The screen comes up. The neck stops paying for it.

A laptop on a desk asks you to look down for eight hours, and the bill arrives somewhere around the shoulders. This lifts the screen through six locked positions until the top of the display meets your eyeline, then folds flat when the desk has to be a table again.

We chose it over the cheaper fixed stands because the positions actually lock. There is no slow creep down through the afternoon, and no moment where you notice the angle has quietly changed.

Why it earns its place

• Six defined heights, each one holding where you set it.
• An open frame, so air moves under the machine on long calls.
• Rubber at every contact point — nothing slides, nothing scuffs.
• Folds thin enough to go in the laptop bag.

Before you choose

It is built for machines between 8 and 16 inches; a 17-inch laptop will overhang. At the lower settings you can still type on the built-in keyboard, but once the screen is at true eye level the keyboard sits at an awkward angle — that is the point at which a separate keyboard starts to make sense. Any raised stand has more movement than a solid desk, so set it on a flat surface rather than a rug or a soft mat.

The essentials

• Aluminium alloy, six locking heights
• Fits laptops from 8 to 16 inches
• Four anti-slip rubber pads
• Folds flat · black or white