Secretlab’s superb Magnus Pro desk solved my cable management woes

I hate cable management.

It’s one of my least favourite parts of tech. Plus, I generally subscribe to the idea of “out of sight, out of mind” when it comes to cables, so my cable management strategy of choice is typically to jam them all behind my desk so I can’t see them and hope I never need to untangle the mess.

Unfortunately, that’s not a great strategy. Secretlab has a better idea: a dedicated cable trough. That’s what caught my eye with the company’s Magnus Pro standing desk, and it became one of my favourite features when Secretlab sent me a Magnus Pro to test out.

But beyond a tray to keep my cables in, the Magnus Pro offers a ton of other great features that make it the ultimate desk for any PC enthusiast. There are also a ton of accessories that allow you to elevate the Magnus Pro, from magnetic cable management add-ons enabled by the desk’s all-metal construction to cool lighting options and even an option to mount a PC tower under the desk.

Of course, all of this comes at a pretty hefty cost. The base desk with no accessories will run you about $1,000 in Canada, with prices climbing as high as $2,000 or more, depending on which accessories you choose to add. That price tag certainly makes the Magnus Pro a premium option, but after my time with it, I think it’s a worthwhile purchase if you’ve got the money for it.

Easy assembly, but you’ll need a friend

Secretlab sent me the smaller Magnus Pro (150x70cm), but there’s an XL version (177x80cm) available for those who need more space. They also sent several add-ons for me to test, including a dual monitor mount, PC tower mount, cable management bundle, and more. It all came spread across several massive boxes — I ended up needing to help the delivery person carry it all into my house.

That actually is a bit of a theme with the assembly. The Magnus Pro is quite heavy, and while I was able to do the bulk of the assembly alone, I also called upon my wife to lend a hand for a few steps.

There’s a ton of packaging, for better and worse. All the foam helps to protect the components, and there are several large, high-quality instruction pamphlets that guide you through the various assembly steps. That said, all the packaging isn’t great for sustainability.

The assembly process is mostly a matter of connecting the legs to the underside of the desk and making sure all the cables are properly connected. I’d also recommend that anyone who gets the PC tower mount attach it while the desk is upside down, as it’s much easier than doing it after the rest of the assembly is done. (The PC tower mount attaches to part of the desk’s leg, allowing the tower to move up and down with the desk.)

Surprisingly, some of the accessories proved hardest to install. Most accessories, like the magnetic headphone rest and the monitor arms, were really easy. But the leatherette ‘MagPad’ accessory, which is a desk-sized magnetic mat that protects the desk, gave me the most trouble. The MagPad arrived rolled up in a tube, and the install process sounds simple on paper — just line up one edge and unroll it. But when I did that, it didn’t align properly with the edges of my desk and adjusting it to realign it with the edges was a pain because of the magnets. Plus, you need to slide these metal edges onto the MagPad, and getting those lined up properly was also frustrating.

Cable management solved

 

Once the desk was assembled and positioned — I spent a weekend reorganizing my home office to make room for this desk — the fun began. Migrating my PC setup to the Magnus Pro was a breeze, thanks in part to the fantastic cable management solutions.

Out of the box, the Magnus Pro sports a trough along the back edge of the desk to store cables. Moreover, there’s an outlet on the left edge of the trough, allowing you to plug in a power bar that can live in the cable storage area. That’s probably the single smartest feature Secretlab included in the desk. Every other standing desk I tried had the same core problem: you need enough slack in your cables to reach your power source when the desk is standing, which means you have way too much slack when the desk is lowered for sitting. It makes for a total mess of cables hanging down the back of the desk.

Not so with the Magnus Pro. All the cables run neatly into the trough, and you don’t need extra slack to make sure it’ll reach your outlet. Plus, once everything is set up, you can close the lid of the trough, hiding the mess of cables. Out of sight, out of mind.

Secretlab also sent me the cable management add-on, which includes some magnetic accessories for cables. The kit includes two long metal brackets that attach to the legs via magnets for any cables you do need to run down to the floor. If you use ethernet for your internet connection, you can get a retractable ethernet cable add-on, which can help keep the setup looking cleaner.

Along with the brackets, the cable management accessory included small, red magnets that can hold a cable or two, which is great for managing the occasional cable that needs to live on the desk. For example, I use one to hold the USB-C cable that I connect my laptop to my dock for power and an external display.

The Magnus Pro also came with tons of velcro cable ties, which are super helpful for keeping things tidy. Plus, if you get the Secretlab monitor arms, those also include magnetic cable holders. Altogether, the Magnus Pro is the ultimate solution for cable management, whether you want to meticulously route every cable, or if you just want somewhere out of sight to hide the rat’s nest of copper.

But is it a good desk?

