Standing desks are a great way to shake up your day by fitting a mix of sitting and standing into your workflow. They’re usually powered by at least a few motors, and are often controlled by inbuilt keypads, remotes, or mobile apps. Autonomous makes a range of high-tech desks, and the SmartDesk Levitate is the company’s flagship offering. Instead of using any of the above methods for adjusting the height of the SmartDesk Levitate, Autonomous had the idea of making it levitate. There’s a sensor on the tabletop that lets you move the desk up or down simply by moving your hand up or down.

After spending more than a month with the SmartDesk Levitate, this thing is the definition of a mixed bag. The design is stunning, sharp, and functional, but the desk is incredibly hard to assemble. The motion-control features are kind of neat, although they’re way too sensitive and make a quarter of your desk virtually unusable. The power track system is one of the coolest things I’ve seen on any product in a long time, but it’s paired with an awful cable management setup.

The nail in the coffin for the SmartDesk Levitate is the price. It costs $1,000, and at that price, it’s really hard to excuse the glaring flaws that this desk ships with. I used it as my primary desk, and ended up using a sticker to cover up the motion sensor completely — it’s that annoying. I might be able to recommend this for someone who’s interested in the power track system and a clean design, especially if you don’t care about the motion sensing features. But if that’s the case, why buy the Levitate specifically, anyway?

About this review: Autonomous provided a SmartDesk Levitate for the purposes of this review. The company had no input in this article, and did not see its contents before publishing.

Pricing, specs, and availability

Autonomous sells the SmartDesk Levitate as a complete package for $999, which includes the Classic Frame and a tabletop. You can also spring for the Ultra Frame if you have more space to fill, because it’s larger and comes with a bigger tabletop. The desk comes in one color way, featuring Bright Ash metal for the frame and Natural Solid Ash wood for the tabletop. It’s only available from Autonomous, so if it’s out of stock there, you’ll have to hope for a restock on the company’s online store.

Assembly

Looks can be deceiving — this is a tricky build

At first glance, the SmartDesk Levitate might look like an easy desk to assemble. That’s what I thought after looking at it, especially since I’ve built multiple desks from Ikea and FlexiSpot in just the last few months alone. However, Autonomous proves that looks can be deceiving. The standing desk features a minimalist design language and barely any visible wiring when assembled, but that only makes the assembly process more difficult.

This desk features a quad-motor setup, which is relatively uncommon for a standing desk. Most desks use a dual-motor setup, and this simplifies the assembly process. One motor handles the left side of the desk, and the other handles the right side. The quad-motor engineering of this desk means that you need to manually wire each leg together through the top frame. All of this comes disassembled, and each piece of the frame has to be assembled in the correct order and orientation for it to work properly. If you mess up a step, it’s almost impossible to take the desk apart. Don’t ask me how I know.

This desk doesn’t require advanced tools or knowledge. I built it with a ratcheting screwdriver and a bit of intuition, but that was after I spent more than an hour reading the instructions and trying to figure out how it all fits together. For reference, Autonomous advertises that you can build this desk in 15 minutes to a half hour.

Design

When you finish putting it together, the SmartDesk Levitate is stunning

As tough as it is to put together, the SmartDesk Levitate looks fantastic when it’s fully assembled. The thin, circular legs make this desk look like a normal desk — you probably wouldn'tt even know it was height-adjustable from afar. The metal has a Bright Ash finish that blends in nicely with the Ash tabletop. One thing to note is that it does seem to scratch somewhat easily. I was left with a few marks on the Bright Ash metal after completing the assembly process.

The minimalist design language shines through on the SmartDesk Levitate. You don’t get drawers, modular spots for accessories, or a digital keypad for controls. In fact, the only button on the entire desk is located on the bottom of the frame, so it can’t be viewed at eye level from any height. Plus, the edge of the SmartDesk Levitate tabletop is chamfered, which results in something of a natural wrist rest. It's comfortable and stylish.

Height adjustment

What should be this desk's 'killer feature' is really its biggest flaw

Now, for the frustrating part. The standout feature of the SmartDesk Levitate is supposed to be the way that you control its height adjustments. The desk levitates, as the name suggests. There's a sensor on the right side of the tabletop that looks for your hand. You can raise your hand to lift the desk, and lower your hand to drop the desk. It might sound like a clever way to control your standing desk, until you start using it.

