With working from home on the rise all over the world, one of the best investments you can make for your health is a standing desk.
Sitting down for long periods of time has been known to cause serious health issues in the long run. For this reason, it’s critical to alternate between sitting and standing positions while working for extended periods of time.
An electric or motorized sit-stand desk can be a real savior in such situations. It allows you to change the height of your desktop using the motorized frame to adjust to both sitting and standing positions. In many cases, you can also save your favorite height presets and recall them easily to quickly change positions while working.
In this roundup, we will be taking a look at four popular manufacturers of motorized standing desks that you can consider for your next purchase.
VariDesk, Uplift, Fully, and Autonomous are ubiquitous names in the standing desk marketplace. All of these manufacturers are well known for creating sturdy, durable, and feature-rich standing desks that can last you a long time while providing excellent utility and health benefits.
Read on to find out more about these companies and their products.
Quick Comparison
All of the brands under discussion here are popular brands that price their products competitively. There are no boutique or extra-premium brands in this comparison and you should be able to find what you want at a reasonable budget no matter which of these brands you choose.
While Vari and Uplift are certainly the more functional, utilitarian brands here, Fully Jarvis and Autonomous are more fashion-forward, with a concrete focus on the aesthetics.
With that said, desks from all four manufacturers are priced similarly.
For the Uplift desks, you are looking at a base price of $600 while the most popular Vari models are priced between $400 and $800.
With Jarvis (the most popular line from the brand Fully), you have a wide range of products that cater to a lot of different use cases. Nevertheless, their popular models can usually be found at the base price of around $650. With Autonomous, you can choose between their three main product lines, priced at about $500, $650, and $1,200.
Needless to say, the final price that you pay for your desk will depend on the many customization options that you can choose from. As you put together a desk that is truly your own by choosing your own customizations and accessories, the final price might vary quite a bit.
Pertaining to this, no matter which of the four manufacturers you go with, you will end up with a solid product with the latest features that can really help you manage your health through those regular long workdays.
Product Lines
The Vari product catalog features two different product lines, with their Essential line being the stripped-down, budget options and the electric standing desk line being their flagship models. The Essential models are available in standard and split top varieties, providing good value and rock-solid stability.
With their main product line, the basic design and structure of the desks remain the same while the size and dimensions of the desktops change across models. Their main model is available with many different size options, going all the way from 48 x 30 inches to 72 x 30 inches.
This gives you a lot of flexibility to choose a desktop size that would be perfect for your use case scenario. Their 60 x 30 standing desk model also comes in a curved option for a more natural, ergonomic front design.
The Uplift line is based on their V2 and V2 commercial frames, which are strong, versatile, and can be adapted to many different designs. While everything is configurable, they also have on offer a number of pre-configured models.
The V2 is their most popular desk and can come with many desktop materials and finishes. You can also opt for their curved corner model that adds a static post to a corner and gives you a bit more area to work with.
For those looking for more space or office use, Uplift has several L-shaped desk options that can help carry more weight and accommodate more electronics and office items.
Uplift also offers a sit-stand conference table, a unique product that you might not find with other brands. You can opt for solid wood or custom versions of the desktops for an added cost, and add a whole bunch of accessories that Uplift is known for.
The Fully Jarvis line of standing desks is well-known for quality, reliability, and seamless operation. The two most popular models are the standard Jarvis standing desk with a laminate top and the much-loved Jarvis Bamboo, which makes use of sustainable bamboo material and provides a charming, finished look.
Apart from these popular models, Jarvis also makes a sturdy L-shaped standing desk and a whiteboard standing desk for office use. Jarvis also offers a budget-oriented mechanical version of its standing desk that can be operated with a hand crank.
The Autonomous range of standing desks is available in three main varieties, Core, Pro, and L-shaped.
The cheapest among them, the Autonomous Core, is a basic model that comes with a weight carrying capacity of 265 lbs. While the Core offers quiet operation, the Pro model adds a lot of features, with silent operation, a carrying capacity of 310 lbs, and a generous warranty. With the L-shaped variety, the weight capacity increases to 400 lbs, and the table is available with modular parts.
The frames are made from high-quality, durable SPCC steel and the desktops are MDF material.
Features and Customization
The Autonomous Core and Pro desks are available in several desktop sizes, including 43 x 24, 53 x 29, and 70.5 x 30 inches, leaving you a lot of options in terms of how much you want to fit. The L-shaped table only comes with two color options for the frame and two for the desktop—black and white.
Furthermore, with the other models, you can pair either a black or a white frame with quite a few desktops color options, including black, white, walnut, white oak, bamboo, dark bamboo, teal, and blue.
The simple, elegant aesthetic can be pleasing for both working professionals and gamers, who can pair these desks with accessories like power strips, USB charging ports, cable management solutions, and ergonomic chairs.
The Jarvis (this has nothing to do with Tony Stark’s AI) desks offer a high degree of customizability. You can choose from different top finishes, including both solid colors and wood finishes.
The desktops come in multiple sizes and you can include accessories like cable management solutions, clamp mounted power strips, monitor arms, keyboard trays, space savers, and lighting solutions. Apart from these, Jarvis also offers a range of ergonomic accessories, including chairs, movement mats, and balance boards.
