X-Chair Standing Desk review: an affordable yet feature-packed desk

The X-Chair Standing Desk is a dual-motor, electric standing desk that’s not only highly customizable but is also very easy to put together. Available directly from X-Chair, this standing desk starts at under $500 and comes with a generous 10-year warranty. The X-Chair Standing Desk is also available in three different sizes to suit both large and small home offices.

Unlike other more complicated standing desks, assembling this one can be done in around 10 minutes with just the included Allen wrench. The X-Chair Standing Desk has a digital keypad with four programmable height presets but you will need to buy an optional cable management tray separately. I found the desk to be quite stable while seated but it did have a little give when raised up to a standing position. Likewise, its dual-motors can be quite loud while the desk is moving up and down.

Our X-Chair Standing Desk review will help you decide if this is the best standing desk for your needs or if you’d be better off spending a bit more for additional features.

X-Chair Standing Desk: Cheat Sheet

• What is it? A dual-motor, electric standing desk from the popular office chair maker X-Chair.
• Who is it for? People who want a customizable sit-stand desk that’s easy to put together.
• What does it cost? It starts at $484 from X-Chair but can go up to $589 if you choose a larger sized desk with a bamboo desktop.
• What do we like? This desk is easy to put together, has multiple height presets and is available with a concave desktop.
• What don’t we like? The desk is quite loud while moving up and down and it isn’t as stable as I’d like when raised to full height.

X-Chair Standing Desk: Specs

X-Chair Standing Desk: The ups

The X-Chair Standing Desk is the company’s first electric standing desk, though it also makes traditional desks, a mobile desk with wheels and a standing desk converter. Just like with its X2 office chair, X-Chair allows you to customize its standing desk to your liking. It’s also clear that a lot of thought went into the design and build quality of its first desk.

Tailored to your workspace

Configuring the standing desk X-Chair sent over for review reminded me a lot of when I went through the same process while reviewing the Uplift V2 due to the sheer number of customization options available. However, this time around, the process was much more streamlined and I wasn’t overwhelmed by how many choices I had to make.

The X-Chair Standing Desk is available in three different sizes (24 x 42-inches, 24 x 48-inches, 27 x 54-inches) to accommodate a wider variety of home offices. There are seven desktop color options, three base color options and two desktop styles to pick from. 

While the X-Chair Standing Desk starts at $484, even if you choose the largest size with the most expensive desktop, the total still comes out to just $589. If you did the same thing with the Uplift V2 on UPLIFT Desk’s site, you could end up spending over $2,000. Another thing I like about the X-Chair Standing Desk is that the digital keypad with four memory presets comes standard while other companies either include a two-button one or charge you extra to upgrade.

Up and running in minutes

As someone who reviews standing desks and the best office chairs for a living, I put together a lot of home office furniture. Some desks have been harder to build than others but the X-Chair Standing Desk is right up there with the Vari Electric Standing Desk when it comes to being easy to assemble.

To take a lot of the guesswork out, X-Chair ships its standing desk with the control box and the wires needed to connect both of the legs already attached. Putting everything together is quite easy this way as you just have to flip the desktop over, drop in the legs, tighten a few bolts and then connect all the cables. After the unboxing, I’d say the hardest part of assembling this desk is flipping it over once everything is done.

If you just moved or need to set up a home office in a hurry, the X-Chair Standing Desk is a great choice and it usually arrives at your door within three to five business days.

Concave comfort

When configuring my X-Chair Standing Desk, I chose the concave option as it reminded me of the now-discontinued Vari Curve Electric Standing Desk, but at almost half the price. Curved standing desks normally cost a lot more than their straight-angled counterparts but X-Chair only charges an extra $33 for this option. It’s worth noting that the more expensive bamboo desktop isn’t available with the concave desk which means you’ll be stuck with a cheaper laminate one. More on that later.

Unlike with a rectangular desk, a concave desktop allows you to get closer to your laptop or computer monitor. At the same time, this style of desk also provides you with a bigger reach zone which is perfect for those who like to have all of their work from home accessories close at hand. You do lose out on a tiny bit of desk space overall but this is well worth it in my experience.

X-Chair Standing Desk: The downs

There’s a lot to like about the X-Chair Standing Desk including its customization options, how easy it is to assemble and, of course, its price. However, of the standing desks I’ve reviewed, it’s definitely one of the loudest and the black laminate top I went with gathers dust quickly. Plus, it doesn’t come with a cable management tray included like the Uplift V2 does. 

Far from silent

From my own experience testing and reviewing standing desks, I’ve found that single-motor electric standing desks are typically a lot louder than their dual-motor counterparts. The X-Chair Standing Desk has a motor in each leg though, which is why I was surprised by how loud it got when moving up and down. 

To make sure I wasn’t just hearing things, I went out and got a digital sound level meter. When raising and lowering the X-Chair Standing Desk with the meter next to its motors, the desk reached 60dB at its peak. To put this number into perspective, I measured several other standing desks in the same way. The FlexiSpot E7 Pro Plus hit 56dB while going up and 50dB when going down, while the Vari desk was even quieter at 52dB when going up and at 47dB when going down.

If you’re working at home by yourself, the extra noise from the X-Chair Standing Desk isn’t going to be a problem. However, if others are nearby, the desk going up and down could be distracting, especially if you plan on using it in an office setting.

A real dust magnet

Since I opted for the concave version of the X-Chair Standing Desk, I had to go with a laminate desktop instead of a bamboo one. This time around, I went with a black desktop instead of a white or gray one to mix things up. The desktop is really smooth though and looks great in person. 

As I didn’t use a desk mat with the X-Chair Standing desk, I noticed that it quickly began to gather dust after only a few days. I have this desk setup in my game room where I reviewed the Branch Duo Standing Desk and the Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk and I didn’t run into this problem with either of those desks.

It was easy to give the X-Chair Standing Desk’s laminate desktop a quick wipe down but I found I had to do so at least once a week. Maybe it was because I chose the black desktop but if you don’t want to have to clean your desk as frequently as I did, I recommend picking another color instead.

X-Chair Standing Desk: Verdict

Overall the X-Chair Standing Desk has a lot going for it. It’s easy to put together, comes with a four-button programmable keypad and you have a lot of different options to choose from when configuring it. Still, I wish it came with a cable management tray and wasn’t quite as loud when moving up and down.

At less than $500 though, the X-Chair Standing Desk is well worth the price as you often have to spend quite a bit more for a similarly specced desk. I consider this a great first attempt and can’t wait to see how X-Chair improves upon its design with the next iteration of its standing desk.