The issue is that the SmartDesk Levitate isn't looking for your hand specifically — any object can be used to raise or lower the desk with the motion sensor. This means that accidentally triggering the SmartDesk Levitate isn't something that happens all the time. Any time you work on the rightmost quarter of the desk, there's a good chance you'll end up raising or lowering it by accident. It got so frustrating that, at one point, I covered up the motion sensor with a sticker entirely.

There are other ways to control the SmartDesk Levitate, but none of them are perfect. A physical button on the bottom of the frame can be used to raise and lower the desk, as well as automatically trigger a customizable sitting and standing height. However, since it's just one button, these controls are far less intuitive than a typical standing desk. There's also a mobile app, but it is very rudimentary, and seems half-baked.

It's also worth mentioning that the quad-motor configuration of the SmartDesk Levitate isn't as smooth or consistent as dual-motor desks I've used. Sometimes, it sounds like certain leg motors start moving before others. The desk ends up level in the end and at the desired height, but it's a shaky process getting there at times.

Power and cable management

The power track system makes the SmartDesk Levitate immediately intriguing

Unless you really like the SmartDesk Levitate's design, the only reason you'd want to buy this desk over the others is due to the power track system. Essentially, this is a track that is inset in the top center of your tabletop that conducts power. The track plugs into an extension cord, connects to wall power, and provides the SmartDesk Levitate with between 3,500W and 6,000W of power. There are pucks that slide into the track system, offering different kinds of power outlets, including standard wall sockets, Type-A, and Type-C ports.

A few of these pucks are included in the box, and you can place them anywhere on the track. Twisting the pucks will lock them in place and connect them to power. So, if you need to charge your laptop, you can slide a wall socket puck to the side of the track. Or, you could use the USB-C puck to give power to a charging stand. The power track system is a life-changer, and it beats crawling under your desk and fiddling with extension cords by a mile. I like it so much that I want to look past the desk's deficiencies.

Here's the high-level problem with the SmartDesk Levitate: even the things it gets right, it manages to get wrong. I love the power track system, but that love is almost entirely negated by my disdain for the awful cable management features on this desk. There's one cool cable management feature, and that's a metal rail that snaps to any of the four legs to hide the main power cable. It's a clever touch that makes the SmartDesk Levitate really feel cable-less in your room.

Autonomous put so much thought and effort into cable managing the desk itself, but seemingly forgot about everything you're going to put on it. There's a tray at the bottom of the SmartDesk Levitate that would be great for cable management, but it's nearly inaccessible after you screw it on for the first time. The main cable management solution is a 0.4-inch groove on the desktop, which lies right in front of the power track system.

To put it simply, this cable management groove is just silly. I can't fit an Ethernet cable through there, nor can I fit a Mac or PC power cable through the groove. A standard USB-C or Lightning cable barely fits. It forces you to run cables down the back of the desk, basically ruining the cable-free aesthetic of the SmartDesk Levitate.

Should you buy the Autonomous SmartDesk Levitate?

You should buy the Autonomous SmartDesk Levitate if:

• You want a minimalist standing desk with a unique adjustment mechanism
• You need a lot of versatile and modular power at your desk
• You're willing to deal with the annoying day-to-day usage of the motion sensor

You should NOT buy the Autonomous SmartDesk Levitate if:

• You want a standing desk that's cheaper, easier to assemble, and more reliable
• You don't have a lot of money to spend on a unique standing desk
• You value quality cable management solutions in a desk

The key to a great Mac or PC setup is a desk. It's the part of a workstation or gaming battle station that ties everything together, and serves as the foundation for everything that rests upon it. High-end standing desks can be expensive, and the Autonomous SmartDesk Levitate isn't even in the ultra-premium sector of the market. At $1,000, it's pricey, but it's only about double the cost of what would be considered a mid-tier standing desk in 2024.

It's tough to say for sure whether you should or shouldn't buy the SmartDesk Levitate. It's one-of-a-kind, for better or worse. The power track system was a life-changer for me, as it has never been easier to keep all my phones, laptops, and other devices charged. I also liked the minimalist design language and large, deep tabletop surface. But I wanted to pull my hair out while testing it, and I might go back to my trusty FlexiSpot desk as a result.

I can envision the type of person that might want the SmartDesk Levitate as part of their workflow. However, for the vast majority of people, this desk just doesn't cut it for the price.