This video is brought to you by UGREEN. This is the 4th and last installment of
my home studio desk setup. I have some great plans for improvements which I plan to implement by the
end of the year and of course, share with you but until that time, I will be smashing videos on this
dual monitor setup like there’s no tomorrow. Feel free to check the previous versions of this setup
to see how everything has evolved, and as always, all the links will be in the description below.
So, in my last video, I mentioned that my trusty Autonomous standing desk frame
has stopped working. Apparently, the Autonomous spirit heard me and came back to life, and now,
the desk rises up again…don’t ask me how 😂 For new visitors, I will quickly skim through
the specs of the desk: This is the Autonomous SmartDesk Pro Frame in black paired with the
Autonomous Cable Tray in grey (the only color provided). The desk is dual motor and has 4
memory presets. It is also fairly quiet. I assume the glitches had something to with some power
outages that we had, so after years of use, I can say that it’s been reliable and a joy to work on.
The most quirky thing about the desk at this point is the newly released IKEA
LAGKAPTEN tabletop in this symmetrical square pattern. This is the larger 55-inch size,
and I think it adds a good amount of flavor to the setup. Aside from being unique,
the tabletop is very inexpensive…so even if something goes wrong down the road,
I won’t feel too bad about it. Other than that, an additional
feature that I now add to every new desk is casters. Making desk changes and especially
cleaning is 10x easier when I can simply move the desk out of the way. Putting casters raises up
the overall height of the desk BTW, so if your chair is fixed in height, keep that in mind.
On top of the desk, the pièce de résistance and one of my favorite desk accessories is the Balolo
Shelf which serves a few important roles. Aside from adding a great amount of vertical charisma
to the setup, the shelf elevates both monitors to an ergonomic height perfect for displays like the
Studio Display. This larger version of the Shelf that you see here can see can easily
accommodate two 27” displays while providing a ton of versatility underneath and to the sides,
all thanks to the patented mounting grid on the bottom. See the Balolo Setup Cockpit is
a desk accessory that allows the attachment of a range of accessories ranging from chargers to
docks and stands and even trays. In the case of this setup, I have a MagSafe Holder in the middle
that I use to top up my phone and earbuds, and to the right, I have my favorite Stream Deck Holder,
which finally fixed the weird OEM stand angle and freed up more space. On the right side, I have
Balolo’s normal tray that perfectly fits 3 of their catch-all trays, and in them,
I keep random small items that I resort to - like hard drives and more. Underneath it,
I double-velcroed my dock, which I’ll talk about in a moment, and on the left, I have the newly
released larger tray that easily engulfs even the largest of laptops, like my 16” MacBook Pro.
Using this shelf leaves me with 70% of desk space that I can keep clean or use for something else
without worrying about loose objects, so yeah, Balolo is a definite recommendation of mine,
and I’ll be sure to link their Cockpit system below if you want to check them out.
When you have a lot of devices, it can be a challenge to find enough outlets to power
them all without creating a mess. At my office, for example, I use UGREEN's Nexode 100W Charger
to run power for pretty much everything. UGREEN in fact, has a great selection of
chargerss ranging from 30 to 140 watts. All of them are powerful, intelligent, and compact,
like the Nexode Mini for example, which packs 30W of power into a size small enough to lose. The
Nexode 45W GaN II on the other hand, features two USB-C ports that support fast charging,
while the Nexode 65W USB-C boasts three ports, all while being 50% smaller than Apple's OEM charger.
The Nexode 100W USB C that I use in the setup has three USB-C ports and an additional USB-A,
which means I can provide power to four devices at the same time. All of UGREEN's chargers have
intelligent power distribution and charging protection, along with a fireproof housing, so
if you need a charger for your laptop, phone, or tablet, be sure to check out the first link in the
description below to get your own UGREEN charger. Let’s talk peripherals. For this setup,
in combination with the quirky tabletop, I felt a bit of a retro motif, so I took out my iQunix
OG80 Hitchhiker Wireless keyboard and combined it with a few more retro bits and pieces like the
wallpaper, which I’ll put in the description. Inspired by the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide
to the Galaxy, this keyboard is an absolute joy to glance at and just as satisfying to type on.
