Stockholm - The World's Best Standing Desk

What Makes FRISKA Stockholm the World’s Best Standing Desks?

Discover the adjustable workstation that’s fast become a homeworking and in-office favourite. Discover Stockholm.

Stockholm calling

Say hello to Stockholm, a range we’re rather proud of. Unlike most standing desks, it’s as big a hit with customers and independent reviewers as it is with awards bodies (not that we don’t appreciate the occasional—or frequent—award). Unlike many standing desks, it’s made close to home. And unlike virtually all other sit stand desks in its field, it’s impressively, relentlessly sturdy. In our humble opinion, it’s the complete desk.

What makes Stockholm standing desks good?

We’ll get into the (many) details in a minute, but first we’d like to share a story which illustrates what makes FRISKA a cut above.

Many years ago, back when we used a motorised standing desk for our day job but didn’t make them, we ordered a desk from what is now one of our major competitors. It arrived with an instruction booklet for a bookcase. That told us something.

To this company, electric standing desks were just products—one of a gazillion they sold. Because it wasn’t all they did, it wasn’t all they cared about. So when we’d finally assembled the desk, should we have been surprised that the end result was just, well, ok?

FRISKA doesn’t make bookshelves. We don’t make other types of office furniture. We don’t even make standing desk converters (because a standing desk converter rather sucks the life out of all that’s best about good standing desks). We just make uplift desks. And we make them the very best they can possibly be. Yes, other standing desks are available. But we believe (and our customers seem to agree) that none are better than a FRISKA.

Meet the FRISKA Stockholm family

What’s the difference between one FRISKA Stockholm and another? Here’s our quick guide:

• Stockholm: We’ll resist the temptation to call this our ‘standard’ desk because there nothing standard about it, but this is where FRISKA began and it remains our most popular uplift desk. If this is the first standing desk you ever buy, then you’re effectively hitting the jackpot at your first attempt.

• Stockholm Extra Heavy Duty: That word ‘extra’ is important because every Stockholm has an impressively high weight capacity (yes, even the Micro). It’s just that the Extra Heavy Duty has super-sized weight capacity that enables it to lift up to 160kg. That’s almost as heavy as a reindeer, if you’ll forgive the Sweden cliché.

• Stockholm Micro: Don’t have room for our full-size standing desks? Need to squeeze a workstation into the space between the bed and the wardrobe and assume you’ll have to settle for something rickety and underwhelming? We’d like to challenge that assumption with the Micro, which packs all that’s good about the Stockholm (including a hefty lift capacity and rock-solid stability) into a compact footprint. Even when space is at its tightest, there’s usually more than enough room for a Micro.

• Stockholm Corner: An L shaped standing desk with a triple motor lifting system to give it the extra power it needs to hoist that mighty desktop swiftly and near silently. To misquote a certain movie, everybody puts this baby in the corner, but don’t feel you have to. It looks fabulous everywhere.

• Stockholm Signature: What’s more Stockholm-y than a Stockholm? The Signature takes our most popular desk and gives it an uber-stylish frame makeover that turns impressive into gorgeous.

• Stockholm bundles: every FRISKA desk comes with a wide range of ways to tailor it to you and your way of working. Some are optional extras (e.g. a lockable drawer, monitor arms for multiple monitors). Some accessories are requested by most customers (like cable management trays and anti-surge power leads). So we bundled up the most requested accessories in an extra-special value package.

Each bundle includes a cable management tray, cable ports, a Kubbe memory control switch (a physical switch – you get a Bluetooth one as standard) and anti-surge power lead.

Choose your bundle here:

Stockholm bundle

Stockholm Signature bundle

Stockholm Extra Heavy Duty bundle

Stability: it’s what makes Stockholm the best

To say Stockholm is a stable standing desk is a bit like calling the Burj Khalifa ‘quite a big building’. It rather undersells it. Because for all the other good things that go into our standing workstations, nothing is more important to us than sturdiness.

Why does sturdiness matter?

