Desktop Bifrost Elite 160 review

In the words of The Dude, it really brings the room together, man. Bifrost Elite 160 height-adjustable desk completes my new home gaming station, and. For a man who seems adept at creating a clutter-free work and play space (just ask Jacob, who has worked with me for over a decade), it also keeps me meticulously organized.

Who knew that tight cable management, a few monitor mounts, and a few small shelves could do this to a disorganized middle-aged man, but here I am, with a pristine desktop with just my keyboard, mouse, microphone, and phone. And it feels good.

In fact, it makes me think it might be worth tidying up my office desktop in PCG Towers, too. But that might be a change too far, and I don’t think I can become that good of a person all at once.

But such character changes don’t come cheap, and the Bifrost Elite 160 is a massive table with a similar design ethos. Pirate Platform:6and while it’s not eye-wateringly high, it’s still a price that will hurt. For the full configuration I tested—which, with a bevy of accessories, marks a real quality-of-life upgrade—you’re looking at $1,140.

Bifrost Elite 160 features

(Image credit: Future)

Dimensions: 63 x 28.3 x 50.4 ~ 76 inches (160 x 71.9 x 128 ~ 193 cm)
Height adjustment: 25.6 – 51.2 inches (65 – 130 cm)
Load capacity: 264.6 lbs (120 kg)
Materials: Wood Fiberboard (MDF), Steel, ABS Plastic, Aluminum, Felt
Controller: Altitude display, 4x memory slots
Collision detection: Yes
Price: 900 dollars (with reviewed accessories – $1,140)

That’s close to the price of the giant table of our dreams. Gizlilab Magnus Pro XLour current choice best gaming table. This also causes the Dezctop desktop a bit of a problem. While it could claim to be similar to the Corsair Platform:6, it is much cheaper, effectively matching the Secretlab with all its accessories, and to be honest it suffers in comparison.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m impressed with the Bifrost Elite 160 and really enjoyed my time with it, but when the prices are equal, it’s natural to start looking at the differences between them. The Secretlab oozes quality, from its magnetic cable management accessories to its ultra-smooth, responsive motor and desktop that’s made entirely from metal and effectively covered in a full leather mouse pad.

The Dezctop’s high-density fiberboard isn’t as luxurious as the Secretlab’s metal top or the Platform:6’s thick desktop. It’s still lighter, though, and certainly doesn’t feel flimsy in any way. And to be honest, the fiberboard top is probably what made me want to put the Bifrost Elite 160 together on my own. Flipping it onto its feet wasn’t as spine-testing a challenge as straightening out a Corsair or Secretlab desk.

I would also like to point out that even after long-term regular use – and after numerous PC builds and tests afterwards – the surface remains free of marks and scratches or ugly gouges. The same cannot be said for the Platform:6, which took a major beating during the build process.

But for a motorized desk, much of the experience is about how well it transitions from a sitting to a standing position. The Dezctop Bifrost Elite 160 comes with a three-stage stand that lets it switch between a wider range of heights than the Secretlab or Corsair (the cheaper Bifrost Pro 160 comes with only a two-stage stand)—it’s taller than both, and notably, much lower than the Corsair.

One of the things that held us back from the last four-legged game was a lack of range. Flexible Spot E2Qand the ability to achieve a lower desk height is definitely a plus for the Dezctop desk.

This has actually been very useful for me, not because I’m particularly short – although it would fit someone with shorter legs than me – but because I’ve jumped at the chance to have a desk that I can attach a steering wheel to once again get into racing games. Being able to lower the height to a lower point when sitting in a lower chair gives my feet a better angle on the pedals.

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(Image credit: Future)

But I found myself disappointed by the actual action of the motor. The movement is smooth enough, there is a slowdown that prevents the desktop from shaking too much or the liquid on it from spilling. And the motor will stop moving when it comes into contact with enough resistance. Sometimes a little more It requires a lot of resistance, but that’s been the case with every motorized standing desk I’ve ever used.

No, the frustration comes from the delay between pressing the buttons and them actually doing anything. I guess I understand the energy-saving idea of putting the height controller to sleep when not in use, but you have to press any button on the front of the device and then press it again to wake it up to get a positive response. The doubling of the button effort is only a small thing, but it does make the setup less responsive when you get tired of sitting on your butt and want to stand up for a moment.

