Other Standing Desks to Consider

Photograph: Nicole Kinning

Ergodriven Tempo Automatic Standing Desk for $629: It was only a matter of time before desks got “smart,” right? This Tempo from new-ish company Ergodriven is designed to automate the process of standing or sitting, with a Cruise Control function that will encourage you to change position during the day by, well, automatically doing so. A “wiggle” will alert you when the desk wants to change position, which you can override manually if you’re eating lunch or in a meeting. A sensor will register your presence, so the desk won’t move when you’re away. WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning found that this all works as promised—as does a little app that registers “achievements” like standing time. But note the desk, while sturdy, is also a bit heavy, and a slight cosmetic crack formed early on the rounded edge. The 16-year warranty provides a bit of assurance.

Photograph: Nicole Kinning

Luxor Compact Electric Standing Desk for $200: The Luxor is a no-nonsense standing desk that does exactly what you expect and takes up minimal space. It’s perfect for students, small apartments, and anyone who needs a compact, budget-friendly setup. At 23.5 inches deep, the tabletop is shallow enough to fit into tight corners or shared spaces. The electric lift moves steadily at an inch per second, whisper-quiet, and the 154-pound weight capacity can handle a laptop, monitor, and a few textbooks with no sweat. The lift mechanism is exposed underneath, so you’ll want to leave some legroom when at sitting height. —Nicole Kinning

Simple Height Adjustable Desk for $850: The Simple Height Adjustable Desk lives up to its name. Assembly is straightforward and cable routing is tidy thanks to an integrated channel that keeps everything corralled. The T-shaped legs slide into a bracket instead of screwing or locking into place, which feels a little ambiguous, but once it’s upright, the desk is solid and sturdy. In practice, the desk became everything I needed. It’s smooth, quiet, and spacious, with four height presets. The laminate top is durable and forgiving—ideal if you’re like me and regularly forget that coasters exist. There are no fancy gimmicks, which is exactly the point. It’s a dependable, fuss-free desk that prioritizes function over flashy. —Nicole Kinning

Photograph: Nicole Kinning

Eureka Ergonomic Opal Standing Desk for $2,250: WIRED contributor Nicole Kinning was a big fan of the, well, opaline looks of the Eureka Ergonomic Opal standing desk. It’s a sturdy, milky-toned, downright fancy-looking pillar of vaguely art-deco luxe: beaded cabinets on each leg, gold hardware, marbled top, integrated drawer, hooooooey! It all makes for a quite distinctive aesthetic, and setup is a bit tricky given the heft of the desk. But unlike most standing desks, this one is outfitted quite beautifully as a full workstation, with roomy cabinets in each leg and a drawer offering ample storage. Just be sure to put grips on the bottom; it slid around on Kinning’s hard floors like a curling stone, she noted. Once it’s in place, bask in the stateliness. It’s the rare standing desk where she could see herself writing a Great American Novel.

Autonomous Desk Pro for $600: The standout feature here is the new Desk AI, a separate control attachment that tracks your standing habits along with environmental factors like air pressure and quality, temperature, humidity, and noise. In theory, it’s meant to help you work smarter, but in practice, it mostly flags things you can’t control from the desk itself. If it came with an air purifier or fan to manage these conditions, then we’d be talkin’. Still, it’s a fun and techy bonus on an otherwise reliable desk.

Photograph: Nicole Kinning

Vari Solid Wood Electric Standing Desk for $829: Even though it’s solid wood, this desk never felt too precious for everyday use. Made from FSC-certified lumber, the desk is heavy and stable, even at standing height on carpet, and the motor is impressively quiet and subtle when adjusting. The ComfortEdge feature turned out to be more helpful than reviewer Nicole Kinning expected; over long typing sessions, it noticeably softened where my wrists meet the desk, a nice upgrade to a standard desk’s hard, squared-off edges. Yes, the solid wood Vari is on the pricier side, but it feels justified if solid wood and long-term durability matter to you. If they don’t, consider the traditional version.

Boulies Magvida for $760: The Boulies Magvida advertises its best feature in the name itself. This midsize desk (55 x 28 inches) is known for its EMO system, a magnetic organization setup built beneath the desktop. Instead of drilling holes or fiddling with brackets, you just snap accessories, like a cable tray, hooks, and silicone straps, into place. The add-ons feel premium and the magnets don’t budge, and there’s an optional magnetic drawer that’s also handy. Add in memory presets, a child lock, anti-collision detection, and simple color options and you’ve got a clean, clever setup.

