Secretlab Magnus desk review: Metal, magnets, and magnificent cable management

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Cardinal

Where is at that place to go after you've created some of the all-time gaming chairs on the market place? For Secretlab, it's with a new desk called the Magnus. And just as Secretlab'due south chairs aren't your standard role fare, the Magnus isn't your average desk.

Secretlab says information technology congenital the Magnus not only to complement its chairs, merely also to offer up a unique, premium desk that addresses a lot of pain points. To that end, the visitor went with a metallic desk with a huge focus on making cable management woes a thing of the by. The other do good to that metal design? An ecosystem of magnetic accessories that help wrangle cables, give you a place to hang your headphones, and, aye, add together some RGB love to the setup.

The result is an extremely intriguing desk-bound that makes a bold argument. But is it worth dropping $450 on, and even more once you cistron in those magnetic accessories? Read on to observe out.

Secretlab Magnus Reco Gaming Desk

Secretlab Magnus Desk

Bottom line: The Secretlab Magnus is a dream for cablevision management. The durable structure and unique magnetic accessory ecosystem make it a great choice if you tin can swing the price.

The Good

Ridiculously good cablevision management
Incredible magnetic accessory ecosystem
Fast, easy assembly
As durable equally yous tin can get

The Bad

Very heavy
Express sizes
Can get pricey fast

Secretlab Magnus: Price and availability

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Central

The Secretlab Magnus is available now for $500 through Secretlab's website. That price includes the desk, along with a magnetic leatherette mat that you lot can place over the desk'southward surface. Where things become interesting is with the accessory ecosystem, which tin add together significantly to the price depending on how yous desire to customize your desk-bound.

You can purchase special edition leatherette mats for $99, while additional Stealth and Signature Edition mats run $79. A gear up of magnetic cable anchors costs $xix, while magnetic cablevision sheaths and cable fastening straps run $29 and $thirteen, respectively. Finally, at that place's the magnetic RGB lite strip, which comes in at $59.

There's also a dedicated cable management parcel that includes magnetic cable anchors, cable fastening straps, and magnetic cablevision sheaths for $44.

Secretlab Magnus: What's adept

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Central

With the rising popularity of "gamer" chairs in recent years, there has also been a ascension in desks that are specifically targeted at the PC gaming oversupply. However, what much of the manufacture bills as a "gamer" desk-bound involves loud colors and, much of the fourth dimension, cheap construction. With the Magnus, Secretlab has brought its legacy of creating premium gaming seats to the desk space with a design that feels solid and is absent-minded of in-your-face design flourishes.

In short, the Magnus is relatively unproblematic, but incredibly functional. It's decked out in a about all-black colour scheme that, combined with its low profile, looks quite stealthy. That low-profile is for a reason, too: Secretlab designed the Magnus to complement its 2022 Series gaming chairs, offer the right height and clearance to allow y'all to easily slide up to the desk, recline, and more without bumping into it.

Aside from the mostly black color, you'll notice pocket-sized blood-red accents scattered throughout. The legs characteristic a sparse, metallic red line where they slide into the table superlative. There's likewise ruby-red stitching around the magnetic leatherette desk matt. The only areas that stray away from this color combination are the muted gold Magnus and Secretlab logos that are stitched into the right and left sides of the desk mat.

The Secretlab Magnus is simple, but incredibly functional.

Despite its subtle design, the Magnus hides abroad some intriguing secrets that are a please to utilize. The most prominent is the cablevision management system at the dorsum of the desk. It'south subconscious under a metal slice that extends the length of the desk-bound and rotates to let easy access to a power strip for anything sitting on top of your desk.

What's more, the metal cover is angled on the side that faces you, cleverly leaving a gap large enough to slide cables through. It's one of the more than elegant cable direction solutions I've seen on a desk, and it's certainly more useful than the drilled holes y'all'll find in most other desks. Once you're finished plugging something in, you rotate the cover back downward and everything is hidden from view.

Considering the surface and legs of the desk are fabricated out of metal, the whole thing is magnetic. This is where the magnetic accessories come up in, allowing y'all to customize your cablevision management even more. My favorite of these has been the magnetic cable anchors, which keep an incredibly firm grip on the desk's surface and expect slap-up in their metal red sheen.

If y'all're someone who prefers their PC sitting on the floor, the accessories come up in handy there, too. You can selection upwards a set of magnetic cable sheaths that snap to the desk'due south legs. Only road your cables up the legs to the power strip in the cable management tray, and the cable sheaths volition hibernate them from view.

Again, it's an elegant system that makes it much easier to make any desk setup look as clean as y'all want. If you opt for a wireless keyboard and mouse, you lot can effectively hibernate every cablevision except for the power strip cable running to your power outlet. Fifty-fifty then, I'm sure there's a way to make sure even that is hidden from view that I haven't discovered notwithstanding.

One time you're ready up, you can snag a defended magnetic RGB light strip to run underneath the back of the desk-bound. Once in identify, it projects asea of colors against the comprehend for the cable management space and the wall backside your desk. It looks really good if you'r're in to RGB lighting, and an included remote lets you easily bicycle between different furnishings and colors.

