- 6 hours ago
@PaulAntill shares his 2026 desk setup, built to balance productivity, content creation, and gaming. These are the best desk accessories he uses to edit videos, record audio, test new tech, and unwind with games after work.
This desk setup is designed around doing more with a single workspace. From the standing Cougar E-Odyssey electric desk with a pegboard, the 49” Samsung G9 Ultrawide monitor, the RODE Podcaster Duo and Mic for high-quality voiceovers, Govee and Razer lighting, and all the accessories between - every piece of tech here earned its place by improving workflow, comfort, or flexibility.
Whether you’re building a creator desk setup, a productivity-focused workspace, or a gaming desk that doesn’t scream RGB, this is how Paul has dialed uo his setup for 2026.
This desk setup is designed around doing more with a single workspace. From the standing Cougar E-Odyssey electric desk with a pegboard, the 49” Samsung G9 Ultrawide monitor, the RODE Podcaster Duo and Mic for high-quality voiceovers, Govee and Razer lighting, and all the accessories between - every piece of tech here earned its place by improving workflow, comfort, or flexibility.
Whether you’re building a creator desk setup, a productivity-focused workspace, or a gaming desk that doesn’t scream RGB, this is how Paul has dialed uo his setup for 2026.
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TechTranscript
00:00Hey, welcome to my 2026 desk setup for content creation, productivity, and gaming.
00:05This is the desk where I film, edit my videos, record audio, test new tech, and still unwind with games
00:11at the end of the day.
00:12So whether you're starting fresh, upgrading an existing setup, if anything here gives you inspiration for your own desk setup,
00:19I've got everything linked down below.
00:21I've also chapterized this video so you can just quickly jump ahead to whatever piece of gear you care about
00:26most.
00:28Okay, so let's start with the backbone of this entire setup, the desk.
00:32This is the Cougar eOdyssey electric standing desk, and despite costing about half the price of most other premium standing
00:39desks, it checks a lot of boxes for productivity and gaming.
00:43This is a silent dual motor standing desk that raises and lowers quickly even with all the weight that I've
00:48got here.
00:48I love the built-in pegboard on the back.
00:51It gives me a place to show off a few of my favorite knickknacks and figures without eating up valuable
00:56desk space.
00:57On both sides, we've got these shelves that are integrated, which I'm using to hold my Edifier S360DB bookshelf speakers.
01:04And I've had these for over three years now.
01:06They still sound incredible and can absolutely shake the house when I want them to.
01:16On the bottom left are a pair of headphone hooks so I can just grab my headphones really quickly.
01:20One feature that I didn't think I'd care about as much, but I really love right now, is the slide
01:25-out drawer.
01:26It has this felt liner, and I use it to store smaller essentials like my SD cards, SSDs, guitar picks,
01:32and other really tiny things that would normally get lost on my desk.
01:35And also really cool, the desk drawer doubles as a wrist rest, which is one less accessory I need to
01:40worry about, and it works surprisingly well.
01:42Now, what if your office or gaming chair could also massage and stretch out your back while you were sitting?
01:47That's exactly what my new chair, the LiberNovo Omni, does.
01:51I had a ton of back pain before upgrading to this chair, and if you work from a desk for
01:56several hours a day like I do, trust me, proper lumbar support makes a huge difference.
02:02And unlike most other chairs that I've tested, they usually leave this huge gap between your lower back or your
02:08upper back.
02:09Instead, this is curved to follow the shape of my spine a lot better.
02:12On top of that, this combo comes in my favorite four-screen color, so that was just another thing that
02:16convinced me to get this.
02:17But the really cool thing is that the Omni uses a rechargeable USB-C battery pack to power its adjustable
02:22lumbar system that lets me change its position up or down manually,
02:26or turn on its massaging mode that will slowly roll it up and down, giving me that slight massage while
02:32also stretching out my back.
02:34Things get even more interesting when paired with this optional footrest, which if you didn't know, even that slight elevation
02:40and tilt for your feet keeps your back more upright and is better for leg circulation.
02:45And as someone who frequently moves around and fidgets in their seat, this helps me change up my seating position
02:51without compromising healthy posture.
02:53This combo also lets me take full advantage of the seat's 160-degree lean, and together I get a zero
02:59-gravity mode, which, yes, I have fallen asleep in.
03:02Look, I get that this chair is a very big investment, but if your current setup is doing more harm
03:07than good like mine was,
03:09I can't stress how important this kind of support is.
