lets you quickly reposition your monitor arm.

Depending on your display and how you want to have your setup laid out, you can slide the monitor arm to the left or right. It’s worth noting that this desk is ideal for single-monitor setups, while the Platform 6 is better suited for dual-monitor setups because it’s wider and comes with a dual-monitor arm.

Regardless of which desk you choose, you also get an extra-wide, metal cable management tray with plenty of space for one of the best surge protectors and all of your power adapters. Many companies offer cable management trays as optional add-ons, which is why I’m glad Corsair went this route instead.

In fact, the cable management tray has so much room that I actually tucked one of the best mini PCs — the Geekom A6 — inside when I put together my first setup with the Platform 4. Given that the tray itself has holes and isn’t enclosed, I wasn’t worried about the computer overheating.

If a monitor arm and cable management tray weren’t enough, Corsair also includes built-in storage towards the back of the desk. When you lift the lid, you have access to a small but still sizable compartment where you can store dongles, cables and other accessories. It also has USB-A and USB-C ports on the left side, though you do have to plug them into your PC or a power adapter to charge your devices.

With the T-Channel rail system and monitor arm set up at the back of the Platform 4, it was time to add the optional accessory that really makes this desk shine.

Going vertical (with accessories)

Just like the Platform 4 itself, Corsair’s multiframe pegboard accessory is on the steep side at $299. However, it goes on sale quite frequently and you can often pick it up for half price. Even at full price, I’d say it’s definitely worth it for the extra storage space and the aesthetics.

As the name implies, this accessory is a modular system made of two pegboard panels that sit side-by-side in a large metal frame that attaches to the top of the T-Channel rail system. You can also buy Corsair’s multiframe pegboard on its own and use it with any desk since you get traditional clamps in the box as well.

I have to admit, putting the pegboard together was a bit harder than I thought it would be after building the Platform 4. Once it was built, I had some difficulty figuring out how to insert the included T-Nuts used to screw the shelves and other accessories into the rails on either side. After watching others do it online, I eventually got the hang of it.

Alongside the pegboard, you get two small shelves and one larger shelf. I installed the smaller shelves on either side and used them to house a pair of the best computer speakers. While I could have put the larger shelf on the side of the desk for some extra desktop space, I decided to install it on the top of the frame and upside down to give the desk a cockpit-style look.

Corsair gives you plenty of hooks too, which you can use to store controllers, keyboards, and basically any other accessory on the pegboard. Since I went with a dedicated console gaming setup with an Xbox Series X on one side and a PS5 Pro on the other, I hung their respective controllers and headsets on either side. Also, since the pegboard is made of metal and not plastic, you can use magnetic accessories like NZXT’s Puck cable management and headphone holder too.

If space is at a premium and you don’t want to risk damaging your desk by adding a third-party drawer or other storage accessories underneath, Corsair’s multiframe pegboard is the way to go.

A cockpit for your battlestation

With the pegboard installed behind the Platform 4 and the way I set it up, it really felt like my own personal gaming cockpit. While I did have to get creative with the placement of that mini PC, I was very impressed by just how much you can fit on this desk.

If you need more room, Corsair sells optional desk extensions and even more pegboard panels that you can install on the side of the desk for additional storage space. For those who plan on using this desk with one of the best gaming PCs, investing in a desk extension makes a lot of sense; for $40, you get an extra foot of desktop space, which is perfect for a larger desktop computer.

As I mentioned, I’ve used the Platform 4 as my main gaming desk for almost a year now. I set it up in my office at first and then moved it out to my game room for some extra space, and the Platform 4 worked well in both rooms. In addition to all black and light or dark Birch, it’s also available in white if you’d rather have the desk blend in with your home decor instead of standing out.

While I did use the Platform 4 for work here and there, the majority of my testing time was spent gaming. Whether I was playing Astro Bot on PS5 or Tears of the Kingdom on my Nintendo Switch, it’s a comfy and spacious desk to game at.

One other thing I really like is that alongside all of the other included accessories, Corsair also gives you some small plastic shelves that attach to either side of the desk. I found these really came in handy for storing my controllers and remotes when I wasn’t using them.

Overall, I’ve enjoyed practically every second with the Platform 4 despite a few difficulties when installing the optional pegboard. I also tried out the Secretlab Magnus Evo during this same time period, but between the two, I think I might stick with the Platform 4 long term given how useful all of the extras Corsair has thrown in have been.

Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk: The Downs

The Corsair Platform 4: Elevate is an excellent gaming desk through and through. However, it falls slightly short compared to other standing desks for one key reason that won’t be a deal breaker for most.

Up or down with no in-between

Regardless of whether you’re using an electric standing desk built for productivity like the Uplift V3 or one for gaming like the Secretlab Magnus Pro, there are buttons at the front used to adjust its height. Typically, alongside your up and down buttons, you also have a few dedicated memory preset buttons which you use to program your preferred sitting and standing heights.

In my time testing standing desks, I’ve seen as many as four of these height-preset buttons. Surprisingly, the Platform 4 only has two: one for standing and one for sitting. For most people, this will definitely be enough. However, I’ve found that having a third one like on Secretlab’s standing desks — or even a fourth like on Uplift and Vari’s — can be extremely useful.

For instance, when I’m working, I like to have the top of my monitor just slightly above eye level for the best ergonomics. When it’s time to game, I might drop it down slightly so I can lean back in one of the best gaming chairs or even one of the best office chairs. The same goes for when I’m standing while playing games; in that case, I usually have my display slightly higher since I hold my controller close instead of resting my arms on the desk like I do when typing.

I would have liked to see Corsair add a third or even a fourth memory preset button here, especially for the price. Speaking of the price…..

Looks can be deceiving

If you go to Corsair’s website and look at the Platform 4: Elevate, the video that autoplays shows the desk by itself without the company’s optional pegboard. However, with a desk like this, chances are you’ll see it on TikTok or YouTube first before you actually click the link.

In that case, you might be surprised to learn that the multiframe pegboard is an optional accessory. It’s always good to have options, but if you’re dead set on that pegboard — and the extra storage and specific look it provides — you might be disappointed to find it isn't included and requires an extra investment.

Speaking of the price, the Platform 4 is on the expensive side for a 48-inch, dual-motor electric standing desk. There are plenty of less expensive options from companies like FlexiSpot that can be had for under $500. Corsair does make up for the Platform 4’s high $999 list price by deeply discounting the desk during sales, though. In fact, I’ve seen it on sale for as low as $449 recently. While it was out of stock at that price, if you can catch it during a similar sale, it’s an absolute steal given the included accessories.

Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk: Verdict

The Corsair Platform 4: Elevate Desk goes beyond a traditional electric standing desk by including everything you need to get started gaming, streaming, or working from home right in the box. Sure, optional accessories like the multiframe pegboard certainly sweeten the deal, but even without them, you’re getting a well-built, dual-motor standing desk that you can always expand later on.

For instance, one thing I didn’t get to try out is using the Platform 4 with Elgato’s accessories. Since Corsair owns Elgato, all of its lights and other streaming gear are also compatible with this desk and the larger Platform 6. If you’ve already invested in that ecosystem, this desk becomes a no-brainer.

At $999, the Platform 4 is on the expensive side for a smaller standing desk. However, you get quite a lot of bang for your buck, and if you can find it on sale, even better. After using the Platform 4 for almost a year, I don’t think I’ll be getting rid of this desk anytime soon.

I've tried more times than I can count to make my home office a productive work place. It's changed over the years but even with a nice desk and quality chair, it's all too tempting for my space to get cluttered by kids' toys and my own over consumption of journals, books and latest Staples haul. I'm a nut for office supplies.

The problem isn’t knowing what to do, it’s actually sticking with it. As a big fan of author and speaker, James Clear, I've read his book Atomic Habits (twice) and subscribe to his newsletter. I have found his tips for productivity and sticking to good habits really helpful.

I was recently thinking about something James Clear calls the “Plateau of Latent Potential,” the idea that real progress is happening, even when you can’t see it yet, and asked ChatGPT to help me apply it to my own routine. By asking ChatGPT to build me a simple, “Atomic Habits”-style routine for my home office, I discovered a habit (focused on small changes) that have actually made a difference.

Here are three specific changes that quietly reshaped how I work. Most importantly, I’m still doing them.

Leaning on ChatGPT to set my own 'Atomic Habits'

I started by giving ChatGPT structure with the following prompt: "Act like James Clear, author of Atomic Habits. Design a simple home office routine based on small, repeatable habits. Focus on systems over goals, reduce anxiety and suggest changes that are easy to maintain long-term."

Within seconds, it came back with a routine that felt much different than anything I could have come up with alone. The trick is, I've read and explored James Clear's tips, but ChatGPT personalized the experience for me. Thanks to Memory mode enabled, it knows me well enough to do just that.

Here's what AI suggested and why it worked for me:

I stopped "starting work" and built a trigger instead

Because I work from home it's easy to go in and out of my office at any time of the day or night. I'm guilty of going on my computer on the weekends, stressing over a story and then realizing I should be enjoying a day off.

Because of this, ChatGPT suggested I attach work to a specific trigger. For me, it became turning on my ring light. Now, if I don't turn it on, I'm not "working." I could be researching or just scrolling, but this shift keeps me from working too much outside of work hours and when the light is on, the kids know not to bother me.

I redesigned my desk to remove clutter and obstacles

My neighbors across the street aren't that interesting. My tree-lined street is normal and frankly, boring. But when I'm stuck on an idea or start to daydream, suddenly their Amazon delivery or landscapers become fascinating. In other words, I'm easily distracted and ChatGPT knows that.

That's how it flipped this habit completely. Instead of removing small obstacles, it suggeted habits such as keeping only one notebook visible (I used to have three going at once), closing unused tabs hourly and taking small breaks to give myself permission to look out the window without feeling guilty for losing focus.

As James Clear would say, these small habits lead to big changes. None of this is groundbreaking, but together it has created a workspace where the default action is working.

I've stopped chasing perfection

Okay, this one is still a work-in-progress, but ChatGPT's advice has helped me calm down and track consistency instead of perfection. The AI framed it in classic James Clear terms: Focus on the system, not the outcome.

So, now, rather than mentally beat myself up when something doesn't go as well as planned, I ask myself about my continuous goal of following a routine built for productivity and focus. Did I stray from it? Did I do my best for the day? If the answer is yes, than the rest is out of my hands. Surprisingly, not chasing perfection has made me more productive. Because consistency compounds, even when it doesn’t feel like it’s working yet.

Why creating 'Atomic Habits' in this way helped

I've improved my productivity a lot this year. I used to think that "being productive" meant "doing it all," but by exploring proven ways to be more successful, I've noticed a huge shift in my happiness. My way was essentially punishing me for failing and asking myself to become a different person overnight.

This "hack" was all about exploring new habits, which has ultimately made things easier, remove steps (that didn't matter anyway) and repeat small actions daily. The small changes quiletly stack up over time.

As James Clear discusses in his book, the bad habits stack up, too. So by creating new, helpful habits in small steps, you're more likely to stick with them. This strategy has certainly worked for me.

The takeaway

Using ChatGPT like a productivity coach isn’t new. But with this prompt the AI didn't become a generic coach, it thought more like James Clear to help me make clear changes in a meaningful way. Because the AI is familiar with how I work, my busy life (three young kids is endlessly chaotic) and my goals.

Rather than attempting to make sweeping changes all at once, ChatGPT offered me a system based on proven strategies. And in my case, those systems are still working.

Are you a fan of James Clear? Just need help gaining focus? Give this prompt a try. Let me know in the comments what you think.

More from Tom’s Guide

• Why some AI tools are being banned by the US government — and what it means for you
• I used Naval Ravikant’s 'Leverage' rule with ChatGPT agents — and it cut my workload in half
• I used the 'Owl' prompt to make ChatGPT slow down — and it instantly gave me smarter answers

The Secretlab Magnus Evo is a dual-motor, electric standing desk that offers many of the "Pro" features of its predecessor at a more approachable price. Starting at $749 without accessories, it’s still a serious investment, but its sleek, less "gamer-focused" aesthetic allows it to work just as well in a professional home office as it does in a game room.

The most significant departure from the Secretlab Magnus Pro — which I consider one of the best gaming desks overall — is the desktop itself. Instead of an all-metal surface, the Evo features a two-tone top with a soft-touch, ultra-matte laminate finish. Additionally, while the Pro integrates a massive full-length cable tray into its frame, the Evo uses a smaller version that attaches to the underside. More importantly, the Evo retains a full-length metal edge at the back along with its metal legs and frame, which makes it compatible with Secretlab’s existing ecosystem of magnetic cable management accessories.

