Our Verdict
The Secretlab Magnus Pro is one of, if not the best sit-to-stand gaming desks on the market, with smooth height adjustment, superb build quality, and a remarkable magnetized ecosystem that makes tailoring the desk to your needs a breeze, especially if you can afford the accessories.
- Exceptional cable management
- Superb build quality
- A wide range of accessories
- The price
- Useful accessories sold separately, and are also expensive
I’ve had a handful of desks in my time, but none of them quite compare to the Secretlab Magnus Pro sit-stand gaming desk. Representing the next generation of Secretlab’s Magnus line of gaming desks, the Magnus Pro turns everything up to 11, from the build quality to all the additional features that you didn’t know you needed until you’ve used them. As our Secretlab Magnus Pro review will explain, I don’t think I could ever go back to any other desk.
Over the past few years, Secretlab has been leading the way in the gaming setup space, with several innovative chairs, desks, and numerous great accessories, but the Magnus Pro is its magnum opus. After months of hands-on testing, we’ve put it among the best gaming desks around. The best gaming PC setups have never looked this good or worked so seamlessly, though it’s worth digging into whether it’s the right desk for you.
The Secretlab Magnus Pro is no doubt aimed at gamers with its sleek design and a separate RGB lighting pack, and the ample cable management solutions being one of its main selling points. In my experience, the Magnus Pro achieves its goal of being the best gaming desk, but it’s much more than that. Its seamless sit-stand functionality and oodles of purchasable accessories make it perfect for just about anything you’d want a desk for, including gaming, working, and content creation.
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Specs
Secretlab Magnus Pro specifications:
Setup
From the moment you even set eyes on the (massive) packages on your doorstep, you can tell that the Magnus Pro means business. Even though I already knew how weighty the Magnus Pro would be, I was astonished by just how hefty these packages were. Opening them up, every component was neatly packaged in its slot, securely padded with foam.
From here, I was pleasantly surprised with how easy the Magnus Pro was to assemble. My previous standing desk, the IKEA Trotten, while undoubtedly a more budget option, was a pain to assemble. Not only were there lots of components, but you had to assemble most of it from scratch, and trying to line everything up and fit it neatly together was a challenge.
On the other hand, the Magnus Pro largely just requires you to attach the legs to the desktop, with the necessary screws often already in place, and then attach the cable management tray. With how feature-complete the Magnus Pro is, I was expecting it to be even worse than the IKEA Trotten. The only issue I encountered when assembling the Magnus Pro was its weight. Again, I knew it was heavy, but it was hard to move the desk during assembly alone. It’s possible, but I would recommend having an extra pair of hands which, to be fair, was suggested in the manual.
Speaking of the manual, the instructions were also much clearer than most of the previous desks I’ve owned and clearly stated which tool you need to use for the job (all of which are included). This is vital as the Magnus Pro is the most technically complex desk I’ve ever owned too, with powered risers, a full-length cable tray, and the world’s first fully-integrated power supply column.
If you’ve had a bad experience with building desks in the past, or you’re worried about such an expensive product being damaged before it’s even reached yet, fret not. Secretlab takes this very seriously and has worked hard to smooth out all the rough edges to get you and your new desk up and running as soon as possible. All in all, it took me around an hour to assemble, including unpacking, repositioning the desk during certain stages of construction, and powering it up.
Design
As for the design of the Secretlab Magnus Pro itself, I was similarly impressed. The excellent presentation of the box is no trick; this is, in my view, the most premium gaming desk on the market.
From the hefty feet and legs up to the tabletop, almost everything in the Magnus Pro is metal (we’ll come back to this when it comes to accessories) and it feels incredibly sturdy. This metal construction is not only the source of the significant weight of the desk but also backs up much of the high price tag. You won’t find any chipboard or cheap plastic here. The only plastic to be found, at least externally, is the robust adjustable cable management tray cover and the interface to adjust the height.
This sturdy design and weight comes full circle when you begin to adjust the height. Using the remarkably smooth motorized legs and the simple control panel, you can adjust the height of the desk with a press of a button. Unlike other sit-stand desks, especially my previous IKEA Trotten, it’s not uncommon for desks to wobble and judder, particularly when elevating the desktop. Obviously, with expensive equipment on top like an Xbox Series X or PS5 console, a TV/monitor, and possibly even a PC or laptop, precarious wobbling is the last thing you want. Thankfully, height adjustment is swift yet smooth whether you’re going up or down, and thanks to the integrated motors, you don’t need a clunky hand crank either.