Herman Miller Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk for $1,325: As someone who spent years hunching over keyboards, obsessive research led WIRED reviewer Simon Hill to the Jarvis Standing Desk (now owned by Herman Miller), which has served him well for six years. With a contoured bamboo top, handy optional extras to tuck wires out of sight, and a responsive control panel for easy height adjustment (including presets), this is an excellent standing desk. The only weakness is that it wobbles slightly at higher levels. The newer touchscreen OLED control unit is not as reliable as the original, so opt for the programmable controls.

Room & Board Lincoln Desk for $5,399: Few standing desks can lay claim to true elegance. But Room & Board’s Lincoln desk—designed in collaboration with design firm Gensler—is an exception. This is a dignified, sturdy, wobble-free electric standing desk that’d fit in with an executive office or a well-appointed home, made with solid wood and available in walnut, maple, cherry, ash, or oak (with a rye, salt, or charcoal stain). You can configure the desk to have integrated drawers on the left, right, or on both sides if you choose the larger 72-inch size. There’s even a drawer in the center! This is what privilege looks like, where standing desks are concerned. The price is commensurately high, though take note this included white glove delivery and assembly. Also take note that the thickness of the desktop means only some clamps will mount onto its girth. This monitor arm mount will work, but for some mounts, you might have to directly screw it to the desktop. All in all, this is a gorgeous standing desk that doesn’t look anything like a standing desk, but with a few quirks and a high price.

Staples Union & Scale Electric Standing Desk With Micro Movements (UN62092) for $513: Staples’ house brand, Union & Scale, makes some of WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu’s favorite affordable office furniture, and its standing desk is no exception—though at this middle price range, it didn’t keep pace with Branch’s reasonably priced desks. Still, this was easy to put together, and while the white desktop is not much to look at, the dual motors do the job. He liked the control panel, which has dedicated buttons for moving the desk up and down, as well as two height presets. He also didn’t see any wobble, though the collision sensor could stand to be more sensitive. There’s a cable tray at the bottom back of the desk to route cables, but there’s sadly no grommet to pull them through. The Micro Movement mode moves the desk up and down over time to reduce fatigue and encourage movement, but it might be more distracting than useful.

Beflo Tenon Premium for $3,998: While incredibly expensive (and heavy!), WIRED contributor Henri Robbins found the hardwood smart desk both sturdy and well-designed. Assembly was straightforward, and once the desk was up and running, Robbins found all of the features (touchscreen controls, a built-in power strip, audio passthrough, and LED lighting) to work well, and in convenient locations. The touchscreen controls are intuitive (iOS-like), and features like a sit/stand timer and phone connectivity provide additional functionality. The desk supports over 200 pounds of stuff even when moving, and the height-adjustment motors will temporarily disable if they overheat, instead of risking damage to the desk. The table also looks fantastic, and a multitude of first-party accessories let you customize the desk to your specific needs. The largest issue with this table is the noise. While in no way loud, it was certainly more audible than the “whisper-quiet” descriptor Beflo uses in its marketing. Besides that, the lighting color adjustment had some difficulties creating specific colors using the built-in touchscreen, and the audio cable was too short to reach a desktop computer on the floor, even at the lowest height. However, the Tenon is still a great, if pricey, option to consider.

Herman Miller Spout Sit-to-Stand Table for $3,275: Herman Miller’s Spout Sit-To-Stand Table is lovely to look at. Like the Branch Four-Legged Desk, it looks like a normal desk with four legs, giving it a luxe look. Those motors in the legs rise smoothly, and it’s easy to raise and lower the desktop to my preferences with the button on the right. The motor does have a high hum to it, and WIRED reviewer Nena Farrell found it loud enough that she’d hesitate to use it when her husband is on a call in the same room, but not so loud it would disturb her son if he were sleeping a room away. Bizarrely, it doesn’t have memory presets, but it’s pretty easy to just adjust the desk each time to sitting and standing heights. You can add a cable tray underneath the desk each time to organize cords, but it costs extra. The only other item built into the desk is a single slim center drawer perfect for pens and notebooks. It comes in three desktop sizes and three finishes: laminate white, veneer walnut, and veneer ash. You can also customize the base color, with seven different colors ranging from your classic black and white to a gentle blue and olive green. While it’s gorgeous to look at and works well, Farrell found it disappointing that such a high-priced desk doesn’t have presets and uses veneers rather than real wood.