You might not think there’s much difference between one desk and another. Surely they all have a sturdy construction don’t they? Generally speaking, the answer to that is yes, to a degree. The problem, though, is that unless your desk is absolutely rock solid, it’s not going to take long to start annoying you. This is the problem of wobble.

Wobble doesn’t have to be extreme for it to be noticeable. The best standing desks are ultra-smooth as they raise and lower, and ultra-stable when extended to full standing heights. That’s the biggest test for any uplift desk. In the standing position, with the desk height set to maximum, is the desktop sound, or can you feel the desk moving ever so slightly?

If there’s even just a little bounce when you type, it will be enough to set your glass of water rippling, your desk lamp jiggling, and (most importantly) your monitor vibrating. Monitor movement isn’t great when you’re staring at it all day.

Stockholm is the most stable standing desk in its class, and that’s particularly noticeable when you pitch it against our competitors. Here’s a quote from Alex, an independent reviewer who was perfectly happy with his Fully Jarvis until he discovered the FRISKA Stockholm. That’s when he fell out of love with his Fully:

“It's really distracting especially when it's extended…What none of the reviewers out there seem to tell you is how wobbly this thing is. It actually moves a lot even when you're sitting down. I'm not hammering the keyboard. In fact I'm quite soft on the typing and the monitor’s wobbling like crazy.”

How we eradicated wobble

Here’s our secret. It wasn’t one thing. Across desktop and frame in lots of small ways, we tweaked, refined, and re-engineered to make every Stockholm solid as a rock.

• Sturdier desktops: Take another look at that other desk you’ve had your eye on. Now check the depth of the desktop. You’ll find Stockholm tops are often a good half a centimetre thicker than the competition. That may not sound like much, but it creates a desk surface that feels more solid and robust.

• Stronger support: Forgive us for getting nerdy about this, but we’d like to take you under your desktop for a moment or two. Most desks use a sort of steel ladder as the platform for the desktop. There’s nothing especially wrong with that—some ladder assemblies are pretty good. But there are issues.

First, as a (very) rough rule of thumb, the less you pay for your desk the thinner the ladder gets. As you might expect, thinner metal leads to a less solid base for your desk. And that can affect stability.

The other issue is that the reason most existing desk manufacturers use this method is because price dictates that they should. It’s the cheaper way to achieve a reasonable degree of solidity. But it’s not the best way to achieve optimum sturdiness. For that, you need a U-beam. Put simply, that’s a massive girder that makes your desk about as wobbly as your average mountain.

That’s the support method we choose for Stockholm.

• Tighter tolerances: Lets talk legs. In order for your desk to raise and lower through its full height range, the legs need to be able to extend and retract. We (and pretty much every other) desk company achieves that by making the legs (or masts) telescopic. Each leg comprises three sections of reducing diameter, which glide out of each other as the leg extends, and retract back as the work surface lowers.

In some ways, the masts are the most crucial part of the entire product, and they’re absolutely critical to stability. The issue lies in achieving that glide. Make each leg section too tight a fit, and it either won’t move at all, or it’ll place so much stress on the motor that you’ll burn it out in minutes. But if you make each leg section too lax, you’ll invite your workstation to become wobblier than your average bouncy castle.

Most desk makers address this problem by using a ‘one size fits all’ plastic insert that sits between each section of the leg and enables them to move smoothly. In most desks, tolerances are tight, as low as 1mm (although some are a little higher than that). But when we’re talking desk wobble, even 1mm can be too much. Set your desk to its maximum height and a 1mm tolerance will mean just a little bounce here, just a little wobble there. And just a little is too much.

FRISKA Stockholm doesn’t do one size fits all. Our inserts are tailored to each leg, which means we can work to tolerances of a fraction of a millimetre. That leaves enough room for the motor to serenely raise the worktop through its full height adjustment range, but no room for wobble to creep in.

• More fix points: It’s only a simple thing, but we made sure the frame attaches to the top at more points, reducing the risk of bounce and vibration.

