Tech
WIRED Tested Dozens of Espresso Machines. These Are the 9 Best
Compare the Top 8 Espresso Machines
Other Machines We Like
Breville Oracle Dual Boiler for $3,000: This update to the previous Breville Dual Boiler espresso machine is a powerful, truly impressive machine in many regards. It combines the easy touchscreen operation and automatic dosing and tamping of WIRED’s top-pick Oracle Jet with a welcome “manual” mode that lets you play with pre-infusion and bloom while monitoring a digital pressure gauge on the touchscreen. I kinda love this as an exercise in future-retro design—or whatever the inverse of steampunk is—but also as a means of really controlling my shot, and getting a lot more crema and body out of it. The dual-boiler heats up very fast—like four minutes fast—and gives you the wonderful temperature stability and consistency you expect from a dual boiler, plus the ability to steam milk and make espresso simultaneously. The early-production model I received had a very tight portafilter fit, which loosened up after the first 30 shots or so but initially required some muscle. I also haven’t been able to get good results with lighter-roast beans, which led to the occasional under-filled portafilter that had to be retamped manually. We’ll update as we resolve those quirks, but can attest that for medium to dark beans, this Dual Boiler is an absolute beast.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
Meraki Espresso Machine for $1,999: Meraki is a young Hong Kong–based company. Last year it was still Kickstarting funds for its debut Meraki Espresso Machine. But the company started off with a bang, with a premium semiautomatic double-boiler machine offering features you don’t find even in machines that cost hundreds more. This means a Timemore grinder that’ll grind by weight within two-tenths of a gram precision. PID temperature control. Easy pre-infusion. A quiet rotary pump. Another scale under the brewer that lets you control output. A powerful steam wand that regulates the temperature of froth within about 3 degrees for whatever milk drinks strike your fancy. A tamper with satisfying heft, and a tamping station that feels like luxury. Frankly, despite having to overrotate the portafilter for proper fit, its wondrous aesthetics and ease made it a contender for our top picks. But service is always a worry among newer, direct-to-consumer entrants, and the wackily complicated descaling procedure makes maintenance a concern.
Ninja Luxe Cafe Premier for $600: Ninja has already released an upgraded Ninja Luxe Cafe Pro version ($750) after its espresso machine debut. But its first device, the Luxe Cafe Premier, is already a corker, a low-priced all-in-one with cold brew, coffee, espresso, excellent milk frothing, and unexpected luxury features like a built-in scale so the grinder can dose by weight. The device can feel either overstuffed or generous, depending on who you are. Either way this damn near unseated the Breville Barista Express as WIRED’s mid-tier top pick, aside from a few leaks and sensible caution about its durability.
De’Longhi La Specialista Opera for $900: Speaking of espresso makers that came running at Breville, this Opera is a beautifully forgiving semiautomatic machine that makes excellent espresso in the medium- to dark-roast range, with non-pressurized portafilter baskets that make for a nice and surprisingly subtle cup. It’s the best De’Longhi espresso machine I’ve tested, in many ways, among the semiautomatic camp. The Opera sports a lot of options—including dose and temperature control—while remaining refreshingly analog with its satisfying metal frame, metal buttons, and prominent pressure gauge. Cold brew is a perk for those who like milk. The grinder is decent, though its 15 settings might not offer enough sensitivity to pull the best from each roast. One could wish for a removable hopper and a sturdier tamping lever. But if you or your partner love cold coffee drinks or espresso martinis, this gives comparable Brevilles a strong run for the money.
Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
De’Longhi La Specialista Touch for $1,000: De’Longhi’s new Touch, released this year, isn’t merely a touchscreen version of the very analog Opera—though it is just as handsome as the Opera. Instead, it offers a very specific set of trade-offs. Like De’Longhi’s Rivelia, there’s a bean-assist function that you can save for each bean you like. It’s also got a better steam wand, with the ability to read the temperature of the milk you’re steaming, as you steam it. In fact, it’s maybe more intuitive overall. But it doesn’t quite offer the easy customization on temperature, shot time, or ratios. The cold brew is not quite as well-dialed as the Opera. The Touch is an Italian machine on training wheels, designed for Italian-style medium to dark shots. This should work for most people, but minus a pressure bar or a shot timer, it can also feel like a bit of a black box.
