Magnus Pro Review: Secret Lab’s smart desk has magnetic attraction

One of the benefits of working in the media is that I sometimes get to discover products I would otherwise never make the effort to try out.

Before now, standing desks had never interested me. I previously glanced upon those stood spread-legged in front of their work PCs with the same nervous suspicion as a Labrador attempting to watch a YouTube video. I did not understand them or their appeal, but after a month with Secret Lab’s Magnus Pro desk, I’m converted.

Magnus is the chair firm’s first foray into the desk world. Previously known for its lineup of extravagant, and often loudly themed, gaming chairs, Secret Lab presumably figured out that if its customers are in the market for somewhere to sit, they’ll probably buy something to sit in front of as well.

The new Pro version of Magnus is larger, introduces an integrated power supply column, and crucially, features the sit-to-stand functionality, built with the attention to detail and customisation options we’ve come to expect from Secret Lab’s chairs.

In short, Magnus Pro is a slick place to work or game from. Compared to my battered old Ikea ironing board, it’s incredibly tidy, neatly hideing all of my PC wires and gubbins, while offering similar on-desk order thanks to the ability to magnetically snap virtually anything to its surface. Thanks to a new built-in control panel, the desk’s height can be adjusted at the push of a button, from 65cm up to 125.

Setup is as straightforward as it realistically could be for a piece of furniture of this size: like Secret Lab’s chairs, the Magnus Pro is packed with clear, human-sized instructions on the order in which it should be put together, and with which tools. Two people are recommended for assembly, but I bravely managed it solo, which took the best part of an afternoon, including removing my previous desk and tipping it down a nearby alley (if the council is reading, this is a joke).

Like the standard Magnus, Magnus Pro does an exceptional job at cable management. This time, a power socket is included at the base of one of the desk’s legs, allowing users to power all of their PC and accessories directly into the cable tray at the rear of the desk, with virtually nothing left trailing.

The cable compartment is essentially a concealed tray, with plenty of room and gaps for feeding cables, and an angular cover to hide everything away. This section can be augmented with an RPG cable, sold separately, for extra Gamer Points.

If you plan to use the height adjustment to its fullest, you’ll want to purchase a separate PC mount too, which securely clamps your tower to the rear of the desk, allowing it to rise up and down along with the rest of the setup.

The short length of my subwoofer cable meant I needed to place it on top of the desk, rather than under it, but thankfully, there’s lots of space on its 1.7m x 0.8m surface (the standard version is slightly smaller, but still large, a 1.5m x 07m). I also added a riser and a monitor mount (again, sold separately), for additional room.

The desk surface of the Magnus Pro is another of its coolest features. As its name suggests, the desk’s steel top makes it fully magnetic, allowing users to effortlessly attach additional holders for headphones or accessories, or use magnetic cable clips (again, all sold separately) to tether cables.

It’s another way in which the Magnus Pro takes the hassle out of keeping your space neat and tidy, and it doesn’t feel like an industrial piece of metal either: each desk comes with a slick leatherette cover which magnetically attaches to its surface. This smart piece of design not only gives Magnus Pro a premium feel, but it also means it’s easily customizable with different designs based on games such as Cyberpunk 2077, Genshin Impact, and more, for even more Gamer Points.

After two months of using Magnus Pro, I’ll admit that I still work or game sitting down 90% of the time. However, the ability to smoothly (and quietly) adjust my desk’s height using the electronic buttons is a luxury I would now find difficult to surrender.

During my working day, I frequently adjust the desk height by minute values to match my activity, lowering it for intense copywriting, or elevating it for web browsing and video recording. It’s even useful to move the desk to its maximum or minimum extension to get it out of the way of other office furniture, such as digging through the desk drawer or readjusting pictures behind it.

The obvious damper on Secret Lab’s desk is its price. The standard size version comes in at $800 / £730, while the larger XL size will cost you $950 / £830. Once you start adding accessories, however, such as the pretty essential PC mount, magnetic cable management, monitor mount, and more, you’re looking at an investment well in excess of $1000 / £1000. Even the RGB lighting is sold separately (and less preferable to a Philips Hue strip, which I opted for).

But, at least in my experience, you are very unlikely to feel shortchanged for your investment with the Secret Lab Magnus Pro. This is a smart desk with great build quality and genuinely excellent cable management features that I now couldn’t see myself without. This is a product its makers have clearly put a great deal of thought into, and the result is a gaming or workplace accessory I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to anyone who spends much of their week sitting, or indeed standing, in front of a PC monitor.