Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk Review: The Best Gaming Desk Ever Made

1. Introduction, Pricing & Availability
2. Detailed Specs & Accessories
3. Building + Cable Management
4. Workstation & Gaming Use
5. What's Hot & What's Not
6. Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 100%

The Bottom Line

Secretlab redefines the workstation and gaming desk market with the MAGNUS Metal Desk, with the genius use of metal and magnetics with a sprinkle of RGB lighting -- you've done it again, Secretlab.

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Introduction, Pricing & Availability

Secretlab burst onto the scene in 2014 with its premium line of gaming chairs, and have quickly become the world-leading gaming chair company... but today, today Secretlab spawns an entire new business with the introduction of the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk.

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Secretlab spent the last few years designing and engineering the MAGNUS Metal Desk from the ground up, with teh same team that bought us the premium Secretlab 2020 series of gaming chairs -- we now have the new all-metal MAGNUS gaming desk. After years of R&D into performance economics and engineering, Secretlab is now ready to go into phase two.

I never thought I'd want or need an all-metal desk, but here I am sitting at it and typing on it -- it's actually a total game changer and Secretlab should be standing loud and proud with the MAGNUS Metal Desk. I've been using a height adjustable standing desk for over 6 months now with the Omnidesk Pro XL 2020 electric standing desk, but the new Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk is an entire gaming desk beast of its own.

There's just nothing else like it.

• Read more: Secretlab 2020 Series: The Gold Standard of Gaming Chairs
• Read more: Secretlab TITAN 2020 Cyberpunk 2077 Edition Gaming Chair Review
• Read more: Secretlab TITAN XL 2020: The Business Class Gaming Chair
• Read more: NeueChair Review: Redefining The Modern Office Chair

The entire desk being made of metal might not seem like much from the words you're reading, but when it's in front of you and you're slowly building it you will have so many 'ohhhhh' and 'whooaaaa' and 'holy sh*t why hasn't anyone else done this sooner'. I didn't think I'd be unboxing and setting up a new all-metal premium desk and saying those things out loud, but I did -- and you will, too.

Secretlab provides the ultimate in cable management with the MAGNUS desk, with an ingenious way of managing your cables under the desk and even on top of it. There is a super easy access rear-hinged cover on the end of the Secretlab MAGNUS, where you can hide all of your cables and even a power board (or two, hell... or three, maybe even four).

• Read more: Omnidesk Pro XL 2020 Electric Standing Desk Review

Pricing & Availability

The new Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk is actually priced quite competitively, with the desk itself costing $449. It is launching in the US, Europe and Singapore while other markets to follow post-launch. As for the break down in pricing for the individual parts and accessories for the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk, this is what you're looking at:

• Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk - $449
• Secretlab MAGPAD Desk Mat - $79 (free @ launch)
• Secretlab MAGPAD Desk Mat - $49-$99 (special edition versions)
• Secretlab Magnetic Cable Anchors - $19
• Secretlab Cable Fastening Strips - $13
• Secretlab Magnetic Cable Sheaths - $29
• Secretlab MAGNUS Cable Management Bundle (consists of the Secretlab Magnetic Cable Anchors, Cable Fastening Straps and Magnetic Cable Sheaths) - $44
• Secretlab MAGRGB Diffused RGB Strip (1.5m) - $59

Sabrent 1TB Rocket NVMe 4.0 Gen4 PCIe M.2 Internal SSD

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$99.99	$99.99	$99.99	$99.99	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 4/26/2024 at 7:07 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Detailed Specs & Accessories

Let's Start With Perfectly Calibrated Height

Secretlab have perfectly calibrated height of the MAGNUS Metal Desk at exactly 29 inches (735mm) which lets you rest your feet totally flat on the floor and sit in a neutral position. For hours and hours of sitting at your desk, this is what you want if you're working from home (like I do) and sit at your gaming desk for hours and hours per day or night.

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There is the ability for some minor adjustments of around 0.8 inches (20mm) if you find the default 29 inches (735mm) height isn't comfortable for you.

Design Design Design + R&D R&D R&D

I had a chat with Vincent, the Head of Industrial Design and Product Development @ Secretlab, who walked me through the new MAGNUS Metal Desk a few weeks before the launch under NDA. We had a great discussion where the team walked me through the desk over a video chat on Discord.

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Vincent explained that the team spent years on the design and style of the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk, which is the culmination of countless thousands of hours of engineering and R&D work. We have an Apple-like design that is not over-the-top with RGB lighting -- but a subtle, elegant, specific look.

The team went back to the drawing board multiple times in getting the desk off the ground, "just so we could get it just right" with all of the details including the floating table top to the use of premium materials including powder-coated steel and Secretlab's secret sauce propriety ecosystem of magnetic accessories.

