ZestDesk aims to make you a stand-up worker [Review]

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The portable office that also gets you off your butt, at least for a while.
The portable office that also gets you off your butt, at least for a while.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

Your postal carrier doesn’t usually ask about the contents of a package he’s dropping off, but I couldn’t blame him for being curious about a long box with a logo that said ZestDesk.

I explained to him it was a kind of standing desk and that I would be reviewing it. The man who is on his feet for his entire work day asked me what I did for a living and I said, “I sit at a computer, mostly, and write.”

To be clear, I sit on a couch or a comfy chair at a coffee shop with a MacBook Pro on my lap or belly and do not miss the cubicle life. A standing desk sounds so Type A and I worked hard to get further down the alphabet.

But I also know what my body is telling me after just over two years of self-employment and more sedentary work duties. My back and joints ache from so much sitting and I can’t seem to summon the energy for even simple exercise, like walking.

Maybe less rest and more Zest.

Standing in the workplace

Standing desks are becoming increasingly popular in offices as health and occupational studies concur the bleak picture of myself I painted above, that the sitting we do for work is not exactly benefiting our bodies.

These desks mitigate some of that by forcing us to our feet. The more expensive ones are on a timer and gradually rise, forcing the user to eventually move with the surface of the desk. Others are manually adjusted for a combination of sitting and standing. There are also attachments that go on top of existing desks and tables

The ZestDesk is not one of the large sit-to-stand desks, rather a kind of adaptor that folds out like a small card table to convert an existing conventional desk or table into a standing workstation. What makes it different from other desktop adaptors, the ZestDesk is meant to be carried with you from workspace to workspace.

ZestDesk
The standing desk that can be carried from place to place.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac
ZestDesk
Legs fold under and the additional platform easily clips to the back edge of the desk.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac
ZestDesk
Adjustable legs for a desk that can hold up to two monitors for a total of 35 pounds.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

For a little more two weeks now, I’ve spent parts of my work day on my feet with my MacBook on the ZestDesk (more on that further down).

The ZestDesk weighs about 12 and a half pounds and, is relatively easy to shoulder in its carrying case. It folds out to 22 inches by 25 inches and quickly locks in place with two sliding pins. Four legs fold out at the corners and adjust to five different levels. Each leg has a rubber foot to prevent slips and scratches.

Design-wise it is ideal for Mac users. It is minimalist in its look and is made with that familiar matte-finished anodized aluminum.

One of ZestDesk’s nicest features is a removable platform that clips to the back edge. This is to elevate the laptop eye level and meant to be used with an external keyboard. It is also nice for workers who use their MacBook as a second monitor with your desktop Mac. The Zest Desk holds 35 pounds.

This platform could use a little rubber to grip the bottom side of the MacBook, if for no other reason, a feeling of security.

ZestDesk
A two-monitor setup.
Photo: David Pierini/Cult of Mac

If IKEA has given you furniture building PTSD, setting up ZestDesk should make some of that fear and rage subside. It’s only about 30 seconds of work and nothing needs to be forced into place.

Humbling beginnings

The ZestDesk has roots in a cardboard box that Dr. Peter Moore used to carry with him on his practice in Northern Australia during the 1990s. He was plagued with a serious disc injury and found relief in a make-sift standing desk when he returned to work.

When he began working in his country’s indigenous communities, he worked in clinics where he had to change offices often and could not travel with his desk. He stood, working out of a cardboard box. After wearing out several boxes, he decided to sink his savings into a better solution, hiring an industrial designer to come up with a portable ergonomic standing desk.

It took a few prototypes before arriving at the current product. After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2014, ZestDesk began manufacturing last year.

Stand and deliver

So working on my feet was not as bad as I imagined. I even found myself powering through a piece of writing a little quicker. There were days I didn’t even think about the position I was, especially when my three-legged dog had a play date over and I had to work by a window to keep an eye on their backyard shenanigans.

My wife worried when it first arrived that it would clutter our table but she never saw it out because I always put it back in its case. She may even be suspicious I ever used it, but I did and I am a convert of getting off my fanny and moving several times a day.

I have a small house and a standing desk doesn’t make sense from a space standpoint, even if it’s more important to consider what it might mean for my physical health. But the portability of the ZestDesk is a perfect fit. It’s mobile furniture.

If you buy a ZestDesk, be sure to lock the legs in place before placing anything on the desk surface. This is true of any foldable table but be extra vigilant with your expensive tech gadgets.

The $339 price is in line with a lot of the desktop adaptors on the market.

Price: $339

Where: ZestDesk

Cult of Mac received a test unit from ZestDesk for this review. Read Cult of Mac’s reviews policy.

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