DIY Assemble the Omnidesk Pro. It is shockingly easy!
Working from home is now becoming the new normal for me due to the COVID-19 outbreak. As I saw myself working more from home, I started to look into upgrading my working environment at home.
At the office, I usually work at a height adjustable desk. Therefore, I was hoping to also replicate that at home. After doing some research online, there seems to be quite a few choices but one stand out for me, namely the Omnidesk.
I’ve heard of Omnidesk for a while now, mostly because it keeps popping up on various sites due to its popularity among the local gaming community here. It is also one of the more reputable and affordable height adjustable desk here in Singapore.
The other options I had initially also thought of included IKEA’s Bekant desk but most of its users have complained how quickly it breaks down. Besides IKEA, Ergoworks did pop up as well but the pricing is a tad higher compared to the Omnidesk option.
Ordering the Omnidesk Pro
The Omnidesk comes highly recommend from anyone who’s come to use them. So I decided to take the plunge and ordered one with a 60″ (152.4cm) wide surface.
The ordering process is pretty intuitive and straightforward.
All I had to do is simply select the desk frame’s colour, desktop size, type and colour options. There was also have the option to add on accessories such as subwoofer speaker mounts that is designed specifically for the Creative SoundBlaster Katana and Kratos, PC mount, headphone mounts and other accessories such as a limited edition black coloured powerbar, tabletop mounter Power Clamp, and more.
Accessories and add-ons
I would not necessarily recommend any of the add-ons and accessories. If the add-ons are items that would be mounted to the table, the folks at Omnidesk would pre-drill the required mounting holes for the assembly. And it is for this reason that I would now highly recommend you consider getting the Limited Edition Omnidesk Mounted Powerbar if you are also looking to get an Omnidesk yourself.
I actually didn’t get this along with my order when I found out that this is really just the black-coloured version of the 6-way extension socket from PowerPac. It was also cheaper at SGD$23.90 when purchased directly from PowerPac, albeit only available in white at the moment. Since it would be hidden underneath the table, I figured the colour does not matter at all.
Remember that I mentioned that Omnidesk would pre-drill the mounting holes? I found out later that they also provide the best fitting screws for the accessories. So when I was DIY assembling the Omnidesk Pro, I had trouble finding a pair of screws that was long enough to fit the extension socket underneath the desk. š¤¦š»āāļø
Thus, the extra SGD$7 is worth paying when I compared the alternative. The inconvenience of going out and paying for parking my car where the hardware store is, and on top of that, paying for a pack of screw when I only need a pair. Finally, I also have to hope that I do not spoil the desk as there the good folks at Omnidesk did not pre-drill the mounting hole for the screws for the extension socket.
Thankfully, I found out that there is an alternative non-screw mounting option I could use which I’ve described at a later part of this post.
Free Flat Pack Delivery
The Omnidesk Pro is delivered for free since I did not need it to be assembled by the folks at Omnidesk. But if you do, there is a nominal fee that you would need to pay Omnidesk for that arrangement.
What about the Omnidesk Zero option?!
Wait, what about the cheaper Omnidesk Zero option? Well, it is only a viable option if you are looking for fixed height desk. The limitation of Zero’s electric motor which is slower, noisier and it missing features like child-lock and anti-collision does not justify the small difference in its price.
DIY Assemble the Omnidesk Pro
The Omnidesk comes delivered flat packed as you see in the photo above.
As it turns out, the packaging itself can be pretty heavy, especially the electronic desk frame. I was able to carry both parts into home, but I would recommend getting another person to help you. If this is not possible for you, I would recommend you to consider paying for additional fees for it to be assembled on-site at your home.
The Packaging
Both the electronic desk frame and the desktop surface is very well packaged. Foam is used to secure the various components in place to minimising any potential damage.
The manual which has the step-by-step guide of the assembly and the screws are packed with the frame. Also included is an Allen key. However, I strongly recommend using a powered screwdriver with the Allen key bit to safe time and energy.