Secretlab takes your workstation and gaming desk needs to the next level with the MAGNUS Metal Desk, with no one coming close.

Cable Management

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Another part of the desk where you're just like, "okay, wow... this is awesome". Secretlab has thought of everything in designing the MAGNUS gaming desk, with cable management done the Secretlab way. You get a custom-made cable management tray, which is hidden with an easy access rear-hinged cover.

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I stored all of my cables and even my power board and a USB-C inside of the tray, which can be accessed by opening the hinge and from underneath the Secretlab MAGNUS desk, too.

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The magnetic ecosystem Secretlab has created is nothing short of game changing, with some magnetic cable anchors that you can have covering your cables feeding into the cable management tray -- for example, you would run your keyboard or mouse cable into the magnetic cable anchor and then clip it to the end of the MAGNUS desk.

It looks awesome on the desk in Secretlab-beautiful-red, and keeps your table looking super-sharp at all times.

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Secretlab doesn't stop there (of course) as there's also magnetic cable sheaths for the legs of the MAGNUS, so if you've got your gaming PC on the ground or next to the desk then you can route your cables through the magnetic cable sheaths and then clip them to the legs of your MAGNUS desk to have some unbelievably clean cable management.

Secretlab MAGPAD: Full-Coverage Magnetic Leatherette Desk Mat?!

Yep, one of the defining features of the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk -- a roll-out magnetic desk-covering mouse mat. It's actually so awesome and I'm not going to lie, I totally geeked out when I was "installing" my mousepad to my desk. The Secretlab MAGPAD desk mats have been engineered to feel great under your skin -- and trust me, it does -- which just adds to the overall premium and enthusiast feel of the MAGNUS desk.

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You will get magnetic metal caps to install onto the end of the MAGPAD mouse pad, which will align at the end of the desk -- another beautiful engineering tweak. You can actually option out and buy the official MAGNUS-branded MAGPAD, but there are also Secretlab Signature designs and Special Editions that include esports teams Cloud9 and Team Liquid.

Building + Cable Management

Building the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk

Getting the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk took far longer than I thought it would to get it up and constructed and ready to go, with a decent amount of time just getting all of the parts out and moving the cardboard and rubbish away. The desk itself took around an hour to build, with an electric screwdriver making things a little faster.

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I moved my previous Omnidesk Pro XL 2020 desk to the side and the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk in its place, and then routed through the RGB lighting strip in the cable management tray.

But then comes the MAGPAD... my god that was near impossible to get right. The mouse pad itself comes rolled up, where you have to attach one of the magnetic clips to the end of it and then put that end of the mouse pad on the edge of the MAGNUS desk. Once you've done that, you unroll the MAGPAD onto the MAGNUS and voila -- except no voila -- instead it was 10-15 minutes of tiny, tiny adjustments to get it right.

Once I had completed that, the desk was complete and the remote control for the RGB lighting was grabbed and buttons were pressed. RGB lighting on the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk is not over-the-top and I love that, it's enough that it looks like a 'refined' and more professional way of having lighting on the desk so it's not so boring.

Cable Management

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Cable management is a breeze on the Secretlab MAGNUS desk with some Secretlab-branded velcro straps placed around the cables going into the back of my PC. Once you've got those neatened up and looking nice, route them into the magnetic cable sheaths and then onto the leg of the MAGNUS desk -- all with magic of metal and magnets.

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Once that's done then some more cable management can be done with the velcro straps, making it neater in the cable management tray. This makes more room for power boards, cables, and other things tucked away underneath your desk.

Workstation & Gaming Use

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I pumped some hours into Call of Duty: Warzone and then some more hours once the new update arrived bringing NVIDIA DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) support for some major performance improvements. I've got some 8K results on the GeForce RTX 3090 coming soon.

I had my daughters over during the school holidays recently so we got some Fortnite in and of course I clutched and won them some games (seriously, they're getting good... they're 7 and 10 years old and they're exclusively PC gamers). All of this time was spent gaming on the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk, and I loved it.

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I've become very comfortable with having my Super Fast Charger for my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ready to go at all times on the desk without having to look for the cable. This is just one of the many small touches the team at Secretlab did to the MAGNUS Metal Desk that makes it the next level in workstation and gaming desk.

The cable itself is nice and neat tied away by that beautiful Secretlab red magnetic clip, with another clip holding down my Mountain Makalu 67 gaming mouse and my Mountain Everest Max gaming keyboard. The clips really add to the style of the desk as the glow from my monitors will reflect off them at night and shine a really, really nice shade of red.

