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The Autonomous SmartDesk 2 offers high-priced features at a stellar price! Upgrade your setup today with an Affordable adjustable standing desk: https://bit.ly/3soZal9
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0:00
What's going on everybody, Ian here for Cult of Mac
0:08
And up until very recently, I had never given a lot of thought to the desk or space that
0:12
I was working in. If there was enough room for me and my laptop, I was willing to go with it
0:16
But now that I've spent a lot of time working from home and taking meetings from home, I'm
0:20
starting to notice when those spaces that I was working in weren't the most comfortable
0:24
Laying on the couch, standing at the bar, or sitting at the kitchen table are all fine
0:28
for short amounts of time every once in a while, but when you're doing them day in and day out, it's way less productive
0:34
And a lot of it has to do with the fact that none of them are really set up to be a desk
0:39
That's why when the folks over at Autonomous reached out and asked if I wanted to check out their Smart Desk 2, I thought it would be a great opportunity to see if having an
0:45
adjustable standing desk was really worth all the hype it's cracked up to be
0:50
There are a lot of theoretical health benefits of a standing desk, but I really don't want to get into those
0:54
For me, it was all about the flexibility. Because being stuck standing all day is only slightly better than being stuck sitting all
1:01
day, and that's where an adjustable standing desk like the Smart Desk 2 really comes in
1:05
Being able to move from sitting to standing to sitting on a stool and up and down as much
1:09
as I need throughout the day without having to move from room to room or part of the house
1:13
to part of the house is a huge convenience. Best of all, with the Smart Desk 2 from Autonomous, you get all that convenience and all those
1:21
features at a very affordable price. Starting at just $379, the Smart Desk 2 offers a motorized frame and a 53x29 inch top
1:32
You can get upgraded materials for the top, a larger size for the top, or even their premium
1:36
frame which gives you even more height adjustment. But at $379, you can get in the door on an adjustable standing desk packed with features
1:46
Setting up the desk was actually really straightforward, although it did take an extra week for the
1:49
top to get here once the base had arrived. But once everything was here, it only took about 25 minutes to put the whole thing together
1:55
I used the directions that came in the box, but they do have a great kind of how-to video
1:59
on their YouTube as well if you need the extra help. Now from an aesthetics perspective, I think the desk looks really, really good
2:06
I went with the white base with the white oak top because I think the white oak top
2:11
really gives it a little bit of character and a little bit of visual appeal while still
2:15
maintaining a very clean white look. In addition, on the top of the actual desk itself, there are little cable drops in either
2:22
corner meaning you can run your cables from your monitor or your computer down through
2:26
the desktop so they're not getting pinched behind the wall or running off the side
2:29
And then also in the box were a bunch of these little cable ties that stuck underneath the desk which are super handy at helping keep all the cables underneath organized so you
2:37
don't end up with a huge rat's nest of cables underneath. Now from an adjustability perspective, the SmartDesk 2 is fully motorized, but you can
2:46
manually set the height on it just using up and down arrows as well as set it to any
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of the four user programmable presets meaning you could have one for sitting and one for
2:53
standing and then your spouse or partner could have one for sitting or standing or you could
2:57
have it set for different chairs depending on how you like to work. Now the controller for the desk to actually adjust the height is also pretty simple
3:05
It's fairly compact which means you're not going to bump it when you're working at the desk or anything like that
3:10
And there are LEDs on it between all of the actual numbers which I think look really nice
3:14
And unfortunately those LEDs don't actually light up the numbers on the controller meaning
3:18
it's still kind of hard to see in the dark but ultimately it wasn't a big issue for me
3:22
because I'm rarely working in complete darkness. Now my only actual real complaint about the controller is there's no lockout function
3:29
or way to switch it off and as a parent of a toddler I'm always concerned that when my
3:32
daughter's down here playing she might accidentally hit a button and either get her finger pinched
3:36
in the actual risers or have the desk drop down and you know bonk around the head
3:40
Another thing that people tend to look for in an adjustable desk like this is how quickly it can move up and down and what that experience is like
3:46
Now according to Autonomous the SmartDesk 2 can move at about 2.3 inches per second
3:51
but in my testing was actually a little bit slower than that but ultimately the 10 or
3:55
so seconds it took to move about 14 inches was more than quick enough
4:00
And when it comes to actually raising and lowering the desk the action is fairly smooth
4:05
Now it takes off fairly calmly when it gets to the end there's a slight bump right as
4:09
it locks into place but it's not enough to really shake the desk or move things that
4:12
are on it which is a big deal because I don't want my monitor or any of the things that I have sitting on my desk to tip over when it stops or finishes moving
4:20
On top of that there's also the sound to consider when you're adjusting the desk and from my
4:25
experience it's very quiet. You can still hear it but it's not noisy by any means
4:37
It does get a little bit louder when you throw some weight on top of the desk but even in
4:41
my testing when I was sitting on top of the desk and making the adjustments it was barely
4:45
more than a dull hum. And the weight capacity is also another really impressive thing about the SmartDesk 2
4:52
According to Autonomous it can hold about 300 pounds the desktop itself is about 40
4:57
pounds so that leaves conservatively let's say 250 pounds of actual additional lifting capacity
5:02
Now I was able to lift me sitting on top of the desk with no issue so I assume that your
5:07
dual monitor VESA arm setup thing is probably going to be fine
5:13
Now I know everybody has different needs for their desk and their workspace. The SmartDesk 2 from Autonomous is actually a really great all-around option
5:20
With different sizes and styles they have an option that should fit just about any style
5:24
of room. On top of that the motorized controls for the SmartDesk 2 are actually really really
5:29
good as well. They have plenty of power, plenty of flexibility, plenty of height adjustment range and on top
5:34
of that it all comes in at a really great price. The SmartDesk 2 is available from Autonomous for just $379 and it's definitely worth considering
5:42
if you're in the market for a new home or I guess work desk
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Let me know what you guys think in the comments down below. While you're down there be sure to give the video a thumbs up, subscribe to the channel
5:52
if you're not already, hit the notification bell so you get notified whenever we post new videos
5:56
Until next time, I'm Ian for Cultiv Mac and I'll catch you in the next one
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