The assembly instruction is easy to follow. However, I wished they had printed the diagrams larger. The labels and numbers on the diagram can sometimes be hard to read. Alternatively, it would be nice if Omnidesk provided a PDF copy of the manual on their website.
DIY Assembling the Omnidesk Pro
The process of installing the Omnidesk Pro is straightforward.
1. Assemble to left and right legs
There is a couple of things to note with regards to the Omnidesk Pro’s frame.
Firstly, Omnidesk ships the center part of the frame āassembledā together with the controller unit and the two support bar that fits inside the two sides of the frame. The instructions in the manual shows how to disassemble it. In short, you would first slide the controller unit out from the frame and then simple separate the two sides of the frame. Here is when you will see the support bar thatās been inside the frame.
Secondly, both the legs with the electronic motor are identical,
Once separated, I began to assemble the motorised legs to the frame, one side at a time.
If you have experience putting together IKEA furnitures, you will be glad to know that the DIY assembling of the Omnidesk Pro is pretty much the same.
Assembling the motorised legs are rather straightforward. All I had to do was to align the screw holes and simply follow the instructions in the manual that showed me which screw number to use for the assembly.
After attaching the motorised leg to the center frame, I then fixed the part of the frame which would hold the desktop surface. Once done, I repeated the same again for the other side of the legs.
2. Putting the frame and the desktop together
The next step then was to refit the support bar back inside the two sides of the desk frame. This is a simple step to complete. However, the weight of the motorised legs does make it a little tricky to execute. This is probably the “hardest” part of DIY assembling the Omnidesk Pro.
What I ended up doing is the following:-
- Have the desktop surface ready on the floor and made sure I saw the pre-drilled mounting holes to confirm that I had the underneath side of the surface upwards. I also used the packaging foam under the desktop surface as I did the assembling so that I didn’t unnecessarily scratched the surface top.
- Put one side of the assembled frame with the motorised legs on the table, aligning it roughly to where the mounting holes are.
- Inserted both the support bar into that side of the frame. Push the bar as much as I could inside the frame.
- Picked up the other side of the frame, and slowly aligned it so that the support bars slides into this other frame as well.
- Once I had the different parts of the frame āreassembledā, I slide the legs and ensured that both sides aligned perfectly with the mounting holes.
I was extra careful when positioning the parts together so that I did not unnecessarily scratch the surface. Having said that, since this was the bottom side, it might be fine even if I did accidentally scratch the surface. š
Once I assembled the frame to the desktop surface, it was time to fix in the tableās feet. This is a simple task of aligning the parts and screwing them together. Easy peasy.
While there is relatively large square cut out for you to screw the bolt in, the space is pretty tight for my powered screwdriver without the use of an extension bit. I ended up needing to use the provided Allen key to tighten the bolt.
At this point, I was be almost done DIY assembling the Omnidesk Pro.
3. Fixing up the cables
This part of the assembly was pretty easy and no one can really go wrong here.
The first thing you would need to do is decide where you would like the handset part of the controller to be. Omnidesk pre-drills the screw holes for the handset at both sides of the desk.
I wanted it to be on the right side of the table, as you can see from the fully assembled photo below. I would want to point out one thing here. When you are fixing the table with the bottom surface up, the right side is actually the left side of the table when its upright. Remember. The sides are flipped when it is upside down.
The reason to decide on this is to know how I would reattach the controller unit of the desk. I made sure the port where the handset part plugs into, which is an RJ45 Ethernet LAN port, was facing at the right side of the table.
As you can see from the photo below, the controller unit is located quite close to the right side of the table. Therefore, there was a lot of extra length of the cable that I had to manage. As you can see, I simply spooled them up and used a simple cable tie to keep it in place. The diameter of the spool is wide enought that it held itself up within the frame.
Omnidesk also provided a few cable management clips but I decided to use them for the cables on side of the desk and also for the cables of the handset.