FlexiSpot E7 Pro for $400+: Standing desks can get pricey, but FlexiSpot routinely offers similar functionality at a lower price. At first glance, the E7 Pro looks much like the Herman Miller Jarvis, but look closer, and you discover the entry-level option has a shallow 23-inch desktop, the control unit feels a bit cheap, and it emits a high-pitched whine in operation. WIRED reviewer Simon Hill had some issues fitting larger power adapters in the cable tidily, and the desk can get wobbly when fully extended. But, even when fully configured, the E7 Pro is cheaper than many rivals. Minor flaws aside, it is a perfectly decent standing desk.

Inbox Zero 47-inch Adjustable Electric Standing Desk for $196: This desk has every feature you’d expect to need at the price range less than $200, wrote former WIRED reviewer Martin Cizmar. There are rolling casters so you can not only move the desk up and down, but also shake it all around. The desk’s electric controls have presets but also allow you to fine-tune the height for typing or Zooming. The split top that makes it easier and cheaper to ship doesn’t hurt the performance, but is less pleasant visually, and the little motor works audibly hard (tshunk, tschunk, tshunk) while raising the desktop. Based on three months of testing, it’s a decent budget standing desk with casters, but if you can spend a little more, you’ll probably be happier with something else.

Standing Desk Accessories

Branch Clamp-on Power

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Branch Clamp-on Power for $89: This simple and elegant clamp attaches to your desktop and adds three AC outlets, a USB-C, and a USB-A, so you don’t have so many wires running down to the ground.

LumeCube EdgeLight 2.0 for $150: Why have a lamp take up valuable desk space when you can clamp the lamp to your desk? These task lights from LumeCube are great for illuminating the desktop and even your face during late-night Zoom calls. You can adjust the color temperature and the brightness.

BenQ ScreenBar Lamp

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

BenQ ScreenBar Lamp for $139: Alternatively, you can place these ScreenBar lamps over your computer monitor, and it will light up your desktop, no clamping required. The ScreenBar Pro also has a motion sensor, so when you leave your desk, the lamp will turn off, and it will light up when you’re back. You can adjust the brightness and color temperature, and an automatic setting makes it adjust these controls based on the room’s ambient lighting.

Secretlab Premium Footrest for $89: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu been using this footrest for several years, and it’s excellent. The plush memory foam is cushy and a nice respite for Chokkattu’s feet, and it’s easy to clean with a vacuum and a damp cloth. It hasn’t shown much wear despite years of use.

Monoprice Single Monitor Adjustable Gas Spring Desk Mount for $84: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu has tested a few of these WorkStream arm mounts for years, and they’ve reliably done the job. You can adjust the tension with a hex key and move the monitor around to your desired position. Just make sure you don’t go over the recommended weight load with a big and heavy screen.

Mount-It! Dual Monitor Arm for $280: This heavy-duty monitor arm holds up my ultrawide monitor and my vertical monitor, both of which have BenQ Screenbar lamps on top, along with my webcam. It handles the weight with no effort, and the clamp is accommodating enough to even work with the 5-inch Room & Board standing desk. There’s RGB lighting throughout, but it’s not bright enough to splash onto the wall, so it’s a little pointless, noted WIRED Reviewer Julian Chokkattu.

Harber London Professional Desk Mat for $239: Keep your desktop protected with a large desk mat like this one. I’ve used several mats from Harber London over the years, and this latest model is the favorite of WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu. The pebbled leather is supple and soft, and the mat stays put. It’s easy to clean as well.

Avoid These Standing Desks

Corsair Platform:6 Desk

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Corsair Platform:6 Desk for $1,400: Where do I start? I liked Corsair’s standing desk because it’s spacious, has a fun pegboard design to mount your tchotchkes, and even has an interesting rail system that lets you mount and slide things across the desktop, like your monitors. Unfortunately, several months after mounting two monitors on the included dual-monitor arms, this rail system has tilted forward due to the weight. (I’m also not the only one to experience this.) It doesn’t help that I never really found this rail to be all that useful. The standing function works well, and you get two presets, but sometimes the little screen would throw me an error message “rE5.” Pressing and holding the down button resolved it, but none of these are issues anyone should deal with considering the crazy-high price. That’s the real problem. It’s just so expensive, and the five-year warranty feels like a slap in the face. This model is still listed for sale, but as out of stock last time we checked. —Julian Chokkattu