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Photograph: Julian Chokkattu
La Marzocco Linea Mini for $6,600: WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu spent two weeks with the La Marzocco’s Linea Mini, a home version of the fancy espresso machines you’ll see in coffee shops around the world. The price may be eye-searing, but Chokkattu did find the resulting elixir to be absolutely fantastic—and the same went for La Marzocco’s customer service while Chokkattu was dialing in his machine. It offers a lot of room for experimentation, and sports a killer cool-touch steam wand that froths milk in seconds.
Courtesy of Delonghi
De’Longhi Stilosa for $150: The Stilosa was our top budget pick for years. It’s still a good budget pick, and it often goes on sale for less than $100. You’re not going to get high-end features like a pressure gauge or built-in grinder, and it’s a little plasticky. But what the Stilosa does provide is everything you need to make great espresso at home: a solid portafilter, a reliable steam pump, and a steaming wand. It is a little light, so you’ll want to brace it when you mount and dismount the portafilter (or it might slide around on you). After brewing cup after cup of espresso, the Stilosa never showed signs of slowing or breaking down the way many inexpensive machines can. In fact, we’re now revisiting the Stilosa as our budget pick, after catching a few tips on how to use the Stilosa for light roast espresso.
Courtesy of Breville
Breville Barista Express Impress for $800: This espresso machine is the more tricked-out sibling of the Breville Barista Express. It includes more grind and dosing settings and automates some of the more complicated parts of brewing consistently good espresso, like getting just the right amount of beans ground per shot.
Courtesy of Amazon
Breville Dual Boiler for $1,600: The previous-generation Breville Dual Boiler is an absolute tank of an espresso machine. It’s huge. It’s heavy. It makes amazing espresso. But while its size makes brewing espresso feel luxurious, it does eat up a lot of space and needs a little time to heat up, versus newer Brevilles like the Oracle Jet that favor thermoblock-style heaters. But a dual boiler does mean you can brew shot after shot, with steamed milk and hot water at the same time, without having to wait in between shots. The new Breville Oracle Dual Boiler ($3,000) is already on the market, but you can still pick up the previous generation for half the price.
Cuisinart EM-160 Slim for $250: The lowest-cost espresso maker from Cuisinart’s new espresso line is among the slimmer espresso machines out there, less than 7 inches across. This makes it a treasure for certain kitchens. The espresso quality is about what you’d expect from a pressurized portafilter: smoother, less nuanced, but also pretty forgiving for beginners trying to dial in a bean. This’ll be best for those who mix milk with their espresso. Same goes for the fast-dripped “cold espresso” option, which takes a couple minutes to complete and comes out a bit tannic, but mixes well with cold milk or a lot of ice. You’ll need a grinder if you don’t want sad supermarket beans.
Courtesy of Superkop
Superkop Manual Espresso for $600: This manual espresso machine is technically not a Jackie Chan movie. The Superkop is instead a quite finely engineered espresso device. It looks pretty, and unlike other manual espresso machines you don’t need a strong arm to use it. So if you want to pull espresso, but not pull it hard, the Superkop is your huckleberry. That said, $800 is a lot of money for a manual device. Buy it if you know you’ll love it.
Also Tried
Cuisinart EM-640 Espresso Bar for $650: Cuisinart rolled in with some ambition on this semiautomatic espresso machine, with a built-in grinder and a non-pressurized, bottomless portafilter meant to play in the same sandbox as Breville’s top devices. Alas, I really couldn’t get consistency on either dosing or grinding from the device’s built-in grinder—and the system for customizing the dose in particular was mostly wild guesswork. This all added up to botched shots, wild spray from the portafilter, and none of the ease one wants from a semiautomatic.
Courtesy of Delonghi
De’Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo for $675: This semiautomatic De’Longhi La Specialista Arte Evo comes with a built-in burr grinder makes great espresso right out of the box, and is slimmer than other espresso machines in its category, It does have quirks: It includes a little plastic adapter needed to attach the portafilter to the grinder spout, and a little stepstool for your espresso cup to keep the coffee from splashing. It’s a good machine, but I’d upgrade to the Opera any day of the week.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Do We Test and Evaluate Espresso Machines?
Over the past decade, WIRED has tested dozens of espresso makers to find our favorites. The process, in part, is simple. We brew a whole lot of coffee. I’ve written about coffee for more than a decade on both the East and West Coasts, including my hometown coffee mecca of Portland, Oregon. Other current and past WIRED espresso testers—who include former baristas and longtime coffee writers—include Jaina Grey, Jeffrey Van Camp, Kat Merck, Tyler Shane, Pete Cottell, and Scott Gilbertson.