Although the keyboard is wireless, I most often prefer to keep it plugged in so I don’t have to
worry about charging it. To match the backlight of the desk and represent the color scheme
of my logo, I color-matched everything to this tiel-like color, and I think it looks very groovy.
I use a trackpad in combination with а G305 mouse by Logitech, which I purchased for a
budget edition desk setup way back when. Although being a bit smaller for my taste,
I love how precise it is, and the battery life on a single AA battery is nothing shy of amazing.
I have a bunch of IKEA rechargeable batteries for other purposes, so it takes no time to just
swap with a full one and continue my work. All the peripherals are placed on top of my
ENOUGH mouse pad which I designed so it doesn’t shallower to avoid tucking under the shelf or,
let’s say, the monitor stand. This is the first version of the ENOUGH pad and actually
the prototype that still looks good to this day. The newer version is a bit denser and a
bit more heavier and softer, so if you want to support a creator, you can check it out.s
The Elgato stream deck on the right is one accessory I didn’t expect that will come so handy
in a setup. I use it twofold. The primary use is to control all the home kit lights in the studio,
which is a total time saver second, I have created some video editing shortcuts that
are just a reach away when I edit. I can of course, add more pages if I need to. I will
talk more about it and how I tie it with home kit accessories in my upcoming Sunday newsletter,
so you can sign up if you are interested. The tech that allows me to power up everything
is the OWC Thunderbolt 4 dock mounted below the Balolo tray. I’ve been using this dock for over
2 years now, and I couldn’t be happier. Both monitors are plugged in via USB-C to the back,
allowing me to just plug one cable to the laptop and charge it. The lightbar,
stream deck, and mouse dongle are all drawing power from it, while the dock juices up the
laptop at max 90 watts. The most used feature of the dock is, of course, the SD Card on the front.
OK…so let’s talk monitors. The one on the left is Apple’s Studio Display with the default stand,
but upgraded with the nano-texture glass. I have the standrd glass at the office, and I have to
say - I am really impressed with how Apple made that less-reflective model. It doesn’t appear
grainy, nor it loses it’s black levels like many other options out there. I placed it to the left,
facing the windows, so that when I pull the curtains, I can still work with no problem.
On the right, I have the ASUS Pro Art Display in the same 27” size. Both monitors are in this Side
by Side setup, which I mentioned in my monitor guide that I don’t particularly like, but I still
did for a reason. I initially thought I would mount the ASUS on an arm vertically as I really
like that workflow, but since the Studio Display doesn’t allow me to run my Nintendo Switch or
anything else besides the MacBook, for that matter, I figured I would keep it horizontal so
that I can smash some games from time to time. Both monitors are color-accurate 27”, IPS,
60hz panels, and both have something to complain about. If you want to hear my experience and
honest thoughts about them, you can check out my recent creative monitor run down,
which I’ll link at the end of this video. The Nintendo Switch that I mentioned is positioned
to the right of the Shelf, and whenever I want to play Mario Card, I can just pull out the JoyCons,
change the input, and have some fun. There are of course, things that I don’t
particularly fancy about this overall setup. First and foremost, the tabletop doesn’t have
the corner radius like the Balolo shelf, which for some reason, triggers my OCD. Second, this dual
monitor side-by-side setup forces me to either place my BenQ Screenbar on the left or right or
kind of hang it in the middle, which looks a bit weird…maybe I need to get two screen bars. Also,
I need to figure out how I can organize everything so I find space for my gaming PC, which has been
benched for far too long. Maybe mounting it underneath…or something lese - if you have a
suggestion, feel free to share it in the comments. If you enjoyed this video, then you should
definitely check out my monitor guide as well as my office setup,
which will soon be updated as well. Like & Subscribe to the channel,
as well as my newsletter, and as always, it’s been an absolute pleasure,
This is E Over & out