At the heart of every workstation should be the support of a strong, sturdy desk. Even in the post-COVID era, there are many people who still primarily work from home. To prevent things from getting monotonous, we start developing certain routines to shake things up throughout the day. For example, I like to do push-ups every couple of hours to keep active and energized. To my delight, one of the marketing materials for the FlexiSpot E7 Plus happened to show off a man performing push-ups off the desk, leading me to conclude that I was destined to try it out.

After spending some time with the E7 Plus motorized standing desk, I’ve found new routines to spruce up my work days. I’m not going to get into the claims about whether a standing desk is healthier for you, or if it improves productivity. What I do know is that since adopting a standing desk, I’ve generally felt better and am much more mobile in day-to-day activities. Variety is the spice of life, and the added flexibility of a motorized standing desk definitely makes your workstation seasoned to perfection.

About this review: The desk in this review was sent to us by FlexiSpot. The company had no involvement in the contents of this review.

Price and Availability

At MSRP, the FlexiSpot E7 Plus starts at $800 for the frame alone. But at the time of writing, the desk appears to be constantly on "sale" for $500 on FlexiSpot's website, an excellent starting price for a standing desk with these specs. For the desk configuration we were sent for review, it would cost a discounted price of $845 through their website. This is very competitive for a four-legged standing desk, and a strong contender if you're in need of extra stability.

Assembly

My order came in three boxes: two for the frame, and one for the tabletop. Putting it all together took me about an hour and a half, following FlexiSpot’s short video tutorial. Each leg requires about five procedures before attaching the tabletop. The columns can be a bit heavy to stand up and assemble, so you might need an extra hand. Afterward, it’s just a matter of drilling in the keypad and power supply, and then connecting all the electronics.

As far as tools are concerned, I’d highly recommend having a cordless impact driver handy with a Phillips bit. Everything else that you'll need is included in the packaging. For the tabletop, there are some holes that can be used as a guide to align the frame, but I’d like to have seen pre-drilled holes for the frame itself. The video tutorial suggests creating them yourself before aligning the frame, but I found it was trivial enough to align the frame first and drill in the screws afterward. The same can also be done with the power supply. For the keypad, there are actually two corners on the tabletop with pre-drilled holes that fit it.

Stability

While pushing off a desk isn’t too physically fulfilling, FlexiSpot’s push-up demonstration was meant to showcase the stability of the E7 Plus standing desk. For me, any hints of desk wobble can be very distracting, especially when even casual typing rocks my monitor. The carpet flooring in my room also exacerbates the issue, so it goes without saying that desk stability is a quality that I highly value. And in the case of a standing desk like the E7 Plus, its longer extendable legs can really test the limits.

What makes the E7 Plus a compelling choice is its four-legged support, which can offer the stability I’m after. One of my oldest desks, the IKEA Bekant, was two-legged and notorious for being wobbly. It was so bad that I needed to set it to its lowest height just to obtain some rigidity. With the E7 Plus, I’m not seeing any of that monitor bobbing, even when the desk is raised to standing height.

Tabletop

I opted for FlexiSpot’s Dark Bamboo top, sized 63” long by 31” deep. Upon manual measurement, the wood top they sent actually measures 31.5” deep, which isn’t a problem for me, but it may be for others who require exact dimensions. The bamboo is about 1.1” thick, but when knocked it doesn’t sound completely solid, which is a little disappointing. FlexiSpot says it uses a cardboard honeycomb structure with over 50% solid wood though, so it should be plenty sturdy. Acoustically, I would have preferred to hear a more solid thock, and would happily trade a bit of thickness for it.

The bamboo top was delivered in pristine condition, with no chips or obvious imperfections. The stain coverage also looks uniform all around. However, the actual color of the finish is a touch lighter than I was expecting based on the marketing materials. On the FlexiSpot website, the Dark Bamboo appears to have darker and more prominent wood grains, and a much warmer overall stain. It’s still a very nice tabletop, I just wish it more closely matched FlexiSpot’s pictures.

Another nitpick I have with the tabletop is that the bottom edges are chamfered inwards about 3/4 of an inch. This can make it incompatible with certain desk clamps. My microphone boom arm, for instance, cannot fully grab onto the bottom of the desk. So to solve this, I had to insert a shim between the clamp and the bottom of the desk.

Adjustments

At its lowest setting, the FlexiSpot E7 Plus can get down to 26 inches. I opted to go with FlexiSpot’s Dark Bamboo top, which has a thickness of about 1.1 inches, bringing the minimum height of my setup to about 27.1 inches. This is a bit on the higher side, and won’t be optimal for people shorter than 5’9” without a footrest. I’d have loved to see FlexiSpot bring it down at least another inch, which would go a long way in improving the ergonomics of this desk for more people.

FlexiSpot is beginning to offer an updated frame that’s 2.5 inches shorter, bringing the minimum height down to 23.5 inches.

On the other end, the E7 Plus is rated to get up to 51.6 inches, which is crazy high and accommodates giants up to almost 7 feet. This makes the desk a certified fit for NBA athletes, just saying, in case they get ousted or retire from the league and need to work a 9-to-5.

To operate the lift, the adjustment motors need to make some noise of course. The E7 Plus is equipped with two motors, one on each side, which should allow for more uniform displacement and less noise during operation. From my testing, the adjustment noise is at a pleasant volume. I wouldn’t call it loud at all, though I wouldn’t really call it “quiet” either. The sound itself is mostly low in pitch, without any annoying whines or hums. Measured with a sound meter, the motors on my unit output about 52 db(A), which is slightly less than my circulating fan at medium setting.

In terms of lifting power, the E7 Plus is rated to hold up to 440 lbs during a height lifting operation. When stationary, it’s capable of holding up to an additional 100 lbs. This capacity is far more than I’ll ever need, as I’ve been used to desks that can’t even support half that amount. It does, however, give me peace of mind if I ever need to sit or stand on my desk, for example, when hanging up a poster. To adjust from sitting height to standing height, it takes the E7 Plus about 15 seconds, which is just okay. It's enough time for me to get a quick stretch in, without feeling like I'm loitering for too long.

Keypad

The keypad that controls the height adjustments is straightforward, with up to four programmable heights. I’m not good at remembering what number I assign to things, so I appreciate that two of the buttons have dedicated symbols for sitting and standing. To assign the current desk height to one of the buttons, you simply press the “M” followed by one of the four programmable keys. There’s also a powered USB-A port that you can use to charge your peripherals, which is neat, though I’d love it even more if it were Type-C.

Should you buy this desk?

Buy this desk if

• You want to incorporate standing to spruce up your desk habits
• You need a stable desk with no wobble
• You need a desk that can withstand lifting up to 440 lbs

Do not buy if

• You don’t need or care for on-the-fly height adjustments
• You don’t need the added stability (and price) of this four-legged model
• You need a faster and/or quieter height adjustment motor

At the price it usually hovers around on FlexiSpot’s site, the E7 Plus is an easy recommendation if you want a stable motorized standing desk. Their recent changes to the minimum height will make newer batches more practical and accessible for customers who benefit from a lower desk height. We've also reviewed the E7 Pro, which is a great alternative if you're fine with just two legs. Besides that, I have very little to complain about, and I feel that the price is just right for a standing desk of this caliber.