On each machine that’s capable, I make and assess at least four drinks, on multiple roasts and beans: a basic 2:1 espresso, an Americano, a latte, and a cappuccino. On machines that advertise a wacky array of drinks, I test each one. This includes any newfangled coldspresso and head-scratching variations on a “long.” It also includes, if science dictates, espresso martinis. And I test to see whether a machine can be dialed to both dark roasts and lighter roasts.
I might make many dozens of coffees to dial in a machine and truly understand it. (Sometimes, alas, you understand a machine’s shortcomings far sooner.)
What I’m looking for is nuance, aromatics, beauty, sensitivity to the characteristics of each bean, and the satisfying texture of fully integrated milk. But also, I’m looking for ease, the thoughtful touches that make an espresso maker something you can fall in love with.
I test whether the hot water spout splatters, whether descaling requires a degree in hydrology, whether the brewing temperature is consistent, and whether the latte milk gets silked. I’m truly terrible at latte art, but whether it’s possible is a straightforward test of the body of the frothed milk. I test the airier foam of cappuccinos and compare manual and automatic milk frothing on machines that try to froth milk for you. I test how fast the wand steams and whether it’s easy to fully integrate milk before the dang thing starts to burn your milk.
On machines with built-in grinders, I both assess the grind and weigh the dose—and then weigh it again. And then again. Consistency is the hobgoblin of little cups. I also test multiple grind settings to make sure the grind is consistent.
On any semiautomatic machine that decides the shot size for you, I test this to see whether you’re getting a ristretto or a lungo by default. Then I resolve never to say the word “lungo” again.
I don’t generally take apart the machines I’m sent, but I do quite often look up videos of people who do—and look at how the thing’s constructed under the hood.
How We Select Espresso Machines to Test
In part, we select machines to test by looking at the espresso makers with long track records of making good espresso machines—people with long tails in the industry and good track records of customer support. Names like Breville, De’Longhi, La Marzocco, and Rancilio. But also, I listen. I read. I ask every coffee-obsessive in my life. I pay attention to the newest releases, follow trade shows, watch Youtube videos, and spend a lot of time tracking down not just the obious big names but the unexpected recommendations.
I often also look at how accessible each machine will be to most users. Espresso isn’t just a finicky process: It’s finicky by design. The most sensitive and sophisticated traditional machines are responsive to every tiny variation in the coffee grind and every fluctuation in the water temperature. The deepest bean geeks want this: They want the control, the frustration, the vision quest.
But I also know that most of you out there aren’t looking to be in an abusive relationship with your coffee machine. Few want to wake up to feelings of inadequacy, brought on by a machine that costs as much as a used car. And so what I look for is the espresso machines that can pull lovely character from each bean, but also make this easy on you.
This means that our top picks, the ones I recommend to most people, tend to fall in the semiautomatic camp: They’re the ones that offer the best coffee with the least effort. Finding this balance is delicate and often rewarding. It used to be that a built-in grinder was a recipe for blown shots, sadness, or pressurized portafilters with less character. But year by year, espresso machine makers get better at this goal.
The lowest-cost machines I recommend tend to offer more forgiving pressurized filter baskets as options, even though these sacrifice a bit of nuance for forgiveness, because I don’t want to assume you’re pairing a $200 espresso machine with a $2,000 coffee grinder. Although I know some of you do this, especially with our beloved Breville Bambino.
But hey, if you’re a tinkerer for life, and want to join modding groups? We recommend a machine for you, too. Mostly so you can disagree on Reddit, and explain why your favorite is better.
What Beans Are Best for Espresso?
First off, there’s no such thing as “espresso beans,” whatever it says on the bag you buy. Espresso beans are coffee beans, ground finely enough to be pressed into service as espresso.
But traditionally, espresso is made with darker-roast beans that best elicit the deep, chocolatey notes of classic Italian espresso. In fact, most machines you use are probably designed with dark-roast beans in mind: Darker beans grind easier, extract easier, and are a bit more homogeneous across the market. And so when someone writes “espresso roast” or “espresso blend” on their grind, that’s often what they mean.
Does that mean dark roast is the only espresso? Of course not. Modern craft and premium coffee roasters in the United States have begun trending toward medium and medium-dark roasts that offer a bit more balance, character, and even a little acidity—beans that have more aromatics, and more individuality. Some, including me, love experimenting with truly light roasts, including the lightest of natural-processed beans that let me brew up espresso that tastes like strawberries.
