Vari Standing Desks and Converters

If you’re looking for the most comprehensive Varidesk reviews, you’ve come to the right place. No one has been reviewing Varidesk sit-stand workstations longer — or in more depth — than we have.

While a few standing desk converters existed in the market prior to 2013—namely the Ergotron Workfit-S and Workfit-A, the Kangaroo, and the Taskmate—the desktop riser revolution didn’t really ramp into high gear until Varidesk launched its original Varidesk Pro with a gazillion dollar advertising budget. They’ve sold hundreds of thousands of these desktop converters since then (perhaps millions by now), floating all boats in the rising tide of consumer awareness. You’ve probably seen their ads on TV, in major magazines and newspapers, all over the internet, and even in the (now defunct) Skymall catalog. If they’re good at anything, it’s promotion.

Varidesk has also stimulated the emergence of some 75+ competitors’ units by our last count, all of them attacking the market with better mouse traps—be it higher quality, better ergonomics, greater features, or just lower price. The iMovR ZipLift and Ergotron Workfit-T and -TL are but two of the top-selling Varidesk alternatives on the market today, featuring similar “Z-lift” type mechanisms to the Varidesks models.

And to make sure you’re getting the most out of your converter, check out the iMovR Tucker Pro Cable Management Kit for standing desk converters. It’s the first kit on the market designed specifically for standing desk converters.

Check out our full collection of office fitness equipment brand roundups.

Lots of new models, but stale mechanical design

We’ve been publishing Varidesk reviews since we got our hands on a production sample before the Varidesk’s big launch at Neocon 2013, and we’ve kept up with reviews on each of their new models ever since. One thing that hasn’t changed is their reliance on their original patented Z-lift mechanism, which has now been bested by numerous other designs that are quieter, smoother, and offer a greater height range and more “stops” along that range.

Varidesk began with a one-year warranty on all their products, and only recently switched to a five-year warranty on their most popular models. If you’re planning to purchase a Varidesk, we recommend checking Craigslist for a used one first, because someone is always selling one, in every geographical market. If you’d rather buy one new, you can ensure a hassle-free return if you don’t like it by buying your Varidesk on Amazon.

A very litigious company

To be certain, Coppell, Texas-based Varidesk is playing defense against all the Johnny come lately competitors. We believe one important reason that Varidesk is sticking to their antiquated design is that they rely on filing infringement lawsuits against look-alike products on the market. To move away from their original designs would be to potentially weaken these litigation claims, and lower their defensive shield against competitors.

Varidesk has previously sued Brunswick (InMovement) over the Elevate Desktop DT2, and they’ve sued Ergotron and parent company Nortek over the Workfit-T and Workfit TL designs. These lawsuits have reportedly already been settled, with Varidesk extracting licensing fees from their competitors for limited use of the infringed patent(s) in question, plus whatever else might not have been publicly disclosed in court documents.

But the drama doesn’t end there. On March 30, 2017, Varidesk sued a swath of additional manufacturers. The complaint specifically calls out the Mount-It! Sit-Stand Desk Converter, Ergotech Freedom Desk, Monoprice Sit-Stand Height Adjustable Desk, Loctek DRI Desk Riser, and Flexispot Desktop Workstation as allegedly infringing products.

Named in the suit are Lumi Legend Corp. of China, Innovative Office Products and Ergotech Group LLC of Easton, Pennsylvania, Transform Partners LLC of San Diego, California, Monoprice, Inc. of Rancho Cucamonga, California, Ningbo Loctek Visual Technology Corp. of China, Zhejiang Loctek Smart Drive Technology Co., Ltd. of China, Loctek Inc. of Fremont, California, Zoxou, Inc. of Fremont, California, and Flexispot of Livermore, California.

Not stopping there, in July, 2018, Varidesk filed for a general “exclusion order” with the International Trade Commission, to stop ALL competitors from importing standing desk converters into the USA. This is an extraordinarily bold legal strategy as the cost of fighting the exclusion order, or getting your day in patent court to prove that your product design doesn’t infringe Varidesk’s patents, is greater than the business opportunity. And so, Varidesk has already managed to shake down licensing fees from at least seven of the manufacturers named in the filing.

