Finest Desks of 2025: I’ve Spent Practically 4,000 Hours Testing Desks. These Are the Ones You Need

Testing desks is one thing of a subjective recreation. Very like workplace chairs, the exams are based mostly on consolation, reliability and ease of setup relatively than issues you possibly can check in electronics corresponding to wattage and battery utilization. I nonetheless examined every one rigorously and can proceed to check them for longevity within the coming months.

I examined these desks by asking three individuals to strive every one. Every of them used the desk for not less than 16 hours after which gave me their impressions. The three individuals had been 6 ft, 1 inch tall; 5 ft, 8 inches tall; and 5 ft, 4 inches tall respectively, to provide me a superb cross-section of common consumer peak.

A busted up box containing a desk — James Bricknell/CNET

Setup time and bundle high quality

Constructing desks can usually be troublesome and time-consuming. For every desk, I timed how lengthy it took to unpack and assemble, and I famous whether or not the guide was straightforward to observe. I adopted the directions as carefully as potential so that every construct was carried out as if I had by no means constructed one earlier than. I additionally completely checked the packaging, to ensure it wasn’t broken, and if it was safe sufficient to hold the desk it had in it. Any harm was famous, and pictures had been despatched to the producers for evaluation.

Structural integrity

Fashionable desks want to have the ability to maintain a superb quantity of weight. For those who’re at a writing desk you may solely have a small laptop computer, however in case you’re utilizing a gaming desk, it doubtless has two screens and an enormous gaming PC as nicely. For every desk, I checked the utmost load specification, and I attempted to match that with the supplies we truly use on our desks.

I used:

A heavy gaming PC tower
Two 27-inch gaming screens on a twin monitor arm
A MacBook Professional
Two totally different keyboards and various mice and trackpads
My Oculus Quest 2
My telephone stand and USB hub
A podcasting mic and headphones

Relying on the size and weight capability of the desk, I combine and match this stuff, then test for any bowing of the highest or inconsistencies in how the desk felt as I labored.

Giant black standing desk with rainbow lights — James Bricknell/CNET

The wibble-wobbles

It is a little bit of a throwback from when my dad used to make furnishings. Something my dad constructed could be critiqued by my mum, and if it did not cross muster, she would say, “It’s kind of wibbly-wobbly, is not it, pricey?” As soon as I’ve constructed every desk and loaded it for regular use, I’d test it for the wibble-wobbles. This implies rocking it back and forth and ahead and backward to test that each one the screws, bolts and fixtures stored all the pieces inflexible.