03:12You're back. Well, thank you.
03:13All right, so let's move on to the tech at my desk.
03:16First up is the massive display here, the Samsung Odyssey 49-inch ultrawide monitor.
03:21If you've seen my desk setup video from a few years ago, this model might look familiar.
03:25It's actually the newer version with a big spec bump.
03:29This model runs at a higher 5120 by 1440 resolution, which makes the text noticeably sharper and gives me more
03:35usable screen space when I'm editing my timelines.
03:37It also bumps up the refresh rate to 240 hertz instead of 120, which for me is a big win
03:43for gaming.
03:43Together, you're basically getting two 27-inch monitors side-by-side, and that 1000R curve helps me not break my
03:49neck when I'm looking from side to side.
03:51It's perfect for multitasking or running two apps at once or when I'm working on those really long video timelines.
03:57And also one of my favorite features is using its picture-by-picture mode, which lets me connect two devices
04:01at the same time.
04:03And here's what might surprise you, though.
04:04These Samsung ultrawide monitors often go on really deep sales on Amazon, and I've seen them drop to like $700,
04:10which for me feels like a steal for how much screen real estate I'm getting.
04:14Now, mounted above the monitor is one of my newest additions.
04:18This is the Qantas curved monitor light bar.
04:22The first thing you'll notice is that it matches the same 1000R curve as my monitor, which actually makes it
04:27feel really well integrated.
04:29It's got two functions.
04:30It's got a downward-facing light with adjustable color temperature, which is really great for reducing eye strain, especially when
04:36I'm working late at night like a little gremlin with the rest of my lights turned down low.
04:39And this model specifically also has an upward-facing light bar that bounces a little bit of color against my
04:45pegboard.
04:45Everything is controlled with this little puck that lets me adjust brightness, color temperature, and toggle between its bottom lights
04:51or its RGB ones independently.
04:53And while I do wish it supported Wi-Fi for smart home integration, this is a very simple and affordable
04:58desk accessory that is made working at night much more enjoyable.
05:01And speaking of RGB lighting, I've also got these Govee neon rope lights wrapped around my e-Odyssey desk for
05:07even more of that pop of color.
05:09Light strips aren't anything new, but these have excellent diffusion, which eliminates those light spots and gaps that you normally
05:15see when looking directly at lights.
05:17These lights support a bunch of really cool presets that you can customize, as well as syncing with their other
05:21Govee lights, including this floor lamp that I have on the other end of my studio.
05:25But what's especially cool about Govee lights and the reason I've gone with them is that they can also sync
05:29with the Razer Synapse, which gives some really cool, crazy reactive lighting effects for supported games like Overwatch 2.
05:36But more on that in just a bit.
05:38For my peripherals, I think I've finally landed on a combo that works really well for productivity and some gaming.
05:44For my keyboard, I've gone with the Logitech MX Mechanical Mini.
05:47It's compact, but delivers one of the best typing experiences that I've tested, and it has excellent battery life lasting
05:53weeks on a single charge.
05:54For my mouse, I recently upgraded from the MX Master 3 to the Logitech MX Master 4.
06:00Ergonomics are still about the same, but the build quality gets a huge upgrade.
06:04The top and side materials are much more resistant to the staining and wear that the previous model had.
06:09It also has this new haptic button on the side here for getting quick access to shortcuts and other controls
06:15without needing to dig into menus.
06:17One thing keeping this from being the perfect mouse, though, is that it's relatively heavy and does not have very
06:22fast pulling rates, meaning it's not a great choice for gaming.
06:24So especially for my FPS games, I'm still using the Razer Basilisk V3 Pro.
06:30Very lightweight, very nice ergonomics.
06:32And the main reason this isn't also my productivity mouse is that its battery life isn't so great, and it
06:37doesn't support quick switching between different devices, which is a big deal for me.
06:42Now sticking with productivity a little bit more, I recently added the Logitech MX Creative Console.
06:47As a video editor, this lets me access the tools and actions I need much faster.
06:52The customizable MX Creative Keypad handles all of my shortcuts, while the wireless MX Dial Pad gives me more precise
06:59control, especially with my timelines and color adjustments.
07:02If you're familiar with the Elgato Stream Deck, the MX Keypad also works very similarly with multiple pages for shortcuts
07:08that automatically switch depending on the app that I'm using.
07:11And I really like how both of these modules are compact enough to just slide to each side of my
07:15desk when I'm not actively using them.