After using the Magnus Evo daily for the past six months, I’m impressed by how well it holds its own. You do lose the premium 3-stage legs and the ability to quickly transform the look of the entire desk with one of Secretlab’s magnetic MagPad desk mats, but the overall experience remains quite premium. However, there are a few downsides: the optional accessories add up quickly, and while that matte finish feels great, it is noticeably prone to micro-scratches.

My Secretlab Magnus Evo review will help you decide if this is the best standing desk for your setup, or if you’re better off with a simpler desk and putting that extra cash toward your gaming PC.

Secretlab Magnus Evo: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? An electric, sit/stand desk with a focus on cable management and magnetic accessories.
• Who is it for? It’s targeted at gamers but subdued enough to make it a good fit for anyone working from home that wants a high-tech standing desk.
• What does it cost? The Secretlab Magnus Evo costs $749 while the larger Secretlab Magnus Evo XL costs $849.
• What do we like? The simple and straightforward assembly process, the included cable management tray, the metal strip at the back of the desk for magnetic accessories and the integrated power supply column.
• What don’t we like? That its soft-touch ultra matte laminate finish is prone to scratches, how you’re limited to low-profile monitor arms and that the optional accessories can get expensive.

Secretlab Magnus Evo: Specs

Secretlab Magnus Evo: The ups

As the more affordable follow-up to its Pro predecessor, the Secretlab Magnus Evo manages to hold its own with a powerful yet quiet dual-motor system and strategic metal placement for the company’s full line of magnetic accessories. However, it’s the sleek, two-tone design and a more flexible, straightforward assembly process that really make this desk shine.

Pre-wired assembly

Much to my surprise, the Magnus Evo arrived in one large brown box. Normally, standing desks come in two — with a separate box for the legs and one for the desktop. Everything was extremely well-packaged with plenty of foam to protect all the pieces too. The reason everything fits in one box is due to the fact that Secretlab does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

With everything unpacked, I was left with the center portion of the desktop, a pair of desk extensions, two legs and feet, and all of the hardware needed to put the Magnus Evo together.

After bolting the two extensions onto either side of the desktop, the rest of the build process was quite straightforward. This is because the Magnus Evo is largely pre-wired; the electrical control box is already mounted to the underside of the center panel. Since the motors are housed directly inside the leg columns, you don't have to worry about mounting them yourself. Instead, you simply plug the legs into the pre-installed control box and you're good to go.

One thing you do have to take into consideration is which side of the desk you want the integrated power supply column on. With the Magnus Pro, you only had one option: the left side of the desk. By giving you the choice between the left or the right leg for the power passthrough, the Magnus Evo is actually a lot more versatile.

From there, I installed the legs and attached their feet at the bottom using the included bolts and the specialized magnetic screwdriver. Of all the standing desks I’ve built, the Magnus Evo has been one of the easiest to assemble. In fact, I’d go as far to say that it’s as easy to put together as the Vari Electric Standing Desk which I consider the gold standard.

With the Magnus Evo built, all that was left was to flip it over and plug it in. Fortunately, Secretlab makes that even easier than with other electric standing desks.

Power where you need it

After setting up most standing desks, you usually end up with a messy power cable or a surge protector cord hanging down right from the middle of the frame. Secretlab solved this problem for good by integrating a power supply column directly into one of the legs of the Magnus Evo.

During assembly, you can choose to have this integrated power supply column on either the left or right side of the desk. Since I have a power outlet on the right side, I opted to use the right leg for this.

While the Magnus Pro’s recessed port looks a bit cleaner, the Magnus Evo uses a short, wired power inlet that makes positioning the cable slightly more versatile and helps keep costs down. Just be sure to keep any pets away from this cord; because since it’s hard-wired into the desk's internal electronics, you’d likely have to replace the entire leg if the inlet gets damaged.

Then, at the top of your preferred desk leg on the inside of the frame, you have a standard 3-prong power port. I plugged one of the best surge protectors into it and used one of Secretlab’s optional magnetic cable anchors to remove any slack and keep the cord neatly tucked away.

What I really like about Secretlab’s approach to powering the Magnus Evo — and everything plugged in at your desk for that matter — is that you don’t have to worry about your power strip’s cable getting caught or unplugged when moving the desk up and down. It’s a convenient little extra that helps justify the Magnus Evo’s higher price compared to other electric standing desks.

Not without my magnets

The Magnus Pro, with its all-metal desktop, was purpose-built for magnetic accessories, but Secretlab also managed to incorporate this functionality into the Magnus Evo. Instead of being made from soft-touch laminate, the entire rear edge of the desk is made from metal. This means you can use Secretlab’s magnetic cable anchors to hold your gaming PC’s cables in place at the back of the desk. This is also great if you want to have a permanent charging cable at your desk without it falling behind.

Given that the Magnus Evo also has metal legs and a metal frame, you can use magnetic accessories in both of these places, too. I particularly like Secretlab’s long metal cable sheaths for running an Ethernet cable from one of the best Wi-Fi 7 routers up from the floor and into the back of my PC.

At $55 for the standard cable management bundle or $74 for the extra-long version, these optional accessories aren’t cheap — but more on that later. Since you’re dealing with a metal rear edge, legs, and frame, you aren’t limited to Secretlab’s accessories. Anything with a strong enough magnet will do. For instance, I picked up these smaller magnetic cord holders online for just $15. They come in silver, so you may want to paint them to match the desk, but I used them on the backside of the Magnus Evo where they were completely out of sight.

Even if you don’t opt for Secretlab’s premium accessories, the included cable management tray also makes use of magnets. It bolts onto the back of the desk and uses a hinged design with magnets at the top, allowing you to quickly drop it open and securely snap it shut when plugging in a new device.

With the Magnus Evo built and plugged into the wall, it was finally time to set it up and start using it.

Sleek, solid and smooth

Despite being less expensive than its predecessor, the Magnus Evo immediately has a premium look to it thanks to its soft-touch matte laminate finish and two tone design. While I wish there were other color options besides black, knowing Secretlab, I can almost guarantee they’ll release a white version later on like they did with the Magnus Pro.

After assembling the Magnus Evo, I first tried it out with a more traditional single monitor setup with a small soundbar underneath my display. Then on the right, I powered everything using the Framework Desktop. As I had recently set up my first NAS, I spent a lot of time sitting at the Magnus Evo uploading old pictures and videos to it.

