Herman Miller is a brand that places a lot of emphasis on the design of its products and we’ve recently reviewed some of its task and gaming chairs that are aesthetically eye-catching while remaining supremely practical.

The company makes three standing desks, including the Jarvis and Nevi, with its premium desk being the ratio. And when we reviewed it in our round-up earlier in the year it received a nine out of 10 rating – practically top marks.

We were impressed that the manufacturer had managed to avoid the bulk and weight that accompanies many standing desks, while still ending up with a product that felt very sturdy, even when it was raised to its maximum height, a lofty 125cm. In that review, we were able to test the quality of the materials used, in terms of the desktop and how well the desk raised and lowered throughout the day.

One of the issues that troubled our testers was the potential for a mechanical failure. In fact, it was why she had been put off active working in the past, as she didn’t want to be left with a malfunctioning work desk that was either stuck in one position or wasn’t able to move with her as her position changed.

The longer testing time available to us this time around allowed us to investigate its day-to-day performance even further. But it also meant that we could put the motorised performance of the desk under scrutiny, over time, and also see if any issues with the keypad controller developed.

How we tested

We decided to take a more in-depth look at the ratio, and we wanted to come at our review from two perspectives. Firstly, we were in a good position to judge how the table facilitated an active working day, where we were standing for as many work tasks as possible and trying to spend no longer than 30-45 minutes sat down before a period of standing. However, we also wanted to see how someone entirely new to active working got on with the table. Was it a revelation, or did it put them off working dynamically?

Herman Miller ratio sit-stand desk

Best: Standing desk for modernist office spaces

Motorised: No

Height range: 65cm to 125cm

Dimensions: 137cm x 80cm

Have we mentioned we’ve tested a lot of standing desks this year? That means we’ve spent many hours on our knees with a hex key in hand either muttering a manufacturer’s name in between expletives or being very impressed by clear, concise assembly instructions that actually translate to the many parts that have made it out of the box.

We’re pleased to report that our experience with the ratio was in the latter category with assembly taking just over 45 minutes, which isn’t bad for a desk this size that also contains plenty of moving parts.

How it looks

Herman Miller has been quite restrained in the design of the ratio, compared to some of its other products. The desk’s straight-line simplicity gives it a very clean look, that will be a good fit for a range of working backdrops but will work particularly well if you have your own designated working space at home.

You can tailor it to personal preference with a choice of three leg finishes (silver, chalk white and graphite) and four different melamine worktops (folkstone grey, chalk white, white halifax oak and natural walnut). Personally, we really liked the look of the wood sat atop the white frame.

In use

The dimensions of the desktop itself allow you room to really spread out at work. The width and depth can easily accommodate a laptop or a monitor keyboard set-up, with room to spare for a lamp, desktop paperwork and diaries, while still leaving space for personal effects.

Again, as with all the other desks that we’ve tested, we employed the cup of coffee test to see how practical the desktop was. We’re pleased to report that, even when we were working, the cup was never in danger of being knocked over and we weren’t constantly having to move it in order to accommodate our work day paper pushing.

The interface of the control box was clear and made it easy to raise and lower the desk, as well as perform all the other functions, like setting one of the four possible height pre-sets. We also tested the collision detection sensors by placing an object underneath the table as it lowered and it performed well throughout, always detecting the object and reversing its direction of travel by about 40mm so as to avoid a collision.

The desk’s all-important transition from sitting to standing was smooth, quiet and quick. Plus, the maximum height of 125cm was enough to accommodate an ergonomic working position for our experienced active worker who was over 6ft 2in.

At the upper reaches of the desk’s height, it remained very steady, the incredibly sturdy base and motorised legs providing a quiver-free working experience, even when we were leaning in on the table for reading and typing on a laptop.

And the seamless transition impressed both the practised active worker and the rookie with both concluding that it really takes the effort out of a working habit that for many people is still quite unfamiliar.

The verdict: Herman Miller ratio sit-stand desk

Standing desks can’t be judged solely on the quality of the things we can see, like the base and worktop, it’s also the quality of the components we don’t see that will define whether you have a long and happy working relationship with the product.

The Herman Miller ratio sit-stand desk is an expensive table but you will be paying for quality. It’s well thought out, well-designed with excellent build quality and it promotes active working. We never had any mechanical or electrical issues throughout testing either. Overall, it makes life a whole lot easier for the user to turn something that appears to be quite disruptive into something that can become second nature.

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