07:18Moving on to the gaming side of things, I have a few Razer accessories that I teased already.
07:22First is the Razer Strider Chroma, a 35.5-inch extended hybrid RGB mouse pad, which gives me a ton
07:29of room to move my keyboard and mouse around.
07:31And then for my handhelds, I've got the Razer Chroma Dock, which is a very minimalist choice, but it has
07:36all the ports that I need, and of course, a little bit of RGB too.
07:39Now, connecting all of my accessories to my main machine, the MacBook Pro 14-inch M1 Max, is the appropriately
07:45named Ivanki Fusion Dock Max One.
07:48I spent a long time researching for a dock that met all of my needs.
07:52It has to support my 5K display, offer at least five USB-C ports, with most of those ports located
07:57on the back so that my desk setup can stay clean.
08:00I also still wanted to have a couple front-facing USB-C ports and a card reader so that I'm
08:05not constantly having to reach behind my dock to plug things in.
08:08And using a combo cable, my laptop gets power and full access to everything that's connected on my desk here.
08:14Now, if you've got a newer computer, Ivanki has since released the Fusion Dock Max 2 with faster Thunderbolt 5,
08:20and I would definitely consider getting that newer one instead if you want those faster data and charging speeds.
08:25Speaking of charging, to keep everything else besides my computer and monitor charged at my desk, I am using the
08:32Anker Prime 250-watt 6-port charging station,
08:35which I feel like I've cleverly mounted under my desk using 3M tape to help keep things looking even cleaner.
08:41It has four USB-C ports on the front, plus two USB Type-A ports on the side for those
08:46slower or legacy devices,
08:48which I'm actually using to power the Qantas Lite and this extra USB-C cable, which charges up my peripherals
08:54when their battery is low.
08:55Now, you're probably wondering why a charger needs a display.
08:58For me, it's useful to see charging speeds, especially when I'm troubleshooting different devices,
09:02and I want to make sure that they're actually getting the right amount of charge.
09:05It also has this really cool built-in AI priority mode, which, when enabled, will automatically allocate power to the
09:11most power-hungry devices.
09:13And like I said, when I'm testing a lot of devices, like all these handhelds, I can power all of
09:17them at once using just this one charger.
09:20And then for all my other charging, I'm using this new Anker 25-watt 3-in-1 MagSafe Qi 2
09:25.2 charger, which charges my phone, my AirPods, and my Apple Watch.
09:29I really like this design because it has a silent fan built-in, which keeps my phone charging at full
09:34wireless speeds without ever getting hot.
09:36And because I'm not always charging my Apple Watch and AirPods at the same time, I like that it's kind
09:40of hidden and out of sight when I just want a slim, low-profile charger on my desk.
09:46It folds up in a super compact when I need it to.
09:48It has adjustable angles from 0 to 60 degrees.
09:51I also really like that the Apple Watch charger can hide when I don't need it, and my AirPods are
09:55also charging on the back.
09:56That way, when this is on my desk, everything looks very sleek and minimalist without all the additional bulk you
10:02usually find with MagSafe chargers.
10:04Finally, I get asked all the time what I use to record audio at my desk.
10:08The first thing is the RODECaster Duo Mixer, which handles basically everything.
10:13It's a smaller version of the RODECaster Pro 2, which I had previously.
10:17This one has the same core features and processing inside, but with just two mic inputs and fewer pads and
10:23faders.
10:24But as a solo creator, I have never needed more of the extra features found on the Pro, and this
10:29helps me save a ton of desk space.
10:31And something else that's really cool about the RODECaster Duo is that it can connect to two devices simultaneously, so
10:35my MacBook, and it's usually another handheld.
10:37And this makes it really easy to transfer recordings, control audio levels from the different devices, and easily monitor everything
10:44through those edifier speakers or the headphones that I use.
10:46And for the desk mic, and what you've been hearing this video through, is the RODEPOD Mic.
10:50It's mounted to this very sturdy, low-profile, $30 newer mic stand, and as you can see, moves around really
10:57easily without covering my face.
10:59And together, this combo helps me quickly record high-quality audio, whether it's for voiceovers or making videos like these.
11:05So that's my 2026 desk setup for productivity and gaming.
11:09These videos are always a ton of fun to make, but let me know what you guys think, or if
11:13there are any other must-have desk accessories that I should test for next time, especially ones for productivity.
11:19Make sure you're subscribed for more video content and follow me to see what other cool tech I'm reviewing.
11:23Until the next one, I'll catch you later.
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