Marinamantra ‘Flow’ Sit-to-Stand Desk for $1,149: I had high hopes for this one. A desk that lets me sit crisscross applesauce while I work?! Sold. But the reality didn’t live up to the pitch. When I unboxed the desk, several screws were scattered loose in the box. That set the tone for a desk that eventually worked, but often misbehaved, sometimes refusing to move up and down. That said, I do like the cord management lip and the clever Velcro covers that keep cables and hardware neatly tucked out of sight. Unfortunately, none of that matters much if I’m spending more time flipping it over and poking around underneath the hood than actually using it. —Nicole Kinning

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Alyssa Goeckner has given nearly two decades to the music industry, working with artists like Steve Aoki and Afrojack, and releasing music under Sony and Universal, among other labels. As a singer, songwriter, producer, director, and original-IP creator, her work has appeared on Billboard charts under the names Miss Palmer and Bishøp over the years. Her next endeavor is her most exciting yet, and it fundamentally shifts how music can transcend the medium and evolve into a cinematic experience with deep visual storytelling.

The Song Of The Universe is the latest project from Bishøp, which keeps music as the central theme of a multi-episode cinematic story that revolves around her as the eponymous character, fighting to restore the balance of light against the forces of darkness.

Featuring 15 songs on the soundtrack, The Song Of The Universe will be told across 20 episodes as part of the first season, and will expand the cinematic universe across five additional seasons planned. The series will land on YouTube in October as an original franchise that combines a story-driven experience built atop Bishøp’s own childhood experiences with original music feeding into the wonder, emotions, and mystery of an original universe.

The premise is enthralling, but what’s even more impressive is the fact that Goeckner developed a custom multi-stage workflow that involved AI-driven tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Midjourney, Ideogram, Nano Banana, Seedream, GPT Image, Higgsfield, Kling, Seedance, and ElevenLabs to get full creative control over visual design, conceptualization, music production, character animation, and sound editing. Human input and direction were always at the lead, but this project is also a showcase of how a single artist can expand their creative work into an immersive audio-visual experience that unfolds as its own original story.

Here’s the plot for The Song Of The Universe:

“Bishøp has no memory of who she was before Lumen. But something in the darkness remembers her.

As a war between light and nothingness begins to tear through reality, a mysterious entity known as the Null starts reaching Bishøp through her dreams—calling her by a name she doesn’t recognize and awakening fragments of a past someone went to extraordinary lengths to erase. The deeper she searches for the truth, the more impossible it becomes to tell who is protecting her, who is using her, and why the most dangerous being in existence seems to know her better than she knows herself.

At the center of it all is an ancient prophecy, seven Guardians, and a power hidden inside Bishøp that could determine the fate of existence itself. To save their universe, she will have to remember who she was, discover what she is—and decide whether the darkness calling to her is the enemy… or something far more complicated.“

Dario Amodei said that “we owe it to humanity to try.”

The company won out over some of Ireland’s most admired start-ups, including DevAlly, Spryt, MenoPal, Jentic and ArrayPatch.

Disseqt beat some impressive competition to win this year’s KPMG Global Tech Innovator (GTI) Ireland, earning a spot in the global competition final.

Disseqt’s AI assurance layer for enterprise AI operations offers IT teams a single platform to test and detect issues, protect and enforce guardrails, and prove and comply across the full AI agent lifecycle, according to KPMG, and aims to support organisations in aligning with frameworks like the EU AI Act and ISO/IEC 42001.

The judging panel found that Disseqt’s “pioneering solutions” meant it deserved its spot on the global stage in Lisbon this November, where it will represent Ireland and compete alongside innovating companies from 20 other countries in the overall final for 2026.

“Winning the GTI Ireland competition is a tremendous honour for myself, Apoorva Kumar and Manish Atri – my co-founders – and a testament to our team’s dedication to innovation and excellence,” said Cyril Treacy, co-founder and COO of Disseqt, which is based in NovaUCD in Dublin.

“As enterprises accelerate their AI adoption, assurance, reliability and compliance have never been more critical. This recognition validates our mission to help organisations operate AI safely and responsibly, and inspires us to keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in enterprise AI operations.”

Disseqt won out over some of Ireland’s most admired start-ups, including DevAlly, Spryt, MenoPal, Jentic and ArrayPatch.

“The level of innovation across this year’s competitors was outstanding and reflects the depth of talent in Ireland’s tech community,” said Anna Scally, global head of technology, media and telecommunications at KPMG.

“Disseqt’s commitment to ensuring trustworthy, compliant AI at scale is both timely and essential.”

