MOFT Smart Desk Mat
8.50 / 10
The MOFT Smart Desk Mat is a versatile organization tool that pulls your desk together. Use it to hold your laptop, tablet, book, or documents, snap your phone or smartwatch to it, keep cables tidy, and hide unused papers underneath. The built-in NFC tags let you activate custom settings or apps on your phone. Finally: a dedicated space for all your regularly used gadgets, and it's portable, too.
Specifications- Brand: MOFT
- Qi-Certified: No
- Color: Night Black, Oxford Blue, Sienna Brown
- Compatible Devices : Laptops, tablets, books, documents, smartwatches, smartphones, etc.
- Dimensions: 19.8 x 11.8 x 0.3 inches (50.4 x 30 x 0.7cm)
- Weight: 55.6oz (1.577kg)
- Modules: Cable organizers, note holders, book holders, tablet holder, smartwatch holder, MagSafe wireless charger, wrist/leg cushion
- NFC: Two build-in tags
- High-quality materials
- Many different modules
- Portable and sturdy
- Reliable folding mechanisms
- Sleek and professional look
- Built-in NFC tags
- Potentially size and weight
- Cost
No normal person's desk is always clean and tidy. When you get stuff done, you'll have a number of items passing over your desk every day, and you might be working with multiple devices, like a laptop, tablet, phone, or smartwatch. A busy desk like that can quickly get messy with documents piling up and stuff getting buried. The trick to staying productive is to establish workflows that survive the chaos.
The best way to keep a space organized is to have a designated spot for each of your frequently used items. That's where MOFT's Smart Desk Mat comes in. It can help you maintain a tidy desk with everything in its place, yet always handy. I'll show you how it works.
Why You Can Trust This Kickstarter Campaign
MOFT is a crowdfunding veteran. They launched their first product, an invisible laptop stand, using Kickstarter in 2019. They have since successfully completed three more crowdfunding campaigns.
So far, I backed two of MOFT's campaigns, including their first. In each case, MOFT not only delivered a high-quality and functional product, but they also shipped the rewards with only minimal delay, if any, which is unusual for Kickstarter. In 2019, I got to use both the laptop stand prototype and the finished product. While I loved the prototype, MOFT made significant improvements to the stand. Subsequent MOFT products used the same combination of its signature smart folding and magnetic features.
The Smart Desk Mat is MOFT's fifth Kickstarter, and it was fully funded in record time. As one of their previous backers, I got to access the campaign before it launched to the public and saw that it met its target in a matter of hours. It's now over 2,000% funded. And as this review will demonstrate, it's a finished product, based on the same principles that made MOFT's previous crowdfunding campaigns so successful.
When it comes to MOFT, I might be slightly biased, but only because I've been using their products for a couple of years now. Having tested and used three different MOFT products so far, I can vouch for their quality and reliability.
What's in the Box?
When you get the full MOFT Smart Desk Mat kit, it'll come with the following items:
- The adjustable desk mat with two built-in NFC tags
- MagSafe wireless charging pad
- Snap phone sticker
- Apple Watch or smartwatch holder
- Tablet holder
- 3 cable organizers
- 2 memo holders
- 2 book holders
- Leg/wrist cushion
The most basic kit includes only the desk mat and leg/wrist cushion. You can also choose to back various combinations of accessories or buy accessory kits separately, depending on what works best for you.
My First Impression of the MOFT Smart Desk Mat
At 55.6oz (1,577g), the desk mat itself is rather solid. It's made from vegan leather, fiberglass, and metal sheets, which provide the backbone for the magnets to snap on. Overall, the desk mat feels sturdy and like a high-quality product.
Likewise, the accessories make an excellent impression. While it may take a moment to figure out all the possible folds and applications, each accessory makes perfect sense and is intuitive to use. The built-in magnets are strong and can hold even heavier items in place.
How to Use the Smart Desk Mat
You can choose between various angles and setups, ranging from a 25° angle for typing on a laptop or drawing on a tablet, to anywhere from 45° to 60° or standing almost upright for holding up a book or document. Switching between the different configurations is a breeze.
The rest of the mat is modular.
Tablet Holder
The tablet holder is one of the more clever accessories due to the way it folds. It ships all flat, snapped to the desk mat. To turn it into a holder, fold it down the middle. The center and bottom parts will remain flat, but a flap on each side will stick out to support a tablet, ebook reader, book, or anything else that fits.
MagSafe Wireless Charging Pad and Phone Holder
The wireless charging pad is magnetic and uses USB-C, but you need to provide your own charging cable. In case your phone isn't ferromagnetic, you can use the included sticker to attach it to magnets. Note that the desk mat itself isn't magnetic, so you'll need to snap the phone onto one of the included magnets, such as the charging pad or the watch holder.
Note: Please don't use wireless charging. Ever. Not only does wireless charging waste a lot of energy, the waste heat can also damage your device's battery. Wireless charging may be convenient, but it will make batteries age faster and fail sooner.
Apple Watch Holder
In my eyes, there's nothing special about the watch holder. It can hold any watch, smart or not.
You can snap the watch holder to the back of the desk mat for a clean look. Or keep it on the front, so you can snap on your phone or another accessory you want to keep close by.
Book Holder
The book holders are convenient when you want to have a coffee and a snack while reading. The design is clever, with a non-slip material padding the inside to keep paper from slipping.
However, the book holders are only meant to keep pages from blowing over; they aren't strong enough to hold a book. You'll either have to rest the book on the tablet holder or let it sit on the desk or bottom of the smart desk mat.
Wrist/Leg Cushion
The magnetically attachable cushion has a non-slip back. Either use it to protect your wrists while typing, or snap it on the back of the mat before you rest the mat on your legs. The thick foam provides a comfortable buffer.
How to Use the Built-In NFC Tags
The built-in NFC tags are a nifty feature that can magically put your phone into "desk mode." What is "desk mode," you ask? Well, it's anything you want. It's up to you to set each NFC hotspot up to trigger any state or app that helps you get the job done. For example, you could make your phone go into silent mode when you tap the NFC tag, or you could launch a calming Spotify playlist.
MOFT's Smart Desk Mat only provides the built-in tags. To customize what they do, you'll have to download an NFC tag writer app, such as NFC TagWriter by NXP (Android | iOS). What you make those tags do is entirely up to you, but the article below might provide some inspiration.
Should You Get the MOFT Smart Desk Mat?
If you're still reading, you can probably see value in using MOFT's Smart Desk Mat. And from that perspective, I can only encourage you to back it. Having used MOFT products for over two years now, I can vouch for the quality, and I appreciate the design.
Whether you need each and every module included in the full kit is something only you can decide. Personally, I backed the kit that includes the book and memo holders. And since wireless charging is wasteful and can harm batteries, I'd strongly advise against purchasing the MagSafe wireless charging module.
The two main downsides of the MOFT Smart Desk Mat include its size and its price. The desk mat is 19.8 inches (50.4cm) wide and 11.8 inches (30cm) deep. That's a great size to hold a large tablet and a few accessories, but it may be too big for your desk.
Currently, you can still get the MOFT Smart Desk Mat at Kickstarter rates. But even the most basic kit will set you back $79 ($99 retail price) or you can spend up to $147 ($187 retail) for the full kit. That's a steep price for a simple desk organizer. And that doesn't include shipping, which is $15 within the US or up to $45 internationally.
That said, knowing MOFT's history, this Kickstarter is almost guaranteed to fulfill all rewards and it might even ship on time in December this year. But with international shipping still suffering pandemic pains, I wouldn't want to rely on it.
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