If your abode is your office, you may be overdue for some tech upgrades

Working from home is great. You skip the commute, wear whatever you like, and keep a flexible schedule for that all-important work-life balance.

But how comfortable is your work setup? If you’ve been pecking at a laptop on the kitchen table or (heaven forfend) in your bed, it is time for an upgrade.

Welcome to my holiday gift guide, work-from-home edition. If you don’t telecommute, maybe there are a few such people on your gift list.

I’ve been a WFH fan off and on for decades, and COVID made it a full-time thing. I have therefore thought a lot about home workstations.

Essential elements include a position-adjustable desk, a laptop stand, high-quality input devices, flexible charging accessories, and desk-protecting mats.

Read on for details on the latest, greatest WFH gear — including a pretty good standing desk I have been trying out.

Get a standing desk

You’ll be happier and healthier if you alternate among sitting and standing positions during work sessions.

Even though I have an excellent office chair, my back starts to hurt if I am sitting for too long, and I become mentally and physically sluggish. Getting to my feet perks me right up.

And if I am standing, I am also moving — I am more likely to launch into micro-strolls that are critical for physical wellness (the reason my Apple Watch every hour bugs me to move around for at least a minute).

That’s why standing desks are so important. I have tried a variety of the contraptions over the years — some with cranks to raise and lower their surfaces manually, others with motors for adjustment with push-button ease.

My latest test subject is FlexiSpot’s electric E7, with variable pricing during the holiday shopping season (it’s hovering around $289.99 to $299.99 lately).

This is a basic desk from a lesser-known vendor, and I was a bit skeptical when it was offered to me for testing after having used swankier desks from the likes of Vari.

What’s more, I had a lousy experience in 2021 with another FlexiSpot desk, the crank-style H1, which was rickety and unreliable (it partially broke down at one point).

I have been using the E7 for a while, however, and it checks out. Its motor, activated via a programmable panel, is highly responsive. The desk is sturdy, with little shake or wobble even when raised to its highest position. It is a no-frills but solid product at a nice price.

FlexiSpot also has a more expensive E7 Pro desk but I don’t see enough added value with this model to warrant the higher cost. (See how the two models compare.)

Here a few factors to weigh while considering an E7 purchase:

Desktop material. The basic price is only for the metal frame, and does not include the desk surface that attaches with screws on top. You add your choice of desktop material when ordering. I went with the least expensive, chipboard, for $80. I wouldn’t do that again because the screw holes in the brittle material don’t look like they’d hold up to multiple desk disassemblies and reassemblies.

Better but pricier desk-surface options include bamboo and various other kinds of solid wood. FlexiSpot’s materials menu is modest compared to those of rival manufacturers such as Uplift, but that company’s products tend to be more expensive.

Desktop dimensions. For each material, you can choose among a variety of depths and widths. Depth is an important consideration when using one or more computer displays because you don’t want the screens too close to your face. Go with 30 inches, minimum. Unfortunately, FlexiSpot isn’t consistent about providing that depth option across its materials menu, so study your options carefully.

Height. One of my longtime standing-desk gripes is minimum height; some just don’t go low enough. The H1, for instance, went no lower than 29 inches, which was much too high for me.

How low the E7 goes depends on which frame you purchase — there are a variety of frame designs, with minimum heights of 22.8,  23.6 and 25 inches. All those work for me. Make sure they work for you — Spend some time with a tape measure figuring out your ideal desktop height before you order a desk.

Accessories. As with other standing-desk vendors, FlexiSpot lets you load up on add-ons when you make your primary purchase. These include cable-management trays, under-the-desk drawers, leg casters, monitor risers, anti-fatigue floor mats — even a foot hammock.

FlexiSpot sent me a power strip that clamps on to the desk’s back edge and provides three AC outlets, one USB-A port and one USB-C Port — but I could not get the latter port to work reliably.

Other WFH elements

Consider additional ingredients for a top-notch work-from-home station. These include:

A laptop stand. If you’re using your laptop alongside a desktop display, as I do, it’s a good idea to raise the notebook’s screen so it’s roughly at the same viewing height as the external monitor.

A stand is also good if you are using your laptop screen as your sole display since it is at a more comfortable height while you use external input devices for better ergonomics (instead of hunching awkwardly over your computer keyboard and trackpad while getting neck strain).

I earlier told you about the $89.95 Roost, which is my favorite laptop stand. Twelve South’s $79.99 Curve Flex is also great.

Better input devices. If your keyboard and mouse provide questionable accuracy or make your hands and wrists hurt, check into some upgrades. Logitech has long been my preferred input-device maker.

Its newest keyboard models include:

• The $99.99 MX Keys Mini, a minimalist, wireless, illuminated model. Get it in black or graphite because the key characters on the pale gray model are a bit hard to make out.
• The delightfully click-y MX Mechanical Mini, also illuminated and wireless. This model is available with a choice of three key-switch designs that each have a distinct feel and sound, with pricing from $99.99 to $149.99.

As for a mouse, you can’t go wrong with Logitech’s $99.99 MX Master 3S.

Better charging. You likely have multiple personal devices on your desk — including your computer along with your phone, your earbuds or headphones, possibly a tablet, and more. Keeping everything charged can be messy.

Nomad has options for elegant, effortless charging — and you will save 30% site-wide through Monday.

Its $110 130W Power Adapter has three USB-C ports for charging a computer, phone and tablet all at once off a single outlet.

Its Base Station multi-charger pads can power up to five devices at once, ranging from a MacBook Air to AirPods, with a combination of wireless and wired connections. Nomad offers several Base Station models with a variety of features and finishes, and all were discounted last I checked.

Desk mats. These are must-have accessories this year, and are a great way to class up your workstation. They are surfaces upon which to put your input devices in order to protect your desktop — or, in my case, to regain a dependable mousing surface after I damaged my desk surface.

Twelve South’s $49.99 DeskPad is made of “vegan leather” — It looks like leather but it was never part of an animal. It feels fancy and creates a bit of friction when a mouse moves across for what Twelve South says is better accuracy (I didn’t see much difference).

If the DeskPad feels like overkill, try Logitech’s $19.99 Desk Mat, a soft-cloth mat with a nice mouse-ing feel in an assortment of soft colors. This product, available in three colors, has an anti-slip bottom and a spill-resistant top.

Nomad has leather mousepads in several sizes. The pads have a hard, stiff consistency that some might prefer over the softer Twelve South and Logitech options. However, the Nomad pad I tried slid around too much. Nomad until recently also had a full desk mat, but it’s been discontinued; that’s too bad because it looked like a great product.