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Laminate Standing Desk Comparison Review UK

1600 x 800mm white laminate standing desks

WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A STANDING DESK

With so many height adjustable desk options now on the market, it can be difficult to tell as they all look similar at first glance. If you’ve been doing your research, you’ll know that LINAK is the best of the best, world-leading manufacturers of linear actuators (leg columns). A family run business of 100+ years and 40+ years spent developing and perfecting actuator systems. Read the entire history here.

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Customers who have the time to visit our showroom, experience first-hand the workmanship that goes into crafting our gorgeous solid wood desktops and the unbeatable stability and quality of our adjustable desk frames.

But for those unable to visit and need to make their buying decisions from information online, we’ve put together a comprehensive comparison to help prospective customers make the best investment decisions for their needs, both sitting and standing, whether for the home or office. We’ve focused on four competitors that customers mention when looking at their buying options.

For this standing desk review, we’ve taken a 1600 x 800mm white laminate desk with the closest options from Ikea, FlexiSpot, Sit-Stand* and Fully. Price includes top of the range height control option from each retailer. Comparisons are based on information taken from the suppliers’ websites and supporting material, and all details are correct at the time of writing.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Manufacturer Rol Ergo, Sweden Lockteck, China Jeicang, China Swedstyle, Sweden LINAK, Denmark
Price inc. delivery £479.00 £589.98 £899.00 £1175.94 £840.00
Foot length N/A 650mm 685mm 690mm 710mm
Lift capacity 70kg 125kg 158kg 100kg 160kg
Height range 650-1250mm 650-1250mm 622-1270mm 640-1300mm 600-1250mm
Frame width (telescopic range) Fixed 1100-1900mm 1080-1880mm 1150-1740mm 1340-1940mm
Height control features Up/down only 4 x memory positions, child lock, USB charging 4 x memory  positions 4 x memory positions 4 x memory positions including Bluetooth app control, LED reminder alert, auto drive via app
Noise level N/A <50dB <50dB <50dB <50dB
Speed 38mm per sec 38mm per sec 38mm per sec 33mm per sec 38mm per sec
High speed lift option No No No No Yes 60mm & 80mm per sec
Castors No Plastic Plastic Plastic Steel and polypropylene
Battery power option No No No No Yes
Safety feature PIEZO (inbuilt sensor) Yes / no detail N/A Collision and overload PIEZO (inbuilt sensor)
Assembly time under 15 mins No No No No Yes
Installation service Third party No No Yes Yes
Warranty 10 years 7 years 15 years 7 years 10 years

* Despite varying details, height controller options, brand names and claims, this desk is widely available from numerous online retailers under one guise or another.

Before we look at anything else in this UK standing desk review, it’s important to talk about quality and the difference between budget and premium desks. The vast majority of standing desks sold online are entry-level and produced in China with a primary focus on cost reduction rather than reliability and durability, which is neither good for customers nor the environment.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Manufacturer Rol Ergo, Sweden Lockteck, China Jeicang, China Swedstyle, Sweden LINAK, Denmark

More advanced, premium models feature tighter manufacturing tolerances, better collision detection safety components, quieter motors, more advanced control panels, and a wider height and width adjustability range. Compared to cheaper Chinese options, a lengthy, inclusive warranty also indicates how long they are likely to run without issue, further demonstration of confidence in the longevity of the product.

Quality frames like those produced by LINAK and manufactured in Denmark using state-of-the-art technologies and perfected production methods are likely to be more stable and to continue to be more stable over time compared to cheaper models. Linak leg columns and metal work are manufactured in Denmark with small electronic parts coming from their factory in Eastern Europe and Asia.

As well as looking at manufacturing quality and warranty cover, any buyer should also consider, ease-of-assembly, ease-of-use, noise level and customer support.

Conclusion:

Unlike any of the other manufacturers here, Linak have over 40 years’ experience supplying the best quality products to medical industries where reliability and excellence are paramount.

Price is often the first consideration for shoppers looking to purchase an adjustable height desk. The web is awash with retailers getting on the “work from home” band wagon, selling cheaply manufactured desks that have dubious reliability credentials so buyer beware.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Price inc. Delivery £479.00 £589.98 £899.00 £1175.94 £840.00

Ikea’s Bekant and Flexispot’s E8 weigh in at the cheapest in our comparison. The Bekant has the poorest spec and lowest weight capacity, while the E8 is one of the cheapest dual-motor, dual-stage desks on the market.