It’s up to you. But note that the lighter the roast, the more you’ll need to adjust grind and temperature to accommodate—and sometimes even go off-script entirely. (See here for an explainer on light-roast espresso.) But the classic recommendations for espresso? Pulling a 25- to 30-second shot, at a steady 9 bars of pressure, at a 2:1 ratio for a standard shot? These were all designed for traditional dark-roast beans.
One thing that’s true, however, is that you should use fresh beans. They’ll taste better and more aromatic, sure. But stale beans exposed to oxygen also make it technically difficult to make good espresso: they’ve begun to break down, often allow channeling, and are more likely to lead to a less evenly extracted shot with funny off-flavors.
Obviously, fresh beans are easiest to obtain from a local roaster, and on the plus side you’ll be able to ask the baristas there how best to make espresso from their beans. But when in doubt in a supermarket, look for a roast date on the bag. If you can’t find it, or if your beans were roasted in Italy and sent on a ship? Chances are they’re not fresh. And your espresso will be worse. For fresh beans delivered to your house, check out WIRED’s guide to the best coffee subscriptions.
Espresso Accessories That Make for Great Cups
If you’re spending this much on an espresso machine, you’ll want to invest in a good grinder and even a scale, as well as a few other devices that make your shots better, and your life a little easier.
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Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
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Photograph: Matthew Korfhage
WIRED
- Innovative fine-tuning for espresso, drip and French press alike
- Precise grinds, with clarity of flavor
- Built like a tank. Best value proposition overall
TIRED
- Not a looker, really
- No auto-shutoff
An espresso-capable grinder: If your espresso machine doesn’t come with a grinder, you’ll need one. Preground bag beans are especially difficult to use when making espresso, and will likely lead to off-flavors or channeling. But not just any grinder will do. You’ll need a good grinder that can grind consistent beans finely enough for espresso. WIRED’s top-pick Baratza Encore ESP is always a good choice—positioned squarely at the fulcrum where more expensive grinders begin to offer diminishing returns.
Courtesy of Amazon
Cozy Blue
Coffee Scale with Timer
An accurate scale with a timer: Most grinders, and a goodly portion of espresso machines, do not offer a precise scale. But a precise scale is what you need to get espresso ratios right. WIRED reviewer Julian Chokkattu loved the Acaia brew-by-weight scale ($400) that automatically connects to the La Marzocco Linea Mini and a few other devices via its companion app. But a far less sophisticated scale can still help you measure your shot size and control the dose you want on each espresso shot. If you’re not precious about beauty, there’s always this low-cost, little no-name scale. It’s accurate to a 10th of a gram, and has a timer to boot.
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Photograph: Pete Cottell
The best knockbox: When you’re done with that portafilter filled with coffee grounds, what do you do with it? Beat it against the side of a trashcan? Dig out those grounds into the sink? Nah. You need a good knock box. And somehow this jobby-job from Breville is the best one I’ve ever found. It’s sturdy, the cross bar is in the right spot so that the grinds dump cleanly into the bin, and the bottom has enough grip that the box doesn’t scoot around on the counter. Simplicity is competence.
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Photograph: Pete Cottell
Not all steaming pitchers are created equal, notes WIRED contributing reviewer (and former barista) Pete Cottell. As opposed to the sad piece of aluminum that probably came with your espresso maker, this Brewista offers thick walls for heat retention, a precision tip for expert latte pours, and a thermometer sticker on its side so you can get a rough gauge of milk temperature without hunting down an actual thermometer. It can also take a beating. This is your new frothing pitcher.
For months now, it seems that every day brings with it a new faction of MAGAworld getting angry with President Donald Trump over something he says or does.
In recent memory, to name a few, podcaster Joe Rogan has compared ICE raids to Gestapo operations; conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has questioned Trump’s cognitive abilities; former US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Trump had “gone insane;” former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called the president a “slave” to Israel; and conservative influencer Candace Owens claimed Trump belongs “to the Epstein class.”
Even on Truth Social, a social media platform created by Trump as a haven to post without any backlash, there is backlash. “What!?! You are way outta line,” a Truth Social account holder called CaliMAGA69 wrote in response to Trump’s recent criticism of Owens, Jones, Carlson, and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly as “low IQ” losers. “Most of these people, especially Alex Jones, have been your Day 1s!! You need to step back and take a good hard look at who is whispering in your ear. Get back to America 1st!!”
