Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk review | Tom's Guide

The Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk is a standing desk you can control with an app or even your voice. While the smart features make it a bit pricey, the built-in storage, cable management solution and USB charging ports help justify its higher cost.

Drawers for storage

3 USB ports (2 type-A, 1 type-C)

Built-in cable management solution

Desk can be controlled via keypad, app or voice assistant

Somewhat noisy

Only one grommet

Desk can only hold 88 lbs (40 kg)

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Desktop size: 47 x 24 inches

Min/max height: 29.5 - 49.2 inches

Max supported weight: 88 pounds

Electric: Yes

The Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk is no ordinary standing desk. It’s actually a smart standing desk. In addition to a smartphone app, you can also use either Alexa or Google Assistant to lower or raise the desk with one of the best smart speakers. There are even three USB ports on its right side to charge your devices.

Making the switch from a traditional desk to a standing desk does come with some drawbacks, as most standing desks don’t include built-in storage. The Realspace smart standing desk does though, with two drawers for supplies and accessories. It also doesn’t need a cable management tray as it has a shelf at its rear with a hinged back, complete with a cutout to let cables pass through. Our Realspace Smart Electric Height-Adjustable Desk review will help you decide if this is one of the best standing desks or if its smart features just overcomplicate things.

Although the Realspace smart standing desk has a list price of $629.99 at Office Depot and on Amazon. However, it often goes on sale for less than $500. The desk is available in either a white/natural or a black/gray finish.

The Realspace smart standing desk features a smooth, natural wood laminate finish and is only available in one size: 47 x 24 inches. Besides choosing the black/gray finish, there are no other customization options available with this desk. While the tabletop comes pre-assembled, you will have to install the Realspace smart standing desk’s white, L-shaped legs.

Underneath the top of the desk, you’ll find two drawers that are 20.5-inches wide, 11.8-inches deep and 1.6-inches tall. This is more than enough room to store a laptop, keyboard or any other accessories you want to keep handy.

At the back left corner, there is a single grommet that can be used to run cables from the desk’s storage area up to the desktop. However, the grommet hole is just 1 inch wide, which may make it difficult to run more than a few cables through it.

The Realspace smart standing desk’s keypad is located on the right side of the desk; unlike with some other standing desks, there aren’t pre-drilled holes to mount it on the left side. Along with the up and down buttons, there are four numbered preset buttons but no button to program them. Instead, you need to hold the numbered button you want to program down for three seconds to save a height to it. The keypad also stays lit while the desk is plugged in instead of turning off.

On the right side of the Realspace smart standing desk, there are two USB-A ports along with a USB-C port for charging your smartphone and other devices. Surprisingly, the USB-C port was even able to rapidly charge my OnePlus smartphone.

The storage area at the back of the desk is one of the standout features of the Realspace smart standing desk. It’s big enough to hold one of the best surge protectors along with a few bulky power supplies. You can also neatly tuck away any cables you want to keep out of sight.

For the most part, the Realspace smart standing desk comes pre-assembled and arrives in one box. You only have to install the desk’s lifting columns and feet, the baseboard at the rear and the keypad and sensor module.

Realspace includes all of the hardware you’ll need to put the desk together which shouldn’t take you more than 30 minutes. Assembly begins with flipping over the tabletop and installing the lifting columns and the feet. You then need to install the keypad at the front of the desk and the sensor module in the middle.

With the keypad and sensor module in place, you need to connect them together using the provided wires. You will also need to plug the motor into the keypad and plug the desk’s power cord into its power adapter. Realspace includes cable clips so that you can attach all of the wires to the underside of the desk so they won’t be visible when you flip it over.

Once all of your cables are in place, you just have to install the baseboard at the rear of the desk covering the motor and power adapter. Flip the desk over with the help of a family member or friend and you’re ready to go.

The Realspace smart standing desk performed well during our tests. The desk was able to move from a seated to a standing position in around 10 seconds. It also passed my coffee test where I place a full cup of coffee on the desk and try raising and lowering it without spilling a drop. As this is a single motor standing desk, it’s a bit noisier than the Vari Electric Standing Desk or the Uplift V2 though.

In addition to using the keypad to adjust the Realspace smart standing desk’s height, I also tested out the accompanying Smart Life app. The app lets you set your preferred seated and standing heights and enable the desk’s child lock feature. You can also set your preferred sitting and standing heights manually by holding down one of the preset buttons for three seconds. In the app’s settings menu, you can set wellness goals to help you be more active throughout the day and even schedule reminders to stand up.

My favorite part of the Smart Life app though is that you can connect it with either Google Assistant or Alexa. This way, you can use one of the best Google home speakers or the best Alexa speakers to adjust the Realspace smart standing desk with your voice. For instance, you can say “Alexa, set Smart Desk to level 1” or “Hey Google, raise smart desk to 50%”. I tested this feature with both the Lenovo Smart Clock Essential and a 3rd gen Echo Dot and both smart speakers were able to raise and lower the desk without any problems.

Although I first tested out the Realspace smart standing desk using a Surface Laptop Go, I also did so using a desktop PC and an ultrawide monitor. While their combined weight was nowhere near the 80-pound limit, it did take the desk slightly longer (+3 seconds) to raise back up to standing height. If you do want to use multiple monitors and a large desktop PC, most other standing desks have a much higher weight limit. For instance, the Fully Jarvis Bamboo can support up to 350-pounds. The tradeoff here though is that you get drawers instead of a higher weight limit.

If you’re thinking about upgrading to a standing desk but don’t want to lose valuable storage space, the Realspace smart standing desk is certainly worth considering. It may not be as customizable as other similarly priced standing desks such as the Uplift V2, but the USB charging ports, built-in cable management and smart features make up for this.

Still though, with a list price of $629 the Realspace smart standing desk is on the expensive side. Hopefully, the $479 sale price becomes the regular price soon which would make the desk even more appealing. If you’re on a budget, the Flexispot EC1 is a great alternative but if you have the cash to spend, the Vari Electric standing desk is worth considering.

Anthony Spadafora is the security and networking editor at Tom’s Guide where he covers everything from data breaches and ransomware gangs to password managers and the best way to cover your whole home or business with Wi-Fi. Before joining the team, he wrote for ITProPortal while living in Korea and later for TechRadar Pro after moving back to the US. Based in Houston, Texas, when he’s not writing Anthony can be found tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home.

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