Whether sitting or standing, everything worked really well and felt very stable at either height. Although the Magnus Evo has just three programmable height preset buttons on the front, one thing I really like about its controls is that they’re built into the desk instead of attached underneath it. Likewise, the toggle on the far right lets you lock the desk’s controls but it also turns off the LED lights that show you the desk’s current height. This is great if you have small children like I do or just don’t want to have another LED display shining in your room at night.

From there, I moved the Magnus Evo over to the other side of my game room and put together a more complicated dual-monitor setup. I used Secretlab’s dual monitor arm to do so and to hide my PC, I used its under-desk PC mount. Now it’s designed for one of the best gaming PCs which are larger and bulkier. However, with a bit of jerry-rigging I managed to mount one of the best mini PCs — the vertically-oriented Atomman G7 Ti — there while using Secretlab’s magnetic headphone hanger to hold it in place. Unconventional I know but I really wanted to free up some much needed desk space while still having a dual-monitor setup.

Thanks to its powerful dual motors, the Magnus Evo is able to adjust from my preferred sitting to standing position in just over 10 seconds both ways. It’s also fairly quiet while doing so without the extra whirring you might hear from a single-motor electric standing desk. When coming down, it stayed between 45-47 dB on my sound meter which lines up with Secretlab’s under 50 db claim. However, when raising up, the Magnus Evo got as loud as 57 dB which is slightly over this. Still, adjusting this desk’s height isn’t going to be distracting for yourself or anyone else in the same room as you.

Even though I tested out the smaller, 60-inch wide, standard Magnus Evo, I still had plenty of room for my dual-monitor set up. I’ve used this desk setup for both work and play since the end of January and it’s been great. However, not being able to snap one of Secretlab’s MagPad desk mats on its desktop has led to some unforeseen consequences.

Secretlab Magnus Evo: The downs

The Secretlab Magnus Evo retains many of the best features of its predecessor at a more affordable price point. However, it’s not without its downsides, namely its more delicate desktop and the feeling of being locked into Secretlab’s premium ecosystem of accessories.

A desk mat isn’t optional

Though I’ve often used a desk mat in the past to protect the surface of my desk and to help reduce extra noise from typing on one of the best mechanical keyboards, I chose not to with the Magnus Evo. I did so for two reasons: I didn't want to cover the desk's beautiful finish, and I really liked how its soft-touch laminate felt under my forearms.

Unfortunately, when I moved the desk across my game room after a few weeks of use, I noticed small micro-scratches underneath where my keyboard had been. They aren't very noticeable from afar, but if you look closely, they stand out like a dead pixel on one of the best monitors. It's still very usable, but it is annoying when you’ve paid over $500 for a premium desk.

Secretlab’s MagPad desk mats are an elegant (if expensive) solution for the Magnus Pro, as they magnetically snap into place and cover the surface from end to end. However, because the center of the Magnus Evo's desktop isn't metal, they aren’t compatible. This means you’ll have to turn to a third-party desk mat if you want to keep the laminate surface looking pristine.

On a solid wood desk like the Oakywood Standing Desk Pro, you could simply buff or sand out surface-level imperfections. That isn't an option here. To its credit, the Magnus Evo’s laminate is very easy to wipe down, but it is far more susceptible to permanent wear than its more expensive, all-metal sibling.

Accessorizing at a premium

I’ve hinted at it throughout this review, but Secretlab’s ecosystem of first-party accessories isn’t cheap. For instance, the dual-monitor arm I’m using here costs $249, which is more than you’ll pay for most of the best monitor arms. The same holds true for its cable management accessories and under-desk PC mount.

With monitor arms in particular, it might be worth spending extra on one of Secretlab’s due to the Magnus Evo’s design. Since the cable management tray is right up against the back of the desk and you don’t have the option to position it elsewhere, if you’re clamping a monitor arm right at the center, it needs to be a low-profile one. If it isn’t, you’re going to have a much harder time turning the knob for its clamp. Depending on which third-party monitor arm you choose, this might not even be possible.

Although I used Secretlab’s dual monitor arm in this desk setup, I did manage to clamp a third-party accessory to the back of the Magnus Evo. Since I wanted my webcam in the center of the desk, I used a camera desk mount from SmallRig to put it between my two monitors. This took quite a bit of back and forth, given there’s not a lot of clearance between the desktop and the cable management tray, but I eventually got it to work.

Just like with one of the best iPhones, if you do pick up a Magnus Evo or even a Magnus Pro, prepare to set aside some extra cash for a few of Secretlab’s first-party accessories.

Secretlab Magnus Evo: Verdict

The Secretlab Magnus Evo is a sleek and impressive electric standing desk. Thanks to its more subdued design, it works just as well for your battlestation as it does for a dedicated work-from-home setup. The Magnus Evo is more affordable than its predecessor, yet Secretlab still managed to retain many of the best features of the Magnus Pro, like its integrated power supply column and support for magnetic accessories.

While I wish the Magnus Evo’s soft-touch laminate desktop was slightly more resilient, it does feel and look great. Likewise, since the cable management tray is a standalone unit rather than being integrated across the entire frame, you get a bit more freedom when it comes to using third-party accessories, which can be clamped more easily onto the left or right sides of the rear edge.

If you’re looking for a gaming desk that gives you the freedom to play while sitting or standing, the Magnus Evo is an excellent choice. It may not have the built-in storage of Corsair’s Platform 4 Elevate but it does have a more premium look and feel to it.

The Hbada X7 couldn’t be farther from your standard office chair. For starters, it features an almost all-mesh design with a floating wing-style lumbar support. Not to mention its pullout footrest and 6D armrests. On another office chair, these would be the standout features but with the X7, we’re just getting started as this is a smart ergonomic chair.

So what makes it smart? Well, that would be the automotive-grade chip housed within its lumbar support module. Then there’s the power management system housed in the base of the X7’s seat and a slide-out 5,200 mAh battery. All of this extra tech powers the chair’s AI lumbar-tracking but it can also warm you up, cool you down and even give you a massage to help alleviate back pain and fatigue so you can comfortably extend your workday — or a marathon gaming session — even longer.

I’ve been using the X7 as my daily driver for the past two months. Even with all these smart features disabled, it’s still an extremely supportive and comfortable chair with plenty of adjustment points to help you lock in the perfect fit. However, thanks to its on-board AI and sensors, you don’t have to make all these adjustments yourself. Instead, the X7 does the brunt of the work for you.

