EverDesk Max review: the motorised standing desk you’ve been waiting for

EverDesk Max: two-minute review

Last year, I was impressed by NorthDay’s ErgoTune Supreme V3 mesh-based posture chair and have subsequently been looking forward to teaming it up with its motorised standing desk sibling ever since. When the day to order the review spec finally arrived, it was kid-in-a-candy store time: ticking the box for every bell and whistle like I was speccing out my dream Aston Martin... only with an office desk. Just a week later, it arrived – all 16 boxes of it! Fortunately, what followed did not prove to be overwhelming.

The core parts of the EverDesk are the tabletop and frame. The latter is available in black or white, while the former is available as a Lily White traditional office desktop, or either Raw Ashen Oak and Aged Darkened Walnut natural wood. These arrive in the two largest boxes and come with clear instructions on how to piece them together, with just a few bolts. My only gripe here was that the tabletop box had been crushed in one corner and the weak padding led to cosmetic damage on the desk itself. It would be a shame to return the product based on one corner, but if you had to look at it every day, you’d be annoyed. Mine was damaged at the rear and I fortunately never noticed it again.

The idea is to lie everything upside down on the desktop with the feet facing up, add the electric motor, screw on the front-mounted controller (in some pre-drilled holes) and close some clamps without pinch injury – something you’re warned about and are even given a protective piece of card to help mitigate the risk. It’s unlikely that anyone will hurt themselves, but when big chunks of heavy wood and metal are involved, it’s certainly worth taking a few precautions. Next, you flip (or rather roll) the desk over and hey presto! 

An option that I didn’t choose was the wheel castors and, while I like the impressive rigidity provided by the long feet (even when fully raised), I can see wheels being useful in the future with any office move.

What you’re left with is a very solid, good-looking desk that moves up and down at a sensible speed without making more than a mild whine. The controller operates using a twist function and will automatically lock after using it to prevent kids (etc) fiddling with it. The digital display shows exactly how high it is and three presets can be set for quick up-and-downing. The desk can lift up to 120kg (bro!) and has sensors to stop you squishing any objects or children that get stuck when raising or lowering it. 

The EverDesk has some other inherent features, including a recess at the back for cables to pass through at the rear and a long groove called the UniGroove also towards its rear. This has been carefully designed to allow for clever cable management and accessory fitting without sullying the rear of the desk (useful if it’s in the middle of the room and you’re customer facing). It can also be used to prop up mobile devices.

I could stop there and say that it does what it says on the tin – it looks good, feels high quality, has a 10-year warranty for peace of mind, costs a reasonable price – and leave it there, but there’s much more.

EverDesk Max review: price and availability

• Australian list price: from AU$949
• Where to buy? Directly from the NorthDay website

The EverDesk Max is made by the same Singaporean company that brought us the ErgoTune chair and can be purchased globally, with shipping straight out of Singapore.

In Australia, you can buy the EverDesk Max directly from the manufacturer's local online storefront at NorthDay with prices starting at AU$949 for the base Lily White model in the smallest size (120 x 60cm). Upgrading to a wood finish costs an additional AU$50. 

There are three desktop sizes to choose from, with the 140 x 60cm table top costing you AU$60 extra for white and AU$120 for wood. Upgrading to the largest 160 x 70cm size costs AU$120 for white or AU$230 for wood.

Accessories can be purchased individually (AU$39 to AU$69) or in bundles ranging from AU$187 to AU$463.

Its main competitor comes from Singaporean-stablemate Omnidesk, which is generally very similar in its core offering but seems to cost more, or less, depending on where you are in the world. Other manufacturers don’t match the quality on offer but can be significantly cheaper. You can also opt for a VariDesk standing desk, but you will be paying significantly more than the EverDesk.

EverDesk Max review: design and features

• Solid legs
• Useful UniGroove cable management
• Simple to put together

Basic assembly of the EverDesk Max involves simple bolts and clamps. The under-desk accessories are often screwed into pre-drilled holes, thumb-screwed into the UniGroove, slotted onto the side of the desk or bolted on with a clamp.

The UniGroove itself is useful, but cables with thick ends (or unmoveable electronic noise-suppressor ‘chokes’) won’t fit through it. This tends to only be a problem for certain monitor signal cables and some laptop power leads though. To stop phone chargers falling back down through the holes you can make use of felt Cable Stoppers that plug the gap while snuggly holding the cable. EverDesk provides them for free but says they’re worth AU$30. Hmm.

The desk goes from sitting to standing in an acceptable three seconds and has a sub-50dB whine which, especially when only used occasionally, won’t annoy too many people. Our review was delayed by a wait for an enhanced ‘Health Coach’ controller, which periodically reminds you to change position, but this isn’t universally available yet. The basic model is touch controller with three height preset buttons, a height readout, a control lock and collision detection to stop you squashing precious things.

Core accessories

The ‘Core’ accessory bundle costs AU$187 and is a mixed bag. It includes a Cable Tray (AU$49) in white or black (to match your frame) – it's a single, folded piece of metal that screws into the middle-rear underside of the desk and holds a standard power strip (which EverDesk can sell you if you need one), keeping it off the floor. It’s generally solid but can wobble when knocked. It doesn’t feel like the greatest value, but it’s functional. If your desk sits in the middle of the room, it may look a smidge unsightly though, but flush against a wall and you'll barely know it's there.

Also included is the metal (black or white) Pegboard Panel (AU$69) and its partner Accessories Bundle (AU$69). I wasn’t too enamoured with this as it rather crudely clamps on to the side of the desk. But it didn’t bother me because it was up against the wall. You can surround your desk with them on three sides if you like. 

