In this review I shall be taking a look at the Genesis Holm 320 RGB Gaming Desk the white version of the Genesis Holm 300 RGB Gaming Desk which Craig Edwards checked out in his review which can be found here. This is my second desk from Genesis, so I wonder if they read my review last time and made some improvements over their design choices, like adding there logo to the legs and placing the RGB strip lights better.
At first glance at the box and its design on the website, this is simply a white version, there does not seem to be any other changes from the Holm 300. Craig Edwards experienced some issues with his desk, missing parts, found it a little small, the price was a little high for him and he hit his legs a few times. I am slightly shorter (5′ 4″) than Craig, so hitting legs should not be an issue, the price of £206.20 is a little high, but this is something I have come to expect from the gaming desk name.
Never heard of Genesis, many have not this is what they have to say about themselves,
At Genesis, we design and develop a wide range of products. They help players at different levels to achieve new goals and increase their skills in virtual competitions. In our offer, gamers can find the complete solutions designed to help them in almost every aspect of the game-related topics. Starting from mice and mousepads, through different types of headphones, gaming keyboards, console accessories, gaming chairs and even to unique accessories for fans of the Genesis brand itself.
Packaging
As expected as this is coming from overseas, make sure you have your funds ready to pay Duties and Taxes based on country of origin. Then do not worry your new Genesis Holm320 RGB Gaming Desk will arrive safe and sound, with a good Courier service. OK, there might be some damage to the internal packaging, but mine arrived ok.
Inside you get plenty of items and an instruction manual, all the key requirements like screws, nuts etc have letters that correspond to where they will be required.
There is also a USB hub, wireless phone charger, cup holder and a holder for control pads.
First Thoughts, Impression and What the Hells?
Once I had built the deck, which was pretty straightforward, I stood there wondering why? why did they add a shelf to hold a monitor, gave me an answer, gives me more space on the desk for other items? Looked at the back of the desk to check out the RGB lighting, and yet again it’s a strip of RGB lights attached by a flimsy bit of plastic once again, just like the last review I did for them which was for the Genesis Holm 510 RGB. I then scoured around the desk looking for Branding and found nothing apart from small Genesis stickers on the desk see pic below.
OK branding is not everything and some gamers like minimalism, I personally like to showcase brands.
Having access to a USB hub is very handy and the wireless phone charger, even though it is good to have this was not the greatest, I much prefer fast charge through HUB and an official Samsung plug. The cup and headset holders are very handy to have access to, saves you just dumping your headset around your room, but I would not recommend using the cup holder for hot drinks in a proper cup. The gamepad holder, even though a nice touch, not many PC gamers own a gamepad, unless they love racing games, or have access to Xbox Games Pass.
You can not place the cup or headset holder anywhere else on the desk, which kind of sucks, but you can move the gamepad holder to the other side of the desk towards to back.
MMM is this up to what I expect?
The desk is white not my normal black, but seem to be cleaner, does not attract dust as much, or hides it better, whichever you think is true. It is smaller than the Genesis Holm 510 RGB and with the use of its monitor stand, you can only use one monitor. I would and have removed the stand and just used my monitors arms for dual monitors.
With the desk being 120cm long which is in and around 4ft makes it a smaller desk that I am used to now, so will I keep using it, I doubt it, ONLY because I prefer more space with my bigger gaming desk. If I did not already own the bigger desk, this desk is perfect, even the surface which is more or less scratch-resistant, or should I say, will not show surface scratches. I would always recommend getting a big mouse mat to cover the desk, just to add more protection, at the end of the day you are paying over £200 for this desk.
Other features include a 3 x 3.0 USB Hub on top of the desk and a wireless charger for your phone, both placed in convenient positions, one of the left the other on the right both towards the rear of the desk. I found both of these very handy, one for changing my phone during the day and the second to input USB devices closer and free up USB ports on my base unit. How do you power them, well you can either put them both through to your base unit, which I would whole heartily advise for the USB Hub?
The final section to add to the desk is the cable management tray see the image below;
This is easy to fit and very basic, however, some monitor stands like mine might cause an issue. I had to put the monitor stand on first then work around the mounting section to get the cable management tray in place.
There is another small issue there the desk has no adjustable feet, so if you are like me have a slightly uneven floor, you going to need to find a way to steady the desk.
The only thing I have not discussed yet are the features, so to start let us discuss the RGB lighting. This is a simple strip light, placed on a bit of flimsy plastic and attached to the full length of the back of the gaming desk. You get a remote control, which will allow you to control the brightness, speed, colours and animations. The final result, well to me its looks cheap and nasty, yes it does give a nice glow behind the desk when up against a wall, but during the day it is almost useless. The way the strip light has been stuck to the desk is unprofessional, it is not straight, hidden, they could have done much better by designing a square clear tubing system and placed the strips light within that. Maybe adding RGB lighting to the sides of the desk and front, this way, you have a good reason to show off your RGB system.
BRANDING GENESIS, GET ON THAT.
Overall though the desk is very stable, and offers up some good features. There are some issues as I have said in my review, RGB lighting needs to be looked at, branding is another that needs more focus YET AGAIN.
I personally found the legs a little thin for my liking, as I would have liked a wider bottom and 100% better branding.
In use, though this desk performed admirably, I was able to place my screens well, cable manages all my devices, charge my phone, place my headset in a good place and have a drink safe and close by at all times.
So now let us answer the core main things you want from a gaming desk — Build Quality, Finish, Design and Functionality
Build Quality – Lacking in some areas like RGB, branding and cup and headset positions
Design – Overall it’s good, but there is a need for improvements, RGB and Branding
Functionality – With a HUB, Phone Charger, Cup Holder, Headset Stand, and cable management this desk offers up a lot.
Finish – It is stable when in use, built well, but the improvements would make the finish a lot better.
The Genesis HOLM 320 RGB White desk costs 239.99 € / 279.99 $
Technical specification:
- table-top size: 120 cm x 60 cm
- table-top height: 75 cm
- materials: MDF board (top), metal (frame)
- color: white
- holders:
- cup
- headphones
- gamepads
- shelves:
- screen
- power strip
- additions:
- included wireless 10 W charger
- USB hub: yes, 3 x USB 3.0
- cable organization system
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