Since the coronavirus pandemic, many of us have begun working at home either full-time or on a regular basis. Because of this, I and many others have become more focused on optimising our workspaces at home.
After purchasing a fancy keyboard and accessories for my desk it only felt like the logical step to give a standing desk a try. For the uninitiated out there, a standing desk is simply a desk where you can adjust the height to allow you to stand when working on your computer or doing any other activity.
I opted to try the FlexiSpot Comhar All-in-One Standing Desk EG8 which is one of the company's more premium desks. With a tempered glass top, storage drawer and USB charging ports it felt like this desk was perfect for all my working and out-of-hours gaming needs.
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The desk comes with two basic colour options, white and black, which help to provide it with a sophisticated and minimalist appearance. It also comes attached with an electric-powered motor that helps you adjust the height between 28.3" to 47.6".
It is also marketed as being able to take up minimal floor space and fit into plenty of nooks or corners - unfortunately, this wasn't my experience but we will get onto that later. Finally, it comes attached with a built-in safe lock button that is supposed to stop kids and pets from meddling with the height via the buttons next to it.
Thanks to all its added bells and whistles, the EG8 does come at a more premium price tag of £549. However, it is currently on sale until June for £449 - a whopping £100 discount.
Now, let's talk about my personal experiences with the desk, starting with the setup process. The first thing I noticed when the desk arrived at my front door was this it was much bigger than I expected and much, much heavier.
Upon unpacking the two boxes you will be greeted with the tabletop in one box and the supporting legs in the other. As someone who dreads buying any kind of furniture from Ikea for fear that I will spend hours putting something together even though the instructions say 20 minutes, I was pleasantly surprised by how quick and easy the EG8 was to put together.
It took me roughly 15 minutes to place the legs and motor on the tabletop with the provided tools. While I was able to assemble the desk on my own, I would recommend you get a friend to help you hold everything in place as this desk is extremely heavy for one person and there was one occasion when I thought I was going to drop the desk and smash the glass all over my bedroom floor.
But once it was all set up I realised I forgot to do one very important thing - measurements. I did not measure the length of the desk in comparison to the little alcove I once called my workspace and the desk was a few inches too wide to fit.
While I will admit that this was a fault on my part, it does mean that before buying this desk you should ensure you have an area where it will actually fit. To save you time with the measuring tape, the desk is officially specced on FlexiSpot's website as being 120*60*6.5cm.
The next step was figuring out the adjustments I needed, fortunately, FlexiSpot has made it quite easy to change the height of the desk with the buttons placed on the front. An added bonus is that you can save pre-set heights with four numbered buttons which were extremely useful for switching to sitting and standing without remembering my preferred height.
Now, I am not ashamed to admit that I measure up to a comfortable 5ft 8" and found that I didn't need to put the desk at its maximum height for comfortable standing. Therefore, if you are over 6ft you should be comfortable standing with this desk.
After a month of use, I am comfortable saying that the extra add-ons are worth the premium price for me. Not having to use loads of extension cables for my phone and Apple watch charger were extremely convenient thanks to the two USB ports and added USB C port.
The desk is also spacious enough for me to have all my desk ornaments, monitor, speakers, lamp, headphones and laptop on while still providing plenty of room to place other things on. I also find the black colour of my desk to be extremely appealing and suits my aesthetic perfectly.
However, there are a few things that I feel need improving with this desk, especially considering its high price point. First of all, the safe lock - I was especially disappointed in FlexiSpot's safety lock button because it failed to do what it was supposed to almost immediately.
I have a six-year-old child living in my home and anyone looking after a kid can tell you one thing - if they see a button they will press it almost immediately. Upon entering my room, the six-year-old curiously shouted "what does this do?" and pressed the button before I could react, disabling the lock and leaving the desk's electric motions to her mercy.
While the desk comes with a built-in safety feature which prevents it from moving up or down if it gets blocked (the sensitivity of which you can change depending on your needs) I am still uncomfortable with the idea that a child could mess with the desk when I'm not in the room and even potentially cause harm to themselves while doing so.
Another issue I kept experiencing was that the cable providing electricity to the desk's motor would frequently come loose if I adjusted the height too many times in succession. I feel that for the price someone would be paying for this, they should be confident that the cables should at least stay attached.
Apart from these glaring issues, I was overall happy with the desk and found myself regularly using the standing function more and more as I got used to it which would help if I found myself sat in an awkward position while working for long amounts of time.
Thanks to the space provided with the desk, I was also able to quickly switch between two keyboards when I went from my work computer to my personal gaming computer. Overall, I would definitely recommend this desk if your in the market for a new workspace and want to spend the extra cash on something luxurious.
However, if you don't want to spend nearly half a grand on a desk and don't need all the extra features the EG8 provides, FlexiSpot does have some other standing desks such as the EG1 which comes at a fraction of the price while still allowing you to adjust the height.
Furthermore, FlexiSpot also has a May sale planned between the 23rd and 25th, so if you want to get some of their products at a discount you can use the links below:
| Product | Original price | Discount price |
| EQ5 Standing Desk | £299.99 | £209.99 |
| E7 Standing Desk | £399.99 | £279.99 |
| EG1 Standing Desk | £219.99 | £149.99 |
| BS8 Office Chair | £299.99 | £219.99 |
| FC211 Fitness Chair | £399.99 | £249.99 |
| V9 Bike Exercise Desk | £399.99 | £299.99 |