My Hbada X7 review will help you decide if this is the best office chair for you and whether or not all of these extras are really worth its steep asking price.

Hbada X7: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A high-end, smart ergonomic office chair that features a motorized lumbar support system, built-in massage, and active seat ventilation.
• Who is it for? People who spend extended hours at their desk and those looking for therapeutic relief for chronic back pain or past injuries.
• What does it cost? The Hbada X7 has a list price of $1,509 but is frequently on sale for $1,299 or even $1,199.
• What do we like? The chair’s sturdy build quality, the premium materials used throughout, the active seat cooling and infrared heat, the pull-out footrest, how its lumbar support adjusts automatically, the built-in massager and how the remote control is stowed on the side.
• What don’t we like? The 75-pound weight and the extra bulk the chair’s smart features add, the more involved assembly process, the high list price and having to manage a battery or charging cable for its features to work.

Hbada X7: Specs

Hbada X7: The Ups

From its striking design to its automated adjustments, the Hbada X7 has plenty going for it. What surprised me most though wasn’t the flashy tech — it was just how comfortable the chair was to sit in during long, 8+ hour stretches. Still, there’s nothing quite like your chair giving you an unprompted massage right when you’ve hit a slump.

Space-age support

Just like with the Hinomi X1 I previously reviewed, the X7 looks like it was engineered rather than designed. From its mesh headrest and backrest to the pull-out footrest and highly adjustable armrests, all of these parts form a cohesive office chair that looks and feels high-tech even before you insert its massive battery.

The X7 is also designed to support your entire body as you shift throughout the day. If you turn to the left or right, its 16-inch extra-wide headrest is there to support the sides of your head, not just the back. Likewise, if you turn your torso, the cushioned "floating wings" on the outer edges of the lumbar support ensure that your sides remain supported.

Around back, the heavy-duty aluminum frame helps keep your spine aligned. Because it connects directly to the base of the seat, you get this same level of support even when reclining up to 140 degrees (more on that later).

The same holds true for its 6D armrests, which can be rotated 360 degrees or tilted upward to meet your elbows wherever they land. One thing I immediately noticed is that the X7's armrests stay firmly in place once adjusted. I can’t say the same for the Herman Miller Vantum gaming chair I reviewed, where I found myself constantly repositioning its arm pads.

Out of the box, you have a total of 22 different adjustment points to tweak. If that seems overwhelming, you don't actually have to master all of them — you can just reach for the remote and let the chair’s "brain" handle the heavy lifting.

No lumbar adjustments necessary

Although the X7 comes with a power cable, nobody wants to be tethered to a wall. Fortunately, Hbada now includes a rechargeable 5,200 mAh battery with the chair. It charges via USB-C and takes about as long as a modern smartphone to top off. Once it’s ready, you simply slide the battery into its housing on the right side of the seat.

With power established, it’s time to grab the built-in remote located on the left side of the chair. This isn't a wireless unit that you’ll misplace easily; it’s hard-wired to the X7 with a clever, retractable flat cable. The small OLED screen is crisp and easy to read, with intuitive icons for every function.

From here, you can toggle the seat fans, engage the infrared heating system, or start a bionic massage cycle. There is also a manual slider to move the lumbar support forward or back, but the real star is the "Auto" button in the top-left corner. This is what puts the chair into "set it and forget it" mode.

The X7 uses magnetic Hall Effect sensors — the same tech found in the best PC game controllers to prevent stick drift — to detect your exact sitting position. If you lean forward to focus on a task, the sensors recognize the shift and signal the motors to bring the lumbar support closer to meet you. Think of it as reactive ergonomics where the X7 shifts throughout your workday to catch you the moment your posture slips.

The backrest on the LiberNovo Omni adjusts in a similar way, using a smaller 2,200 mAh battery to power a motorized actuator. However, with that chair, you’re the one pressing the buttons. The X7 is the only chair I’ve tested that takes that responsibility off your plate entirely.

It’s been great using the X7 as my daily driver for work, but all work and no play makes for a much less versatile office chair.

For far more than work

Whether you want to take a quick break or cozy up in front of one of the best monitors to catch up on a show, the Hbada X7 makes it easy. Underneath the seat is a pull-out footrest that can be deployed or stowed in seconds. It’s integrated directly into the frame, similar to the one on the Hinomi X1, rather than being a separate, standalone piece like the LiberNovo Omni’s optional footrest.

While the X7’s smart adjustments help you stay productive, you can also toggle them off with a single button to focus purely on the chair’s spa-like modes. Personally, I found reclining in the X7 to be a great way to gather my thoughts or rest my eyes between meetings. It’s also incredibly comfortable for gaming sessions; I spent plenty of time with my feet up playing my Nintendo Switch 2, with the 8D dual-core massager enabled.

Speaking of the massage, the difference here is mechanical. While the LiberNovo Omni simply moves your spine up and down for something similar to an adjustment at a chiropractor, the X7’s rollers — which Hbada calls "bionic hands" — mimic a real kneading motion. I found it significantly more beneficial for loosening up my lower back than the optional Elemax unit on the X-Chair X3.

The X7 may be marketed for work, but it doubles as one of the best gaming chairs too. You get the structure needed for competitive play, but you can also cozy up with the infrared heat on when playing something more whimsical like Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream or Animal Crossing.

Hbada X7: The Downs

The Hbada X7 is an impressive feat of engineering and a whole new direction for ergonomic office chairs. However, it’s not without its downsides which include the more detailed assembly process which feels somewhat out of place at this higher price point.

Heavy lifting required

The Hbada X7 arrived in a single, massive 83-pound box. I almost wish it had shipped in two separate packages like the best standing desks; while I managed to bring it inside fairly easily at my one-story house, you’ll definitely want a second set of hands if you’re lugging this up multiple flights of stairs to an apartment or upstairs office.

Once unboxed, the X7 required significantly more legwork than I’d expect at this price point. The Steelcase Karman, which carries a similarly high price tag, arrives fully assembled. Even the slightly cheaper Herman Miller Vantum is a "drop-in" affair where you simply set the chair on the gas cylinder.

With the X7, I actually had to assemble the base myself — a task that's rare even among the best budget office chairs. While I suspect this was done to fit the chair into a single box, it felt out of place for a $1,500 product.

Since this is a smart chair, you also have to manage its "nervous system." A wire protruding from the back of the seat must be plugged into the backrest for the smart adjustments to function. There isn't much clearance to work with, and it felt tedious ensuring the two parts had a secure connection without pinching the cable.