• Sturdier fix points: Have you ever self-assembled a piece of furniture from one of the major retail park giants? Typically, when you’re screwing fixings into the worktop/desk/shelf etc, the metal screw will fix into a pre-drilled hole. Over time and with repeated use, there’s a chance the metal fixings will gradually widen the wooden hole. That’s when you find the item you build starts to get a bit rickety.

You’ll find the same approach applies to lots of our competitors, but not to us. Inside each desktop fixing hole you’ll find a metal insert designed to give each screw a tight, uncompromising and never-changing housing. So your desk stays sound.

• Chunkier fixings: Each screw and bolt are a millimetre or two thicker than most of FRISKA’s competitors. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you secure each part to the next with heftier ironmongery, you get a sturdier end result.

What else makes Stockholm the best?

If you think we’re rather obsessive about stability, you should the effort we take in every other element of our desks.

Weight capacity: Even our smallest offering, the Stockholm Micro, has a lifting capacity of 120kg. That’s enough for just about anything you’d ever reasonably load onto your desk. Our Extra Heavy Duty has an even greater weight capacity of up to 160kg (comfortably enough to carry multiple monitors, CPUs, printers and more). That puts it among the very best in its class.

Height range: Our Stockholm desks have a height range of 620-1300mm (625-1300mm in the case of the Stockholm Corner). If you’re of average (whatever that is) height, you’ll find the height adjustment limits of most desks will fit your frame. It’s if you stand a little taller or shorter than average that the limits matter. Stockholm raises higher and lowers lower than most comparable desks.

Bluetooth adjustment: We supply every Stockholm with an under-desk control box to enable you to switch from sitting to standing with quick, simple electric height adjustment. For many of our users, that will be all you ever need.

But what if you work from home? What if you’re not the only person who lives at your home? What if inquisitive fingers (or paws) have a habit of fiddling with things?

That’s why we introduced Bluetooth control. At time of writing, we’re the only European desk manufacturer that enables you to alter your desk’s height by app as standard. That means you can not only raise and lower your desk using your phone, but two memory positions enable you to return the desk to your perfect sitting or standing height with one press.

Note: Each Stockholm is supplied with Bluetooth and manual controls. It’s entirely your choice as to whether you install and use one or both.

Speed: You don’t need your desk to move at lightspeed. Then again, you don’t want to be looking at your watch and tapping your foot while sluggishly rises and lowers. Every Stockholm desk is powered by a dual motor lifting system (apart from the Corner Desk which has three) which enables them to move at 42mm per second. It means your desk glides upwards with a smooth urgency without ever feeling panicky.

Noise: We’re not going to pretend our competitors’ products are so noisy that you need to put on your ear defenders before you raise and lower them. But even small noises matter, as you’ll know if you’ve ever found yourself wandering around the house wondering where the hell that squeak/beep/rattle is coming from.

Every Stockholm raises and lowers at an officially whisper-quiet 38dB (that’s according to the American Academy of Audiology (AAOA)). Many of our competitors’ products are also quiet, but they’re not quite as quiet as a FRISKA. 50dB, the level quoted by several other manufacturers, is about as loud as moderate rainfall (according to the AAOA).

That may not leave you screaming across the room to make yourself heard over the din of your desk, but it could just be enough to prove an irritant to those around you, especially if you switch between sitting and standing with a degree of frequency.

Greater customisability: We created the FRISKA range to ensure there really is something for everyone, whatever their size, shape and preference. Yet what if you want more? From solid wood to bespoke sizes, discover more ways to tailor your Stockholm to create a more ergonomic desk.

Choose your size: You have lots of standard desktop size options to choose from so you can create the desk space that’s a perfect match for your needs and the room.

Choose your finish: You’ll find every Stockholm comes with a wide range of frame and desktop finishes to complement your home office décor. Most Stockholms offer four frame colours and 18 desktop options (only the Signature does its own distinctive thing – not for nothing is it called the Signature).

