iMovR ZipView Single-Display Monitor Arm Review

The Best Monitor Arm for Standing Desk Converters?

We’ve lab tested and reviewed dozens and dozens of monitor arms over the years, and they basically fall into three categories:

1. Originally designed for regular fixed-height sitting desks, and thus lacking sufficient max height for average-to-tall individuals to use with a sit-stand desk (since we stretch out when we stand)
2. Actually designed for adjustable-height standing desks, with higher top-end range
3. Actually designed for X-lift and Z-lift standing desk converters, being lighter weight and with lower dynamic height adjustment range, since the desktop converter adds 6″ to the height of the arm already

The ZipView is perhaps the best monitor arm we’ve ever tested that’s a decent arm overall for the first two categories, but exceptionally good in the third.

Being lightweight is critical for this third category because the last thing you want to do is add a heavy monitor arm to a desktop converter that only has a typical maximum supportable weight of 30-35 lbs and a counterbalance weight of 15-20 lbs (meaning that at ~17.5 lbs no additional force is required from the user to raise or lower the converter between sitting and standing height).

Weighing it at a scant 6 lbs, the ZipView Single-LCD Monitor Arm we review here is one of the lightest on the market. But it’s also full-featured, extremely well made and very easy to install. This model is also the least expensive of the 12 mechanical-counterbalance ergonomic monitor arms that iMovR offers (i.e. not including the 12 versions of their EMMA electric monitor arm series).

As one of the leading manufacturers of standing desks, treadmill desks, and standing desk converters, iMovR is well ahead of the game when it comes to fine tuning the ergonomic setup of a given workstation, something we cannot say for most of the competition. The wide variation in desk styles, monitor sizes and individuals’ anthropometry is why iMovR offers 10 different ergonomic arms (3 in the ZipView line, 3 in the Tempo line, 2 in the TopView line, and 2 in the Compass line).

The sad truth is that most online sellers of monitor arms don’t have an inkling as to the differing needs of a fixed-height desk user, a standing desk user or a desktop converter user, much less a walking desk user. This lack of attention to ergonomic details leads to monitor arms being one of the most frequently returned ergonomic accessories.

While the ZipView Single-LCD Monitor Arm is technically iMovR’s “bottom of the line,” the apt comparison would be to BMW’s X1. While being the least expensive in the line at only $129, it’s still a “BMW” among monitor arms. As far as iMovR’s own ZipLift standing desk converters go, the ZipView Single and ZipView Dual are the ones you’ll see featured in its list of add-on monitor arm options.

Quality Construction and Componentry

Beneath the ZipView’s minimal design is a reliable and smooth gas spring adjustment control that provides a 10.5″ dynamic height adjustment range (“stroke”). As we explore in depth in our article on The Differences between Gas Piston and Metal Spring Counterbalance Mechanisms in Monitor Arms, we prefer gas struts for their smooth and precise action, but we also caution against cheaply made ones that’ll lose their pressure in short order.

The ZipView’s 10-year warranty, uncommonly long for a monitor mount in this price range, is one indicator that this arm will perform flawlessly for many years to come. Most arms in this price range come with only a 1-5 year warranty, if they advertise any warranty coverage at all. And most of them are made with steel spring counterbalances, not the nicer, fingertouch-adjustable gas piston mechanisms.

The fact that this arm meets or exceeds ANSI/BIFMA x5.5 and CSA CAN/CGSB44.227 is another indication of quality, ensuring the consumer that it has been exercised by robotic testing machines through thousands of test cycles to ensure that its quality stands up to commercial office furniture standards.

The ZipView Single-Monitor Arm supports displays weighing anywhere from 6.5 to 17.6 lbs. If your monitor weighs more than that you’ll want to check out iMovR’s Tempo Heavy Duty Single Monitor Arm and their TopView Heavy Duty Single Monitor Arm—or hop directly to our comprehensive round-up of all our ergonomic monitor arm reviews.

Like all quality monitor arms, the ZipView and all of iMovR’s monitor arm options come with the hardware to install using either the edge clamp or through a grommet hole.

Easy Installation

Some monitor arms, especially cheap ones made in China, come in so many parts and such hard-to-follow instructions that you need to set aside a significant chunk of time to install them. The ZipView’s installation is a relative breeze as it arrives mostly pre-assembled, and there’s a great installation video showing you exactly how to attach it to your desk. Just slip your monitor over the easy-install VESA bracket, and make your final adjustments.

While many monitor arms will leave a slight indentation in your desk if clamped down too hard, the ZipView arms come with an adhesive-backed 3M protection pad to protect your work surface. The ZipView also has a clip-on holder for the Allen key you’ll need to make finer adjustments to the counterbalance and other settings—a thoughtful feature typically found only on higher-end commercial-grade arms.

Lastly, the cable routing features of the ZipView arms are excellent. They’re easy, clean-looking, and durable. Very often we find the plastic shrouds that you route your cables through are made of thin plastic that easily breaks if you don’t pop them out of their detents just right. The ZipView’s are really well made and add to the professional aesthetic of the arm rather than detract from it with a cheap, plasticky look.

Wide Adjustment Range

The edge clamp itself is smooth-edged and has a large purchase on the desk edge, ensuring a very stable mount.

The VESA joint itself is one of the most robustly adjustable you’ll find on a monitor arm. You can tilt your monitor completely flat, 90º, if you want to. Technically the VESA joint will tilt -90° as well (not sure who’d ever need to do that) though the arm itself will get in the way so the practical negative tilt range is really -25º. More importantly, the VESA joint rotates 90° in either direction so you can easily flip your monitor from portrait to landscape orientation.

The Takeaway

One thing we really like about the ZipView and other monitor arms from iMovR is that their specs and installation instructions are so robust that there’s really very little chance that you’ll need to return your arm after a frustrating realization that it won’t work well for your workstation setup, your monitor, or your stature. Like all the iMovR monitor mounts, the ZipView Single (like its cousins the ZipView Dual and ZipView Dual Unison) is exceptionally well made, reliable, durable, and easy to install.

Our only caution on this one model is that its dynamic height adjustment range, while great for converters like the ZipLift, is going to be shy on the top end for taller standing desk users (unless they are using very large displays or displays that have their VESA mount location well below the centerline of the monitor). Our only pet peeve on the ZipView models is that they only come in one color, silver. Alas, iMovR offers eight other excellent models to choose from, so there’s bound to be one just right for your specific needs.

Frequently Bought Together With Monitor Arms