With the build complete, you're left with a 75-pound behemoth. Since that 8D dual-core massager is housed in the lumbar support, much of that weight is concentrated at the back. Suffice it to say, you’re better off leaving the X7 in one spot rather than rolling it around your home like with the OdinLake Ergo Butterfly 753, which features a convenient handle on the rear.

Puzzled pricing

At its full price of $1,509, the X7 feels like a stretch. Paying over $1,000 for a premium office chair isn’t unheard of — I’ve personally tested several in this bracket — but the value proposition here is unique. With a chair like the Steelcase Karman High-Back, you’re paying for proprietary Intermix material that blends the breathability of mesh with the softness of fabric. With the X7, that premium is going toward its smarts.

Don’t get me wrong: the X7 is an incredibly supportive and comfortable chair that will make a world of difference for anyone who spends too long at a desk or struggles with back pain. However, you’re taking a gamble. Until you live with it, you won’t know if these smart extras will become essential to your workflow or something you try once and never touch again.

If you like the look and feel of the X7 but prefer a more analog experience, you might be better off with the Hbada E3 Ultra or the E3 Pro, both of which fall under $1,000 (the E3 Pro often dips below $500 on sale). Similarly, the Hinomi X1 offers a very similar aesthetic and manual functionality for less too.

The warranty is also a sticking point. While the X7 comes with a 5-year guarantee, that only covers load-bearing structures like the base, gas lift, and casters. The arms, backrest, and — most importantly — the electronic components are only covered for three years. Contrast that with the standard 12-year warranties from Herman Miller and Steelcase, and it’s enough to make you question the X7’s longevity.

As of now, I’ve used the X7 for 8+ hours a day for two months without a single issue. It's also worth noting that while the list price is $1,509, the chair has been consistently on sale for $1,299 on Hbada’s site since I received it. At that lower price, the "early adopter tax" is a bit easier to justify, but it's still a significant investment in a relatively new technology.

Hbada X7: Verdict

As it stands now, the Hbada X7 is in a class of its own. While there are other chairs with motorized lumbar adjustment and built-in massagers, this is the only one I’ve tested that handles all of those features for you autonomously. It’s been great to have the massage mode kick in automatically after sitting at my desk for too long. And while you do have to recharge its massive battery, I only had to do so a handful of times during the two months I used the X7 as my daily driver.

Even with the smart features disabled, the X7 is an excellent ergonomic chair. There are plenty of adjustment points to tailor the fit to your liking, and I really appreciate the versatility of the 6D armrests and the convenience of the integrated pull-out footrest.

At $1,299 on perpetual sale, the X7 is certainly still an investment. For that price, however, you’re getting a fully-equipped ergonomic chair that doubles as a legitimate recovery tool. It won’t be for everyone — recharging your furniture and letting AI take the reins of your posture feels a bit strange at first. But if you work long hours or are tired of dealing with persistent back pain, the X7 is a worthy, high-tech upgrade for your home office setup.

As someone who sits cross-legged roughly 80% of the time when I'm working from home, I've spent the last few years wishing that my current racing-style office chair was wider and more comfortable for this type of sitting. Not only is my current chair huge, bulky, and not even a little bit breathable, but its bucket-style seat can put pressure on my ankles when I sit this way.

Little did I know that 'Criss Cross' office chairs had become a thing over the past year, with these casual-style seats even turning into a viral sensation on TikTok. Honestly, it almost feels like I manifested them into existence!

As the name implies, these chairs are made for sitting cross-legged, featuring a wide, flat seat with a low back and (usually) no armrests. They also come in versions with or without wheels, which is great for those who prefer their chair to stay put when their feet aren’t firmly on the floor.

If lower back support is what you're after, you're probably better off looking elsewhere. You'll also find that the low back on these chairs means no headrest, so that's another thing you'll want to consider before trying out a Criss Cross option.

Thankfully, the barrier to entry for trying these trending chairs is quite low on these cross-legged models — unlike some office chairs which cost hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars, Criss Cross chairs can be purchased from under AU$100 on Amazon, and with free delivery for Prime members.

Here are the 9 models I’m considering, each with an average rating of 4 stars or higher from Amazon buyers. Prices range from as low as AU$88 to just over AU$200, making them all quite affordable.

I’d never recommend hiding your Wi-Fi router in a bookshelf, as that would likely lead to overheating and a weakened signal. But what about the rest of your networking gear? From network switches to smart home hubs and everything else that needs to be hardwired, that approach could certainly work. To see if it was possible, I decided to do it myself.

I’m in the early stages of hardwiring my home for Ethernet and I eventually want to install an in-wall networking cabinet. That way, all the cables can end up in one place. However, before I start cutting a large hole in my drywall and actually running cables from one side of my house to the other, I first wanted to move all of my networking gear and my Wi-Fi router to a more central location.

Up until now, my router was in our game room where our fiber internet connection comes into the house while all of my various switches and hubs were on a shelf in my office. To consolidate everything while putting my router higher up for a better signal, I decided to buy a tall bookshelf and make a few tweaks to it.

Here’s all the gear I used to do so and a few key home hacks that let me hide all the cables for a much cleaner look.

Just a few minor alterations

Instead of a standard Billy bookcase from IKEA, after a whole lot of research, I actually ended up getting a kitchen pantry cabinet for this project. While your standard bookshelf is certainly the cheapest way to pull off something like this, I chose the shelf I did specifically because it has doors on both the top and the bottom. That way, most of my gear will remain out of sight but I can quickly access it when I need to.

The only problem was that since this is a kitchen pantry cabinet and not an entertainment center, there weren’t any openings for running cables to my various devices. This is my cabinet after all, so I decided to modify it slightly to meet my needs. For less than $10, I picked up a four pack of desk grommets that came with the required hole saw drill attachment to make holes for them.

Although the sides and shelves are made from sturdy particle board, the back panel is made from thin laminate-faced fiberboard. I knew from experience that drilling through this stuff often leads to jagged splinters, and I wanted a professional finish. After consulting with Google Gemini, I followed its suggestion to use painter’s tape on both the front and back of the panel to hold the surface together while I drilled.

I was skeptical at first but after a bit of taping and drilling my first 2-inch hole, it worked like a charm. In total, I drilled four holes with one in each of the top compartments, one in the open middle section and one in the bottom compartment.