Choose your accessories: Cable slots. Lockable drawers if you need a little built-in storage. Monitor arms. Castors. Add only the elements you need so you’re not paying for accessories you never touch.

Ultimate FRISKAs: What if we took a Stockholm frame and paired it with a natural wood desktop? Or a reclaimed wood, vintage work surface? Or a surface so clever it could heal itself from scratches? They’re called Ultimate for a reason…

Infinite customisations: 18 finish options not enough? Name it, and we can (almost certainly) deliver it. So if you’ve always wanted a desk and frame to match your corporate branding or your favourite team colours, now you can.

And if you want a desktop that’s bigger than our current biggest? Challenge us—just ask.

Specifications quick guide

Use the following table as a quick guide to the complete Stockholm range. For more details, please see individual product descriptions.

 

Stockholm		Stockholm Signature		Stockholm Extra Heavy Duty
Motors	2	Motors	2	Motors	2
Speed	42mm/sec	Speed	42mm/sec	Speed	42mm/sec
Noise	38dBA	Noise	38dBA	Noise	38dBA
Max load (inc desktop)	120kg	Max load (inc desktop)	120kg	Max load (inc desktop)	160kg
Height range to work surface (+/- 5mm)	620-1300mm	Height range to work surface (+/- 5mm)	620-1300mm	Height range to work surface (+/- 5mm)	620-1300mm
Collison protection	✔	Collison protection	✔	Collison protection	✔
Overload protection	✔	Overload protection	✔	Overload protection	✔
Total desk weight	Frame: 33kg Desktop: 20-25kg	Total desk weight	Frame: 31kg Desktop: 20-25kg	Total desk weight	Frame: 33kg Desktop: 20-25kg
Corner		Micro
Motors	3	Motors	2
Speed	42mm/sec	Speed	42mm/sec
Noise	38dBA	Noise	38dBA
Max load (inc desktop)	160kg	Max load (inc desktop)	120kg
Height range to work surface (+/- 5mm)	625-1300mm	Height range to work surface (+/- 5mm)	620-1300mm
Collison protection	✔	Collison protection	✔
Overload protection	✔	Overload protection	✔
Total desk weight	Frame: 45kg Desktop: 25-35kg	Total desk weight	Frame: 26kg Desktop: 15kg

 

The world’s best standing desks?

There isn’t actually an award for the world’s best standing desks. If there was, we’d like to think we’d be in with a very decent shout, because we have won lots of other awards.

The BUILD 2022 Home & Garden Awards named us the Best Standing Desk Supplier – Europe. SME News UK Enterprise Awards gave us three awards in two years, including the Standing Desk eTailer of the Year 2022. And Corporate LiveWire made us their UK Standing Desk Retailer of the Year.

There’s more, including a Best Designer Desk Award from GQ. You can find all our accolades here.

Much as we love a shiny award, though, it’s the feedback we get from our customers that really makes the heart sing. 89% of our Trustpilot reviews are 5* (and all but two of the rest are 4*). On Google, we’ve had nothing but 5* reviews for years.

Although the reviews cover everything we do, because our most popular desks are in the Stockholm range, the majority of reviews relate to Stockholm. We’re also extremely grateful for the fact that, as much as the sturdiness and quality of our desks comes across strongly, the level of service we offer is just as prominent a feature. Here’s just a tiny sample of recent reviews, all from verified buyers.

“Amazing build quality. Everything feels really well made by far the most stable standing desks I've used. Customer service is great.”

“Absolutely love my new corner Stockholm desk. It is incredibly sturdy and of an exceptional high quality.”

“After having used the Stockholm desk for just over a month I can confidently say that this is the best desk I have ever had the pleasure of using.”

Find all our Google reviews here.

