REVIEW – If you’ve worked or even seen the inside of any type of modern office in the last 15-20 years, you’re familiar with the idea of standing desks. Most information workers expect them and use them without thought, but getting one in your home office has, until recently, been prohibitively expensive. Until today’s desk arrived, I’d not seen any office-quality desks that were less than $1000. But the Boulies MagVIda desk is just that: a high-quality, heavy-duty desk with silent, dual-motor adjustment from sitting height to standing height and multiple presets for less than a grand. Are you interested yet? I am! Let’s take a closer look.
⬇︎ Jump to summary (pros/cons)
Price: $599.99
Where to buy: Boulies Webstore and Amazon
What is it?
The Boulies MagVida is a motorized sit/stand desk with three automatic presets and great wire management.
What’s included?
Box #1
- Desk surface
- Cable Management sleeve
- Magnetic hangers
Box #2
- Control panel
- (2) Motorized Legs
- (2) Leg bases
- (3) Cable straps
- Power Supply
- Cables
- Screws and tools
- Assembly instruction sheet
Tech specs
Workdays Meets Ergonomic – Designed with high-quality dual motors and premium materials, Boulies Magvida standing desk is an ideal desk for those working from home long-term. Offering ergonomic height adjustment, it ensures optimal comfort whether sitting or standing.
Boulies EMO™ System – Boulies MagVida standing desk features an EMO™ System, an expandable magnetic organization system beneath the desktop, allowing you to easily attach magnetic accessories without the need for extra screws. Keep cables tidy and organise essentials effortlessly, creating a clean and clutter-free workspace.
Magnetic Cable Tray – Secure your wires neatly with the magnetic bracket and tray, keeping them tidy and out of sight. With this hassle-free solution, managing cables is effortless—no need to move your desk!
* Boulies includes one for free with every desk order.
Magnetic Hook – Securely holds things from your gaming headset to bags. Simply attach it to the underside of Boulies MagVida desk for easy access.
* Boulies includes one for free with every desk order.
Magnetic Silicone Straps – Keep your cables perfectly organised beneath the tabletop, ensuring a clean and clutter-free workspace.
* Boulies includes three for free with every desk order.
Design and features
Assembly, Installation, Setup
The Boulies MagVida desk arrives in two packages. One is the desktop and attachments (wire management trays and cradle), the other is the legs and electronics. Neither of these is a light box. (The legs weigh almost 15 lbs each – there are two in the smaller, lighter box! Your FedEx person hates you.)
Assembly is very straightforward. Everything fits just as illustrated and explained in the excellent printed instructions. (Why there were two different sizes of Allen wrenches and a Phillips screw driver needed, however, is beyond me.) The legs attach to the desk base with a pre-installed quartet of screws that come partially installed and help you place the legs. But they use the smaller size Allen wrench, different from the two long bolts that hold each motorized leg to the cross brace.
The Control panel can be attached to either side of the “front” (where the branding is) via two – you guessed it – Phillips head self-tapping screws.
The bases are attached to each leg via four bolts which are the same size as the Allen wrench used for the long base bolts.
As convoluted as it sounds, this is not difficult, you just have to keep swapping out tools (or in my case, bits) every time you address a different set of screws and there are only three small sets.
The wiring is nothing: a short, harnessed wire attaches to the leg closest to the control panel, a long one attaches to the other, and the narrower control attaches to the power supply. This whole wiring assembly is then laid out into a trough between the two wide members (same as the legs are attached to) and covered with a metal wiring tray cover. This was probably my biggest irritation. The tray doesn’t have holes in the lip, and the lip just barely covers the cavity. You have to catch the edge of the metal under two screws opposite each other and hope you don’t dislodge them while tightening the screws or flipping it over, because then you’re going to be flat on your back trying to reattach it. With the precision and high level of design everywhere else in this unit, the final piece being this poorly designed was just laughable. It’s like a plastic rearview mirror control in a highly designed German sports car.
So, now that it’s assembled, let’s use it. Flip it over, plug it in, and calibrate the mechanism. (The instructions state two people are needed to flip it over. That would make things much easier, but I schlepped around 21” CRT monitors by myself in my IT days, so it’s all a matter of leverage and strategic thinking. YMMV.) Calibration is fairly straightforward, but it takes longer to write out the process and read than to do. It’s similar to making sure your automatic garage door mechanism doesn’t let in lizards or crush the dog when closing. (One irritation of a motorized desk I found is that whenever the power is cycled, you have to re-calibrate it. Between the initial set-up and after loading, I inadvertently hit the switch on the power outlet. When I pushed the button to film the desk changing heights – crickets. I had to find the manual again to read how to calibrate it.)
OK, so, why is it called MagVida? Well, there are four large enamel-coated steel plates inlaid in the underside of the desk, and several magnetic accessories that attach to them. The primary one is the accessory sleeve, but there is also an accessory hook.
Attaching the magnetic hook is simple – it just snaps into place. I tried this with my usual Brenthaven daily carry bag that has an iPad Pro 13″ with Apple’s Magic Keyboard, a bunch of cables, chargers, meds, and things, and weighs about 8 pounds. It held, even with me smacking it around like I was sliding under the desk in a chair. (I really need to get that carrying handle re-covered!) I’m sure any over-ear headphones on the market would fit on it without any problems, but working alone, I can blast my music as loudly as my eardrums allow.
The cable management attachment is nice, but I like having power ports on the desktop. I am constantly plugging and unplugging items for reviews for a quick charge.
Performance
Once you have the controls set up, you can easily choose presets for the three memory slots to move between without having to hold your finger on the adjustment arrow. The motors respond, in unison, quietly and quickly, whether using a memory preset or just moving to where you want it in the moment. I’ve used standing desks at two different companies, and this one is the same as or better than the ones there. It feels built to last. Except that cable tray. I’m just waiting for it to pop loose like the second shoe dropping in the apartment upstairs.
Final thoughts
Standing desks have been around for a good while. Famously, Thomas Jefferson preferred a standing desk to the sit-down type. But what if you didn’t have to choose either/or? Previously, I was using a workstation riser for my computer and monitors. I much prefer the whole work surface to move together, like I’ve had various jobs over the last ten years or so. The Boulies MagVida Standing desk performed splendidly as a stable, roomy surface that can change height with the touch of a button. The cable management was better than I hoped, but I stay away from that metal center tray. The wire management basket and the under desk hook both performed as expected.
What I like about the Boulies MagVida Standing Desk
- Solid build and electronics
- Adjustable legs for leveling
What needs to be improved?
- Wire tray needs work
- Why can’t all screws use the same size Allen Key?
Price: $599.99
Where to buy: Company Webstore and Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Boulies. Boulies did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
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$179.99 (as of August 21, 2025 02:58 GMT -04:00 - More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
