This monitor riser falls short

After several months with a 32-inch curved monitor, I thought I needed a monitor stand. Raising the monitor by a few inches would put it in slightly better eye position and the stand would pair it with a second monitor that I like to use in a vertical orientation. But the Yaohuoo riser that I ordered on Amazon fell a bit short of my goal. 

My first surprise came when I saw the number of pieces I would need to assemble this dual stand: 10 wood veneer panels, four metal connecting plates and more than 40 screws, pegs, locking posts and their companion discs. I’m an IKEA fan, so complicated assembly tasks don’t really bother me but this seemed like overkill for such a simple item.

If you look closely at the images on the riser’s sales page, you will see that the center part of each surface has a different color. Turns out that’s because those accent pieces are separate segments that must be attached using the four metal plates and 24 screws. I ignored the little allen wrench that Yaohuoo provided and grabbed my cordless drill. Otherwise the work might have taken all day.

When I finally got all the pieces connected, it was time to set up my Mac Mini and its two monitors. It was not a good choice for my 32-inch curved monitor. I could clearly see that bolted-on center panel begin to sag under the weight of a 20-pound monitor.

So call it my fault for choosing a square peg for a round hole. In my defense, the product page shows the stand being used with a pair of Apple monitors which can also be pretty heavy. On the plus side, this double riser can be deployed in several different arrangements. I expect it would work just fine for a laptop and maybe a 24-inch companion monitor but it wasn’t right for my setup.

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Written by Ric Manning

Follow me on Twitter @ricmanning and read my technology columns at My Well Being.