This week, MAGA Christians have raged at Trump, which reached fever pitch on Monday when he posted an AI-generated picture seemingly depicting himself as Jesus. Some of MAGA grew incensed, with multiple major conservative pundits and influencers debating whether or not this all meant Trump was the antichrist.
The pileup has only continued. White nationalist Nick Fuentes, who has long broken with Trump, posted on X a laundry list of complaints about the failures of the second Trump reign, including “regime change war with Iran” and “attacking the Catholic Church.”
Some MAGA conspiracy theorists are even abandoning Trump. Instead of discussing how the assassination attempt on Trump’s life in 2024 was a deep-state plot, some are now debating whether it even happened at all. “Where’s his scar today,” former pro wrestler and former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura asked in an appearance on Piers Morgan’s show.
In what appears to be one of the biggest recent schisms in the Republican party, it’s not totally clear how much of the party is actually abandoning Trump—or if the events and criticisms of the past few months are nothing but a blip. The answer, it seems, is a little bit of both.
MAGA, the most powerful US political movement in recent decades, is not merely a political ideology; it is more akin to a cult of personality where supporters have generally been willing to back Trump no matter what he says. And there are still many willing to defend him: Over the weekend, former adviser Steve Bannon compared Trump to former presidents Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, claiming Trump will “return America to Her greatness.” Others have also spoken out in support.
But while key allies and outlets like Fox News remain loyal to the president, in recent years the right-wing media ecosystem has fractured. A new media landscape where figures like Carlson, Kelly, and Owens have huge audiences, and where their sound bites reach millions more on social media, is no longer willing to protect Trump no matter the cost.
As Dan Pfeiffer, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, notes in his latest newsletter, that’s a big problem for the GOP, especially when it comes to voters who may be wavering over their support for Trump and the GOP in the midterms.
“For these voters, the fact that the criticism is coming from Trump’s former allies matters a lot,” writes Pfeiffer. “When the criticism comes from someone with whom they share ideological affinity, it’s far more likely to land. One clip of Tucker Carlson attacking Trump is more effective than a thousand clips of Gavin Newsom, Hakeem Jeffries, or Pod Save America making the same point.”
Adding Wi-Fi doesn’t always turn out to be as smart as it sounds. A smart smoke detector turns out to be dumber than I thought, even with Wi-Fi added.
Smart smoke detectors will let you know if a fire breaks out when you aren’t home, but other than that they don’t offer any extra benefits over a “dumb” model. And these devices introduce a problem: Most smart smoke detectors exclude one of two sensors to alert you about a fire. Every smart model I tested had only a photoelectric sensor, which picks up smoldering fires, while ionization sensors that pick up fast-burning fires were left behind. Ionization sensors are more likely to have nuisance alarms go off (while you’re cooking, for example), but it’s still a sensor you should have somewhere in your home, especially since modern building materials have shortened your window of time to escape a home fire.
It’s not to say smart smoke detectors are useless, since what matters most is having a working smoke detector at all. A photoelectric-only smoke detector is still a good smoke detector and will pick up smoldering electrical fires in your walls and similar-style smoke. Still, you’ll want to make sure there is an ionization sensor or two in your home, more so than needing a Wi-Fi model added. There are dual-sensor smoke detectors you can get too, but no smart models just yet with both sensors. Here’s everything you need to know if you’re considering getting a smart smoke detector for your home.
Does a Smoke Alarm Need to Be Smart?
You already know what a smoke alarm is: a device that sits on the ceiling (or sometimes high up on a wall) to alert you if it senses smoke in a home or building. Most buildings, whether residential or commercial, come equipped with modern smoke alarms to match current codes. In recent years, it’s been another device to go “smart,” or at least become Wi-Fi compatible. It’s not smart the way a smart thermostat would be, since you can’t meaningfully exert control over it over Wi-Fi. You’ll simply get alerts on your smartphone of choice when smoke is detected, so you’ll know if a fire happens while you aren’t home, in addition to the blaring of the regular alarm.
Is it necessary? No, but it’s a nice-to-have feature to get alerted, no matter where you are, if smoke is detected. But it’s not required to make these devices function, and it won’t help you with the speed at which fires are moving through newer homes.
“While newer smart features like Wi-Fi alerts and app connectivity can be convenient, they’re not essential for safety,” says Steve Clemente, president and COO at Mister Sparky, an electrical services company. “A well-placed, properly powered detector will do far more to protect your home than extra features like air quality monitoring. One exception worth considering is a combo smoke and carbon monoxide detector, which adds an extra layer of protection.”
