Charcoal Standing Desk: Elevate Productivity, Gaming & Wellness with Innovative Design

With the public being flooded with so many standing desk options, Charcoal has broken free from the pack and released one of the most beautiful offerings with industry-first features that blow past many if not all of the competition. Charcoal set their sights on the relentless workaholics, forever-gaming streamers and anyone who sits at a desk for hours on end with a unique approach in aiding productivity, utility and even your mental health by way of your desk. Check out our review for the ins and outs of this white buffalo of standing desks. Many thanks to Charcoal for the review sample.

DESIGN AND BUILD:

Let me start by saying that this Danish designed standing desk is stunning! A perfect marriage of industrial construction and minimalism aesthetics, coupled with smart features giving it elegant lines while hiding brains and brawn within. The Charcoal’s Italian sourced arctic white crystal acrylic tabletop is a beautifully constructed sandwich of technology and functionality. Its surface composition is unlike any other standing desk on the market with a smooth matte finish that is scratch-resistant and will NEVER collect any fingerprints. The Charcoal comes in two sizes, small (48″ x 27″) and large (60″ x 30″). Gaming Pro Tip: The Charcoal’s tabletop is excellent for gaming mice and does not need a pad to get precision accuracy. The whole table top is your mouse pad! Sadly white is the only color and unfortunately, when I was assembling mine, it picked up some smudges from my dirty fingers. I’m sure a magic eraser and some elbow grease will remedy this but it would be nice to have other color choices that could easily prevent this from happening.

Charcoal offers a cool little crystal acrylic (tabletop) sample for free (here), if you want to get an idea of what to expect when ordering this unique desk.

Embedded on top of the desk in the front right corner is your easy to use control panel with a round silicon touch pad next to the LED light and power switch. The buttons are set with a divot for down and a small bump for up. When paired with the free app, the Charcoal is opened up to more functionality and presets.

Assembly is a snap as the tabletop is a complete unibody with both dual motors pre-installed inside the spine of the steel frame. Unlike other standing desks with cheap particle board tabletops fastened to a flimsy frame with multiple screws, Charcoal takes an innovative approach that drops each the 3-stage leg into the unibody steel frame with an interlocking nuts to bolt system to secure them on each side. This solid build gives these legs a mind blowing 300 lb. capacity. Another thing to note, particle board tabletops with wood veneers regularly strip out when installing their screws, but this is definitely not the case with the Charcoal. Assembly is easy however all of the components are heavy and it is recommended that you have one other person to assist when building.

Hiding the ultra silent dual motors that bring the desk to life is a unique stealthy cover held up by strong magnets. This keeps the inner components hidden until you need to service the motors, if ever. This was a nice touch in that there are no proprietary screws or tools needed to access the internal components. Simply just pull and the cover comes off exposing the inner workings.

Unlike the motor cover, the cable management tray towards the back of the desk is mounted via 4 hanging arms that you must screw into the bottom of the desktop. Charcoal went the extra mile and fused steel nuts into the fastening point to ensure a true and unfailing connection. Once the arms are installed the cable tray hangs on four prongs and can be used to hold and hide external hard drives, power bricks, surge protectors and other long cords. I truly wish Charcoal had utilized either the same magnetic fastening system as the motor cover or at least created some kind of hinge that secured the backside of the tray. My review desk sits on top of a chest so if I want to work on the floor with the desk lowered, the tray will literally fall off because it hangs considerably lower than the rest of the undercarriage.

Jet Boot Jack has become a chart regular for a good reason…he continues to deliver some of the hottest disco tracks in the world! “This Is Fire!” is exactly that, fire! The track is sweeping in its grandeur, and just sounds epic! The Ladies On Mars extended remix gives us more of this infectious track to dance to, and for that, we should be grateful!

Whoa! Did I just wake up in 1978? “Love Yourself (Moplen Disco 3000 Remix)” will definitely have you wondering just that! Le Croque and Carla Prather have created such a classic-sounding disco track that it easily could have been from the original disco days, but sounds perfectly modern at the same time. The message is also super positive, and we can always use more of that in our world!

Partner Music‘s “You’ve Got To Get Them On Your Side” has a lovely blend of disco/nu-disco/and synth-pop, and all of the parts work perfectly together. This track is the most eclectic of the four tracks on the *Sun Outside* EP. Check this out on Lisztomaia Records.

Andy Bach is back with his excellent disco track “Lose My Mind”. The is an incredibly seductive quality about this track right from the beginning, and the whispering vocals make you want to follow where this groove is taking you. A subtle tropical beat sneaks in halfway through the song and makes you wonder what adventure awaits you. This is a journey I want to be on! Find it on Spa Club Records.

In addition to the undercarriage cable management tray, Charcoal also included a glossy white (same as the frame) painted steel cable wrangler accessory to help keep various USB cables organized and at the ready. Honestly, the accessory feels like a poorly executed after thought as it is more of an eyesore when placed next to the beautiful Italian crystal acrylic. Upon inspection of the heavy two-piece contraption, I decided against installing it due to the need for 3M tape and the weak magnetic cable cover which easily fell off multiple times. Quite honestly, this accessory would have complimented the Charcoal’s beautiful desktop if it was made using the same crystal acrylic.

