The quest for the perfect desk (because sitting on the floor is not good)
Moving to Spain has its ups and downs. Mostly, I have to say, ups... But one struggle has been finding a great standing workstation.
I love standing desks — in fact, I love our Vari desks — but alas, after our move to Barcelona we had to leave them behind. Vari doesn’t make a European-compatible standing desk, and using power converters… well, messy, expensive, and prone to burnout. Not to mention all the heat they kick out, that’s not going to be welcome in the summer months in Spain.
I thought finding a standing desk would be a breeze. Turns out it was more challenging than I expected. There are options. But between shipping constraints, cost, and availability of specific models in Spain, none of them made for an easy choice.
Here’s a quick recap of our journey to find the perfect desk — and where we landed, with final impressions of the desks we decided to go with.
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The pricey choice
Knowing that we’d need desks pretty quickly, I started searching for solutions even before leaving the U.S. Right off the bat, I found Makiba. Makiba looked pretty promising — a French manufacturer, great reviews, and some very stylish options when it comes to standing desks.
At first, it wasn’t immediately clear how to place an order. The Makiba web site is a manufacturer’s site and entirely in French — and what French I still speak is limited to a few remembered phrases from college. Eventually, I realized the “boutique” link was what I needed… and from there, a few clicks and I was browsing one of those sexy French desks, the Storm One with great design and… wow. An impressive price tag of €2,124. Not what I’d expect for a purely up-cycled standing desk, but… well, it is French.
There are other options at Makiba, including the Yoga, priced at a mere €1,216 (a comparative deal). And there are less expensive options — but clearly, this is a premium reseller, aiming to compete well-above the Vari and Herman Miller mark. I decided to shop around a bit.
The quality choice
Speaking of Herman Miller, I love my Aeron chair. In fact, I just upgraded my 20-year old Aeron for a newer model… and the thing is, that 20 year old Aeron was still working fine. Just a bit worn around the edges. That’s what led us to look at Herman Miller’s Jarvis desk (a fairly recently acquired line for Herman Miller).
The Jarvis looks fantastic, and if it lives up to Herman Miller’s quality standards, I know I’d be happy with it.
Thus began my quest for a Herman Miller distributor in Spain, of which there are several. Unfortunately, here I ran into a brick wall. The Jarvis is apparently not sold in Spain, and seems to be a struggle to get anywhere in Europe. Disappointing to say the least, as I really love the set back “C-foot” design of the legs. By setting the legs and frame toward the back of the desk, I’m able to attach a keyboard tray — definitely an option I’d like to reserve.
Unfortunately, the Jarvis is not an option. There is another option, though: The Herman Miller Nevi standing desk, a more traditional “T-foot” design. This model is available in Spain through some local distributors — but, carries a fairly hefty price tag, north of €1,000. It’s an option but a fairly pricey one. More shopping was warranted.
A reasonable choice
After weighing the options and not quite being satisfied, the quest continued… and led to Fezibo, a manufacturer I’d never heard of. Being cautious of unknown brands, I did a little research and found out that Fezibo actually has its roots in the United States and has grown substantially with multiple manufacturing centers worldwide. Being in Spain, I’d be dealing with the German distribution center.
I like that. German engineers tend to over engineer everything — ending up with pretty robust products in the end.
Fezibo also has a lot of options — including desk legs with a higher range of motion (the S4 Marco), desks with shelves, keyboard trays, and desks in many shapes and sizes. Perhaps best of all, Fezibo desks are priced very attractively — for instance, the Basico model with the higher end S4 legs costs a mere €320. A bargain by any means! I have to admit, I was a bit worried that quality might be compromised given the relative price — half the cost of a Vari desk, and about one seventh the cost of higher end Makiba models?
Still, it seemed too attractive to pass up so I ordered two Fezibo desks, one Basico and one Harrison (with a keyboard tray) for my wife.
After receiving and assembling them, I’m delighted to say that Fezibo delivers a robust standing desk. There are some differences in quality and capability when compared to our old Vari desks, but for the price I have absolutely no complaints.
In comparison to the incredibly robust Vari desk, there are some notable differences, including:
The Fezibo desk is very well built, but not as ultimately and incredibly solid as a Vari desk. The Vari desk does not budge when force is applied laterally — partly because it weighs at least double what the Fezibo desk weighs. The engineering is more substantial on Vari as well, though — the legs are thicker, and the frame is heavier. But all this said: The amount of “wobble” on Fezibo’s desk is very minor, and probably not something you’re going to be bothered by or even notice.
Quality, overall, is slightly lower with Fezibo. Our Vari desks were amazingly machined, with incredibly perfect tolerances. The Fezibo counterpart takes a little more skill to assemble. In our case we had one desk where two bolt holes had not been machined — so we ended up with 3 bolts per leg, instead of 4. Fezibo probably would ship replacements if pressed, but the missing bolts didn’t seem to adversely affect performance.
The Fezibo design uses a single motor and an axle to raise and lower the desk. This differs from most other models (like the Vari) that use two higher powered motors, one for each leg. The result: The Fezibo desk moves up and down more slowly. For me, it’s not that big a deal — I can wait an extra 5 or 10 seconds for my desk to adjust itself.
Unlike the Vari desk electronics, the Fezibo model will “reset” if you lose power. This just means you have to adjust the desk to its bottom-most setting after a power outage, forcing it to recalibrate. It won’t lose the preset memory positions you’ve programmed.
If you’re looking for a great, quality standing desk at a remarkable price, I do recommend Fezibo. Here’s a few tips to help ensure you’re happy with your purchase:
Order the S4 Marco legs if available for your model. They have greater extension (meaning, they drop the desk lower and raise it higher). It’s a worthwhile expense, giving you more flexibility.
Be aware that the S4 legs are only available with a subset of desks. Check a few different models to see what’s available.
Be prepared to fuss with installation for a bit — or ask for some help, if you aren’t mechanically inclined. While I wouldn’t consider it difficult, it’s definitely more challenging than assembling a Vari desk. On the other hand, flipping the desk over was easy to do single-handedly… unlike the heavy Vari desk, which required two people.
I’m an enthusiastic advocate of everyone having a good workstation — a good chair, and a good desk. You’ll feel more refreshed after a few hours of work and will avoid back, neck and wrist pain. Make the investment, and take the time to make sure your monitor and keyboard are at the right height. It makes a world of difference.