Found out 90% of cheap monitor arms use the same gas spring from one factory in China

Honestly, I was shopping for a budget monitor arm last month and stumbled on a deep dive on some tech forum. Turns out almost all those $30-$50 arms on Amazon come from the same OEM factory in Guangdong. I had been arguing with a friend that spending more was a scam, but I checked the specs and realized the difference is just a plastic cover and a different brand sticker. The cheap ones all have a max weight of like 6.6 pounds before they sag, even if the listing says 10. I tested one from a random brand and my 8 pound monitor drooped after 2 days. Now I'm saving up for a used Ergotron off Facebook Marketplace instead. Anyone else run into this where the stats are just fake on these budget arms?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix989d ago

MAN that is SO frustrating but yeah I had the same thing happen with a $40 arm from some brand I'd never heard of. The tilt joint gave out in 3 months and my monitor just slowly sagged down until it was pointing at my keyboard. I ended up cracking the plastic cover prying it open to tighten the bolt and it was just a cheap stamped metal piece inside. Lesson learned I guess.

the_drew9d ago

Yeah I switched to a gas spring one off Amazon and it's been solid for like two years now.