Fully’s Jarvis is built on an all-Chinese budget frame, that has become a very popular middle of the range option due to sleek marketing and no doubt a bottomless budget as they are now part of the Herman Miller/Knoll empire, the world’s largest office furniture manufacturer, based on revenue. While it compares favourably against other Chinese sourced bases, for slightly more you can have a Danish-made base and UK made desktop.

Flytta is the most expensive option but if you search online the same desk (despite varying details, height controller options, brand names and claims) is being sold under numerous brand names at differing price points.

Given its premium components the Fika Skyflo isn’t the cheapest desk on the market but if you are looking for top quality manufacturing, materials and performance the value is evident.

NB – For those on a tighter budget the Fika Airflo also beats any rival on “bang for buck” and begs the question why anyone would choose “cheap” when for a small price increase compared to the best of Chinese-made, customers can buy a state-of-the-art frame that’s manufactured in Denmark and runs rings around them in terms of precision engineering, reliability, sound level, ease of installation and more tech features not to mention design aesthetic.

Conclusion:

If your budget allows and you want the very best there’s no question that the Skyflo standing desk frame is the superstar of active workspace solutions. It offers more power, weight, and stability, as standard, than any other frame on the UK market.

In our opinion, you are better off paying a little more now for a quality Fika Skyflo desk that uses sturdier and more reliable components. Desks built this well tend to last longer and have a lower cost of ownership (price divided by the number of years in use) which means the higher price is more than justified compared to cheaper, less durable models.

The laws of physics mean that the stability of any height adjustable desk will decrease as its height increases. Therefore, it stands to reason that if you start from a point of cheaper quality, what might at first seem a stable enough frame is likely to become shaky and wobble, over a much shorter time period.

We keep coming back to the importance of quality. Again, precision manufacturing and the quality of components play an important role in the stability of a desk.

Desks with dual stage leg columns, three telescoping leg sections, are more stable than desks with single stage legs. The overlapping tubes produce a more rigid structure which results in better stability.

Steel adds weight but is expensive so be wary of cheaper frames with short, light weight feet. The best desks have long, heavy feet and designed to include internal structures that bolster rigidity that all go towards anchoring the frame as well as increasing the front-to-back stability.

In particular tall, heavy-handed typist will want to avoid cheaper desks, with shorter, less weighty feet.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Foot Length N/A 650mm 685mm 690mm 720mm

Conclusion:

Ikea don’t include foot length details for any of their standing desks. For foot length alone Fika Skyflo is the stand-out option.

How much power is needed for a standing desk? You can see there are big differences in lift capacity between the standing desks in our comparison. Computers, monitors, arms and keyboards are all pretty lightweight nowadays so it’s likely that all of these options would cope with a set-up of 1-2 standard monitors etc, although that may be the limit for the Bekant!

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Lift Capacity 70kg 125kg 158kg 100kg 160kg

You would be forgiven for thinking that it’s a simple equation but in reality, there are a few more factors to consider.

All manufacturers published lift specifications assume ideal conditions including evenly centred weight on the desktop surface and that the frame is perfectly level from adjusting all four foot studs accurately.

Any unevenness will increase the torquing forces on the leg segments which is where top class machining tolerances come into play, along with the quality of the thin gaskets that run between the segments to keep the gliding even. Any uneven weight distribution over time will cause the gaskets to wear which is likely to result in your desk becoming wobbly as well as the noise level increasing.

Of course, if you start from a place of quality with top grade metal and components, the extra rigidity will not only mean a solid and sturdy base but also a lower risk of stresses, strains and wearing of the gaskets.

The best linear actuators are designed for medical and industrial applications where reliability is crucial. No other manufacturer comes anywhere near LINAK’s pedigree of providing lifting columns to hospitals, care homes and specialist industries for over 40-years.

Conclusion:

Of course, it’s important to have an idea of what the set up on your desk weighs as well as future proofing your purchase by estimating any additional load. But investing in quality will prolong the life of your investment.

Unsurprisingly Fika Skyflo has the heftiest lift capacity at 160kg, of all the comparison desks and any others currently on the market. This is the standard across all our adjustable height frames, not an additional upgrade option.

