IKEA BEKANT

The BEKANT was my first standing desk and it served its purpose: it got me into the habit of alternating between sitting and standing. But after a year, I upgraded to a Branch desk because the BEKANT's wobble was too frustrating. I also found that without presets, I stopped adjusting it as often because it was annoying to manually find my standing height every time. For the price, it's acceptable. But save up and get something with presets if you can.

I'm a grad student and couldn't justify spending $700 on a standing desk. The BEKANT was $430 and has worked perfectly for 10 months of thesis writing. Yes, it wobbles a bit when I type standing, but I use a light laptop so it's not catastrophic. The desk looks clean and minimal — perfect for a small apartment. The 10-year warranty means I feel confident it'll outlast my degree. A great buy for the price-conscious.

My BEKANT motor failed at 14 months — it would only move up, not down. I went to IKEA with my receipt and they replaced the entire desk with no argument, citing the 10-year warranty. The replacement desk has been fine for four months. So the warranty works as advertised. But a motor failure at 14 months is not acceptable hardware quality. The wobble is also a real issue that never improved. It's okay for the price but the reliability concerns me long-term.