UpDesk PowerUp Series III Review: The Ultimate Standing Desk?

An uplifting desk

If you’ve got a desk job, then you’re probably already aware of its most lethal hazard; I am, of course, referring to the dangers of sitting. The director of the Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University’s Obesity Solutions Initiative recently said, “Sitting is more dangerous than smoking, kills more people than HIV and is more treacherous than parachuting. We are sitting ourselves to death.” With quotes like that, you may want to stand up for this. Luckily, if work has you at your desk all day, you can take comfort in knowing that there are a plethora of standing desks out there, which aim to alleviate the issue. I recently received UpDesk’s PowerUp Series III. I had heard good things about it, but let’s put it to the test and find out for sure!

The PowerUp comes in three different sizes and price points: 48 inches ($890), 60 inches ($980), and 72 inches ($1,040). I received the medium-sized 60-inch variety. Our medium-sized model is wide enough to snugly fit two 27-inch monitors in addition to our big desktop chassis. Of course, in front of that there is also plenty of room for our computer peripherals as well. The PowerUp also comes in three different surface materials, which dictate color. First is a dry-erase whiteboard variety that resembles an ivory white. Then there’s a traditional wood appearance. The last and coolest-looking option is the matte black finish, which resembles carbon fiber or a really durable gym floor. The PowerUp desk looks beautiful and sports a minimalistic design. It’s mostly just a large, flat surface held together by two large twin-titanium electric-lifting legs.

Assembling the table with the instructions was pretty straightforward, but you will need to drill holes to attach the control console, though, fortunately, there’s no shortage of real estate for you to position it where you please.

Sturdy stance

Unlike some other standing desks I’ve used, which wiggled and felt somewhat unstable, the PowerUp’s 250lb-lifting columns are extremely robust and durable. When you lower or raise the desk, the transition is very smooth. And because it’s a motorized desk, doing so is completely effortless. It also isn’t very loud when the motors actuate either, so you’ll definitely be able to bring this to the office and switch the height of the desk back and forth periodically without distracting your coworkers. Using the PowerUp is also extremely easy. There is a small LED console where you can raise and lower the desk by using the up and down arrows. In addition to manual modifications, you can program three height presets into the PowerUp’s memory. Programming the presets is as easy as holding down the save button in conjunction with your respective number of choice, similar to saving a preset radio station on your car’s dashboard. In addition to being able to customize your height, you can also change how your presets actuate. For instance, you can make it so that you only need to press your respective number preset once to execute a transition, or you can require that a button be held down until your desired height is reached. In my particular case, the minimum height setting bottomed out at roughly 28 inches tall and maxed out at 45.4 inches.

Are there any big problems with the desk? The biggest grievance that I had with the UpDesk is that setting it up requires you to screw the lifting legs into the desk using wood screws. As a result, when you attempt to disassemble the desk by unscrewing it, the threading within the wood often rips out. In my case, I was only able to cleanly unscrew about half of the table’s parts. The others required that I use a crowbar or a hammer to pry them out, which damaged the underside of the table. You could potentially use wood glue to fix it all back together, but disassembling and assembling the desk shouldn’t be such an arduous task to begin with. The only other minor quibble that I have with the UpDesk is that because it opts for a very clean, minimalistic look, there really are no drawers or fancy cable management features built in. While there are a couple of small holes in the back to loop a few wires through, they don’t look super-elegant. The company does sell a cable management add-on for roughly $50, but it really feels like it should have been included. Regardless, while the UpDesk is quite pricey and hard to disassemble, it functions extremely well as a motorized standing desk.