From there, it was just a matter of cleaning up the sawdust left from my drill and installing the grommets. Since the included hole saw drill bit was the perfect size for them, I just popped each grommet in one by one. This was my first time doing anything like this and though I still had a lot of work to do, I was already really impressed by how the first step of this project turned out.

With my holes drilled and my grommets installed, it was time to start putting everything in place and managing all of the various cables.

Raising my router (and my networking gear)

From the get go, I always planned to put my eero Max 7 mesh router on the top of the cabinet. Since there’s still a good two feet between the cabinet and the ceiling above it, my router has plenty of space for airflow. Likewise, I could use the back of the cabinet to hide the wires running down from it to the shelves holding my other networking gear and down to the ground where our fiber line comes in.

With my router installed up top, it was time to start getting everything ready for the cabinet’s upper and lower shelves. With several switches and hubs in the same compartment, I wanted a way to maximize the space there while also ensuring that these devices too got plenty of airflow.

To that end, I settled on a few monitor stands to do just that since I’m quite familiar with them from building my various desk setups. I got two sets of two stands: two with glass tops and two with metal tops with holes for — you guessed it — improved airflow.

Given that you want to keep anything metal as far away from your router as possible to avoid signal interference, I planned to use the glass stands in the top compartments and the metal ones in the bottom compartments. Though my router is on top of the cabinet, the hub for my Philips Hue smart lights sends out a wireless signal to the bulbs all around my home. By using a stand with a glass top, that signal can go out of the cabinet without being disrupted.

As you can see in the picture above, I used the stands to separate all of the devices instead of just stacking them on top of one another. I have one 2.5 Gigabit network switch in the middle and a gigabit one below it. My router is connected to the 2.5 Gigabit one first and then to the gigabit one but once I finish wiring my home for Ethernet, I’m going to put a 10 Gigabit switch inside my in-wall networking cabinet.

So far, everything is relatively cool in there, though I do open the doors from time to time to bring in some fresh air and for another reason which I’ll get to in a bit. With the top cabinet and all of my networking devices connected and powered on, it was time to move to the middle section of the cabinet.

Multi-charging and faster downloads

With so many tablets, phones and other devices around, I decided to dedicate the lower exposed shelf solely to charging. I had a multi-device charging station years ago when I lived in Korea, so I picked one up at a discount during Amazon’s Big Spring Sale event. The charging station I got is a 400W one with USB-C ports in the middle and USB-A ones on either side. The USB-C ports in the very center can deliver up to 100W of power while the USB-A ports on the sides deliver up to 20W.

When the cabinet doors are closed, the charging station is the only thing you can see. Since we often entertain in our game room, I figured this was an easy way to guide anyone whose phone was about to die to a charger without them having to ask if we had one.

Although you can only see a USB-C cable coming out of the smaller 1-inch grommet on the shelf above this one (I picked up a few more smaller ones for future projects), it’s not for charging. Instead, it’s actually a download station and I have to give credit to How to Geek’s Sydney Butler for the idea. You see, on the other end of that USB-C cable there’s actually a 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet adapter tucked behind the cabinet and an Ethernet cable running up to the network switch above it.

Wi-Fi has certainly improved quite a lot over the years. However, sometimes you just need to download a lot of large files or a huge game really quickly and don’t want to wait. When that happens, I just walk over to my cabinet, plug in the device in question and start downloading over a faster hardwired connection instead of on Wi-Fi. So far, I’ve used it to quickly download a few Switch 2 games but it could also be really useful for uploading large files to my NAS on the end table next to it.

With my networking gear safely stowed away and my charging needs more than met, it was time for one last addition to my cabinet that turned it from a standard piece of furniture into a hidden home lab.

A PC to tie it all together

When I first finished building the cabinet, I stood in front of it and that’s when I realized that the upper open shelf was at the exact height that I have one of the best standing desks raised to when working while standing. I couldn’t let a coincidence like this go to waste, so I decided to put a PC in the cabinet.

Having a computer integrated into the cabinet makes it very easy to check on the status of my home network but it’s also handy when downloading files and adding them to my NAS. Since a computer in a bookshelf would look slightly out of place, I decided to put a portable monitor inside the cabinet at the top and one of the best mini PCs on a shelf down below. My keyboard and mini trackball mouse are out in the open in the photo above but when I’m not using the computer, I stow them away in front of my portable monitor.

In the bottom compartments of my cabinet, I have the ONT box that converts our fiber line into an Ethernet one and I used those metal shelves to create some extra space above the power strip I have plugged in on that shelf. While I initially planned on just putting one mini PC here, I ended up putting two. The one on the right is an old Minisforum machine I picked up a few years back for personal use while the one on the left is the Minix Elite EU715-AI I reviewed earlier this year.

Now I absolutely need to keep the cabinet doors open when using my Minisforum machine which I found out the hard way when it started to get hot after prolonged use. With the Minix one though, I can actually keep it running 24/7 behind closed doors without it overheating because it doesn’t have any moving parts and features a massive integrated heatsink.

I have a full-featured USB-C cable running up to the portable monitor above as well as a mini HDMI to HDMI one too. That way, I can have two devices connected at any given time. Having a computer here also makes a lot of sense as my UGreen NAS is located right next to the cabinet.

About that portable Blu-Ray drive under the shelf. I recently inherited crates and crates of old Blu-Rays and DVDs from my mother-in-law and plan on digitizing them before putting them on my NAS. Given I don’t want to disrupt my main desk when doing so, I figured ripping all of those movies right here in the cabinet would make the most sense.

I do have some extra space on the very bottom shelf and right now, I’m using that to store the extra metal monitor stand I didn’t end up using along with a separate keyboard with an integrated trackpad for my personal machine. I might think of something to add there later but for now, it’s a great place for extra storage.

Ready for my next big project

It took me longer than I’d like to admit, mainly due to finding the right cabinet for this project, but my hidden home lab is armed and fully operational. I’ve been checking the ambient temperatures behind those closed cabinet doors periodically and I’m happy to report that there’s no sign of overheating yet.

As for my office, I now have a whole lot more room for all of my various gadgets since all of my networking gear is out of that room and contained nicely within the cabinet. My Wi-Fi speeds are about the same with my main mesh router lifted up but I do like how it’s now in a place where my son or my dogs for that matter won’t be able to mess with it.