How Do Smoke Alarms Work?
Smoke alarms have built-in sensors to sniff out smoke in your home. There are two primary sensors included: photoelectric and ionization. “Photoelectric models are better at sensing slow, smoldering fires—like upholstery or wiring—while ionization models respond faster to quick, flaming fires,” says Clemente.
He says neither is universally better, and rather the two styles are complementary. The National Fire Protection Association recommends having both types of smoke alarm sensors in your home, or a smoke alarm that has both sensors built into it (these are usually called dual-sensor smoke alarms). The NFPA doesn’t have any specific codes about which type of sensor you need to put in your home, but a spokesperson did recommend putting photoelectric smoke alarms near kitchens and bathrooms, since they’re less likely to be set off by daily use in these rooms (things like steam and cooking smoke are more likely to set off an ionization alarm).
However, all the smart models I tested included only photoelectric sensors. As I continued researching, most smart smoke alarms seem to only include photoelectric sensors, leaving out ionization altogether. It’s likely because of the sensitivity of ionization alarms. That’s a problem for me after talking to Nicole Sanders, public education lead for UL Research Institutes’ Fire Safety Research Institute, who warned me that new data shows you might only have three minutes to escape a house fire.
Other Standing Desks to Consider
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
Luxor Compact Electric Standing Desk for $200: The Luxor is a no-nonsense standing desk that does exactly what you expect and takes up minimal space. It’s perfect for students, small apartments, and anyone who needs a compact, budget-friendly setup. At 23.5 inches deep, the tabletop is shallow enough to fit into tight corners or shared spaces. The electric lift moves steadily at an inch per second, whisper-quiet, and the 154-pound weight capacity can handle a laptop, monitor, and a few textbooks with no sweat. The lift mechanism is exposed underneath, so you’ll want to leave some legroom when at sitting height. —Nicole Kinning
Simple Height Adjustable Desk for $850: The Simple Height Adjustable Desk lives up to its name. Assembly is straightforward and cable routing is tidy thanks to an integrated channel that keeps everything corralled. The T-shaped legs slide into a bracket instead of screwing or locking into place, which feels a little ambiguous, but once it’s upright, the desk is solid and sturdy. In practice, the desk became everything I needed. It’s smooth, quiet, and spacious, with four height presets. The laminate top is durable and forgiving—ideal if you’re like me and regularly forget that coasters exist. There are no fancy gimmicks, which is exactly the point. It’s a dependable, fuss-free desk that prioritizes function over flashy. —Nicole Kinning
Autonomous Desk Pro for $600: The standout feature here is the new Desk AI, a separate control attachment that tracks your standing habits along with environmental factors like air pressure and quality, temperature, humidity, and noise. In theory, it’s meant to help you work smarter, but in practice, it mostly flags things you can’t control from the desk itself. If it came with an air purifier or fan to manage these conditions, then we’d be talkin’. Still, it’s a fun and techy bonus on an otherwise reliable desk. —Nicole Kinning
Photograph: Nicole Kinning
Vari Solid Wood Electric Standing Desk for $1,500: Even though it’s solid wood, this desk never felt too precious for everyday use. Made from FSC-certified lumber, the desk is heavy and stable, even at standing height on carpet, and the motor is impressively quiet and subtle when adjusting. The ComfortEdge feature turned out to be more helpful than I expected; over long typing sessions, it noticeably softened where my wrists meet the desk, a nice upgrade to a standard desk’s hard, squared-off edges. Yes, the solid wood Vari is on the pricier side, but it feels justified if solid wood and long-term durability matter to you. If they don’t, consider the traditional version. —Nicole Kinning
Boulies Magvida for $760: The Boulies Magvida advertises its best feature in the name itself. This mid-size desk (55 x 28 inches) is known for its EMO system, a magnetic organization setup built beneath the desktop. Instead of drilling holes or fiddling with brackets, you just snap accessories like a cable tray, hooks, and silicone straps, into place. The add-ons feel premium and the magnets don’t budge, and there’s an optional magnetic drawer that’s also handy. Add in memory presets, a child lock, anti-collision detection, and simple color options and you’ve got a clean, clever setup. —Nicole Kinning
Herman Miller Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk for $1,625: As someone who spent years hunching over keyboards, obsessive research led me to the Jarvis Standing Desk (now owned by Herman Miller), which has served me well for six years. With a contoured bamboo top, handy optional extras to tuck wires out of sight, and a responsive control panel for easy height adjustment (including presets), this is an excellent standing desk. The only weakness is that it wobbles slightly at higher levels. The newer touchscreen OLED control unit is not as reliable as the original, so opt for the programmable controls. —Simon Hill
