Progressive Desk Economy Ryzer Standing Desk Review

February 10, 2022
  • First Look

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Overview

Review Summary

The Economy Ryzer standing desk from Progressive Desk is the very cheapest standing desk you can buy from a Canadian company. Though, to be fair, it’s entirely made in China; no part of it is Canadian-made. A single-stage, single motor affair, it is severely underpowered, with a 155 lbs lift capacity (minus the weight of the desktop you choose) and a glacially-slow 1-inch-per-second transit speed. You’ll do all the assembly yourself. The only good news is it comes with a comprehensive 15 year warranty, the best from any Canadian standing desk company, though the website is inconsistent on what is actually covered. You’ll likely be tapping it, though, given the poor component quality of this desk. And if you’re not of absolutely medium stature this desk may sit too high for you or be too low when you stand.

Best Use

Medium stature individuals on a very restricted budget.

MSRP / List Price

$555 CAD

Street Price Scan for available discount deals
Shipping

Free within Canada

Warranty

15 years

Lift Type

Single motor, single-stage

Transit Speed

1″/sec

Controller

Touch keypad with four memory presets.

Sizes Available

42″ x 30″
48″ x 30″
60″ x 30″

Colors Available

Tabletop: Soft white, warm white, gray oak, light ash, bamboo light matte, bamboo dark gloss, cinnamon, dark cherry, roasted walnut, ebony ash, ebony oak
Frame: Black, white, gray

Adjustment Range

Height range: 27.9″-47.6″ plus 1″ desktop

Weight Capacity

155 lbs (minus weight of the top)

Connectivity Features

No Bluetooth

ANSI/BIFMA Certified

No

NEAT™ Certified by Mayo Clinic

No

Competition

Compare to Other Canadian Standing Desks
Compare to All Top-Rated Standing Desks
Compare to Other Standing Desks Under $800

Where to buy Buy on Amazon
Positives It's the cheapest desk you can buy from a Canadian standing desk company (although it's entirely made in China). Warranty is better than most other Canadian sellers offer. A few more colors and sizes of desktops being offered than some of their Canadian competitors, though that isn't saying much compared to the typical selection from American brands.
Negatives The single-motor, single-stage frame supports a minimal load of 155 pounds (minus the weight of the tabletop you opt for). It does not offer the adjustable-height range to accommodate short users seated or tall users standing. Very cheap quality HPL-laminated MDF desktops.

Bottom Line

The Economy Ryzer standing desk by Progressive Desk as its name suggests, is a bottom-tier adjustable-height desk option. It's single-motor, single-stage base design offers an absolutely minimal load capacity and a glacially slow 1" per second transit speed. It will only work for people of medium stature. The cheap commodity-grade MDF laminate desktop surface is of similarly low quality. Ironically, this cheapest standing desk from a Canadian company does come with one of the better Canadian warranties (just avoid the bamboo tops which are effectively carved out of the warranty) with 15 years of coverage, but you'll probably wind up using it due to the underpowered base.

This is a “first look” synopsis on the Economy Ryzer manufactured by Progressive Desk. A full review of their line of standing desks is coming soon.

Richmond, BC-based Progressive Desk, an offshoot of Arlington, WA, USA-based linear actuator components importer and integrator Progressive Automations (and a sister offshoot of Progressive Bed). Launched in 2019 as a desk manufacturer primarily focused on the Canadian market, Progressive Desk is actually a relatively unknown player in the US market. Their products appear to be the usual fare of commodity-grade Chinese imports, and they’ve had some alleged run-ins with intellectual property theft claimed by US- and European-based manufacturers, but they have a broad enough product line and customer history now to be considered one of the next-largest players in the Canadian market after market leader Ergonofis.

The Economy Ryzer standing desk by Progressive Desk as its simple name would suggest is a low-budget option within the adjustable-height desk category. There isn’t a single element from the design to the component make up of this desk which delivers an element of quality to the Canadian consumer. After a comprehensive sweep of all the standing desks sold by Canadian companies we can declare it is in fact the cheapest standing desk sold in Canada. In every sense of the word.

Starting with the single-motor, dual stage operating system, the desk offers the bare minimum within the category. The weight capacity is about 100 pounds after factoring in the weight of the desktop (learn more about Why Standing Desk Weight Ratings Matter), the transit speed of 1 inch-per-second is the second-slowest in the industry (in that statistic beaten out only by the Branch Standing Desk‘s 0.5 ips). Then there’s the height-adjustment range of the single-stage frame, which has a stroke of less than 20″ and short users will find as uncomfortable to sit at as tall users will find unergonomic and shaky to stand at.

Next, there is the cheap, commodity-grade desktop made of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) with high-pressure laminated top and bottom and color-matched PVC edge-banding; pretty basic, decades-old technology. Progressive Desk offers these tops in three sizes (42″ x 30″, 48″ x 30″, 60″ x 30″) and in 11 color finishes. To understand the variety of desktop surfaces used in modern standing desks read our primer.

Bamboo is among the options of desktop materials, but as we go into in great depth in our article on Bamboo Standing Desks – Separating Truth From Fiction in Environmental Claims it is a very poor material to make standing desk work surfaces from. This is evidenced by the complete carve-out for “natural bamboo material defects” in Progressive Desk’s warranty details. A) there’s no such thing as “natural” bamboo wood, an B) we know it has a strong tendency to delaminate. In other words, you’ll be buying a new desktop as soon as it does, out of your own pocket; so just avoid it.

Progressive Desk claims a very simple installation process for the Economy Ryzer; one that purportedly takes only “20 minutes.” While we haven’t lab tested this product yet, we’ve built plenty of other single-motor standing desks in the past, and have a hard time conceiving of putting one together in only 20 minutes. For certain you will want a second pair of hands to hold the opposite leg in place while you attach the connecting transmission rod. As a rule of thumb, the cheaper the desk, the more labor has been shifted to the customer. Expect to spend a good hour assembling this desk, and have a power screwdriver on hand to save time. You might want to bring a microscope to the assembly party to read the instruction manual.

Progressive’s website is full of inconsistencies, especially when it comes to warranty coverage. In most places, it states that its desks come with an “8-year warranty on the desktop, seven years on the dual-stage frame,” but on its main Warranty page, it states that as of July, 2021 it now offers a comprehensive 15 year warranty on all its desks, including desktops. That’s great in that they’re trying to be competitive with US brands like iMovR, UpLift and Fully as compared to their Canadian peers that offer much shorter warranties, but they have buried a few carve-outs into the fine print. (For this reason we always recommend checking out our article on How to Compare Warranties on Standing Desks before making a purchase.)

The company currently offers a 30-day trial period. For comparison reviews of the other Progressive Desk standing desk options, please see our individual product reviews of the V-Ryzer, Corner Ryzer and Solo Ryzer.

If you only need a tabletop for a DIY project or to replace a damaged top, Progressive Desk does sell them separately. Check out what our experts think in our report of their standalone desk tops.

Also, be sure to check out all our top-rated standing desk reviews, and if you are looking for something specifically Canadian, see our roundup of Canadian 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.

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