Secretlab’s New Armrests Fall Short of Precision Promises

Let’s get one thing straight: I’m no esports professional. My skills in competitive shooters have always been mediocre at best, and even during my more youthful, quicker days, I ranked near the bottom among my peers in Quake IV. Sure, I can hold my own in a game of FIFA (or FC26, as it’s now known), but the idea of competing online, much less in a live tournament, doesn’t appeal to me. That said, when Secretlab’s new On-Stage Standard armrests for the Titan Evo arrived, I was intrigued. Packaged in sleek boxes with translucent sides revealing internal circuitry and twin LCD panels, they certainly looked the part, high-tech accessories promising sub-millimetre precision for serious gamers.

The premise behind the InfinitePrecision Armrests is straightforward: for elite players, even the tiniest adjustments matter. When you have mere minutes to configure your gear before a match, being able to replicate an exact setup becomes critical. Secretlab developed these armrests, along with a MAGPAD Desk Mat and an upcoming Titan Evo Worlds 2025 Edition chair, to support that need. The desk mat features a grid of ever-smaller squares, functioning like technical graph paper to help users align monitors, keyboards, and mice consistently. It’s a surprisingly manual system, but the armrests appear more advanced, at least at first glance.

Each armrest incorporates hydraulic lifts, dubbed InfiniteLift, enabling height adjustments in increments smaller than a millimetre, up to 79 mm from the base. Unlike traditional armrests with only a few fixed positions, these allow for exceptionally fine-tuning. An LCD screen on each unit displays the current height setting, which you can note and later reproduce. That’s the theory, anyway. The process relies on calibrating the armrest against the underside of your desk, then manually adjusting and recording the measurement. But here’s the catch: to recreate that exact setup elsewhere, everything, from chair height and desk thickness to floor level, must be identical.

During testing, I found discrepancies almost immediately. My own preferred setup showed readings of 3.8 units on the left arm and 4.0 on the right. Since each 0.1 unit corresponds to 0.6 mm, that’s a 1.2 mm difference. If such small variations occur in a controlled home environment, how reliable can this system be under tournament conditions, where desks and floors are rarely uniform? Secretlab acknowledges this in its user guide, noting that uneven floors or table heights can prevent exact matching. So, what’s the real benefit?

Professional gamers like Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-Hyeok emphasize that eliminating variables builds confidence. In his words, “When I feel the most comfortable, stronger gameplay naturally follows.” If an LCD readout assures players their armrests match their home setup, that psychological boost may matter more than physical precision. At the highest competitive levels, mental readiness often outweighs pure technical specs. Still, for everyday users, the value seems less clear. These armrests focus solely on height adjustment. Other movements, side-to-side, front-to-back, and pivot, remain unmeasured, so duplicating a full setup still involves guesswork.

Pricing remains unannounced, but considering that PlushCell Memory Foam Armrest Tops retail for $89, the hydraulic InfinitePrecision units could easily cost $200–300 or more. They don’t include plush tops, just standard PU leather. While the engineering is impressive, I expected something more automated, imagine programming your ideal position and having the armrest return to it with a button press, similar to a motorized desk. Instead, the reality is more hands-on and limited.

Ultimately, Secretlab’s InfinitePrecision Armrests address a specific professional need, and if they help players perform with greater assurance, they serve a purpose. But for the average gamer, the practical benefits may not justify the cost. The technology is innovative in concept, yet its everyday relevance feels questionable, another example of pro-grade gear marketed to mainstream consumers, whether they truly need it or not.

(Source: PCGAMER)