Review
A folding sit-stand that raises a laptop to 25 cm through three angles, folds flat to 1.3 cm and weighs 960 g, read from its manufacturer page.
A folding sit-stand laptop desk that raises a laptop to ten inches, works as a lap desk and a riser, and folds flat to half an inch.
Full product researchThe MOFT Z 5-in-1 Sit-Stand Desk is a folding laptop stand that raises a laptop to ten inches, tilts through three angles and folds flat to half an inch. It is not a fixed riser, and the Rain Design mStand, the only other stand in this catalogue, is a fixed block of machined aluminium at 150 mm that stays on the desk.
This review is built from the specifications recorded against the product, each carrying the manufacturer page it was read from. No stand was handled for this page, so nothing here describes how the MOFT Z feels to type on, how steady it is, or how the folding mechanism behaves over time.
The recorded folded thickness is 1.3 cm, half an inch, and folds flat appears in the recorded feature list. The recorded dimensions are 279 by 239 by 12.7 mm, 11 by 9.4 by 5 inches, and the recorded weight is 960 g, 33.7 oz.
That single figure is the case for a folding stand. An object about the thickness of a closed book can go into a bag, a locker or a drawer, and it can be set up again at the other end. The mStand has no equivalent number, because it is not a folding object. It records a width and depth of 253 by 190 mm and a weight of 1.46 kg, 3 pounds, and it stays where it is put.
The recorded height is 25 cm, 10 inches, standing. 12 cm at 25 degrees, 19.4 cm at 45 and 25 cm at 60. The recorded adjustable value is yes, three tilt angles and a standing height.
Read that as a range rather than a single number. The lowest of the three recorded positions is 12 cm, close to the 150 mm the mStand holds, and the highest is 25 cm, which is the standing height. The mStand records one height and records adjustable as no, so there is no second position to move to when a chair, a desk or a task changes.
The recorded keyboard access for the MOFT Z is that it works as a riser with an external keyboard. That line describes the raised position, the one where the screen is high and the laptop keyboard is out of reach. The recorded description also says the desk works as a lap desk and a riser, and the product is named as a five in one desk, so the lower arrangements are ones where the machine's own keyboard is in reach.
The mStand has no such position to fall back to. Its recorded keyboard access is that it requires an external keyboard, and there is no second use to move to.
That is the most useful recorded difference between the two stands, and it is a difference in how the desk is used rather than in how it looks. A buyer who still types on the laptop is looking at a folding sit-stand. A buyer with a separate keyboard can use either.
The recorded material is vegan leather, fibreglass, magnets and metal sheets. The recorded load capacity is up to 22 lb, and the recorded laptop support is laptops up to 16 inches, and it also works with tablets. The mStand records aluminium as its material and laptop support as fitting all MacBooks and most notebooks, and it records no load capacity at all.
What the record does not hold is anything about behaviour. There is no recorded stability figure, no recorded wobble measurement, no recorded friction value and no recorded sense of how either surface feels under a keyboard or a wrist. A load capacity is a limit, not a stability measurement, and the catalogue holds one of them for one stand and not the other.
The recorded audience for the MOFT Z is users who alternate between sitting and standing, or who want a stand that folds into a bag instead of living on the desk. Both of those are recorded intents rather than measured results, and the folded thickness is the recorded figure that supports the second of them.
The recorded audience for the mStand is users who use an external keyboard and want a stable fixed-height stand. On the record that is a different desk, not a better one, and the two records do not compete for the same buyer.
Methodology
How the products below were evaluated and chosen.
What we checked
The recorded folded thickness, dimensions and weight, the recorded height and the three tilt angles, the recorded keyboard access, the recorded material, load capacity and laptop support, and for each of those whether the figure that would decide the purchase is actually on record. Every value carries its source and its verification state.
Products
Why it is here: The subject of this review. Its recorded folded thickness of 1.3 cm, three tilt angles, 25 cm standing height and 960 g weight are what separate it from the fixed mStand.
Height: 25 cm, 10 inches, standing. 12 cm at 25 degrees, 19.4 cm at 45 and 25 cm at 60
Why it is here: The only other stand in the category. It records a fixed 150 mm height in aluminium at 1.46 kg that never folds, and requires an external keyboard in every position.
Height: 150 mm, 5.9 inches
Trade-offs
Published per product so you can see which side of the comparison each point belongs to.
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FAQ
The recorded height is 25 cm, 10 inches, standing, with 12 cm at 25 degrees, 19.4 cm at 45 and 25 cm at 60. The mStand in the same category records one fixed height of 150 mm and records adjustable as no.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
The recorded folded thickness is 1.3 cm, half an inch, and folds flat appears in the recorded feature list. The mStand records no folded thickness at all, because it is a fixed block of aluminium.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
In the lower of its recorded arrangements, yes. The recorded keyboard access line covers the riser position, where it works as a riser with an external keyboard, and the recorded description names a lap desk as well.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
The recorded weight is 960 g, 33.7 oz. The mStand records 1.46 kg, 3 pounds, so the folding stand is the lighter of the two to carry.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
The recorded laptop support is laptops up to 16 inches, and it also works with tablets, with a recorded load capacity of up to 22 lb. The mStand records laptop support as fitting all MacBooks and most notebooks.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
Only in the raised position. The recorded keyboard access is that it works as a riser with an external keyboard, while the mStand records keyboard access as requiring an external keyboard in every position.
Source:Rain Design mStand page
Keep researching
The Rain Design mStand is the only recorded alternative to the MOFT Z: a fixed 150 mm aluminium block against a folding 1.3 cm sit-stand.
On the record, the MOFT Z is the more portable of the two stands: it folds flat to 1.3 cm and weighs 960 g, where the mStand is 1.46 kg.
