MultiTable Mod-E Pro Electric L-Shaped Standing Desk Review

February 8, 2023

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mod-e pro electric l-shaped desk

Overview

Review Summary

A slap-dash entry to fill out Multitable’s line of Asian-made standing desks, the Mod-E Pro L-Desk is as minimal an offering as you can find. Very limited desktop colors, only one base color, and ostensibly only four standard sizes (albeit you can only order the smallest size online), with weak motors and challenging assembly make this one a very questionable candidate for any serious L-shaped standing desk buyer.

MSRP / List Price

$1,398

Street Price Scan for available discount deals
Shipping

Included, ships in one week

Warranty

7 years on mechanical parts. Desktops not covered.

Lift Type

Triple electric motors

Transit Speed

1.4 inches per second

Controller

Simple digital controller with three programmable height settings

Sizes Available

Small Desk Top: 24” X 40“ X 3/4”
Medium Desk Top: 24” X 48“ X 3/4”
Large Desk Top: 29” X 57“ X 3/4”
Extra Large Desk Top: 29” X 72“ X 3/4”
Custom Desk Tops: Min. 24” X 47” X 3/4” – Max. 36” X 84” X 3/4″

Colors Available

Black, White, Espresso, Fusion Maple, Natural Pear

Adjustment Range

Height range: 21.6″-47.7”

Typical Assembly Time

90 minutes

ANSI/BIFMA Certified

No

NEAT™ Certified by Mayo Clinic

No

Competition Compare to Other Sit-Stand L-Desks and Corner Desks
Where to buy Buy on Amazon

Rating

Stability
3.5
Reliability
3.0
Customer Experience
1.0
Quality and Aesthetics
2.0
Ergonomics
2.5
Innovation
1.5
Value
2.5
Positives As cheap and simple as it gets. Few choices in colors and sizes make this one for people who suffer from "the paradox of choice" and may be budget constrained.
Negatives HPL tops are only ¾” thick, where most of the competition offers 1” to 1.25” thick tops. Asian-made base, not known for being of the highest quality. Difficult assembly. Weak motors are slow (1.4"/sec) and light duty (330 lbs).

Bottom Line

2.5
In a word, minimalist. Few sizes, few desktop colors, only one base color, weak and slow motors, and difficult assembly make this yesteryear design a bargain basement option for an L-shaped standing desk. For the money, you could do better. But the fact that Multitable's website doesn't even allow you to select anything but the smallest size desk earns toe Mod-E Pro L-shaped Standing Desk a 1-star rating for customer experience.

[Editors Note March 1, 2021: MultiTable may be the latest casualty of Covid-19, or at least that’s the messaging on their website as of today. Before we add a vendor to the Office Fitness Dead Pool we check a bunch of vital signs. Almost all items on the site are marked as “out of inventory” and unorderable, excepting some replacement parts. Website traffic is zero. As far as we can tell Multitable is no longer running ads. Truth is the company has been in a slide for several years, Covid-19 may just have been the final nail in its coffin as the pandemic’s impact on the ergonomic office furniture industry continues to take its toll. We leave this original review in place for posterity but by all outward appearances this early player in the height adjustable desk industry is no longer in business, unless through its ecommerce site.]

Simple Yet Hard, at the Same Time

As L-shaped standing desks go the Multitable Mod-E Pro Electric L-Desk is as simple as they get. Not a lot of thought seems to have gone into this product, which often happens when a standing desk manufacturer decides to add a corner desk option to its line to satisfy its existing customers’ requests but doesn’t want to make the investment in engineering and inventory to make it truly competitive with others’ offerings.

For its simplicity and minimal performance it’s not even the least expensive L-desk we’ve reviewed in our round-up of all the L-shaped standing desks you can find online, and certainly more expensive than most any corner standing desk. (Learn about the differences between corner and L-desks.)

And yet, it’s a hard desk to buy and to assemble. For whatever reason the Multitable website only lets you configure it with the smallest of its four size offerings ($778), so after many months of trying we have given up trying to verify the prices of the larger sizes in order to complete our review. If you want to order a larger size you’ll need to order by phone. Decor options are also quite limited, with only five colors of TFL (same as HPL laminate) in desktops and a single color, silver, for the base.

Assembly of the Asian-manufactured base is quite involved as you can see in the Mod-E Pro’s installation manual. Two people and a good toolbox are recommended. Multitable is the only brand making L-desks with thin, 3/4″ tops so they’re relatively light to handle. Most competitors use tops that are at least 1″ thick, up to 1.5″ thick for increased desk stability and durability, but they are obviously heavier, too.

Minimal Performance

Quality standing desks will usually have a weight lift rating of 260 to 490 lbs. If you build a 3-legged desk then add another 50% lift power from the third leg. So that means most L-desks will range in the 390 to 785 lbs. In contrast, the Mod-E Pro’s low-cost motors only muster up a 330 lb lift rating, and that’s at a relatively slow 1.4 inches-per-second transit speed.

Giving us further pause is that Multitable specifically notes that this base does not have the structural integrity to handle caster wheels. When it comes to standing desks stability is a function first and foremost of the amount of steel used in the frame, feet and linear actuators.

The good news is an L-desk is inherently more stable than a two-legged desk so the light duty build of the Mod-E Pro so unless you have an inordinate amount of gear on top of your desk you shouldn’t worry too much about the load capacity.

Like its other Asian-made competitors (Fully, UpLift) Multitable offers a 7 year warranty on mechanical parts and no warranty on the desktops. To learn more about how imported versus domestically manufactured desks compare check out our primer on the difference between American-made and Asian-made standing desks. For more information on warranties, be sure to read our primer on How to Compare Warranties on Standing Desks.

The Takeaway

We’ve reviewed several other models of Multitable’s standing desks (e.g. ModTable Crank-Type Stand Up Desk and ModTable Powered Stand Up Desk) in our lab over the years and even have a few around the office that still work well. But we have to say that the company hasn’t been at the leading edge of the industry for a few years now, and unfortunately this L-desk entrant is a bit disappointing.

To learn about other options that might suit your needs better, offer a lot more choice in size and color combinations, and be easier to assemble check out our comprehensive round-up of standing l-desk reviews and corner standing desk reviews.

Many standing desks and converters come with grommets for some added convenience. Check out our article on grommet holes for everything you need to know about the different ways to use them to enhance your workstation, what to look for in your grommet holes, and where to find the desks with the best ones.

After you buy a standing desk or treadmill, you might also need to get rid of your old office furniture. So, make sure to read our primer on the best ways to get rid of your old desk or treadmill.

Add ons and accessories for ergonomic workstations standing desks treadmill desks converters

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