I won’t dig too deep into the health benefits of a standing desk but having the ability to sit or stand with the Magnus Pro makes a big impact on the overall experience. Gaming or working for long periods can take its toll, and standing up affords a more healthy option. However, sometimes you just want to kick back and relax. I found myself frequently adjusting between sitting and standing and the Magnus Pro accommodated it all with no hassle.
Likewise, being able to adjust the height with such precision should not be understated. When I’m working with my mouse and keyboard, I like to sit with my desk slightly raised. On the other hand, if I’m playing a game with a mouse and keyboard then I’ll lower it slightly. Similarly, I can move the desktop up when using a controller to have my hands on my lap under the desk comfortably. Most importantly, you have full control to get it in the exact position for you, and with the ability to save height profiles, it’s incredibly easy to save a setup for whatever you use your desk for to switch to at the press of a button.
When it comes to the design of the desktop itself, it’s certainly sleek. Unlike most gaming desks, the Magnus Pro doesn’t scream ‘gamer’ as many desks in this niche often do, with RGB lights (though there is an RGB accessory kit), colored accents, and more. No, instead the Magnus Pro is rather understated. Its feet and legs are straight while parts of the desktop, like the cable management tray and lid, are subtly angled. Overall, this makes it an attractive desk whether you’re gaming, working, or anything else.
Unfortunately, it only comes in black. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no room for color, as you can purchase magnetic desk mats (more on this later) that add a unique design to the desktop. When building your desk package on the official website, the Signature Stealth (red) and Signature Black options can be included at no extra cost, though there’s even a Batman-themed one.
Performance and usability
In action, the Secretlab Magnus Pro is just as good as it looks. The touch-screen control panel to adjust the height is sleek and responsive, making adjustments as easy and exact as possible. You can even pre-program three custom heights to adjust to at the push of a button. It’s incredibly powerful yet exceptionally simple. Given it’s a touch-screen, it is possible to accidentally press a button and adjust the height if you’re not careful. Thankfully, there’s a power button to help avoid this.
As for the desktop itself, it’s not quite as big as it first seems. The overall desk is more or less as deep as previous desks I’ve owned, but the Magnus Pro features a handy cable management tray, remember? This means that a fairly substantial area on the back of the desk isn’t usable thanks to the gap. Even if you were to place your monitor or TV here, for example, which wouldn’t fall into the gap, you’d then be covering the lid.
While this tray is incredibly useful, as we’ll go into more detail soon, it does make the desk feel smaller as the usable space is reduced. This makes the many space-saving accessories, such as monitor arms and desk risers, a very handy but expensive addition to keep the desktop clear. With that said, even without the accessories I had plenty of space for a monitor, laptop, a console, and various peripherals, including keyboard and mouse. If you have dual monitors or a more elaborate setup, then the space occupied by the cable management tray lid will no doubt become more of a problem, though there is a larger version of the desk that does help reduce these issues.
As for the cable management tray, although its space-hogging nature can be a little awkward at times, I found it to be a worthwhile trade-off. Being able to simply route the ample cables of my setup neatly into a tray not only made my setup look much better, but it also made it less faff. With the tray having a dedicated power outlet, which I used for an extension cable, I was able to plug in my monitor, laptop, Xbox, and PlayStation within the tray.
Unlike my previous hand-cranked desk, I no longer have to move the extension cable around whenever I adjust the height of the desk to avoid tugging on the cables. Likewise, both ends of the tray have a gap that makes it simple to feed a cable in or out of the tray without cluttering the desktop, which I make great use of with the power and display cables for my laptop as it’s not a permanent part of my setup. It’s remarkable how well-implemented this feature is and, even if you don’t have a particularly cable-happy setup, you’ll no doubt still find it a useful addition.
This sublime cable management solution is only the start, however. While the tray will likely be enough for most people, the various accessories you can get make the Magnus Pro truly shine. Remember when we said that the largely all-metal construction had even more benefits than build quality? Well, it’s also magnetic. Secretlab has designed various accessories that seamlessly pair with the Magnus Pro through magnets. Frankly, it’s brilliant.