But I do like the cable management setup. Initially the felt bags that hang behind the desk felt like a bit of a cost-cutting exercise, but the soft material means there’s no noise from the myriad cables snaking through them. For this 160cm desk, there are three separate bags that run the full length of the desk. Correspondingly, there are three magnetic covers that can be lifted to access or tuck away any stray cables. The covers slide back and forth, allowing you to snake the cables out the back or front, depending on where you want to plug them.

The space for cable management is also excellent. There’s enough space in there for a full power strip, meaning you can just one power cable from the wall to your desk, and hide everything from your computer to your monitors and the motorised desk itself. It’s very tidy, and that’s what encourages me to be a more organised version of myself, more than anything else.

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(Image credit: Future)

It also helps that the version I tested was loaded with accessories. What makes the Bifrost Elite 160 so similar to the Platform:6 is that the pegboard lifts off the back of the desk. It’s a similar setup to the Corsair’s, and similarly lets you mount optional accessories in that area.

I have a small saucepan attached to the back of my main monitor, and right now I have a Windows installation on a USB stick, a screwdriver, some thermal paste, a small Kailh RGB key ring, a pen, the detachable microphone for my Maxwell headset, my Xbox Elite Series 2 and its USB dongle, and a 2.4GHz dongle for a set of Logitech headsets whose location I can’t tell you about. These are all things that will be lying around on my desktop in another life.

It also came with a pair of little shelves that I attached to either end of the pegboard, on which sit the awesome little Kanto Ora speakers. And the removable number pad from my Mountain Everest 60 keyboard, and a fake Lego motherboard diorama on the other side.

It also helps that I have a dual monitor mount that attaches directly to the pegboard using a standard VESA mount, one with a 32in Gigabyte display and the other with a 27in Dough panel. This also keeps the desktop clear of the monitor stands and it all adds up to a clean, nice-looking setup that I’m still surprised at how clean it is, for lack of a better phrase, from my various crapshoots.

I’ll be honest, when I first set up the Bifrost Elite 160 I was very disappointed when it came to fitting the pegboard. The rest of the assembly process was really nice; everything was easily explained (although a bit annoying that it only had to be via an online manual) and it was easy to put together. It’s all good quality, reassuringly solid and feels durable when standing on its own two feet.

But the pegboard feels incredibly flimsy. It’s a plastic board with a metal frame, and it comes in four pieces for this 160cm desk, and I admit I was a little nervous knowing I’d be attaching a couple of monitors that I didn’t want to end up face down on my desk once I’d slid their plastic mounts on.

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(Image credit: Future)

If you buy…

Looking for a pegboard desk without paying the cost of the Corsair: While the plastic hanger may seem flimsy at first, it is sturdy enough to hold really heavy monitors.

You are such a messy dog: Thanks to cable management, routing, accessories and monitor clamps, Bifrost Elite can help even the most disorganized people keep their desktop clean.

If… don’t buy.

Looking for a desk that fits your budget? It may not be as expensive as Platform:6, but if you want the full setup, you should be prepared to spend a large amount of money.

But that concern proved unfounded during my time with the Bifrost Elite 160, as both monitors feel incredibly solid, as does the entire desktop. I’m certainly not the most aggressive typist, but I can bash a key with the best of them, and the Bifrost only wobbles if I really push it. The screens barely move at all, and cutouts in the pegboard let me route the monitor cables to keep them out of the cable management channels and feed them to the back of my PC. Still a chunky beast, this device never felt precariously perched atop my Dezctop desktop.

I’m also keen on the Bifrost accessories game. The headphone hanger is a winner, especially since I’ve been using the Kanto speakers more, and the cup holder (which folds up neatly) is a very welcome addition.

So yes, it’s a nice-looking, solid desk, with a few minor flaws that perhaps put it in the shadow of the Secretlab. I will say that I like its size; at 160cm wide, it has plenty of space without feeling like it’s taking over my office space. The Corsair and Secretlab are a bit too much for me. It’s still an equally expensive old desk, and while I know the furniture isn’t cheap, that feels like a lot to spend on a desk. I still know that I’d rather spend the Bifrost Elite 160 than spend another $700 on the Corsair Platform:6, even if it had a more luxurious finish.