On paper, the Magnus Pro has a lot going for it, but the important question is does it all make for a great desk? After several weeks of using it multiple hours each day for work and play, the answer is a confident yes.

The Magnus Pro is a fantastic desk overall. The standing functions are superb, with fluid, smooth motion and the ability to set up to three height presets. I also love that there’s a switch to toggle the desk on and off. It’s a small detail, but it’s helpful for me with a toddler running around who loves to push buttons, especially those that are right at her eye level. (It also prevents accidental button presses, which is extra handy because the Magnus Pro uses touch buttons instead of actual buttons.)

Further, the desk feels very solid. Some other standing desks I’ve tried can feel extremely wobbly, especially when raised to standing height. But the Magnus Pro feels rock solid for me, even on my house’s weirdly uneven floors.

I’m also a huge fan of the desk using metal. It makes anything magnetic — beyond Secretlab’s accessories — an excellent companion to the desk, and sometimes in unexpected ways. For example, I’ve been testing some Boox e-readers lately, most of which have magnetic cases, and these also stick to the metal desk. Other tech products, like iPads, also stick. Basically, anything with a magnet in it sticks to the desk to some degree.

For all the things I love about the desk, there are some small criticisms I have. First, I have mixed feelings about the leatherette MagPad. It looks great and it protects the top of the desk, but that’s about all I can say for it. Aside from the tricky installation, my main issue is that it’s not a great mousepad. To be fair, Secretlab didn’t say that it was a mousepad; I just assumed it’d fill that role. However, once I got it installed, I tried moving my mouse around on it and really wasn’t satisfied with how it felt — it was too grippy — so I ended up putting my mousepad on top of the MagPad. Secretlab does offer a microsuede version of the MagPad, which might be better for a mouse, but I haven’t tried it.

I also found the cable management magnets to be an imperfect solution. They’re overall really good, but there’s a small problem with them I wish Secretlab had thought about: cable retraction. I use the magnetic cable holders to, well, hold cables I need occasionally. However, when I’m not using those cables, I’d love if the cables could retract somehow so that they don’t clutter up the top of the desk.

I thought that maybe if I stuck the cable holders to the edge of the desk, gravity might solve the problem for me, but unfortunately, the left and right edges of the desk aren’t fully metal, and the magnets don’t stick well. Same with the underside of the desk, though the front and rear edges are metal. Still, even with the magnets placed there, gravity generally wasn’t enough to help my cables retract. Maybe I could add some weights to the cables to help them fall back into the trough when not in use, but for the time being, I’ve lived with having a few exposed cables.

Finally, there are a few caveats with other aspects of the desk I feel must be pointed out, though they aren’t necessarily problems. For starters, it’s worth pointing out that if you go with the black desk colour, you’ll want to invest in a good duster. I swear the desk attracts dust because I’m constantly dusting it.

I also want to note that for taller individuals like myself, you might find Secretlab’s otherwise excellent monitor arms a bit too short. The monitor arms are truly fantastic and work great, but the maximum height is about 5cm lower than I’d like. You don’t necessarily need to use the Secretlab monitor arms and you could swap them out other monitor mounts, you’ll just need to make sure there’s clearance in the cable trough at the back of the desk.

Finally, if you get the PC mount accessory, you’ll want to do a lot of measuring to make sure it’ll work for your setup. I’d recommend getting the PC mount as it lets you keep the PC tower under the desk, but you can run cables directly into the desk to keep things neat. It’s truly fantastic, but you’ll need to make sure everything will fit. The PC mount works with towers between 354 and 543mm tall, 170 to 300mm wide, and weighing up to 25kg (55lbs).

My old PC tower wouldn’t work with it as the case has an angled top edge, but the Asus G700 tower I’ve been reviewing does work with the tower mount. However, the G700 is on the upper end of the height range. The height of the tower is important not just for mount compatibility, but because it will also determine the minimum height you can set the desk at. For example, with the 48cm G700 (51cm with the feet, which hang lower than the bottom of the mount), the minimum desk height I can use is 69cm (heh, nice). That just so happens to be the perfect height for me when sitting. Still, it’s something to keep in mind for anyone wanting to mount their PC tower — do some research to make sure your tower height won’t prevent you from lowering the desk to the right height.

Worth the money?

If you can swing the higher cost for the Secretlab desk, I think it’s absolutely worth it. As I mentioned up top, the Magnus Pro will run you between $1,000 and $2,000, or possibly more, depending on which configuration and accessories you want to get. The nice thing is you don’t need to go all-in at once — you could start with just the desk and purchase new accessories for it down the line.

Overall, the Magnus Pro offers excellent quality and tons of features, making it a great all-around desk. It’s especially great for people who like to have a neat space and PC owners who don’t want to keep their tower on their desk.

The Magnus Pro is available on Secretlab’s website starting at $1,058.