Almost every component of the Uplift desks can be customized. You can even select the color of individual components, choose whether or not your desktop will have cable grommets, opt for different integrated cable management and power solutions, and take advantage of the unique accessory mounting mechanism of Uplift.
The company offers a range of unique accessories including under-desk hammocks and ergonomic chairs. The standard controller can also be upgraded for an advanced one which gives you access to height presets that can be saved and recalled with a single button.
You can even choose between a C-style frame for better under-desk space or a T-style frame for better stability and weight distribution. The desktops come in several finishes — laminate color options and classic wooden finishes like maple, walnut, butcher block, reclaimed wood, rubber wood, live edge wood, ash, and mahogany.
Another unique feature is the optional wireless foot controller, which you can use to conveniently change the height of the table without having to use your hands.
The Vari line of standing desks comes with several desktop sizes, but you can also choose from many colors and finishes. These include black laminate, white laminate, reclaimed wood, dark wood, and butcher block.
These desks are easy to assemble and use a T-style frame for better stability. The controller is feature rich, with the option of saving height presets.
Vari also offers a large number of accessories that can help extend the functionality of their desks.
These include ergonomic and office chairs, standing mats, various cable management solutions, and an array of storage solutions that can help address one of the pet peeves of standing desk owners—storage on the desk. Their hanging desk cubby can be a perfect way to get more storage without having to compromise on the performance and ergonomics of the desk.
How to Decide Between Brands
Because each brand has a wide product lineup with numerous options, it can be hard to differentiate one brand from another. Since none of these desks meet my definition of “inexpensive,” you don’t want to make the wrong decision.
Uplift Standing Desk – Pros & Cons
Uplift’s most popular offering is the V2, as well as the upgraded version, the V2 commercial.
The standard model V2 has good stability, but the V2 commercial has enhanced stability including a crossbar support. Both models are capable of holding a tremendous amount of weight, and they test well both for strength and stability.
Uplift also provides a 15 year warranty as of 2021, but purchases prior to 2021 had a shorter warranty. Additionally, keep in mind that shipping costs (related to warranty/replacement) are the responsibility of the customer after the 1st year. So, even if the desk is repaired/replaced, there will be a big bill for shipping.
Vari Standing Desk – Pros & Cons
VariDesks have excellent stability that most users have found to be a couple notches above that of Uplift and Fully. However, they can’t hold quite as much weight as some of the other brands.
The setup/installation of Vari is also best-in-class. So for anybody that doesn’t want the frustrating IKEA experience, Vari may be worth considering.
Depending on the model, you get either a 5 or 10 year warranty.
Overall, Vari is a great budget-friendly option.
Fully Standing Desk – Pros & Cons
Fully’s most popular offering is the Jarvis, which is a great budget-friendly choice.
When comparing Fully Jarvis to Uplift V2, it is hard to differentiate one from the other. Fully and Uplift are nearly even when it comes to stability, build quality, and price.
If you can’t choose between Fully and Uplift, just pick the lower priced product.
Like the Uplift, Fully electric standing desks come with a 15 year warranty.
Autonomous Standing Desk – Pros & Cons
Autonomous is less expensive than the alternatives, but reviews are hit-and-miss.
Quality complaints are much more common with Autonomous than the other brands, but there are also many users that love their Autonomous standing desk. Customer service tends to be questionable, but again, your experience may vary.
Warranty length is either 5 years or 7 years, depending on the product. However, the surfaces are only warrantied for 1 year.
In addition to the customer service concerns, there are more exclusions and terms with the warranty. So be sure to read the fine print.
Bottom Line: Which Should I Buy?
If value is your concern, I would recommend price-shopping between Uplift, Vari, and Fully. All 3 of these companies make quality products, but the differences are slight enough that you should purchase the best deal rather than committing to one brand versus the others.
Autonomous is a clear downgrade in quality, as confirmed by many users and reviewers. Autonomous standing desks aren’t bad, per se, but you want to make sure you are saving some serious money if you choose an Autonomous desk rather than Vari, Uplift, or Fully.
For anybody that needs an easy, intuitive setup, Vari is probably your best choice.
If you have a heavy computer setup, Fully and Uplift are good options due to the maximum weight load.
Uplift sets itself apart with its extremely large number of options and customizations.
Fully, especially Fully Jarvis, is an excellent all-around product that combines quality, value, and esthetics quite nicely.
Aspects to Consider
These similarly priced manufacturers all make excellent standing desks with the latest features and technology.
If you are looking for function over form, a desk from Uplift or Vari will be a good choice with minimalistic design, excellent build quality, and convenient features.
Based on this, if you are looking for something more fashion-forward that you can make a centerpiece of your work area, go for something from Fully Jarvis or Autonomous.
Gaming-focused users, for example, might prefer some of the design choices and features that come with Autonomous standing desks — despite the fact that there are some quality concerns.
If you want to make your search incredibly simple, choose a Fully Jarvis desk with your ideal configuration and then choose an Uplift V2 with your ideal configuration. Then, just click “buy” on whichever is cheaper. Both of these products are high quality, (relatively) low price, and backed by a 15 year warranty.