- Thoughtworthy Co
- Posts
- Uppeal Desk Review: We Tried the Only Standing Desk You Can Floor Sit With
Uppeal Desk Review: We Tried the Only Standing Desk You Can Floor Sit With
Floor sitting to standing, and anything in between.
Table of Contents
Before we start, if you’re unfamiliar with our YouTube channel, you should know we have a mildly unconventional take on what makes a healthy workspace. If we had a tier-list, we would rank a regular desk at the bottom, an adjustable standing desk a level higher, and a floor desk marginally better (between A and B tier.)

The appeal of the Uppeal desk is that it provides the best of all words, going from floor to standing and anything in between. This was exactly what we were looking for when we were moving into our new home years ago, but alas, such an option didn’t exist back then. We ended up improvising, modifying an IKEA coffee table — a solution that worked, but is far from perfect.
If Uppeal is able to deliver on the floor-to-standing desk promise, then not only do we think it’s deserving of being in the A-tier, we would go ahead and put it all the way in the S-tier.
But does it actually deliver? Let’s find out.
First Impressions & Assembly
Let’s start from the beginning of our experience.
Our table tops and table legs shipped out as separate packages at different times, but coincidentally arrived on the same day, less than an hour apart. According to Uppeal (as of November 2024), orders today typically ship out within 3 weeks, and take an additional 5-7 business days to reach the customer. Packages (table tops and legs) arriving separately is expected behavior.
Our first impressions were positive. Everything came securely packed and well protected, and both the table tops and legs felt well-built (and heavy). Because of that heft, some of the heavy lifting in the assembly process will require two people.
On Uppeal’s website, it states that assembly typically takes about 15 minutes. Glo assembled the desk largely on his own, and it definitely took him longer than 15 minutes. However, most of it was familiarizing himself with the instructions and double checking to make sure he was doing it right.
Once familiar with the process, the second desk indeed took only 15 minutes to assemble. Technically, it can be accomplished in an even shorter amount of time, if you had two productive workers and the appropriate power tools. That said, if you’re assembling a single desk and it’s your first time, definitely budget for more than 15 minutes.
All in all, assembling the desk was quite simple and not intimidating at all. Instructions were clear, and all you’ll need is an allen key (provided) and a screwdriver (not provided).
To assess the desk, we have two simple criteria: Height range and stability.
Height Range
The main selling point of the Uppeal desk is that it’s supposed to accommodate anything from floor sitting to standing.

According to our measurements, the desk goes as low as about 42cm (16.5”) to as high as about 122cm (48”). Note that these numbers include the thickness of the tabletop.
That’s 80 cm (31.5”) of travel, which is by far the most amount of travel we’ve seen, and at least 15cm (6”) more than other popular standing desks on the market. This is what allows the Uppeal desk to go down low enough to be used as a floor desk.

Both of us are pretty average in height. HL is 164 cm (5’5”) tall, and sitting on Venn Design’s floor cushions at the desk’s lowest setting, it’s just about perfect. Sitting on the floor directly may not be ideal for most normal-sized people. However, we have been sitting, and we planned to sit on thick cushions anyway, so this was not a problem.
On the standing side of things, Glo is about 173 cm (5’8”) tall, and at his standing setting, there’s about 15 cm (6”) of room before reaching the desk’s maximum height.
In our case, the height range of the Uppeal desk works flawlessly. That said, we don’t have tall people problems, and we already knew the stated minimum height of the desk would be low enough for us based on our experience with sitting on the floor.
If you’re particularly short or tall, you should experiment with the stated minimum and maximum heights, and consider whether you may need thicker cushions for a more optimal experience. For those who need more range, Uppeal recommends getting an adjustable keyboard tray (available on their website) which will lower hand placement by an additional 3 inches or so.
The team at Uppeal has also let us know that they’re actively working on solving the engineering puzzle of allowing the desk to go lower without sacrificing maximum height or stability. Hopefully, they’ll succeed!
Stability
The main function of a desk is to provide a stable work surface. If it’s flimsy or wobbly, it’s only going to distract us from the work we’re doing.
As a floor desk, the Uppeal desk is about as stable as it gets thanks to the weight and low center of gravity. Though of course, the real test is at a standing height.
![]() Min. height: 38.3cm ≈ 15” | ![]() 62.1cm ≈ 24.5” |
![]() 104cm ≈ 41” | ![]() Max. height: 119cm ≈ 47” |
We actually went to different showrooms to test out offerings from other brands, and our conclusion was: Lower-end standing desks can be significantly more wobbly than the Uppeal, while higher-end options can be slightly more stable than the Uppeal.
At first, we were not sure what to expect from a desk with this much travel, but the stability of the Uppeal desk actually exceeded our expectations. Simulating an angry day at work, Glo tried typing and shaking his mouse violently. For sure, you can notice the display shaking if you’re paying close attention, but any standing desk is going to wobble if you’re angry enough.

