Progressive Desk Solo Ryzer Standing Desk Review

This is a “first look” synopsis on the Solo Ryzer manufactured by the Progressive Desk company based out of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. A full review of their line of standing desks is coming soon.

Richmond, BC-based Progressive Desk, an offshoot of Arlington, WA, USA-based linear actuator components importer and integrator Progressive Automations (and a sister offshoot of Progressive Bed). Launched in 2019 as a desk manufacturer primarily focused on the Canadian market, Progressive Desk is actually a relatively unknown player in the US market. Their products appear to be the usual fare of commodity-grade Chinese imports, and they’ve had some alleged run-ins with intellectual property theft claimed by US- and European-based manufacturers, but they have a broad enough product line and customer history now to be considered one of the next-largest players in the Canadian market after market leader Ergonofis.

Their Solo Ryzer desk is a dual-motor adjustable-height desk, which like the Economy Ryzer, fails to deliver in quality with its desktop material or height range.  Representing a step up over its brother, the more basic Economy Ryzer, the Solo Ryzer offers its Canadian consumers an upgrade in transit speed at 1.57″-per-second, height range (1-1/2 inches) and weight capacity, but the price point matches it with far better desks in the category which can offer more design elements for owners’ hard-earned dollars.

As with their other offerings in the line of standing desks, Progressive Desk has out-sourced the construction of the Solo Ryzer to China where the factory has developed a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) with a laminate seal available in three separate desktop sizes (48″ x 30″, 60″ x 30″ and 72″ x 30″). Despite the various sizes and 13 laminate color finishes, there is not a single option that provides the Canadian consumers with any degree of quality craftsmanship despite a more premium price point. Make no mistake, these desktops are not the 3D-laminated surfaces that quality standing-desk companies can offer. To understand the variety of desktop surfaces better read this article on the varying types found on the market in 2022.

The Chinese-manufactured steel frame supports up to 270 pounds minus the weight of the chosen desktop. This should allow for a multiple display set-up and monitor-arm system. If you’re unsure of whether you need a monitor arm and/or haven’t decided on which product(s) will fit your situational needs the best, be sure to read our in-depth breakdown of the best monitor arms on the market in 2022. They are an absolute must-have accessory to go along with your standing desk.  The frame of the Solo Ryzer will adjust from a minimum height of 23.6″ to a maximum standing height of 49.1″, delivering a 25-1/2″ stroke by way of a touch keypad. The Progressive Desk keypad comes with four memory presets, but no Bluetooth capability or smartphone application to connect with. As this desk approaches its maximum heights, it will become unstable on its cheap, commodity-grade frame.

Each upgraded frame size – 48″ x 30″ and 60″ x 30″ – will cost you more money, as will the two unique bamboo finishes. Speaking of bamboo, there are plenty of misconceptions in the actual environmental impact of its overseas production as we go into in great depth in our article on its oft-reported fallacies. To be succinct, it is a very poor material to make standing-desk worksurfaces from. This is evidenced by the complete carve-out for “natural bamboo material defects” hidden in the Progressive Desk warranty details. For one, there is no such thing as “natural bamboo wood,” and two, we know it has a strong tendency to delaminate. In other words, you’ll be buying a new desktop as soon as it does out of your own pocket, so just avoid it.

Though, Progressive Desk claims an assembly time of “20 minutes,” after building numerous dual-motor desks in our lab ourselves, we know it takes experienced assemblers at least that amount of time with help, let alone doing it without prior experience. As a rule of thumb, though, the cheaper the desk, the more labor has been shifted to the customer.

There are some positive features to the Solo Ryzer. Progressive Desk has designed it with safety measures including anti-collision and child-lock to prevent accidents. The Solo Ryzer comes with a 15-year warranty on the desktop and frame as of July 2021. Meanwhile, the lifting columns are backed for seven years on warranty. It’s great that they are trying to be competitive with US brands like Uplift, iMovR and Fully as compared to their Canadian peers which offer much shorter warranties, but they have buried a few carve-outs in the fine print. (For this reason, we always recommend prospective buyers read our primer on comparing warranties on standing desks before purchasing.)

The company currently offers a 30-day trial period, so make sure you hold onto that box. For comparison reviews of the other Progressive Desk adjustable-height desks, be sure to read up on the Economy Ryzer, V Ryzer and the Corner Ryzer.

If you only need a tabletop for a DIY project or to replace a damaged top, Progressive Desk does sell them separately. Check out what our experts think in our report of their standalone desk tops.

Also, check out all our top-rated standing-desk reviews, and if you are looking for something specifically Canadian, see our roundup of Canadian standing-desk reviews.