I have recently tried using the Flexispot F3MB standing desk, in my quest to find a suitable standing desk for my office. This standing desk is similar in many ways to the Varidesk Pro Plus 36 that I had tried and reviewed in the past.
Disclaimer: Flexispot offered me this standing desk for review purposes. I appreciate them providing me with the opportunity to try out one of their desks.
Setting Up The Desk
The box was pretty big, and the desk was sufficiently packed with good padding inside the box. It only took a few minutes to cut open the box and place the Flexispot F3MB on my desk. The first thing I noticed was that the Flexispot F3MB was a lot lighter than my Varidesk Pro Plus 36, and I didn’t feel like I needed to warm up with some deadlifts before lifting it up onto the desk.
The Flexispot F3MB comes nearly fully assembled, and all I had to to was snap into place the keyboard tray to complete the assembly.
Raising and Lowering
This is a pretty simple transforming standing desk – it’s designed to raise and lower without much effort.
The Flexispot F3MB raises and lowers easily by pressing a handle underneath the right side of the desktop. There is a hydraulic assist to help raise the desk easily. The desk actually raises very easily, and requires a little more pressure to lower than to raise.
When the desk raises, it moves backwards a few inches when you raise it to max height.
This is different from my Varidesk, which actually did the opposite, and moved forwards when raising it to max height. I suppose this is just a feature difference between manufacturers.
Personally, I would prefer a standing desk that could raise straight up.
Build Quality and Appearance
This standing desk appears to be very well constructed. Nothing about it feels cheap. All the moving components move smoothly and quietly, and operation doesn’t feel finicky. It just works as you expect it too. It’s heavy enough to feel like it won’t tip over when you are using it, yet it isn’t so bulky and awkward to move around either. It is a manageable size and weight.
The footprint of this desk is pretty small, and I like that. It doesn’t feel like it takes up too much desktop space like my Varidesk Pro Plus 36 did.
The desk top is smooth and solid, it works well for writing on when needed. It can feel a little “slippery”, as in, it’s easy for other plastic things to slide around on the surface. I’ve bumped my phone off of the desktop a couple times due to this – my cell phone slides across this desk top like an air hockey puck. However, this is something I’ve run into with any plastic desk top that I’ve used, so it’s not an issue specific to this particular standing desk.
Visually, this standing desk also looks pretty sharp. It would fit in nicely in any office environment.
Desk Height Issues and Ergonomics
For me, height-wise – I have found the Flexispot F3MB to be a little too low with the keyboard tray when standing. I ran into this same issue with the Varidesk Pro Plus 36, which I wrote about in my review of that standing desk.
When I have the Flexispot F3MB fully raised up, my hands and arms reach lower than the recommended 90 degree angles for standing desk usage, when I’m using the attached keyboard tray.
With a monitor mount, I can get the monitor to about the right height for my eyes, which is good.
I am glad the keyboard try is removable. In my case, I have removed the keyboard try and don’t use it, since it was too low for me when standing. I have found removing and reattaching the keyboard tray to be inconvenient when transitioning between standing and sitting, even though it simply snaps into place.
If the keyboard tray went about two inches lower when sitting, and then was about the same height as the top of the desk when standing, this type of standing desk might work ergonomically for me.
How Do I Use This Standing Desk?
Even with the desk height issues, I still am using the Flexispot F3MB right now. I have it set up on one side of my angled office desk, and I use it primarily for standing every once in a while when I’m using my laptop or working on paperwork. I just raise the desk up about as high as it goes, then put my laptop on top. Nothing tricky. I lower it when I have meetings and need to talk over top of it.
My usage scenario is not the best for ergonomics, as I am looking down at the screen on my laptop, but it gives me a chance to switch between standing and sitting when I’m at the office. I can’t really use the standing desk for extended periods of time this way, but for short bursts of standing while using my laptop it works well.
I might rearrange my desk to put the standing desk closer to the wall, and then use a monitor mount and an extra monitor.
Conclusion
Overall, my opinion of the Flexispot F3MB standing desk is very similar to my opinion of the Varidesk Pro Plus 36 – it’s a solid standing desk, just not the best fit for my height. I like it better than the Varidesk I had been using, for its smaller footprint.