If you’ve no existing plans for the pre-screwed holes, you’ll likely need the Accessories Bundle for the pegboard to make more use of it. This includes a large, folded-metal shelf, a stationary holder, another shelf with a hole for a tiny glass vase, four hooks and four pegs. In the end I found these useful to hold onto various kid-made gifts and as a barrier to stop a messy desk from overflowing. However, they’re not cheap for what they are and they feel more like third-party, bolt-on accessories rather than an on-brand, desk upgrade.

Plus package

The Plus bundle pushes the upgrade price to AU$275 and adds the (AU$39) black Cable Spine (to manage dangling cables), plus the (AU$49) Anti-Fatigue (foot) Mat. The former looks like a spine that’s been ripped out of an alien but is actually good for grouping and masking wires dangling down from the desk – like a corporate office umbilical. It can magnetically attach to the Cable Tray or be screwed in. I recommend this add-on as it improves both form and function of the desk.

I didn’t try the Anti Fatigue Mat because I already have one, but I swear by it as it can be useful when standing for extended periods. Pressing your socked (or bare) feet onto the squishy lumps and crevices acts like a quasi-foot massage which positively affects your legs, back and shoulders. If you don’t have one with a standing desk, get one.

The Works

The Works bundle costs AU$463 and adds the AU$39 Hover Lightbar and the (AU$149) Switch Underdesk Storage shelf. The lightbar is high quality, clips onto the top of a slimline monitor and is powered by USB. Three touch buttons turn it on, adjust brightness in five stages and switch colour temperature from warm to cold as required. I didn’t use it much, but I imagine it would be handy to those who care about eyestrain, jetlag and circadian rhythms. 

The Switch Underdesk Storage metal shelf unit slides onto the edge of the desk and provides thin, padded drawers. In reality, I didn’t use them much and they seem overpriced for what they are. I did use the tabletop clip of this accessory as a coaster a great deal though.

Depending on which package you choose you can also get a wide (AU$49) Leather Desk Mat which I liked as it smartly matched the desktop and prevented my keyboard from scratching it. It was also wide enough to act as a useful mousepad. You can also get a much smaller (AU$29) Leather Mouse Pad, but this seemed too small and wasn’t necessary when the Desk Mat was being used.

Other accessories

The EverDesk’s Modular Shelves are available in Small (AU$99 – 36cm) or Large (AU$119 – 58cm). They can match your tabletop finish and be thumb-screwed into the UniGroove for rigidity, which particularly useful if you’re using it to raise a monitor. They look good and work well.

The (lockable) castor wheels cost AU$39 and I didn’t test them. They might affect rigidity of the desk but they’ll be handy for some users.

It’s worth noting here, that all of the above accessories arrive in their own boxes and are generally simple to extract and fit. It meant that, for the most part, the barrage of boxes wasn’t overwhelming. That’s not the case for the following attachment though.

The most major accessory is the Float Monitor Arm assembly. I’ve recently been impressed with HP's HyperX Armada 27 swing-arm gaming monitor which instantly taught me to love the convenience and space-saving benefits of not having a standard monitor stand. This was not that.

The whole assembly is made up of many parts which will perplex some people. It comes from what appears to be a third-party supplier (owing to the different appearance and lack of simple instructions). The main part is a pole that can be clamped to the rear of the desk or, with a separate attachment, fitted through the UniGroove for neatness. I tried the UniGroove but found that a required adapter wasn’t compatible with a primary screw and so had to resort to the more ugly rear clamp.

Sliding the monitor-holding arm down the pole was simple enough, but my hopes of having a free-floating monitor were dashed for several reasons. Firstly, the supplied, metal VESA bracket wouldn’t fit my primary monitor because it was too wide and my monitor’s mounting was recessed. I can’t fully blame the ligature manufacturer for that though. The same goes for my 32-inch monitor being a smidge too heavy for it (the maximum rating is 8kg per monitor).

After cheerfully moving the HyperX monitor around on its moveable arm, I was disappointed to find that the Float Monitor Arm has to be fixed into position with all its joints very tightly tightened indeed – it can’t subsequently be easily moved around.

Nonetheless, a second arm can be added and I used it with the optional Laptop Holder mounting. This too would be much more use if you could move the arm ligature around. Instead, my laptop made everything sag too much, so I had to switch to a lightweight laptop. Even then, my backup, lightweight monitor was too wide so that the laptop screen could only face forward, to my right. It was nothing like the battle station I’d mentally pictured.

I was also nervous about the pressure put on the rear of the desk by the clamp. The UniGroove means that the rear of the desk’s integrity is somewhat compromised when a large metal lever is trying to pry it apart. The resulting bending of the wood and the lack of stability provided to the monitor was the final straw and I switched back to my monitor stand and swore off the hateful Float Monitor Arm assembly which responded by repeatedly stubbing my toe whenever I walked past it. 

It will work with one or two small monitors or a laptop, but otherwise, it can go in the sea. If you really want one, check the instructions on the EverDesk website and know that a Single Monitor Arm costs AU$59, the Dual Monitor assembly costs AU$79, while the ‘Monitor plus Laptop Holder’ assembly costs AU$109.

All in all, I had no problems unboxing, assembling and using all of the accessories except for the optional Float Monitor Arm, which still makes me angry when thinking about how much time was wasted on it.

Should I buy the EverDesk Max standing desk?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

There aren't too many high-quality standing desk options available in Australia, although you can pick up a FlexiSpot from Amazon AU. That said, the models available locally a very limited, although you can get one for less than the cost of the EverDesk Max base model.

Another alternative to the EverDesk Max in Australia is the Vari Electric Standing Desk. While we haven't reviewed this particular model, we liked the Vari Essentials Standing Desk (which is unavailable locally), so can confidently say you can't go wrong with a VariDesk. However, it does cost a lot more than the EverDesk Max.

[First reviewed June 2023]