TECHNOLOGY:

Desk controls are located on the top with a “do not disturb” button and an LED that will glow yellow when it’s time to take a break and orange if you’re on the verge of burning out from being glued to your desk all day long.

Taking full advantage of Charcoal’s hidden technology is achieved by downloading the app (Android/iOS) and creating an account. Simply input your wake up time, age group, sync any sleep data (via any fitness apps on your phone), allow the app to send notifications to your phone and finally, sync your phone with your desk. Once complete the built in motion sensor installed on the underside of the tabletop will monitor your daily movements and remind you when it’s time to take a stroll, step away for a snack or snuggle with your kitty, or pup, all for the sake of reducing brain stress and fatigue. Stagnation is death and Charcoal is here to help boost your productivity by keeping your brain less fatigued.

STABILITY:

Traditional desks utilize four leg stability where the worst thing that can happen would be a mild rocking if a leg is not leveled or balanced. The Charcoal stands and rises confidently on two equally weighted and powered legs with feet that are almost identical in width to the tabletop. I applaud Charcoal for not needing an additional lower stabilizing bar (usually connecting other desk’s legs at the bottom), which allows small space dwellers, like me, to keep other times underneath the desk (eg: trash cans, desktop PCs, mini fridges, etc.) For people with hardwood floors, the Charcoal is as surefooted as a mountain goat, confidently delivering a toweringly high workspace without any fear of toppling over. Carpet floored dwellers, like myself, will not be so lucky as the table does lose stability at its max height and can be prone to falling forward. I personally did not experience this nor did I feel this was a serious issue but I did notice that it was a possibility.

PACKAGING:

Upon delivery, it’s easy to see how much care goes into shipping the Charcoal desk. The desk came in two boxes, one dedicated for the tabletop and the other with everything else. Not only were the shipping boxes covered in “fragile” stickers and tape, the boxes themselves were made out of a Superman-like cardboard with each component securely Tetris-packed up to ensure everything would survive any and all bumps in transportation. Everything you need to assemble is also included, from quality steel nuts and bolts down to heat treated socket and screwdriver bits. The tools provided are quite robust and can even be saved in your toolbox for continued use in other non-Charcoal projects.

FINAL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSION:

LOVED:

Beautiful table top with smooth to the touch Italian crystal acrylic that is fingerprint-proof and scratch resistant.
Gamers can utilize the whole tabletop as an infinite mouse pad with excellent precision.
Innovative touch panel control and built-in smart sensors.
Companion app for unlocking presets and offering more personal customization along with stress relieving break reminders, which make this the only smart desk option.
Powerful, fast and ultra-silent dual motor with three stage legs, made in Denmark.
300 lb. lifting power.
Versatile heights as low as 22″ and as high as 48″ making it easy to sit on the floor or stand.
Easy to assemble with help.
10 year warranty.
Free shipping.
30 day free trial means that you can give this amazing desk a try and see how it thrives or doesn’t, in your humble abode.

NOT SO MUCH:

Price. The $1,299.00 and $1,399.00 price tags make this desk inaccessible for many budget minded consumers.
White porous table top is scratch resistant but can be prone to smudges and staining.
Only one color option. Would love to see a black, grey and wood option, which would solve smudge issues.
Sadly no option for integrated wireless charging areas for your phone, watch or earbuds, maybe coming to Charcoal 2.0?
Clunky USB cable accessory that doesn’t work well and is way too heavy.
Under table cable management tray can fall off if bumped.
Zero option for any kind of storage drawers or trays.
Push button controls can accidentally be activated with a book or curious cat
Not 100% stable on carpet when fully extended to maximum height.

CONCLUSION:

Yes, the Charcoal standing desk is expensive and yes there are a few tiny issues that can be a little frustrating, but as a whole, this desk is amazing and one to order if your bank account can afford the indulgence. This is the first time a company has delved into implementing user-beneficial technology to aid with stress and neurological fatigue, into a desk. The added ability to sync your personal fitness data with the free companion app to further fine tune your health-experience is an industry first and amazing. Then there’s the actual desk design which is nothing short of elegant and sophisticated backed by built-like-a-tank construction, it’s no wonder why the Charcoal is in a league of its own. When it comes to the high price, in Charcoal’s defense, this standing desk truly does feel and deliver an experience that is well worth and even surpasses their MSRP.

I recently purchased an inferior standing desk that was marked down from $999.99 to $199.99 over the holidays and after being sent a replacement tabletop, due to crappy particle board construction, I am still left feeling cheated even with the heavily discounted price. Please note that this Charcoal desk was sent to us for review purposes but knowing what I know now, I would definitely spend the money for this well built and technology enriched desk.

You can purchase the Charcoal desk here.