If your house is your office, you may be overdue for some tech upgrades
Julio Ojeda-Zapata, Pioneer Press
7 min read
Working from home is great. You skip the commute, wear whatever you like, and keep a flexible schedule for that all-important work-life balance.
But how comfortable is your work setup? If you’ve been pecking at a laptop on the kitchen table or (heaven forfend) in bed, it is time for an upgrade.
Welcome to my holiday gift guide, work-from-home edition. If you don’t telecommute, maybe there are a few such people on your gift list.
I’ve been a WFH fan off and on for decades, and COVID made it a full-time thing. I have therefore thought a lot about home workstations.
Essential elements include a position-adjustable desk, a laptop stand, high-quality input devices, flexible charging accessories, and desk-protecting mats.
Read on for details on the latest, greatest WFH gear — including a pretty good standing desk I have been trying out.
Get a standing desk
You’ll be happier and healthier if you alternate among sitting and standing positions during work sessions.
Even though I have an excellent office chair, my back starts to hurt if I am sitting for too long, and I become sluggish. Getting to my feet perks me up mentally and physically.
That’s why standing desks are so important. I have tried a wide variety over the years — some with cranks to raise and lower their work surfaces manually, others with motors for adjustment with push-button ease.
My latest test subject is FlexiSpot’s electric E7, which normally runs for $329 but is going for $289 on Black Friday.
This is a basic desk from a lesser-known vendor, and I was a bit skeptical when it was offered to me for testing after having used swankier desks from the likes of Vari. What’s more, I had a lousy experience in 2021 with another FlexiSpot desk, the crank-style H1, which was rickety and unreliable (it partially broke down at one point).
I have been using the E7 for a while, however, and it checks out. Its motor, activated via a programmable panel, is highly responsive. The desk is sturdy, with little shake or wobble even when raised to its highest position. It is a no-frills but solid product at a nice price.
FlexiSpot also offers an E7 Pro desk for an extra $100, but I don’t see enough added value with this model to warrant the higher cost. (See how the two models compare.)
Here a few factors to weigh while considering an E7 purchase:
Desktop material. The basic price is only for the metal frame, and does not include the desk surface that attaches with screws on top. You add your choice of desktop material when ordering. I went with the least expensive, chipboard, for $80. I wouldn’t do it again because the screw holes in the chipboard do not look like they’d hold up to multiple disassemblies and reassemblies.
Better but pricier options include bamboo and various kinds of solid wood. FlexiSpot’s materials menu is modest compared to those of rival manufacturers such as Uplift — but that company’s products tend to be more expensive.
Desktop dimensions. For each material, you can choose among a variety of depths and widths. Depth is an important consideration when using one or more computer displays because you don’t want the screens too close to your face. Go with 30 inches, minimum. Unfortunately, FlexiSpot isn’t consistent about offering that depth option across its materials menu, so study your options carefully.
Height. One of my longtime standing-desk gripes is minimum height; some just don’t go low enough. The H1, for instance, went no lower than 29 inches, which was much too high for me.
How low the E7 goes depends on which frame you buy — there are three, with minimum heights of 22.8, 23.6 and 25 inches. All work fine for me. Make sure they work for you — perhaps spend some time with a tape measure figuring out your ideal desktop height before you order a desk.
Accessories. As with other standing-desk vendors, FlexiSpot lets you load up on add-ons when you make your primary purchase. These include add-on drawers, cable-management trays, casters, monitor risers, anti-fatigue floor mats — even an under-the-desk foot hammock.
FlexiSpot sent me a cool power strip that clamps on to a desk’s back edge and provides three AC outlets, one USB-A port and one USB-C Port (but I couldn’t get the latter port to work).
Consider additional ingredients for a top-notch work-from-home station. These include:
A laptop stand. If you’re using your laptop alongside a desktop display, as I do, it’s a good idea to raise the notebook’s screen so it’s roughly at the same viewing height as the external monitor.
I earlier told you about the $89.95 Roost, which is my favorite laptop stand. Twelve South’s Curve Flex is also terrific. The latter is discounted from $79.99 to $64.99 through Monday.
Better input devices. If your keyboard and mouse provide questionable accuracy or make your hands and wrists hurt, check into some upgrades. Logitech has long been my preferred input-device maker.
Its newest keyboards include the MX Keys Mini, a minimalist wireless illuminated model (get it in black or graphite because characters on the pale gray model are hard to make out); and the delightfully click-y MX Mechanical Mini (also illuminated and wireless, and available with a choice of three switch designs that each have a distinct feel and sound).
The MX Keys Mini is $89.99, down from $99.99 through Monday; the MX Mechanical Mini to $129, down from $149.
As for a mouse, you can’t go wrong with the (admittedly a bit pricey) MX Master 3S. It’s $99.99 and wasn’t discounted last I checked.
Better charging. You likely have multiple devices on your desk — including your computer along with your phone, your earbuds or headphones, possibly a tablet, and more. Keep everything charged can be messy.
Nomad has lots of options for elegant, effortless charging — and you save 30% sitewide through Monday.
Its 130W Power Adapter has three USB-C ports for charging a computer, phone and tablet all at once off a single outlet, and it’s down from $110 to $77 through Monday. Its Base Station gizmos can power up to five devices at once, ranging from a laptop to Apple AirPods earbuds, with a combination of wireless and wired connections.
Desk mats. These are must-have accessories this year, and are a great way to class up your workstation. They’re surfaces upon which to put your input devices in order to protect your desktop — or, in my case, to regain a reliable mousing surface after I damaged my desk surface.
Twelve South’s huge DeskPad is made of “vegan leather” — It looks like leather but it was never part of an animal. It feels fancy and creates a bit of friction when a mouse moves across it for better accuracy (that is debatable). It’s $39.99, down from $49.99 through Monday.
If the DeskPad feels like overkill, try Logitech’s $19.99 Desk Mat, a soft-cloth mat with a nice mousing feel in an assortment of soft colors. This product looks gorgeous but, I fear, isn’t very wear- and stain-resistant.
Nomad has leather mousepads in several sizes. The pads have a hard, stiff consistency that some might prefer over the softer Twelve South and Logitech options. However, the Nomad pad I tried slid around too much. Nomad also has a full desk mat, but I haven’t tested it. It’s $126, down from $180 through Monday.