It's just another sprinkle of premium that makes Secretlab, Secretlab.

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I found the height of the desk a little low for my liking and would probably prefer something that was electronically adjustable, and that's only because I sit at my desk so much I like to have it at different heights depending on how I feel (my back, etc).

But then I slide under the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk with my Secretlab TITAN 2020 gaming chair and it just flows... they're like two peas in a pod. Made for each other. They compliment each other like star crossed lovers. They've even got matching tattoos in the way that the same design aesthetic oozes between the Secretlab TITAN 2020 gaming chair and Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk.

What's Hot & What's Not

What's Hot

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• That awesome Secretlab design that's almost 'Apple like': The pictures of the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk don't do it justice, it is an amazing thing to behold in-person. The entire desk is premium, with little trimmings of that beautiful Secretlab red in between the legs and the desk itself -- all the way through to the Secretlab 2020 series gaming chair inspired leather stitching on the MAGPAD.
• Cable management system from the future: It's next to invisible... where anyone can walk up to the desk and wonder where all of your cables are. The cable management tray it out-of-this-way good, where I was able to hide a power board, a US-AU power adapter for my Google Home, a USB-C hub, my Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra charger -- the specific Super-Fast Charger, and more.

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• All-metal desk + magnetics = OMG: I didn't think I'd like the all-metal desk, but its slim design and functionality through the magnetic accessories is seriously next level stuff. The legs are not too thick, the actual top of the desk isn't too thick either -- and it's solid so you know that moving your mouse from left to right like a mad man gaming all night isn't going to have your Secretlab MAGNUS desk flying all over the house.
• MAGPAD... an entire magnetic roll-out mouse pad (from my dreams): Secretlab has some magic in its rollable magnetic mouse pad, with the MAGPAD spreading out across the entire MAGNUS desk and giving it another touch of style. If you've got the Secretlab TITAN 2020 gaming chair then you simply have to match it with the new Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk, they're seriously a match made in nerd heaven.

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• RGB lighting done right on a desk: Secretlab didn't push the RGB lighting too far with the MAGNUS desk, and I expected that from the company. It is done in a really good way, where it doesn't overpower the workstation and/or gaming desk experience.
• Impressive proprietary hinge system: You can push the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk right up against your wall thanks to the unique design through the hinge system, where the center axis moves within the cover of itself -- meaning it opens up on itself and not scratching up against your wall.

What's Not

I don't have anything negative to say about the Secretlab MAGNUS Metal Desk as it exceeded my expectations. Everything from the building and setting up of the desk to actually using it for many, many hours over many weeks has been a breeze. If I had to say something about the desk, it would be that it were height adjustable.

• MAGNUS 2.0 has to be electric: Secretlab has delivered the true next level of workstation and gaming desk with the MAGNUS, but it would be oh-so-nice to have it be height adjustable. It would be nice to see the next iteration have a "Secretlab recommended" setting at a specific height (that the MAGNUS is at now) and then have it adjustable with a slick LCD touchpad.

Final Thoughts

Secretlab has done it again -- it has knocked on the door of the workstation and gaming desk market, taken it all in -- added those yummy Secretlab herbs and spices and created the MAGNUS Metal Desk.

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The company started out by changing up the gaming chair market, a market where companies can just rebrand chairs all day long and as long as they have "gaming chair" in their name they're a gaming chair, I guess. Secretlab never did that with any of their chairs, you can literally feel the amount of work the company puts into its chairs if you've ever had the pleasure of sitting in one.

Now the company is moving onto the desk market and it has quickly asserted dominance. It's not a big market yet, but with the huge shift to work from home over the on-going pandemic then Secretlab is just another another winner here with the MAGNUS Metal Desk.

This is an Apple level desk where every single tiny little detail has been obsessed about, where I'm sure Secretlab have probably bribed gamers with free food, energy drinks, and some beasty gaming PCs to play test their MAGNUS Metal Desk to ensure that it would not have the chance of being looked at by anyone and leave them thinking "meh".

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Secretlab has achieved something real special with the MAGNUS Metal Desk, with some incredible design choices, great styling, and a true BFF to a Secretlab gaming chair.

You'll never use another desk that doesn't have a full metal design with magnetic accessories ever again... this is the type of desk that changes you forever in the same way Apple did with the introduction of the first iPhone. It was revolutionary enough that its competitors did nothing but try to walk in Apple's footsteps for years.

If you have been holding off on buying a new desk for your workstation or gaming PC, then you should absolutely love what Secretlab has crafted here with the MAGNUS Metal Desk. It's an uber-premium gaming desk that will instantly transform any workstation or gaming PC setup.