When I Discovered My Laptop Could Also 'Work Standing Up'...

Preface

Hello everyone, I'm Xiyuan.

I recently started working as an independent developer. Busy as I am, I still need a sense of ritual in life.

Even with an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, a laptop still takes up quite a bit of desk space.

This time, let's talk about a little gadget that frees up desk space—a laptop vertical stand, a new toy I picked up in September 2025.

Tripod-Style Secondary Screen Stand

The first stand I bought was this tripod-style one. The laptop screen can still serve as a vertical secondary display, which is quite suitable for reading documents.

After using it for a while, though, I found this approach is better suited for people who use their laptop as a desktop computer.

This stand is actually just three separate support feet, as shown below:

The best way to use it is to install it and then leave it alone.

Otherwise, taking the laptop off and putting it back on every time is a real hassle.

It doesn't really fit my use case. I still mostly treat the laptop as a mobile office tool, and only hook up an external screen, keyboard, and mouse when I need to finish work that's on the laptop.

Fortunately, merchants these days are very creative, and I soon found another type of vertical stand that actually stands the laptop up vertically without taking up desk space.

Vertical Stand

The one I bought looks like this—the left image below, the single-slot version.

At the Apple Store, this thing costs 500 yuan 🤣. I got it on Pinduoduo for a few dozen yuan.

But this one is closed together, which isn't good for heat dissipation, and when the temperature gets too high it might even damage the screen.

Packaging

The packaging is just a very eco-friendly cardboard box.

The Back

(But why did I even photograph the back 🤣)

Unboxing

What's in the box is pretty decent.

Installation

After opening it up, there are two vertical panels and a base. Installation is very simple.

Just use the included hex wrench to fasten these parts together and you're done.

After Assembly

This is what it looks like after assembly.

In actual use it's very stable. The anti-slip pads on the base are quite firm too—a light push won't knock it over.

And once it's standing vertically, the desk instantly feels a lot cleaner.

I usually place the laptop like this (too lazy to take another photo 🤣, so I stole a picture from the internet to make it easier to understand)

This way it doesn't affect heat dissipation, so you don't have to worry about the keyboard getting too hot under high load and damaging the screen.

Wrap-up

It works well and it's convenient!

I'd suggest buying a dual-slot one, so besides the laptop you can also use it as a phone or tablet stand.