Secretlab’s New Magnus Pro XL Gaming Desk Feels Like The Future

Secretlab’s Magnus Desk has sat at the top of our roundup of the best gaming desks for the past year, but a new desk is taking its place: Secretlab’s Magnus Pro. As the name suggests, the new addition to the Magnus family is essentially an upgraded version of the already-great original. The main difference? The Magnus Pro is a sit-to-stand desk with a built-in motor that allows you to switch between sitting and standing. This versatility and a few other welcome new features make the Magnus Pro a solid upgrade over the first metal desk from Secretlab.

Secretlab’s new sit-to-stand metal desk comes in two variants: Pro and Pro XL. The Pro has dimensions of 59.1 x 23 inches, while the Pro XL is a whopping 70 x 26.4 inches. Both desks are quite large, but the XL gives you some extra space for your setup. You get the same impressive features regardless of which model you pick, so everything mentioned here extends to both the Pro and the Pro XL, unless stated otherwise.

If you’re not familiar with the Magnus series, let me quickly explain what makes it so special in the gaming desk space. The Magnus is an all-metal desk that looks and feels more premium compared to most other gaming desks, even those with similar prices. It’s also a practical desk from a gaming setup standpoint. A stealthily designed cable management tray and optional anchors keep everything organized and give your gaming space a clean look. Even though the surface of the desk already looks great, Secretlab’s Magpad gives the desk a unique and excellent finishing touch. The Magpad is a giant magnetic pad that covers the entire surface of the desk. It sits flush and does not move while in use; but the real standout feature is the leatherette, which matches the material used in Secretlab’s gaming chairs. Other optional accessories including a magnetic headset hanger, cable sheaths, and RGB lighting strips have made the Magnus an easy recommendation for those looking for a clean PC gaming setup.

The Magnus Pro includes all of the design pillars that made the sitting-only desk such a wonderful piece of hardware, but it also has a couple of additional new features that nearly feel futuristic. A control panel is built into the front-right edge of the desk to adjust the height. You can use the buttons to move it up or down manually or you can tap one of three presets to instantly go to your preferred height. The presets are useful to program your ideal sitting and standing heights. Having a third option is nice if multiple people are using the Magnus Pro as a standing desk. There’s also a small display that tells you the current height of the desk.

The internal motor is quiet and the legs move smoothly. Only time can judge whether the Magnus Pro works as seamlessly as it does out of the box, but Secretlab claims the Magnus Pro was built to last for many years. The Pro has a two-leg design rather than the four-leg layout of the original. Each leg is positioned in the middle of the desk and has a sturdy base that extends toward the front and back of the desk’s width. The desk feels very sturdy, just like the original. It’s graded to hold up to 265 pounds of weight, which is far more than anyone would realistically need, and Secretlab tested it four times as much as required for durability certifications.

The other major addition to the Magnus Pro series is actually my favorite. Secretlab built a power supply that is hidden inside the left desk leg. On the top of the left leg there’s an outlet to connect your power strip to. It’s conveniently located right next to the cable management tray, so you can place your power strip in there to conceal all of your cables. From there, you use a single power cord that connects into your wall outlet via a plug on the bottom of the left leg.

Though the original Magnus did a great job with tidying up a lot of cables that tend to clutter my desk area, I needed to use a power supply with a fairly long cord to be able to store it in the tray. Even then, it frequently fell out and was hard to tinker with simply because the outlet wasn’t right there. The Magnus Pro remedies this issue in a smart and practical way. And it’s a pretty crucial feature considering that the Magnus Pro is designed to be used while both sitting and standing. Moving the desk up and down without this feature would undoubtedly cause some chaos with power cords.

Taking this idea a step further, Secretlab is also releasing a pair of new optional desk accessories that complement the Magnus’ design philosophy incredibly well. Single and double monitor arms clamp easily and securely to the opening that leads to the cable management tray. You can mount one or two monitors to these arms and then freely move them to set your display to your liking. The arms can be tilted freely and you can even turn your monitor into a vertical display. The monitor arms give you more desk space, but they are also useful for when you switch between sitting and standing. You may not like having your monitor at the same angle while standing as you do sitting. Cables are once again the enemy here, as they are hidden by snap-on covers.

The other new desk accessory is a PC mount, which connects to the left side under the desk to hold your PC tower. Normally, I place my PC tower under my desk, but that would be an issue when switching from sitting to standing mode due to cable slack. With this PC mount, your tower moves with the legs when changing the desk height. I have a decent-sized PC case and the metal mounting system was easy to set up and use. Secretlab says that it should fit “most PC cases.” If you prefer to have your tower on your desk, the PC mount is probably not for you, but it further contributes to the clean, no-wires-here look that the Magnus Pro is going for.

The Secretlab Magnus Pro is a more versatile version of the best gaming desk around. Is it worth an upgrade if you already have the Magnus? No, at least not unless you really want to make the move to a standing desk. But if you’re in the market for a gaming desk and are considering the Magnus, the Pro version is the way to go now. Like every Secretlab product, the Magnus Pro is simple to put together; it only takes 10-15 minutes to get up and running, but you will want a partner to help you build it.