On the left side of the table, the cable from the legās motor will not reach to controller unit. Thankfully, Omnidesk also provides an extension cable that is generously long.
4. Fixing the frame cover and the cable management bar
Once I had all the cabling attached, it was time to fix the cover. That is a simple case of just screwing 8 screws to fix the cover to the frame. The screws also held the support bar in place inside the frame.
Lastly, I then screwed up the cable management bar to back of the table where I found the 4 pre-drilled mounting holes for it.
The final step, obviously so, is to flip the Omnidesk Pro upright. Here is when I got another person to help me as the desk is too heavy to be handled by a single person. If I’m not mistaken, the Omnidesk Pro with a 60″ wide desktop weighs slightly over 30kgs!
With that, I have completed the DIY assembly of the Omnidesk Pro! It really was simple as that.
The Omnidesk Cable Management Bar
I had mentioned earlier that the I bought my PowerPac extension socket separately from the Omnidesk Pro. And without the right screw to mount it underneath the table, I had to look for an alternative approach to that as I still wanted the extension socket to move along with the table as it adjusts to minimise any chances of cables tangling up.
This is when I noticed how the Omnidesk cable management bar had been designed specifically with this particular model of the PowerPac extension socket in mind.
As you can see in the photo below, the dimensions of the PowerPac extension socket fits perfectly onto to cable management bar. Even the height allowance of the cable management bar is just enough to allow the power plugs to fit in when the extension socket is resting on the bar.
While it fits perfectly, I would have liked it better if there was more height allowance on the cable management bar. The power brick of my LG 27UD88-W monitor is too big, but thankfully, the height of the power brick allows it to slide in and be “clamped” on by the edge of the cable management bar.
As you can also see, there is no way I could fit in an Apple MacBook power adapter without using the extension cable provided by Apple. And even with the extension cable used, there isn’t enough allowance to hold the entire power adapter within it.
Thankfully, I do not need to use Appleās power adapters. Instead, my work MacBook is attached and powered by the LG 27UD88-W monitor via USB-C while my personal MacBook is powered up by the Razer Core X eGPU enclosure.
Using the Omnidesk Pro
The 152.4cm (60″) wide option is perfect for my use as you can see below. I have enough surface space for my 27″ wide monitor, bookshelf speakers, two vertically stacked MacBooks and the rather bulky Razer Core X eGPU enclosure. And even so, I still have a lot empty space to work with on the desk.
The Omnidesk is pretty sturdy and shakes minimally as I type on my keyboard. The surface of the desktop is apparently mouse friendly. Omnidesk claims that the surface is coated with a “uniquely concocted powder coat that allow users to use the surface directly as a mouse pad.”
But personally, I rather continue using my mouse on the Cooler Master XL mousepad that you see on the photo above. My Logitech G604 gaming mouse glides quite noisily on the surface of the Omnidesk Pro.
It is really easy to adjust the height of the Omnidesk Pro and I would not even waste my time here describing how you would do so. But most of the time, you would be using the memory presets to adjust to the height you want. If you’re wondering how fast and noisy it is, well, take a look at the video I recorded on the table. It takes just 10 seconds to adjust 34cm of height from the standing to sitting position.
The Verdict
I’ve been working on the Omnidesk Pro every day since I DIY assembled the Omnidesk Pro a week ago. And even after just a short period of time using the Omnidesk Pro, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for a height-adjustable table.
The Omnidesk is a solid and sturdy option that has a lot going for it. The dual motorised legs are both quiet and fast. The table can also hold a lot of weight making it a perfect choice if you have a lot of hardware to place on the table.
It is also shockingly easy to DIY assemble the Omnidesk Pro. Just make sure you have someone to help you flip the table over.
Oh, and the Omnidesk Pro looks really great in black.
Update: Omnidesk now offers a reward program as well where you can earn gems from your purchases and qualify for gift card and discounts. In fact, use this link to get 5% off your Omnidesk purchases now!
If this post has been useful, support me by buying me a latte or two š
