Back In Action Single Column standing desk review

Back in Action Single Column desk: 30-second review

The Back in Action Single Column sit-stand desk features a sleek, contemporary design and practical sit-stand working height adjustment to suit your needs. This desk is perfect for small workspaces, offering a compact yet stylish solution if you're looking to enhance your home or office setup. With dimensions of 100cm x 60cm, and that single standing column might make it one of the best standing desks we've tested for smaller workspaces.

The key feature is motorised height adjustment from 60cm to 125cm, enabling you to switch between sitting and standing positions with ease. The desk also offers three programmable height presets, making it simple to customise for different tasks. The solid quality build supports a weight capacity of up to 80kg, ensuring the desk can handle larger monitors and plenty of other office essentials.

The desk's sleek design includes a cable management hole to help keep your workspace tidy and professional, and adjustable feet ensure stability, even on uneven floors. Of course, the headline feature is the motorised column height adjustment with a soft start and stop mechanism that adjusts smoothly, preventing any sudden movements that could disrupt anything on the desk surface.

While the desk requires AC power, which could be a drawback in terms of needing a nearby socket, its overall performance and convenience make it a worthwhile investment if you need to alternate between a sitting and standing workspace.

Back in Action Single Column desk: Price & availability

The Back in Action Single Column standing desk is priced at £645 in the UK, which is high for a desk of its size and functionality. It can be purchased directly from Back in Action's website by clicking here. 

• Score: 4/5

Back in Action Single Column desk: Design & build

The cable management hole and, of course, the motorised column, which enables height adjustments from 60cm to 125cm distinguish this from a standard household desk.

Featuring a simple yet elegant design, the desk is perfect for contemporary and home office settings. The desk has a Scandinavian style, with a solid white surface finish and a beamless white single-column steel frame that includes a telescopic upright for the motorised height adjustment. The tabletop is made from durable 2.5cm melamine, available in either white or Verade oak, and measures 100cm by 60cm.

The desk's sturdy construction gives it a premium feel, although it's essential to check all bolts and screws during installation to ensure stability. The single-column design makes the desk easy to manoeuvre into place, even in tight spaces, which is a consideration in homes that will inevitably have a narrower corridor width than purpose-designed offices.

• Design & build: 4/5

Back in Action Single Column desk: Features

The Single Column desk motorised height adjustment ranges from 60cm to 125cm and can support up to 80kg of evenly distributed weight. This feature is enhanced by the Memory Master function, which essentially enables you to set and recall three different height presets. So you can preset a sit, stand, and another height that can be reached quickly through a single press of a button. While there are other motorised tables out there, features such as the soft start and stop mechanism enable progressive and smooth movement as the desk raises or lowers, helping to minimise disruptions on the desk surface.

As previously mentioned, there are a few additional features that highlight the workspace nature of the desk rather than the standard table. These features include a cable management hole, which not only helps to keep a tidy workspace but also enables the table to be pushed up neatly against a wall without wires getting in the way, obviously leaving a small gap to enable the raising and lowering of the desktop surface. Another nice touch is the adjustable feet that just help to ensure stability on uneven floors.

• Features: 4/5

Back in Action Single Column desk: Performance

In daily use, this standing desk performs exceptionally well. It offers a stable and spacious workspace with room for a monitor, laptop, and a few general workplace accessories. Despite being the compact version of an office desk, there's more than enough room as long as your sole purpose is to focus on work. 

The desk's initial setup is straightforward, with most of the assembly already done. Once in position, the small feet can then be screwed in or out to adjust the level of the table; while most office spaces have decent-level floors, most homes and home offices are often a little less level. The amount of adjustment offered by the feet should overcome most household floor dips and rises. Ensuring that the desk is level not only provides a better workspace but also ensures that the desk stays stable as it's raised and lowered. 

Using the control unit on the right of the desk enables you to manually raise or lower the desk with the touch of a button. Then, if you like the height, you can tap the program button and the preset number, say 1, and in future, when you tap "1", the table will return to that height. With three height options, it then gives you the ability to set one height for sitting and another for standing, and the final preset can be used for another member of the household or to reset to the same level as other surfaces in the room if you're that way inclined.

The motorised column operates smoothly when raising and lowering the desk, and the soft start/stop mechanism helps ensure that items on the desk remain undisturbed during height adjustments.

While the desk requires a power socket, its compact size and sleek design make it ideal for home offices, but it is a shame that there's no cable management harness at the rear of the desk to help keep things neat as the desk adjusts in height. However, the ability to easily switch between sitting and standing positions with the ease of use of the presets and that control panel makes this table a real benefit. What was apparent through the test was that the ability to alternate between the two working positions proved to be far more comfortable than a standard sit-down desk and helped to boost overall productivity.

• Performance: 4/5

Should you buy the Back in Action Single Column standing desk?

The Back in Action Single Column standing desk is ideal for professionals and home office users who prioritise ergonomic health and workspace flexibility. Its programmable height presets, and sturdy build make it suitable for those who frequently switch between sitting and standing positions. If you value quality construction and are willing to invest in a desk that supports better posture and productivity, this desk is an excellent choice.

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