What's clear is that this is just the get-go for these accessories. Secretlab is already prototyping a magnetic headphone hook that you lot can identify anywhere yous want around the desk-bound's edge. The ease of being able to simply reposition things similar cable anchors and a headphone claw at any time, without messing with double-sided record or annihilation that would get out a residue, makes this setup incredibly versatile.

And so there's the construction of the desk itself. In general, the frame of the desk-bound, including the legs, is made from an incredibly sturdy steel structure that Secretlab rates equally able to support loads of up to 220 pounds. The desktop is a steel surface wrapped effectually a durable medium density fiberboard that feels like it will hold upwards over the long booty.

Finally, in that location's the associates. In brusk, information technology's super elementary; all of the parts are conspicuously labeled and the instructions are easy to follow. It took me around thirty minutes to put together, merely I probably could have shaved that down a bit more if I wasn't inspecting every part equally I slid it out of the box.

Secretlab Magnus: What'due south non expert

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Central

As good equally the Magnus is, there are some caveats to be aware of if you're shopping effectually for your next desk. The Magnus has been in development for years with lots of refinement forth the way, but it's all the same a offset-gen product. As with the first of anything, there's always room for improvement.

The first thing to be enlightened of is that this affair is heavy. That should be obvious for something that's largely constructed of steel, but it's something to go on in mind if you lot frequently move your desk around. For the 59-inch model that'southward bachelor now, you're looking at 92 pounds for the desk-bound itself, and 117 pounds when in the packaging. The smaller 47-inch model, due out later, still weighs 77 pounds when put together and 92.half-dozen pounds in the packaging.

Another modest gripe is that the Magnus may non be for you if you lot require a ton of desk infinite. It certainly isn't small, and information technology gives yous aplenty room for multi-monitor setups or mounting monitor arms, but the convenience of the cable management tray too eats away around 5 inches of depth. That leaves yous with around 23 inches of depth for usable desk space, which immediately felt a fleck cramped coming from my usual standing desk that runs thirty inches deep.

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Central

Personally, afterwards getting used to the more limited depth, I find the ease of the cable direction tray to be worth the lost desk space, just it may non be for everyone. Likewise, as someone who doesn't motion their desk around a lot, the weight hasn't been an issue outside of lugging the box up my stairs. Nevertheless, you may want to take a back brace handy for that chore.

Finally, there's the lack of a standing desk option. I realize this may not be realistic given the added weight from the steel. All the same, a standing desk-bound that combined the magnetic accessory ecosystem with the cable management chops offered past the Magnus would be a dream scenario.

Secretlab Magnus: Contest

Flexispot E6 Hero Source: Windows Fundamental

When it comes to what ane might call a "gaming desk," in that location isn't a lot in the space that competes with the Secretlab Magnus in terms of quality, looks, or versatility. However, if you want to relieve some money, the Eureka Z2 gaming desk goes for a more aggressive tone and colour scheme for about $230. All the same, yous'll miss out on the elegant cable management and accessory ecosystem offered past the Magnus.

Another choice that sits at the same cost range every bit the Magnus is the Arozzi Arena Gaming Desk-bound, which more often than not sticks to a simple black color scheme with bolder, bigger sections of red. You'll get a full-desk mouse mat with Arozzi's option, though it opts for a mesh net for cablevision direction underneath the desk-bound.

If you'd like to skip the "gamer" moniker birthday and go for a standing desk, and so things open up upwardly a bit more. The Autonomous Continuing Desk is an splendid option, though you may find cable management to exist a little more finicky than the Magnus. The FlexiSpot E6 is also one of our favorite standing desks, and it includes an easy-to-use cable direction track to boot.

Secretlab Magnus: Should you lot buy information technology?

Secretlab Magnus Desk Source: Dan Thorp-Lancaster / Windows Primal

You should buy this if ...

Cable management is your top priority
Yous love the idea of magnetic accessories
You desire a durable, simply slim, desk
You desire a hint of RGB aesthetics

You shouldn't purchase this if...

You prefer a standing desk
You lot crave a very large desk
Black isn't your style

For anyone who is already a fan of Secretlab's gaming seats, y'all're likely to love the Magnus desk. Fifty-fifty if you lot haven't tried one of the company's chairs before, the Magnus desk-bound makes a great, depression-profile space to get piece of work done and dive into game night. If yous desire something other than black, demand a much larger desk, or adopt the variety of standing desks out at that place, then yous may be ameliorate served elsewhere.

As someone who has struggled with cablevision management in all of my setups over the years, the Magnus has made information technology dead elementary to become an ultra-clean look. It's too a make clean, subtle desk that doesn't scream "gamer" with flashy designs, which is something many volition appreciate. All-time of all, the Magnus' construction feels similar it's built for the long haul.

Most of all, I'thousand intrigued past this as a first-gen product. It volition be interesting to come across how Secretlab expands the magnetic accessory ecosystem down the route. I'grand already looking forward to what the next development of the Magnus may have in shop.

Secretlab Magnus Reco Gaming Desk

Secretlab Magnus Desk

Bottom line: The Secretlab Magnus is the perfect complement to Secretlab's chairs. It's durable, has great cable direction, and its unique magnetic accessories brand it stand out from the crowd.

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