I’ve been following the rise of standing desks for a few years now and still use one on a daily basis. The technology hasn’t changed much in the decade or so that they’ve become truly popular but the design and quality is always improving which is why I took a look at the Kronos Lift from BDI.
This is a surprisingly elegant desk with very little visible machinery – the motors are hidden under the table top and in the legs – and the company has added a few solid features to this $2,100 desk that make it a solid choice for a nicer office environment.
BDI makes office furniture. This is the kind of gear you’d see in a nicer legal office or a funded startup. It’s not quite designed for a home office unless, of course, you have a very nicely designed home office. Me, I prefer a bunch of cast-off Ikea.
That said the Kronos is a nicely appointed and easy-to-use desk. There are four pre-set positions as well as a manual control that lets you go down to 29 inches and up to 54 inches. There is also a “mezzanine” designed to hold office items or carry your monitor to place it slightly above eye level. The mezzanine has a solid back so things won’t tip out when the desk moves, a plus given the austere styling of the whole kit. There is also a pull-out keyboard shelf which keeps your work surface clean.
Assembly was quick except for a small snafu with the top shelf which resulted in a crack. I built it in about 30 minutes and had it up and running a minute later. There legs and motor come in easy-to-assemble pieces and all you really have to worry about is mounting the tabletop and the mezzanine. The motor is very quiet and quick, far faster and quieter than my current motorized desk.
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These things are getting so common that they’re a commodity. Barring one model I saw that controls your Spotify remotely, you can’t really ask a standing desk to do much more than get you off your butt during the day. At $2,100 you’d best be sure that’s what you want to do but I doubt the average home office worker will pick this one up, instead deciding to go with the primitive if charming Ikea Skarsta complete with crotch-jabbing control handle. On second thought maybe a super-robotic high-end desk isn’t so bad.