Staples Union & Scale Electric Standing Desk With Micro Movements (UN62092) for $513: Staples’ house brand, Union & Scale, makes some of my favorite affordable office furniture, and its standing desk is no exception. It was easy to put together, and while the white desktop is not much to look at, the dual motors do the job. I like the control panel, which has dedicated buttons for moving the desk up and down, as well as two height presets. I didn’t see any wobble, though the collision sensor could stand to be more sensitive. There’s a cable tray at the bottom back of the desk to route cables, but there’s sadly no grommet to pull them through. The Micro Movement mode. moves the desk up and down over time to reduce fatigue and encourage movement, but I found it more distracting than useful. —Julian Chokkattu
Beflo Tenon Premium for $3,998: While incredibly expensive (and heavy!), this hardwood smart desk is both sturdy and well designed. Assembly was straightforward, and once the desk was up and running, I found all of the features (touchscreen controls, a built-in power strip, audio passthrough, and LED lighting) to work well, and in convenient locations. The touchscreen controls are intuitive (iOS-like), and features like a sit/stand timer and phone connectivity provide additional functionality. The desk supports over 200 pounds of stuff even when moving, and the height-adjustment motors will temporarily disable if they overheat, instead of risking damage to the desk. The table also looks fantastic, and a multitude of first-party accessories let you customize the desk to your specific needs. My largest issue with this table is the noise. While in no way loud, it was certainly more audible than the “whisper-quiet” descriptor Beflo uses in its marketing. Besides that, the lighting color adjustment had some difficulties creating specific colors using the built-in touchscreen, and the audio cable was too short to reach a desktop computer on the floor, even at the lowest height. However, the Tenon is still a great, if pricey, option to consider. —Henri Robbins
Herman Miller Spout Sit-to-Stand Table for $3,275: Herman Miller’s Spout Sit-To-Stand Table is lovely to look at. Like the Branch Four-Legged Desk, it looks like a normal desk with four legs, giving it a luxe look. Those motors in the legs rise smoothly, and it’s easy to raise and lower the desktop to my preferences with the button on the right. The motor does have a high hum to it, and is loud enough that I’d hesitate to use it when my husband is on a call in the same room, but not so loud it would disturb my son if he were sleeping a room away. Bizarrely, it doesn’t have memory presets, but I found it pretty easy to just adjust the desk to my preferred sitting and standing heights each time. You can add a cable tray underneath the desk to organize cords, but it costs extra. The only other item built into the desk is a single slim center drawer perfect for pens and notebooks. It comes in three desktop sizes and three finishes: laminate white, veneer walnut, and veneer ash. You can also customize the base color, with seven different colors ranging from your classic black and white to a gentle blue and olive green. While it’s gorgeous to look at and works well, it is disappointing that such a high-priced desk doesn’t have presets and uses veneers rather than real wood. —Nena Farrell
Flexispot E7 Pro for $400+: Standing desks can get pricey, but Flexispot routinely offers similar functionality at a lower price. At first glance, the E7 Pro looks much like the Herman Miller Jarvis, but look closer, and you discover the entry-level option has a shallow 23-inch desktop, the control unit feels a bit cheap, and it emits a high-pitched whine in operation. I also had some issues fitting larger power adapters in the cable tidy, and it can get wobbly when fully extended. But, even when fully configured, the E7 Pro is cheaper than many rivals. Minor flaws aside, it is a perfectly decent standing desk. —Simon Hill
Inbox Zero 47-inch Adjustable Electric Standing Desk for $163: This desk has every feature I need for just about $200. There are rolling casters so you can not only move the desk up and down, but also shake it all around. It has electric controls that have presets but also allow you to fine-tune the height—my actual use-case for standing desks, as I don’t like standing to work as much as I should, but I do like to adjust the height to accommodate changes in my posture when I’m typing versus Zooming. The split top that makes it easier and cheaper to ship doesn’t hurt the performance, but is less pleasant visually, and the little motor works audibly hard (tshunk, tschunk, tshunk) while raising the desktop. After three months of testing, I’d recommend it to someone who needs a budget standing desk with casters, but if you can spend a little more, you’ll probably be happier with something else. —Martin Cizmar
Standing Desk Accessories
