FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar standing desk review

Two minute review

Sitting at even the best office desk all day can have negative effects on your health especially in the long term which is why more people are turning to the best standing desks, letting them work from a seated or a standing position at the push of a button. However, many standing desks lack the storage that office desks have which is why FlexiSpot has included a built-in storage drawer in its EG8 Comhar desk. The drawer is more than spacious enough to hold your laptop and other accessories when not in use and the desk’s keypad features three USB charging ports to make it easy to keep your smartphone and tablet fully charged.

As the EG8 Comhar’s glass desktop may not be for everyone, FlexiSpot also makes a version of this desk with a wooden desktop. Despite having just a single motor, the desk adjusts quickly from seated to standing height and its motor’s noise level is under 50 dBs. If you’re primarily a laptop user the EG8 Comhar could be the perfect desk for you but desktop users should look elsewhere as the lack of a cable management tray means you won’t be able to use this desk with a PC or Mac and multiple monitors.

FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar : Pricing and availability

The EG8 Comhar standing desk is available in two different versions on FlexiSpot’s website. The Comhar desk with a glass top, which is available in white or black, currently costs $454 (£449) at the time of writing while the Comhar desk with a wood top (available in black, white and maple) is slightly cheaper at $399 (£389). In terms of accessories, you can only add four casters to the EG8 Comhar for $39.99 as there isn’t a first-party cable management tray available for this desk.

FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar : Design

The EG8 Comhar has a very unique design when compared to other standing desks due to its glass top and the fact that the desk’s keypad is integrated into the tabletop. Another big difference between this desk and similar offerings from FlexiSpot is that the EG8 Comhar is only available in one size: 47.3” (120cm) by 23.7” (60cm) with a thickness of 0.5” (1.27cm).

Besides its glass desktop, the EG8 Comhar also features an all-in-one keypad which allows you to save up to four different height preferences. This means that two people can use the desk and have their own presets for both their preferred sitting and standing heights. Next to numbered preset buttons, you’ll find two USB-A ports and a single USB-C port for charging your smartphone, tablet and other devices. It’s worth noting that you will need to touch one of the keys on the keypad to enable charging and that laptop charging isn’t supported.

If a glass desktop and a keypad with multiple USB ports wasn’t enough, the EG8 Comhar has one more trick up its sleeve in the form of its built-in desk drawer. The drawer itself is 12.4” (31.4cm) in length, 26.2” (66.5cm) in width and 1.57” (3.98cm) deep. This means the drawer is spacious enough to hold notebooks, pens, charging cables and even a laptop when you’re not using it but not quite deep enough to hold a mouse.

The EG8 Comhar features a single motor next to the desk’s right leg that allows the desk to be lowered all the way down to 28.3” (71.8cm) or raised up to 47.6” (120.9cm). The desk can hold a maximum weight load of 110lbs (49.89kg) and the desk frame has a support beam at its base for additional stability.

FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar : Setup

The EG8 Comhar desk sent to TechRadar Pro for review arrived in two large boxes that contained a great deal of foam packaging material to protect the glass table top during transit.

Once unpacked, we were left with the EG8 Comhar’s frame, desktop and feet as well as an instruction manual, a power cable and all of the bolts needed to put the desk together. FlexiSpot also includes two plastic cable clamps to help you tidy up all of the cables after the desk is assembled.

Since the EG8 Comhar has a glass desktop, FlexiSpot recommends laying down a blanket or using the desk’s box to protect it during assembly. This holds true for other standing desks as well as it can be quite easy to scratch a desktop or even your floor when putting one together.

Assembling the EG8 Comhar begins with attaching the frame to the desk’s tabletop using eight bolts (four on each side).

With the frame attached, you then need to install the desk’s feet on either end once again using eight bolts (four on each side).

From here, it’s just a matter of plugging the desk’s motor into the power adapter at its rear and plugging in the power cable before flipping over the finished desk. This is also a great time to use the included cable clamps to tidy up some of the cables so that they don’t droop and look out of place once you flip over the desk.

FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar : In use

Following a very short assembly process, it was time for us to test out the EG8 Comhar for ourselves. First off we programmed our preferred sitting and standing heights into the desk’s keypad. Unlike other keypads that require you to memorize a variety of button combinations to save your presets, the EG8 Comhar’s keypad has you hold down one of the numbered buttons for three seconds to save the desk’s current height under that preset. There is also a lock button next to the keypad’s USB-C port that can be used to engage the child lock function so that the desk’s height can not be raised or lowered. Additionally, the EG8 Comhar’s anti-collision feature can prevent the desk from damaging or crushing other objects while in motion. 

As FlexiSpot doesn’t make a cable management tray for the EG8 Comhar, we tested out the desk using a Chromebook. The desk was comfortable to use, easy to type on and the support bar between its two feet gave us a place to rest our legs. Since the desktop itself is made from glass, it can be used like a whiteboard in a similar way to the UPLIFT v2 from UPLIFT Desk which is one of the only standing desks that can be outfitted with a white board desktop. The glass top also makes the EG8 Comhar very easy to clean but the glass can be something of a fingerprint magnet.

The EG8 Comhar passed our coffee test where we put a full cup of coffee on the desk and tried to raise and lower it without spilling a drop. Despite only having a single motor, the desk was able to adjust from a seated position to a standing one in just over ten seconds.

The EG8 Comhar is one of the only standing desks to have an integrated storage drawer. The drawer is well-built, easy to adjust and has more than enough room to house plenty of items. We liked the fact that we could put our laptop, a tablet, a power bank and other business accessories in the EG8 Comhar’s storage drawer for quick access. While we wish the drawer itself was a bit deeper, this would take away from the thin look of the EG8 Comhar’s desk frame.

Should I buy the FlexiSpot EG8 Comhar?

Also consider

The Kana Pro Bamboo is another unique looking standing desk from FlexiSpot that also features a USB charging port on its keypad. It’s a bit more expensive at $599 at the time of writing but you can choose from a variety of desktop sizes and frame colors. Also, since it’s made from bamboo, you can easily add a third-party cable management tray to the underside of the desk.

The Essential Electric Standing Desk from Vari is intended to be used with a laptop just like the EG8 Comhar since it lacks a cable management tray. The desk itself can also be set up in minutes and is available in either black or white. While the Essential Electric Standing Desk features a single motor like the EG8 Comhar, it has a higher weight capacity of 150lb (68kg) and as it’s made from laminate instead of glass, it’s possible to attach a third-party cable management tray to its rear.

First reviewed: May 2022