There are many different styles of standing desks out there. Some are motorized, some are manual. Some have programmable buttons for certain heights, and some are even a few thousand dollars. But Autonomous is a brand we’ve come to know around here, and they make some awesome (and affordable) standing desks. Earlier this year we reviewed the SmartDesk 2 from Autonomous, and we loved it, especially at the price it launched at. Now the company is back at it with the SmartDesk 3, what they claim is an AI-powered SmartDesk for just $599.
The SmartDesk 3 is the latest desk from Autonomous and has one huge feature over the SmartDesk 2: a 7-inch touchscreen and Wi-Fi connectivity. Why would you want Wi-Fi and a touchscreen tablet built into your desk, you ask? Watch the video at the end of this article and tell me if you think it’s worth it.
Autonomous says that their SmartDesk 3 has several “AI” powered features. The one I’m most interested in is Spotify. Yes, I want Spotify in my desk. I think that’d be an awesome feature because I always have several tabs open, multiple windows across my monitors, and Spotify is almost always going in the background. To change a song, “thumbs up”, etc. I always have to tab back to Spotify or pull my phone out of my pocket. With the SmartDesk 3, you could just tap the built-in touchscreen (as long as there is nothing covering it.. another problem many desks face.) But, the “AI” features don’t stop with Spotify.
The company behind the SmartDesk 3 also partnered with Delivery.com to help you order lunch or dinner without having to open another window or call another number. They also claim that the SmartDesk 3 can “learn” when you’re ready to eat and tell you when to order food or even remind you to drink water.
It also has some nice features like the ability to control your Nest thermostat so you can change the temperature of your room without having to use your phone or tablet. The SmartDesk 3 also ties into Google’s services to remind you when you’re going to be late for your meeting. Another feature Autonomous brings with the SmartDesk 3 is the ability to summon an Uber without having to use any other device. Since it has all of this and does it all over Wi-Fi, I can only imagine that Autonomous will push out software updates to bring more apps and capabilities to the SmartDesk 3, making it an even better value.
All that is fine and dandy, but is it really worth $600? Well, that’s up to you. My desk is often cluttered with whatever I’m working on that day, and I would most likely rarely see that 7-inch touchscreen tablet. Also, my use case for it would likely end at Spotify, so it’s hard to justify $600 for a standing Spotify remote. The SmartDesk 3 might totally be for you, and with all of the features it packs, at only $599 shipped, it’s really a pretty good deal.
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