Finally, there are the professional in-depth reviews. To be clear, we haven’t paid for any of these because doing that always feels a little bit ick. So whether you’re reading our TechRadar review (“Customizable glamour on a budget”) or watching this video comparing Stockholm stability with that of the Fully Jarvis, you’ll know these are 100% genuine and independent. We’ll quote just a little of the video, just because it makes us happy:

“An amazing desk which I'm really happy with. For almost the same price as the Fully Jarvis what you get is of much better quality. The frame is better and the choice of desktops is far superior…”

Is Stockholm a budget standing desk?

We’ll let the lovely people at TechRadar cover that one for us…

“If you're in the market for a standing desk, chances are you may have had a look around stores such as Ikea to find yourself a cheap deal, which certainly isn't a bad idea if you're on a tight budget. If you're looking for an altogether more premium, customizable offering though then there's another Swedish desk manufacturer that should be on your radar.”

TechRadar sums that up rather nicely. If you’re looking for the best budget standing desk, you’ll find we’re not the cheapest, although we’re far from the most expensive either. We set out with the goal of being the best overall standing desk at the best value. Not cheap (in all senses of the word). But definitely fair, as TechRadar notes:

“Everything feels fairly priced despite the configurations available, which makes this a fantastic desk for those on a tighter budget who want to match their office furniture to your home environment.”

We took a long time to perfect Stockholm. It feels premium. It looks prestige. It certainly performs the way you might expect a much more expensive desk to perform. Sit (or stand) it next to a Jarvis desk or an EZ Desk Air and we believe it’ll take you about 30 seconds to notice the difference.

Crucially, we set out to make the best workstations we could, and then worked out how to sell them for the best prices. We didn’t set out with the goal of creating a ‘prices-powered’ desk, because when you aim to make a cheap desk, you end up with a cheap desk.

Is a Stockholm easy to assemble?

Yes, if you’ve any sort of furniture assembly experience you’ll find it fairly straightforward to build your FRISKA. And if you don’t fancy tackling the assembly process yourself, just ask. We can do it for you.

Stockholm is sustainable

It’s not just the fact that our frames use 30% recycled steel. Nor is it down to the FSC-certified wood we use in all our Stockholm desktops.

What really makes the difference is that our motorized standing desks don’t travel far in the manufacture. Wood from Wales. Frames from Sweden. Steel for the frames from Ukraine. Virtually everything that goes into a Stockholm desk comes from Europe. Now, compare that to the other desks you’ve been looking at.

Most top standing desks (and pretty much all of the lesser ones) source components and materials from further afield. And the further they travel, the bigger their carbon footprint.

That’s one of the reasons we don’t do a bamboo standing desk. Yes, bamboo is stonkingly sustainable. It grows in five minutes. But most of it comes from China. In the Jarvis bamboo standing desk, for example, the metals, motors and loads of other bits and bobs come from China too.

A desk that has to travel halfway round the world to get to you isn’t very sustainable.

What’s FSC-certified? All the timber in our Stockholm desks comes from trees grown in FSC-certified forests in Wales. Certification means the forests are environmentally, socially and economically managed in a range of ways from protecting biodiversity and workers’ rights to long-term stewardship of the land.

FRISKA. Just right.

Here’s a Swedish word you may not be familiar with: lagom. It means ‘just right’ or ‘just so’. Lagom describes our approach to creating the best standing desks, so they have everything you need to make work a pleasure, but without silly bells and whistles that add nothing to your experience, only the price.

Lagom also describes the attitude of the people who choose FRISKA. They know that one way to work more healthily would be to hit the gym at lunchtime or do a few laps/lengths of the track or pool. Then again, they could simply opt for less prolonged sitting, because sitting for long periods does no one any good. Instead, they’re incorporating standing into their routine, combining sitting and standing to a personal mix that feels… just right.

Find your FRISKA

Find your perfect FRISKA now. For today’s best deals, check our homepage – you’ll usually find a little added extra to tempt you. Then, once you’ve explored the range, if you’d like some expert advice or need a question answering, give us a call, drop us a line or use the live chat at the bottom right of this page. Refreshingly, it really is live, and your request really will be answered by actual human beings.

We look forward to helping you discover just how much more productive (and healthier) your working day could be.