REVIEW β Having a good desk setup is important and likely very dependent on how you you need it to work for you. One of the best things you can do is raise your monitor (or laptop screen) closer to eye level to ease pressure on your neck. Thereβs lots of options out there including monitor arms and wall mounts, but the most universal are monitor risers or simple shelves. Fluidstance has a new, minimalistic entry in this crowded space called the Raise Monitor Stand; letβs take a look.
What is it?
The Raise Monitor Stand by Fluidstance is a desk shelf made with premium materials that raises your monitor by 4.75β³.
Whatβs in the box?
- Raise Monitor Stand
- Info card
Hardware specs
Materials: 13 ply birch plywood | White powder-coated steel (legs) | Silicone feet grippers
Dimensions: 23.5β long x 9.25β deep x 4.75β tall | 6 lbs. 2 oz
Design and features
The minimalistic design speaks for itself.
A single piece of 13 ply birch ply is supported by two, white powder-coated legs.
Each leg is designed in a way where weight on the shelf further leverages the legβs support such that they each need only a single screw in the top for keeping the legs located.
Silicone feet keep the shelf from shifting around.
Setup
The hardest part of the setup was actually getting the Raise out of the box since it comes fully assembled. The box is perfectly sized to the point that the legs had wedged into the bottom corner of the box walls slightly under the flaps, so you may need to bend the box wall outward to free it.
Beyond that extraction, youβll just need to place the shelf under your monitor. Depending on how heavy your monitor is, you may need someone to help you, or maybe just remove the monitor from your desk to put the shelf in place. The shelfβs gripper feet work well enough that itβs hard to relocate the shelf once a monitor is in place on top.
Performance
Using a monitor shelf is great as it can make a desk feel bigger. The Raise is right about 2 feet wide and 9 inches deep giving you the room underneath to slide a closed laptop, your keyboard when not in use or Fluidstanceβs own Slope whiteboard which they made sure would fit. Below gif from their site.
Iβm 6β3β³ and have always had to raise my monitors to keep my neck from screaming at me. Every monitor out there is different so I canβt tell you what height your monitor will be at, but the Raise stand adds 4.75β³ between your desktop and the base of your monitorβs stand. For me that gets most monitors to a very useable height.
I had both my wife and my daughter try the Raise with their setups and it ended up being about 2β³ too tall for both of them. For reference, both of them use Apple displays (one ancient) and theyβre 5β7 and 5β9 respectively.
Even my son at 6β1 thought it was higher than he wanted his monitor. Keep in mind this is totally personal preference area and also depends on the height of your desk, chair, etc.
Hereβs a couple of things you should consider before picking up any monitor riserβ¦
First, use some books or other sturdy stackable items under you monitor to lift it to the height of the shelf youβre considering (in this case about 4.75 inches) and use that setup for a couple days to make sure the height works for you. The Raise Monitor Stand is not height adjustable, so keep that in mind.
Second, the depth of the shelf is 9.25β³ which should work for most monitors. You can see the stand of the old Apple display in the photo above fits well. My monitor is a big 34β³ curved Alienware that unfortunately has a 12β³ deep stand with pointy legs that overhang the front of the shelf by 3β³.
All Iβm really saying with both of these points is that before you buy any shelf, measure the footprint of your monitor stand, and make sure amount of lift is going to work for you.
The aesthetics of this shelf really work for me and I appreciate the choice of birch plywood (check my byline). I couldnβt find a weight limit for Raise, but I think youβd be hard pressed to find a monitor too heavy for its construction. I really dig how the legs are designed so that weight increases the leverage and that top bar just presses against the shelf. The two screws arenβt actually even needed other than to keep the legs in place if you move the shelf.
Although they could reduce the size of the shipping box by asking the user to attach those two screws.
Itβs expensive at $129, and yes, there are plenty of much cheaper options including building your own and others that are adjustable with other features. Fluidstance is betting that there are customers out there that like this clean look and uncomplicated design. Additionally, all the materials used to make the Raise are sourced near to their manufacturing and the entire product is designed and made in the US.
What I like
- Clean aesthetic and premium materials
- 4.75β³ height worked well for me
- Appreciate the extra space underneath
What Iβd change
- Itβs expensive, but you like what you like
- Would love to see an adjustable height version
Final thoughts
Itβs always challenging when products hit more of a subjective button. Weβre spending way more time at our desks as of late, and if the Raise Monitor Stand meets your size needs and hits your design language, it doesnβt matter what anyone else thinks. You should like the way your desk looks and your setup should work for you.
Price: $129
Where to buy: Fluidstance
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Fluidstance