Secretlab Heavy Duty Monitor Arm review: Suitably strong support

The Secretlab Heavy Obligation Monitor Arm has one of the crucial pleasingly to-the-point names of any product I’ve reviewed in a while. Okay, technically it’s truly known as the Secretlab Magnus Monitor Arm (Heavy Obligation Version) however actually there’s just one title everybody’s utilizing. What’s extra, this extra-strong monitor motion mechanism fully lives as much as its moniker, offering ample assist for big screens weighing as much as 16kg. It’s not low cost, however it delivers on its promise.

Whereas a lot of the greatest gaming monitor choices at this time have assist from their very own included stands, or may be supported by much less heavy obligation monitor arms, in case your display has greater than a 32-inch diagonal, commonest monitor arms gained’t cope. So, in order for you complete freedom of motion with out the worry of your high-value display taking a tumble, this Secretlab arm is the one for you.

Specs

Design

The Secretlab Heavy Obligation Monitor Arm is rather like any typical fuel lift-assisted monitor arm, when it comes to its core operate. It has a base plate on which one arm pivots, a second arm that pivots on the primary and offers up and down motion, then a monitor mounting plate that may spin and tilt. Collectively the 2 arms and the mounting plate can help you transfer a monitor up and down, ahead and again, side-to-side, and likewise to spin the show into portrait orientation.

This arm differs from most alternate options in two areas. The primary is that it consists of two massive adjustment handles, which implies you don’t should grip your valuable display to maneuver it however can maintain these handles as an alternative. The second is that, as per its title, the construct high quality right here is way sturdier than cheaper arms.

Particularly, the place some monitor arms have a design which means the arm sections rotate in simply plastic-lined holes, with the plastic appearing as a sliding floor, on this case the arms are mounted inside correct ball bearings. Which means, even with the huge weight of some massive screens, the arm actions don’t get jammed up, however as an alternative nonetheless swing effortlessly.

The arms and mounting plates are additionally constructed to a extremely excessive normal, with very thick metal used all through. The entire unit weighs over 6kg and is so heavy with such freedom of motion from these bearing joints that it flops about with menace when assembled, so be careful.

The additional motion handles are actually helpful, however they gained’t work with some actually massive screens, as you gained’t be capable to attain them simply from the entrance. On this case, you may take away them, lowering the burden of the arm and tidying up the look of the setup.

General setup is very easy due to the two-part mounting system the place you affix the plate (above, left) to the monitor’s VESA mount then simply carry the monitor onto the arm such that the little dented sections within the backside of the VESA plate relaxation onto the bent hooks on the underside fringe of the arm’s mounting plate. Somewhat twist of the lock on the prime and the monitor is safe.

Secretlab additionally provides extension screws for the mounting plate so that you could repair it to screens the place the VESA mount is recessed into the show barely (as within the picture above). We truly discovered these have been wanted for extra shows than you may count on, with the hooks on the arm on which the mounting plate sits tending to foul on the sting of the VESA mount recess. We examined round a dozen screens and just one didn’t want these extension screws.

This initially brought on plenty of confusion as we didn’t spot the extension screws for some time, frustratedly making an attempt to suit the mount on plenty of completely different shows to no avail. That one’s on us for not studying the handbook fairly carefully sufficient, although. When you’re all arrange, this mounting system is rock stable and very easy to mount and dismount.

One other premium contact is the cable administration system of this arm. Like most such monitor arms, you may stow your monitor’s cables in detachable sections of the arms, however right here the stowage areas are simply held on with magnets, so it’s very easy to shortly swap cables out and in.

Carry stability, in order that the monitor is straightforward to maneuver up and down, may be adjusted through an Allen key socket on the second arm (the fuel carry one), with a helpful min-max indicator on the arm displaying how the carry is being adjusted.

Efficiency

As soon as the arm was arrange, I used to be completely gained over by the flexibility to have 34-inch ultrawide screens, surprisingly heavy 32-inch shows (just like the pictured Iiyama), and even 49-inch superwide shows sitting securely, whereas nonetheless having a great deal of freedom of motion. After all, as with every monitor arm, a vital profit is that you simply additionally achieve a lot desk house.

One slight observe of warning is that, whereas the bottom plate supplied right here could be very sturdy – and comes with a extremely easy-to-use adjustment system for clamping to your desk that tightens from the highest, by way of the plate – it doesn’t have the biggest footprint to distribute the burden and pressure of the arm/monitor setup. As such, you’ll have to mount this plate to high quality, sturdy desktop.

As you’d count on, Secretlab’s personal Magnus Professional desk coped simply advantageous in our testing. Additionally, we significantly favored the truth that the Heavy Obligation Arm suits in between the lift-up cable tidying part behind the Magnus Professional and the desktop in entrance. It even suits over the magnetic deskpad of the desk with out difficulty.

Value

Right here’s the nasty bit. This monitor arm prices $349. That’s actually costly, with most heavy-duty choices on Amazon costing round a 3rd of this value. Nonetheless, having used some low cost monitor arms, I can attest to their typically comparatively low cost construct high quality, so in order for you an arm that’s assured to final, the Secretlab does ship.

Verdict

It’s laborious to get previous the sheer value of this monitor arm. For a lot of avid gamers, it may show costlier than the monitor they’ve purchased. Nonetheless, when you’ve got indulged in a high-end, heavy gaming monitor, the Secretlab Heavy Obligation Monitor Arm gives a implausible approach to mount and management your show. It’s extremely well-built, simple to assemble, and simple to function. If you should release desk house and open up your monitor motion, it’s the arm we’d wish to use, if our wallets allowed.

Alternate options

VIVO Extremely Large Monitor Arm

There are numerous heavy-duty monitor arms accessible from largely unfamiliar manufacturers on websites resembling Amazon. One instance is the VIVO Extremely Large Monitor Arm, which prices simply $109.99 and helps shows as much as 44lbs in weight. Nonetheless, we’ve not tried this mannequin so can’t attest to its construct high quality and ease of use.

Kensington Single Monitor Arm with Vesa Mount

I’ve examined the Kensington Single Monitor Arm with Vesa Mount myself, and located it to be a decent-quality unit for the worth. This well-made arm is straightforward to make use of and prices $88 proper now. Nonetheless, it’s solely rated to carry shows weighing as much as 19.8lbs.