We love the headphone hook which simply sticks anywhere on the desk thanks to the magnet functionality, letting me freely adjust it to the position that best suits me. Likewise, the on-desk cable anchors – small, red magnetized blocks – are excellent for pinning cables down on the desk and bundling them together. I’ve used this extensively for the various peripherals necessary for my laptop. You can purchase a separate Magnetic Cable Management Bundle that includes three cable anchors, ten fastening straps, and two cable sheaths, which we highly recommend for those of you with cable-cluttered setups.
As touched on earlier, Secretlab has also designed a clever magnetic desk mat, and we highly recommend you pick one up alongside the desk. The standard metal top is durable, though it’s not exactly comfortable. Having a leather desk mat that covers the whole surface of the desk is superb, adding a soft layer of padding as well as a sleek new look.
Since it’s magnetic, it’s easy to attach and take off if you need to, or even to swap out for another design. As a word of warning, make sure to read the instructions before trying to put the desk mat on, as it’s easy to have bumps (like using a sticker) if you’re not putting it on correctly, though you can always take it off and try again.
Perhaps my favorite accessory, however, is the Secretlab Magnus Pro monitor arm. Coming in a single or dual-arm setup, this accessory is expensive, to say the least, though it’s one of the best monitor arms I’ve used and it continues the superb cable management theme of the desk. Attached between the back of the desk and the cable tray lid, its sleek design fits with the table and is excellent for saving space on your desk, especially as each arm features room for routing cables.
As mentioned, the usable desktop space isn’t quite as big as you’d expect, so the monitor arm helps to alleviate this issue while also letting you adjust your monitor to the perfect position for you. What struck me most is just how smooth this arm is. You can easily move your monitor to get the right position without wrestling with the arm, though it’s sturdy enough not to fall, drop, or sag as other monitor arms do.
Paired with this, the new laptop mount attachment is similarly superb. Attaching to the monitor arm just as a monitor would, this stand lets you easily position your laptop. Since I’m often gaming or working with my laptop as a second screen, this mount has been a lifesaver as I can raise my laptop and move it into otherwise impossible positions.
While the Secretlab Magnus Pro desk is excellent as standard, these accessories kick it up a notch, with many taking advantage of the ingenious magnetized nature of the desk. Given the impact these accessories can have on your setup, as the dual monitor arm and laptop mount did for me, it’s a shame that they’re as expensive as they are. Thankfully, due to these being additional accessories that aren’t bundled with the desk as some competitors do, the accessories can always be purchased later down the line. With how seamless the magnetic ecosystem is and how easy to install accessories like the monitor arms are, it’s no hassle. Think of it more as an investment, as picking up the desk and its accessories will quickly see the price spiral.
As a result, the Magnus Pro and its XL variant are nigh unmatched when it comes to premium sit-to-stand gaming desks, with exceptional flexibility, quality, and room to accessorize. If you’re in the market for a new desk and can afford to splash out, I would point you towards the Magnus Pro. However, it’s hard to recommend it to a wide audience simply because of the price and how impactful the accessories are. Is it worth the price? Yes, it’s a remarkable package. But that doesn’t solve the issue, unfortunately.
Price & availability
The Secretlab Magnus Pro comes in two sizes, standard, and XL, with prices beginning at $799 (£729) and $949 (£829) respectively on the official Secretlab website. From here, you can get the Signature series MagPad desk mat bundle for free, with the other variations costing full price. Then, you can purchase additional accessories, such as various cable management bundles, monitor arms and PC mounts, MagRGB smart lighting, and more.
Should you buy it?
- Yes: you’re in the market for a top-of-the-range sit-stand desk for gaming, working, or content creation
- No: you want a cheap desk or one without all the bells and whistles
At the end of the day, the deciding factor will be the large price tag that comes with the Secretlab Magnus Pro, particularly if you’re eyeing up some accessories. It’s undoubtedly a high-quality product that justifies a high price, such as with an almost fully metal construction, premium materials, and invaluable features, but not everyone is willing to fork out for such a product despite how good it is. However, if you can afford to splash out on a premium desk, the Magnus Pro is made with gamers and creators in mind and also makes for a stellar streaming setup or workstation.
Alternatives
If the Secretlab Magnus Pro isn’t for you:
Some great alternatives to the Secretlab Magnus Pro include the Cooler Master GD160 ARGB, a similarly flashy motorized sit-to-stand desk, and the FlexiSpot E8, a more classy sit-to-stand desk. Both are more affordable options than the Magnus Pro and are similarly high quality from reputable manufacturers, though neither quite beat out Secretlab’s offering, largely due to the sublime cable management and room to accessorize.