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Branch Clamp-on Power for $89: This simple and elegant clamp attaches to your desktop and adds three AC outlets, a USB-C, and a USB-A, so you don’t have so many wires running down to the ground. —Julian Chokkattu
LumeCube EdgeLight 2.0 for $150: Why have a lamp take up valuable desk space when you can clamp the lamp to your desk? These task lights from LumeCube are great for illuminating the desktop and even your face during late-night Zoom calls. You can adjust the color temperature and the brightness. —Julian Chokkattu
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BenQ ScreenBar Lamp for $139: Alternatively, you can place these ScreenBar lamps over your computer monitor, and it will light up your desktop, no clamping required. The ScreenBar Pro also has a motion sensor, so when you leave your desk, the lamp will turn off, and it will light up when you’re back. You can adjust the brightness and color temperature, and an automatic setting makes it adjust these controls based on the room’s ambient lighting. —Julian Chokkattu
Secretlab Premium Footrest for $89: I’ve been using this footrest for several years, and it’s excellent. The plush memory foam is cushy and a nice respite for my feet, and it’s easy to clean with a vacuum and a damp cloth. It hasn’t shown much wear despite years of use. —Julian Chokkattu
Monoprice Single Monitor Adjustable Gas Spring Desk Mount for $84: I’ve had a few of these WorkStream arm mounts for years, and they’ve reliably done the job. You can adjust the tension with a hex key and move the monitor around to your desired position. Just make sure you don’t go over the recommended weight load with a big and heavy screen. —Julian Chokkattu
Mount-It! Dual Monitor Arm for $280: This heavy-duty monitor arm holds up my ultrawide monitor and my vertical monitor, both of which have BenQ Screenbar lamps on top, along with my webcam. It handles the weight with no effort, and the clamp is accommodating enough to even work with the 5-inch Room & Board standing desk. There’s RGB lighting throughout, but it’s not bright enough to splash onto the wall, so it’s a little pointless. —Julian Chokkattu
Harber London Professional Desk Mat for $239: Keep your desktop protected with a large desk mat like this one. I’ve used several mats from Harber London over the years, and this latest model is my favorite. The pebbled leather is supple and soft, and the mat stays put. It’s easy to clean too. —Julian Chokkattu
Avoid These Standing Desks
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Corsair Platform:6 Desk for $1,400: Where do I start? I liked Corsair’s standing desk because it’s spacious, has a fun pegboard design to mount your tchotchkes, and even has an interesting rail system that lets you mount and slide things across the desktop, like your monitors. Unfortunately, several months after mounting two monitors on the included dual-monitor arms, this rail system has tilted forward due to the weight. (I’m also not the only one to experience this.) It doesn’t help that I never really found this rail to be all that useful. The standing function works well, and you get two presets, but sometimes the little screen would throw me an error message “rE5.” Pressing and holding the down button resolved it, but none of these are issues anyone should deal with considering the crazy-high price. That’s the real problem. It’s just so expensive, and the five-year warranty feels like a slap in the face. —Julian Chokkattu
Marinamantra ‘Flow’ Sit-to-Stand Desk for $1,049: I had high hopes for this one. A desk that lets me sit criss-cross applesauce while I work?! Sold. But the reality didn’t live up to the pitch. When I unboxed the desk, several screws were scattered loose in the box. That set the tone for a desk that eventually worked, but often misbehaved, sometimes refusing to move up and down. That said, I do like the cord management lip and the clever velcro covers that keep cables and hardware neatly tucked out of sight. Unfortunately, none of that matters much if I’m spending more time flipping it over and poking around underneath the hood than actually using it. —Nicole Kinning
ErgoAV Standing Desk for $2,000: I’ve wanted a standing desk for years, so I was extremely excited to try out this one from ErgoFx. For almost two grand, it comes jam-packed with features including a wireless charging pad that automatically lifts and rotates towards you, a five-outlet power strip, and a built-in drawer to put all your office supplies in. You can also control it via the companion app. It has a super durable laminated MDF desktop and a carbon-steel frame and looks sleek. Unfortunately, only a few months into using it, I started having issues where the desk would get stuck at a specific height. This would typically happen if I didn’t adjust it for a few days or weeks. The only way to solve this was by unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in. After each reset, it would work normally again. But this issue comes back every time, so that I’ve stopped trying to fix it. It’s become more trouble than it’s worth—especially at this price. —Brenda Stolyar
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