The lowest to highest point a desk can cover is known as the stroke or stroke length and is equal to the fully extended length minus the fully retracted length.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Height Range 650-1250mm 650-1250mm 622-1270mm 640-1300mm 600-1250mm

Comparing the desks here Ikea’s Bekant and Flexispot’s E8 have the shortest stroke length at 600mm, then Fully’s Jarvis at 648mm, our Skyflo at 650mm and Flytta at 660mm.

Fika Skyflo has the lowest minimum desk height of all the frames and is ideally suited to a wide age range of users (very useful in the home) and particularly wheelchair users that may require a low height setting.

When making your buying decision check that the desk adjusts enough, from minimum to maximum height to accommodate your sitting and standing positions.

Conclusion:

To make sure your desk is an ergonomic fit for you while working both sitting and standing, shorter people and wheelchair users will focus on the lower height limit and sitting height, while taller people will concentrate on the upper limit and their standing height.

Choose a desk with a wide height range, if buying for a shared workspace, so that everyone’s range is accommodated.

All electric height adjustable desks come with an up/down control panel, and usually the option of upgrading to a panel with two or four position memory settings. Ikea only offer the up/down control for the Bekant.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Control panel with memory No – up/down only 4 x positions, child lock, USB charging 4 x positions 4 x positions 4 x positions, Bluetooth, app control, reminder, auto drive etc

Height control panels with memory settings are an option with the E8, Flytta and Jarvis. The E8 upgrade also includes the addition of a child lock and usb charging port.

These control panels have remained pretty basic over the last few years; however, this is not the case with Flomotion.  All our desks come with an award-winning, intuitive paddle design panel that offers a host of features including the usual four memory positions as well as an LED light reminder, and Bluetooth connectivity to the LINAK Desk Control™ App.

App-compatibility benefits include being able to set your desk to auto-drive. Allowing you to move your desk, with two taps of a finger, in either direction from one memory position to another. Optional push-notification reminders are also accessible via the App.

Conclusion:

No other height control panel on the UK market today offers such an array of features that help promote and support a more active workspace.

An additional feature that allows customers to programme an upper and lower height limit to their desk is particularly useful for customers WFH, and have inconveniently placed shelves and radiators that they would like their desk to avoid.

The average conversation measures around 60dB and most electric standing desks operate between 40 and 60dB.

Despite brands offering decibel ratings for their desks (which may or may not be true), unless these ratings are recorded using the same parameters, they have to be taken as a rough guide at best.

LINAK are well known for their low noise signatures.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Noise Level N/A <50dB <50dB <50dB Low Level

Conclusion:

Opting for a quality product where time and money has been invested in the use of relentless and state-of-the-art testing, would always be our recommendation.

As you can see the most common maximum speeds recorded, with an unloaded desk are 38mm per second, with the slowest being Flytta at 33mm per second.

Although frame speed will also be affected by the load weight, including the desktop, if you opt for a minimum of 38mm per second you won’t be hanging around for your desk to adjust.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Speed 38mm per sec 38mm per sec 38mm per sec 33mm per sec 38mm per sec
High speed lift option No No No No 60mm and 80mm per sec

Conclusion:

A rating of 38mm per second (give or take a mm or 2) is an industry standard, however! Time is money and when speed is of the essence, the new high speed Skyflo frame supports the fastest moving desks on the market.

With speed options of 60mm and 80mm per second to help super charge productivity for you and your team. Take a look at the full details here.

All the desks we’ve looked at here come with the option of adding castors, albeit cheap looking plastic versions compared to the strong steel housing and polypropylene castors Flomotion offer.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Castors No Plastic Plastic Plastic Steel and polypropylene

But it’s not castors we’re looking at here, rather the addition of a high-performance lithium-Ion battery that allows you to take your standing desk to the next level without the need for a mains cable.

Whether trailing cables, awkward or no access to a mains socket, your desk can be fully flexible and totally mobile with the addition of a battery box.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Battery option No No No No YES

Conclusion:

Castors are offered as a standard addition by all, despite varying quality but if you’re looking for a desk with a battery pack option then there is only one option.

All the standing desks in this comparison, and in general, are delivered flat pack for self-assembly, of varying degrees of difficulty and specialist tools are often required. If you’re an Ikea fan then you’ll know all about the effort required for the Bekant. And the assembly instructions for E8, Flytta and Jarvis desks include multiple components and look time consuming at the very least.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Delivered 95% pre-assesmbed No No No No Yes

All Skyflo desks are delivered almost pre-assembled with the crossbar already attached to the underside of the desktop. Pre-drilled fixings allow a typical assembly time of under 15 minutes, once everything has been unpacked. And no specialist tools are required either.