In real world use, we frequently lean on and bump into the desk, and they have never felt unstable to the point of causing concern or distraction. It could be a different story though, if you have a heavy setup with multiple monitors mounted on monitor arms. But for a relatively simple setup like ours, stability is of no concern.
Finding Faults
We’ve sung nothing but praises so far, and that’s because it was actually hard to find fault with Uppeal’s attempt at a floor-to-standing desk. But every product can use some constructive feedback.
If you force us to find something unfavorable to say about the desk, we would point to the keypad. That’s not to say the keypad is terrible by any means! You could say it’s minimalist in design — it’s basic and does its job competently. However, unlike the extremely solid-feeling table top and legs, the keypad feels less premium in comparison.
The keypad is made of a durable plastic, but with the way it’s designed, it tends to flex and creak a little when pressing down on its edges, which is slightly unfortunate since the keypad is a main interaction and contact point. It may not bother us in daily use, but it’s certainly something you would notice when assembling the desk.

That said, if we had to choose between having a fancy touchscreen keypad, or the impressive height range and stability of the desk, we would take the latter any day.
Things We Wish to See in the Future
Speaking of the keypad, there are also some user experience or quality of life improvements we wish to see in the future. This could be contentious and down to personal preference, so we’re not going to list it as a con.
Currently, to adjust the desk:
You have to hold down the up/down buttons for a split second before the desk starts moving.
Once it’s at a desired height, you press one of the numbered buttons four times in quick succession to save it as a preset.
To access the presets, you hold a preset button for a split second, after which the desk will automatically move to the designated height.

This did not feel the most intuitive when we powered the desk up for the first time. Before looking through the manual, we would have expected the desk to move just by tapping the buttons, and to save a preset by holding down the numbered buttons. That just makes more sense to us. After all, the force required to depress the buttons is well done and there’s a distinct tactile feedback, so it’s unlikely that we would accidentally activate them.
However, like we said, this could be completely our personal preference. Those who like having the extra confidence of only moving the desks when they want to, may prefer this arrangement instead.
We also wish Uppeal had more work surface options. Again, this can’t even be considered an issue, since you could just get the table legs and source your own tabletop. The only disadvantage would be that you won’t get the pre-drilled holes for easier installation.
We wanted to try the full Uppeal experience, so we agonized for a long time over whether we should go for the bamboo top or the white table top. Ideally though, we would have liked to see different wood finishes, and perhaps even matching cable management accessories to complete the experience. Aesthetics matter, no?
Warranty
There’s one thing that we obviously wouldn’t be able to test, and that’s the longevity of the desks. Thankfully, Uppeal has a stellar 10-year warranty on all frame components, mechanical parts, motors, and electrical components.
Which is absolutely huge! Judging from how much we are constantly bringing the desk up and down all day, we suspect anyone who gets the Uppeal desk, will put it through a more rigorous test than a normal person would with a regular standing desk.

Worth it? Let’s talk about pricing.
Value is always going to be subjective. We know some people will immediately scoff at the thought of paying (retail price) of more than a grand for a desk. We totally understand, we’re budget-conscious consumers too.
But this is how we think about it. If we’re in the market for a standing desk today, we would have to spend close to a thousand dollars for something similarly high quality from an established brand anyway. And if we want the option of sitting on the floor, we would have to spend a couple hundred more on a floor desk as well.
Assuming we can find a decent floor desk — which is a headache in itself — we would have to go through the trouble of constantly switching between two different workspaces. Not to mention, using a desktop computer would be impossible.
Alternatively, there’s the Uppeal desk for the same total cost. With just a single desk, it provides a significantly better experience than what two separate workspaces could. Considering we work from home and our desk setups are something we use for 12 hours a day, then all of a sudden, this seems like a no-brainer. In fact, you could even argue it’s great value — there’s quite literally nothing else like it on the market at the moment.

For both our key criteria of height range and stability, Uppeal passed with flying colors. Which means it has delivered on its promise as a floor sit to standing desk solution, which is all we wanted it to be. For that reason, we wholeheartedly put the Uppeal desk in the S-tier. Well done to the team, and we look forward to more great things from them in the future.
Who’s it for:
Someone who’s looking to purchase a standing desk, and also values having the option to sit on the floor.
Someone who’s new to floor sitting. They can ease into it while using the desk at more conventional heights, and if it doesn’t work out for them, it’s still a perfectly capable electric standing desk.
Someone buying a future-proof desk for their kids. Even if it’s not used for its purpose as a floor desk, the desk can “grow” with a child.
If you’re interested in purchasing an Uppeal desk, consider using our affiliate link and get USD 100 off your order!
Disclaimer: We were sent the desks by Uppeal Design but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Thanks for reading! Here are a few more ways you can support our work:
👆️ Follow us on YouTube and Instagram.
🛍️ Browse our merch and digital products.
👀 See our product recommendations.
☕️ Buy us coffee to help keep our content free.
Lots of love,
Glo & HL
Reply