According to the Notice of Investigation, the Commission has identified Albeit LLC of San Francisco, California, ATC Supply LLC of Plainfield, Illinois, Shenzhen Ate Network Scienology CO., LTD of China, Best Choice Products of Ontario, Canada, Huizhou Chang He Home Supplies Co., Ltd. of China, Dakota Trading, Inc. of Emerson, New Jersey, Designa Inc. of China, Designa Group, Inc. of El Dorado Hills, California, Eureka LLC of El Dorado Hills, California, LaMountain International Group LLC of Elk Grove, California, Amazon Import Inc. of El Monte, California, Hangzhou Grandix Electronics Co., Ltd. of China, Ningbo GYL International Trading Co., Ltd. of China, Knape & Vogt Manufacturing Co. of Grand Rapids, Michigan, JV Products Inc. of Milpitas, California, Vanson Distributing, Inc. of Milpitas, California, Vanson Group, Inc. of Milpitas, California, S. P. Richards Co. DBA Lorell of Smyrna, Georgia, Nantong Jon Ergonomic Office Co., Ltd. of China, Jiangsu Omni Industrial Co., Ltd. of China, OmniMax USA, LLC of Anna, Texas, Haining Orizeal Import and Export Co., Ltd. of China, Qidong Vision Mounts Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of China, Hangzhou KeXiang Keji Youxiangongsi of China, Smugdesk, LLC of La Puente, California, Venditio Group, LLC of Elkton, Florida, Versa Products Inc. of Los Angeles, California, Victor Technology, LLC of Bolingbrook, Illinois, CKnapp Sales, Inc. D/B/A Vivo of Goodfield, Illinois, Wuhu Xingdian Industrial Co., Ltd. of China, Wuppessen, Inc. of Ontario Canada as the respondents in this matter.

The bottom line is that Varidesk has employed a strategy of extorting licensing fees from all of its competitors, or worse, blocking their access to the US market entirely. they have thus painted themselves as “the most evil corporation in the office fitness industry.” Many of the manufacturers they’ve gone after are indeed Chinese “copycats,” but others are true innovators bringing better products to market.

No company leadership in its right mind would risk a long, drawn out patent litigation (which can average 7 years) in defending itself from the 900-lb gorilla, Varidesk. While enriching the coffers of Varidesk (and funding their patent trolling litigation budget) we’re sad to see so many innovative competitors having to sell their products to American consumers at higher prices just to cover the negotiated licensing fees, or remove their products from the market altogether.

Combined with the Chinese tariffs that have been imposed since October 2018 a lot of standing desk converter manufacturers have had to raise their prices several times, bringing them closer and loser to Varidesk’s own inflated price points—which they’ve kept high by forcing their competitors to pay licensing fees. At least on tariffs it’s a level playing field, as Varidesk manufactures all their products in China as well.

More quality and features can be had for the money

If you’re committed to the brand then there are only two ways to buy a Varidesk product: 1) the Varidesk.com website, 2) on Amazon. There are no other dealers or distributors of the product.

To be sure, there are also top-quality sit-stand workstations coming out of China these days, such as the leading Varidesk alternative—the iMovR ZipLift—as well as a host of made-in-America units like the Winston and the Helium. In contrast to these innovators, Varidesk has put as little attention into quality improvements as it has to ergonomic improvements, from our point of view. Their units also still weigh much more than most competitors’, another reason many Varidesk buyers upgrade to something more ergonomic, more adjustable, and more svelte, after six to twelve months.

If you’re thinking of buying or selling a used Varidesk be sure to check out our primer on Used Varidesks, and especially the conquest bonuses offered by some manufacturers to try out their brand of Varidesk alternatives.

Check out our video review of the top three Z-Lift standing desk converters going head-to-head here:

To compare all the sit-stand workstations on the market, be sure to check out our comprehensive Standing Desk Converter Reviews based on actual comparative testing in our labs. When examining Varidesk user reviews be mindful of the tendency for office fitness products to get inflated positive reviews on Amazon.

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Standing Desks