Setting up a Skyflo desk is very simple – the clamp system is perfectly aligned, incredibly solid and as stable as half a dozen bolts that many manufactures employ to keep the legs in position. Everything is tested again before dispatching to make ensure your desk is up and running minutes after arrival.

Conclusion:

Our aim is to not only provide the best standing desk in the UK, but also the easiest and quickest to assemble too. No other desk comes close to speed of set-up, ease of use and stability at height.

No matter how simple the assembly process for your desk might be, if DIY is just not your thing, what’s the answer?

Installation options are available from Flytta. Ikea and Fully offer a third party serivce whereas with Flexispot it is self-assembly only.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Installation Service Third Party No No Yes Yes

Our white glove delivery and assembly service takes care of everything. A completely effortless process for customers from moving items up-stairs, desk assembly and removing and recycling packaging.

Conclusion:

Apart from Flexispot, an installation service option is available via all other retailers.

Having spent hours researching the best standing desk option for you, the last thing you want is any unnecessary wait time.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Manufacturer 1-3 days with Express Option Up to 7 days 7-10+ days as ships from Belgium 1-2 days 2-5 days
Collection Yes No No No Yes

Apart from Fully who ship from Belgium (with the potential for all manner of delays), all other desks are dispatched within a day or two of order, if not on the day of order placement, if received before12 noon.

If time is of the essence and we have capacity, same day dispatch is likely to be an option, just call to check. The reason it takes us a little longer is because we’re doing more of the work so that you don’t have to. Your desk is almost pre-assembled before dispatch so that set-up is quick, easy and saves you time.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Delivered 95% pre-assembled No No No No Yes

Like Ikea, Flomotion offer a collection option. We don’t have multiple store locations but we’ve very happy to host during your visit to Norwich.

Conclusion:

You won’t have to wait too long whoever you choose from our standing desk review. Although Fully may be one to avoid for delivery reasons alone, not to mention any future difficulty of dealing with an overseas supplier.

Any warranty worth its salt, will not only cover the desk frame, but also include the electric motors, control box, and switch. Basically, everything that comes in the box.

Some standing desk suppliers offer a long or lifetime guarantee on the metal work with a much-reduced cover for electronics, so check the details.

Fully offer the longest warranty cover period but again you may be put off by having to deal with customer support that is overseas.

Retailer Ikea – Bekant Flexispot – E8 Fully – Jarvis Sit Stand – Flytta* Flomotion – Fika Skyflo
Warranty 10 years 7 years 15 years 7 years 10 years

Flexispot and sit stand offer the shortest period of those in our review, and many cheaper desk suppliers offer two- and three-year warranty covers.

Flomotion offer the same warranty period as Ikea, but with a small business laser focus on customer service, I know who I would rather be dealing with in the event of an issue!

We all know that sometimes things just don’t go to plan! It’s how a company deals with these issues and customers concerns that make all the difference.

Conclusion:

When all is said and done, the desks that are least likely to have issues are the ones that use the best components.

If the warranty cover is the same, look at customer service reviews, or just pick up the phone and ask, you’ll probably glean a lot from that alone.

SUMMARY

The popularity of adjustable-height desks has been increasing exponentially with the focus on workplace health and wellbeing, whether working from home or in the office. If you’ve read through the above, you’ll know there’s lots to consider when choosing the most suitable sit-stand desk for your needs.

Price is often the first consideration, and if you’re after a cheap option that will do the job (albeit how well and for how long), then the market is awash with budget, generally Chinese made options that lack many of the qualities and attributes that come with spending a little more for a quality product.

But if you want the most stable desk on the market, together with all the features that set the Fika Skyflo desk apart: speed of assembly, ease of use, intuitive control panel, smartphone compatibility with auto drive and world-renowned Danish precision engineering, you won’t find any other desk matching these quality features, at any price.

BROWSE OUR RANGE OF FIKA LAMINATE DESKS

Fika is our range of standing desks with laminate desktops. All desks include the option of top quality, Danish made Skyflo and Airflo desk frames. LINAK actuators with market leading 160kg lift capacity, awarding winning height control panel with auto drive and reminder coach via app control.

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