Packages

The Corsair Platform 6 Elevate ships in three separate boxes. These were delivered by UPS and a single driver will never be able to handle this on his own. As such, you should be prepared to lend a helping hand. The biggest of the packages holds the desk along with a few components. The medium sized one contains the legs and monitor arm, while the smallest is used for things like power strips and smaller bits and pieces.


Opening the largest box, Corsair uses foam spacers and cutouts to ensure all the individual components stay in place securely during shipping. It is also designed in a way that you an leave the table top in place until the manual tells you to do the "big flip." It looks like the factory did not yet get all the packaging kinks worked out, as the metal cable tray is on top of its intended cutout instead of being inside, getting dinged a bit during the shipping process. The table top is quite large at 6 feet wide and 2.5 feet deep. But what sets it apart is its thickness of 1". Made out of rubberwood with a walnut stain, it should last for decades if maintained well. As with any hardwood product, it can still get dinged or scratched. The sheer size and thickness make this part of the desk quite heavy and unwieldy already, with the metal components adding to that. That said, Corsair has done an excellent job in considering what goes where, with clear labels as well as pre-applied cable clips. Unlike some desk brands out there, everything that is meant to be mounted already has a pre-drilled hole or embedded threads.


The second box holds the feed in individual cutouts inside a foam square. In the center, there is another package that contains the dual-monitor arm. This means that you can unbox one thing after another to minimize the mess during assembly. Lastly, the third box is just a container for the power bar and on-desk strip besides some smaller bits and pieces.


Inside the monitor arm box, the whole trend of foam cutouts and individually placed item continues. Both the power strip and power bar are black to complement the desk and sport a metal casing with plastic caps at the end. They both come with thick wiring, but are mechanically speaking, pretty simple units.


The assembly pack comes with individually numbered bags to go along with every step of the well designed manual. That documentation is very thick and contains all the instructions for the whole Platform 6 line-up, even if you only buy the Elevate variant of the desk. Across all the components Corsair provides quite a large number of hex tools, so things may get quite a bit confusiing over time. I found myself grabbing the wrong tool more than once along the way. Corsairs also includes a racheting extension for the biggest of the hex tools, which is a very nice touch.

Assembly

The first step is to install the legs. This desk will weigh quite a bit, even without any system on it. As such, it is good to see that Corsair has opted for a dual-motor setup. With a total weight capacity of 150 kg, you should be alright, even in the most extreme setup scenarios. The one issue with these legs is simply the fact that they are two segments vs. three segments. This means that the lowest setting is limited by the size of the metal tube out of which the inner tube will rise to lift the whole desk. By having three layers of tubes, you get a much better range to cater to everyone regardless of size. I am 5'4" (or around 164 cm) and know for a fact that the lowest possible setting of the desk will be too high for me. In other words: the rule of thumb for a high-end standing desk is to offer a 3 segmented base.


The second step is to install the large cable tray. It requires you to first mount the frames that hold it and then fold the tray itself unto it, securing it with two screws and two big hand-cranked ones in the back. The tray is perforated, just like the Elgato Multi Frame, so you should be able to place use the surface of it to put hooks and such in place. This could be very useful if the table is not standing against a wall for example. Thankfully, even though our sample had a little ding on that cable tray, it is hidden away from view and works just fine.


The third step revolves around the controller and power supply for the motors. Corsair has dedicated spots for both of these. You may choose to have the controller on either side of the desk by securing it to the underside with the supplied screws. The PSU gets sandwiched in-between the metal cross braces and has the appropriate connections on both sides. Whereas most tables require you to get a bit creative with cable management, the Platform 6 underbelly comes with several pre-installed cable clips in strategically well placed spots. This essentially completely eliminated any cable management issues.


The fourth step is called "the big flip" in the manual and essentially tells you to rotate the table to stand upright so that you can continue to assemble the components on the top. If you look at the table top in the right light, you will see some imperfections in the surface unfortunately. On the upside, you won't notice these during daily use.


Up to this point, the Corsair Platform 6 desk only manages to set itself apart from other offering with the use of materials as well as some engineering and design details. However, what is possible on top of the desk is what really is intended to be the focal point of the unit. The heart of this structure is an aluminium rail that is mounted across the entire back width of the table. This is not only where you get to install the dual-monitor arm and slide it into the spot to best suite your needs, but it is also formed in a way that it has T-channels on all four sides where you may embed T-Locks to mount the two included plastic trays or cable management. Those same aluminium rails are present on the left and right edges of the desk. Corsair sells desk extensions so you could make this desktop even wider if you need the space. Alternatively, you could use the cable trays and install them here to put your small bits and pieces into. Besides the rail, the two end pieces that hold it offer mounting holes to mount Elgato lights to for example.

The dual-monitor arm is of excellent quality and each of them can hold a screen of up to 32" in size. Corsair has provided us two of their 27" Corsair Xeneon 27QHD240 OLED panels to mount unto them. If you want to know more about the display and read why we were so impressed with it, check out our review. Lastly, at this point the on-desk power strip may be installed. It comes pre-assembled to screw unto the table top, but Corsair also includes all the parts so that you may secure it to the aluminium rails. The strip is well designed by being angled upwards and offers a USB-A as well as a USB-C port, so that you may charge your peripherals and mobile devices easily.


Corsair also provides two plastic trays as previously mentioned, which could be used for cable management or just to hold stuff like snacks. On top of that, you will also find a cable channel that is straight out of one of their cases. Having this modular accessory is great, but Corsair doesn't really include enough to make the most of this. Ideally the Platform 6 should pack 2-3 times as many pieces. I am sure giving the user a few more of these won't really make a dent in profit margins and would be especially useful, since you can't buy these on their own.