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Free tiers backed by paying subscribers are easier to evaluate than unlimited VPNs that won’t explain how they make money.

Why free VPNs can be risky

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How to tell if a free VPN is worth using

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Apple Watch Series 12’s narrower screen brings back a bezel trade-off from the Series 9 era, pairing a smaller display with a larger case than the Series 10 and Series 11.

On the 46mm model, this reduction shows up most clearly: display area falls to 1,196 square millimetres, a 2% drop from the 1,220 square millimetres listed for the Series 10 and Series 11, even as Apple keeps the resolution fixed at 416 by 496 pixels.

The absolute last chance to apply to host an official Side Event during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is tonight, September 11, at 11:59 p.m. PT.

No more extensions. No more chances.

Don’t just bring people together. Create value.

If you’re bringing your community to Disrupt, don’t just give them another place to gather. Give them a reason to show up — and give your organization a reason to host.

A Side Event can help you:

Turn connections into opportunities

Put your team directly in front of founders, investors, customers, partners, and other decision-makers who can unlock your next deal, partnership, investment, hire, or collaboration.

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Create the kind of conversations that are harder to have on a crowded conference floor — and deepen relationships with the people most relevant to your business.

Put your brand at the center

Own the conversation around a topic your audience cares about and give your brand a meaningful role in the Disrupt ecosystem.

Bring your existing network together while creating opportunities for members to meet new people, exchange ideas, and make valuable connections of their own.

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Approved Side Events may be promoted through TechCrunch’s Side Events page, Disrupt agenda, mobile app, newsletters, articles, and social channels.

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Give your community 25% off Disrupt tickets, making your Side Event part of a larger experience — not a stand-alone gathering.

This is your last shot

The opportunity is bigger than hosting a party or meetup. Use Disrupt week to create relationships, generate opportunities, strengthen your brand, and put your organization at the center of the conversations shaping what’s next.

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This is the final deadline. There will be no more extensions.

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Regular pricing ends September 25. Get your ticket before prices rise — and make sure you’re in the room for the people, ideas, and opportunities shaping what’s next.

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Bottom line: Consumers are paying more each month to keep up with new shows, movies, and live programming as streaming services continue to raise subscription prices. The eight major services now cost about $151 a month combined for ad-free plans purchased separately, without bundles, compared with roughly $90 for a similar lineup four years ago.

Apple TV+ has had one of the largest increases. The service launched in 2019 at $4.99 a month and has since raised its price by 200%. It still has a smaller overall library than most of its main competitors, but Apple has continued to add original series and films while treating the service as part of its broader subscription business.

Disney+ has also moved well beyond its original price. It launched in 2019 at $6.99 a month without advertising. Its ad-supported plan now costs $11.99 a month, while the ad-free version costs more. Paramount+’s least expensive tier has risen 80% in five years. Netflix’s Premium plan is up 125% from its 2013 price.

The pace of increases has recently picked up as well. Streaming prices across the market rose 11.8% over the past 12 months. In 2023, the average increase was 17.7%. Apple TV+ raised its price 50% in the past year, and Peacock’s plans rose by roughly the same amount.

HBO Max has been a notable exception. Its price has increased 23% over six years, less than most of its rivals. But HBO entered the streaming market at a higher price than newer services.

The industry’s pricing has risen faster than inflation. Consumer prices have increased by an average of 3.84% annually since 2019, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Streaming services have raised prices far more aggressively, even as companies add lower-cost, ad-supported plans.

Cable and satellite television have also become more expensive over time, but their increases have been more gradual. A Hollywood Reporter analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data found that cable and satellite prices rose by an average of 3.9% a year, excluding the late 1980s, when deregulation led to a temporary surge. That does not mean cable is suddenly a bargain. Full packages from providers such as Spectrum and DirecTV can cost more than $170 a month.

Streaming companies are under pressure to make their businesses more profitable after spending heavily on original programming, subscriber growth, and technology. The low launch prices that helped services build audiences are giving way to a model built around higher subscription fees, advertising, bundles, and tighter rules on account sharing.

Consumers still have more flexibility than they did with traditional cable. They can cancel services at any time and return when a particular show or sports season begins. That has led more viewers to rotate subscriptions instead of keeping every service active year-round.

The approach can cut costs, but it also changes how people watch television. Viewers may have to wait until a season ends or a show moves to another platform before subscribing. The days of paying for one service and finding most of what you want to watch in one place are largely over.