Autonomous SmartDesk 5 review | PC Gamer

2025-08-14 09:08:00
www.pcgamer.com

The Autonomous SmartDesk 5 is no more expensive than Ikea’s Utespelare, a non-motorised desk, and yet it does all the tricks. It’ll sit, it’ll stand, it’ll… okay, that’s about it, but that’s not bad for a desk under $300.

The SmartDesk 5 is currently $249/CAD 699, though it’s usually $299. It’s not yet available in Europe, only the more expensive SmartDesk 2, but I’d like to see it land over here on that price alone. It’s great value for money state-side, more affordable than even Flexispot, and we’re a fan of a few of its budget desks. It’d be great to see it land across the Atlantic with similarly competitive prices.

Now, the company’s name, Autonomous. It does suggest some sort of robotic magickry to whizz the desk around on its own. That’s not the case. I’m happy to discover the company does make a robot, Alfred, though the desks and chairs are very much not in the same vein. They’re much more normal. We’ve reviewed one of its desks previously, the Autonomous SmartDesk Core.

Autonomous does include a small box that sits underneath its desks called Stand (a part of its Habit system) to reward users for actually standing up during the day. As to whether any box can make me stand more often, that’s likely not happening without applying a worrying amount of voltage to my shins if I don’t comply, but I’ll give it a go when it shows up and report back later.

SmartDesk 5 specs

An Autonomous SmartDesk 5 being put together and installed in an office. — (Image credit: Future)

Dimensions: 48 x 24 inches (121.9 x 61 cm)
Motors: 1 (2 available on Pro model)
Desk material: MDF
Weight limit: 176 lbs (79.8 kg)
Availability: US/Canada
Price: $249 ($299 MSRP)/CAD 699

The desk comes with an MDF desktop measuring 48 inches long and 24 inches wide. It’s pretty lightweight—I had no trouble moving it around on my own—and it comes with the screw holes pre-drilled on the underside (which isn’t always a given). There is a larger version, the SmartDesk 5 Pro, with a tougher HDF desktop measuring 53 x 19 inches. Though it’s a costly upgrade at another $350 on top (literally).

The SmartDesk 5 helps keep costs down by employing only a single motor. Most have two, one within either leg, but it has only one on the right-hand side and mounted on the outside of the leg. It’s a slightly clunkier solution, as you have to watch out for the motor hitting anything below when shifting the desk up and down. Plus, you have to install a power-transferring rod beneath the desk to connect up each of the leg mechanisms. Though once together, it works great. The single motor is able to lift 176 lbs (80 kg), slightly over half of what you’d get with dual motors (included on the Pro model).

Going back to the flat-packed box that appeared at the door one day, it’s a fairly easy desk to put together. I didn’t even have to ask for help from my partner or anything. That’s less a testament to my muscles and more to the lightweight nature of MDF and a single-motor design.

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On opening the box, I did notice a big knock to the MDF on the front-facing edge of the desk. Luckily, it’s mostly on the front/underside, rather than the top. The packaging seemed largely suitable for the desk around the corners, but it has clearly ended up leaning on an edge or being bumped into at some point during its long trip from the USA to the UK. I asked Autonomous about this, and besides offering a brand new desktop (which I did not accept, it’s perfectly serviceable), I’ve been told they are looking into improving the packaging to further protect the edges. A lick of white paint sorted it out, anyways.

That aside, the rest of the package came well packaged and all in one piece. Removing the legs, brackets, and feet, you can start to imagine how it all comes together. There’s also a short instruction manual if you’d rather not ‘raw-dog it’, to quote one Jensen Huang.

First step, build a tiny bridge with the legs and connecting brackets. Then add the feet. Attach the desktop supports. Connect the power-transferring rod, which probably has a more official name, then flip the lot onto the awaiting desktop. Screw in using the provided screws (only an allen key and Philips-head screwdriver required—the box contains both). Lastly, attach the control panel to the underside. From there, if you prefer, you can attach the small orange hooks and cable tidies to the underside.

Click through the gallery below for the full build process:

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Being a slightly smaller desktop than, say, the Secretlab Magnus Pro XL I have sat it next to, it’s much easier to manoeuvre around without issue. Scooch it one way, schooch it the other, scooch it back, scoo… sorry. Even on my relatively shaggy carpeted floor, the feet don’t catch, which makes these sorts of moves easy to do. The feet are adjustable, however, which helps to level the desktop when placed on a hard surface.

If you were planning to use this as your primary desktop, you wouldn’t be too limited on space. It’s admittedly going to be slightly dominated by a twin-monitor set-up, especially if you’re braving it without a monitor arm. The same is true for anyone hoping to mount their PC on the desktop itself. That’s not only going to hog precious space, but it’s extra weight for the motor to lift. That 176 lbs (79.8 kg) lift limit will get gobbled up by a weighty PC tower, a couple of monitors (maybe 5–10 kg a piece), and all your Smitsky figurines—what do you mean you don’t have any?!

Though the size of the desktop and the weight limit aren’t massively limiting. Sure, you probably shouldn’t put your entire weight on it to change a lightbulb (seriously, don’t do that), but it’s reasonable enough. There’s plenty of room for a full-size keyboard, a large mouse mat, a monitor, and more. And it lifts at a reasonable speed.

It will also detect when it cannot go much further and reverse itself, which is good if you do bump into something beneath the desk when shifting it down. That said, it took a pretty immovable object to set it off, and a stack of motherboard boxes I tested it on was pretty squished before it decided to halt and reverse gear.

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Buy if…

You want a cheap and easy-to-use standing desk: The single motor might not have the oomph of some dual-motor desks, but it’s present and makes for easy sit/stand transitions throughout the day. Now it’s up to you to actually make the decision to do it.

You want to assemble on your own: If you don’t fancy tagging in a pal for a desk build, the SmartDesk 5 is small and lightweight enough to make a solo build possible.

Don’t buy if…

You want to load multiple monitors and a PC tower onto the desktop itself: The weight limit on the single motor is a little limiting in how much other stuff you can put onto this desk. Don’t stand on it, yeah?

The desk is easy to adjust—much easier than a manual sit/stand desk. It’s easy to set up predetermined heights for sitting, standing, and in my case, using a stool. Just press the up/down button to your desired position, hit set, and then apply it to one of the three presets via the corresponding buttons. It works much the same way as my Secretlab desk nearby, and while the buttons are a bit less responsive than Secretlab’s, the price difference between the two is exponential.

I’m yet to scuff the desktop in any permanent way. I’ve built two gaming PCs atop of it, both with rubber feet, and the slight marks these left were easily wiped away. The coating seems relatively hard-wearing, though as exposed by the bump in transit, beneath is the bare MDF that could need covering in an oil-based paint in the unfortunate event of a rogue scratch or scuff.

Altogether, it’s largely only the packaging that lets the SmartDesk 5 down, but I’d be willing to look over that if Autonomous make some improvements in that department. Shipping this desk halfway across the globe was never going to be good for its health, but it seems a fixable issue with a little more padding around the longer lengths of the desktop. Besides this one issue, the desk is a real winner.

It’s very much the whole sit/stand experience. No half measures or manual-winding required, which I’m convinced no one continues to use after a fitful first few months. It works great, automatically, like any other high-quality motorised sit/stand desk. And all for $250. Heck yeah, I’m impressed.

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