Next comes the even harder part, cutting out a large rectangular hole in the wall next to my hidden home lab to install that in-wall networking cabinet. Once that’s done and I’ve wired up a few outlets inside it to power that 10 Gigabit network switch, I can get started on the really fun part: crawling around my attic to run cables and putting even more holes in the wall.

While I’m still nervous about wiring my entire home for Ethernet, at least now I know that once I do, I’ll be able to run a single cable to my mesh router on top of my cabinet and know that everything from my switches and hubs to the mini PCs inside and my NAS next to it will be fully connected and ready to go.

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Whether you just built your first PC or put the finishing touches on what was supposed to be your endgame desk setup, there’s one thing you probably haven’t even considered: how to keep everything clean and organized.

Yes, that’s right. While many of us already have our next GPU or monitor upgrade planned out, we often completely overlook the day-to-day reality of living with our new PC or desk setup. Fortunately, I build desk setups for a living and know exactly what you need (and what you don’t) to keep your setup clean, tidy, and distraction-free.

From an electric duster to give your PC a thorough cleaning every three to six months to ensuring that you have as much usable desk space as possible, the accessories below have served me well for years now. I’ve included a few options for you to choose from, like wireless versus hardwired electric dusters and fixed monitor stands versus rotating monitor arms.

Whether you want to clean your PC the right way before dust can damage its components or you just want to give your desk setup a much-needed makeover to add some extra storage space, these are all products I personally recommend after using them for years.

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I have always been a bit of a "gremlin" who prefers working in the later hours of the day and into the night. Besides the neon glow from my Govee RGB desk strip lights and occasionally a lamp, I'm working in a dark room, staring at my ridiculously large and eye searingly bright Samsung 49" G9 Ultrawide monitor.

I had seen monitor light bars trending for the past few years, but I've always dismissed them as a fad. I mean, I already had lamps, and desk lighting that looked much cooler, why would I clip another light to the top of my screen?

After seeing the Quntis Curved RGB Monitor Light Bar go on sale and finally trying it out myself to see what all the fuss was about, I’m kicking myself for waiting this long. Turns out monitor light bars aren't just a gimmick, they’re the missing piece I didn’t know my desk setup needed.

No more eye strain

So here's what I quickly realized. Light placement is super important. Unlike a desk lamp that you might have off to one side of your desk which can create unwanted hot spots and glare on your monitor, a light bar shines light strictly downward onto your workspace, illuminating your desk and keyboard area without impacting your monitor experience.

Especially in the dimmer and cozier rooms I prefer to work in, eyes can have a hard time with the "contrast gap" between staring at a very bright monitor and the dark wall behind it.

Adding a light bar softens that transition making looking at a screen feel significantly less like staring into a flashlight. I noticed this instantly and my eyes felt much more relaxed and by the end of the night I wasn't as fatigued.

Built for the curve

If you’re rocking a massive display like my Samsung G9, standard straight light bars are going to look silly and honestly might do more harm than good.

So after a bit of research, I found this Quntis model which can extend up to 25.74" wide and is designed for 34-inch-plus curved 1000R/1800R screens. Its triple folding clip rests on top of my monitor without any adhesive needed and it uses two curved arms which bend allowing it to follow the arc of my monitor really well. In fact, it actually looks pretty well integrated rather than some random accessory.

It uses a wireless puck controller to toggle the downward facing "work" light (adjusting both brightness and color temperature) independently from the top-facing RGB bar which lets you adjust its color and lighting effects.

What would make this better?

While most of my new battery-powered gadgets are rechargeable, the puck controller still relies on AAA batteries. USB-C charging would have been nice to have here.

I do wish it had WiFi or smart-home integration too. Being able to sync it with Alexa or Google Home to turn it on or off along with the other smart lights in my studio would be the ultimate convenience.

Also the RGB light is a nice touch that adds a pop of color, but it honestly isn't as impactful as I would have liked. Since it shines more upward than backward, it can't really bounce its lighting against your wall to really see its effects.

At least for my set up, it's been something that looks cool when I'm appreciating my desk setup from a few feet away, but when I actually go to work at my desk, it's barely noticeable since its positioned above my eyeline. That said, the fact this is included at the same price point as non-RGB models made this more forgivable.

My new must have desk accessory

At roughly $60, this felt like a low-risk experiment that yielded a high-reward result. Since I spend so much time working in a dim room, this isn't just a "nice-to-have" accessory, it's been a big boost to productivity.

I may always be an editing gremlin but my setup has never felt or looked better to work at.

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After testing the WalkingPad Z1 for 9 months, I can confidently say it’s one of the best under-desk treadmills out there. Every time I work from home, and often if the weather is too bad to get out for a walk, I clock in at least an hour on the treadmill.

I’ve been consistently hitting my 10,000 steps a day goal, and have a lot more energy for it. When the afternoon slump hits at around 3 pm, I know I can unfold the treadmill and get my energy levels back up in no time.

Movement is the key to keeping your mind and body healthy, but why is this treadmill in particular the right choice for home office workers and people with busy schedules? Here’s everything you need to know.

Staying comfortable

An essential step of getting your steps in on a walking treadmill is wearing the right footwear. I recommend having a pair of comfortable trainers on hand that you can wear specifically for using the treadmill.

These shoes should be something comfortable, like the Skechers Max Cushioning Elite 2.0 that I like to use, and they should be kept clean.

By having a pair of shoes for this specific purpose, you won’t be bringing any dirt or debris from outside onto the belt, which can result in wear and tear and shorten the longevity of the treadmill. Looking after the equipment means you can rely on it for years to come.

Safely put away

Since the WalkingPad Z1 is a folding treadmill, it can be easily stored out of the way, so it’s not an eyesore in the house like a full-size treadmill. But being careful when taking it out and putting it away is essential to making sure all the components stay in the best condition.

It’s a great idea to store it in a location that doesn’t get much dust, like under the sofa or under your desk. These are also areas where you can easily access the treadmill.

When storing, I always unplug the power cord so it doesn’t get damaged or folded. This keeps everything working correctly and avoids any unnecessary stress on components.

Opt for a brushless motor

The WalkingPad Z1 has a brushless motor, which means there’s less opportunity for overheating or wear of the belt. With reduced mechanical wear, the under-desk treadmill motor will last significantly longer than a brush motor.

As an added benefit, brushless motors also mean that operation is a lot quieter. This is perfect for working from home, where you need focus.

To find out more about the under-desk treadmill, you can read this full WalkingPad Z1 review.

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