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Varidesk Soho Review: An affordable and portable standing desk option

We review the Varidesk Soho, a fold-out work surface that transforms any standard desk into a standing solution.

Like the idea of a standing desk to sort out your posture and burn off some extra calories, but don’t want to commit to an expensive, bulky new piece of furniture that you might immediately grow bored of?

The Varidesk Soho is one possible solution. Rather than replacing your old desk, the Varidesk actually sits on top of your old work surface, adding extra height so you can stand while working.

In its folded state, the Varidesk is quite compact (although not particularly light) so you can stash it away out of sight. When the urge to stand hits you, just place the Soho on your desk surface, pull the side tabs and ease the thing up. The Varidesk locks firmly into position at your chosen height, with nine different levels to choose between.

At its full extension, the Varidesk Soho adds a maximum of 40cm to your desk height. If you’re particularly tall, chances are that’s not going to be enough and you’ll end up slightly stooped or working with your wrists bent, which is bad posture. If you’re unsure, try measuring up 40cm from the surface of your current desk. This height should ideally be level with your elbows when standing, although it doesn’t matter if your elbows are lower as you can make the Varidesk shorter.

The work surface is approximately 36cm deep by 79cm wide, which is fine for most laptops and gives you extra space for a mousemat and other bits.

The only devices we struggle to use on the Varidesk were the likes of the Dell Latitude 2-in-1 hybrid, which uses a tablet cover to prop it upright. The Varidesk proved too narrow for the keyboard and stand, while some kind of magnetic attraction screwed with the Latitude’s hibernation feature, tricking the device into thinking its magnet cover was closed.

Thankfully the Varidesk worked well with every other laptop we tried. Even bulky, heavy machines were no match.

You can grab the Varidesk Soho right now from Varidesk’s website, for £150.

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