The Amazon Basics Adjustable Laptop Tray Table has a laptop rest on the left side and a mouse rest on the right side of the work surface. This makes the tray impractical for lefties. And if you don’t use a mouse, it also forces you to have your laptop off to the side while you’re using it, rather than centered.

The Arlo Skye The Lap Desk’s large 19-inch size makes it cumbersome to use, and the microbeads in the cushioned base feel like hard plastic compared to the soft compression beads found in our main pick. Plus, the docking tray is too narrow for anything but a mobile phone or tablet, making it inaccessible for people who pair their devices with thicker cases.

The Honey-Can-Do Portable Laptop Lap Desk (our former budget pick) was nixed in a later round of testing because it doesn’t have a built-in laptop rest to keep your stuff from sliding off.

The Huanuo HNLD11 feels flimsy and cheap when compared with our picks. And at 16½ inches wide, it’s an awkward size—a bit too small for daily use and too big for travel. Plus, the fleece material on the bottom gets warm more quickly compared with the padding on most options we tested.

The LapGear Clipboard Lap Desk is well built and offers plenty of room for a 13-inch laptop and mouse (17¾ inches wide), and the clip on the side is handy for keeping homework, tax forms, or other papers in place. However, the materials seem chintzier and less durable than those of the Designer.

The LapGear Mydesk, measuring 17½ inches wide, has a generously sized workspace, but it’s not as sturdy or as stylish as the Designer lap desk. Also, while the fleece material on the bottom is velvety-soft, it gets too warm on your lap.

The LapGear Smart-e is almost identical to the discontinued eDesk, but we found its dimpled plastic surface unenjoyable to write on. Plus, the lip around its tablet slot creates an uneven surface for a laptop or notepad.

On paper, we liked the LapGear XL (discontinued) a lot. It’s one of the widest models we tested, its padding is ventilated, and it has dual mousepads, zip-up storage pouches, and a roomy laptop rest. But in practice, that laptop rest is made of hard plastic and makes the whole thing uncomfortable to use.

The Mind Reader LTADJUST lacks a storage compartment, and its fleecy padding is soft but too warm for comfort.

We like that the Nearpow Laptop Lap Desk has a removable, washable cover (no other model we tested has this feature, so you have to spot-clean the fabric padding). But it feels flimsier than most models we tested (its mouse pads were starting to peel off after just a few days of use, and the materials in general feel chintzy). Also, its padded wrist rest was too angular in shape to be used comfortably.

The Executive Office Solutions Portable Adjustable Aluminum Laptop Desk, Huanuo HNLA6 (discontinued), and PWR+ Laptop Table are nearly identical models with built-in, USB-powered fans to keep your laptop (and lap) cool. We thought they might be a good option for video editors and other people who run lots of programs on their laptop, generating more heat than typical use. However, these models were not easy to set up and use—each leg has three joints that must be manually adjusted to a precise angle to be usable. Nor did we think they were substantially better at keeping our laps cool compared with other legged lap desks we tried. Also, these lap desks’ legs extend straight down from their work surface—leaving just over 18 inches for your legs in between them. So, if you have hips like Kim Kardashian, it’s going to be a tight squeeze.

The SAIJI Adjustable Laptop Stand features collapsible legs and generous height and angle adjustments, making it ideal for someone who doesn’t like the weight of a lap desk against their body. But this desk weighs 9 pounds, more than four times the weight of our LapGear Designer main pick, making it cumbersome to use. And while this model offers a wide, 23-inch work surface, it may still be difficult for people with larger bodies or wide hips to sit comfortably between its legs—one tester, who’s 5-foot-3 and has 40-inch-wide hips, occasionally struggled to rearrange themselves beneath it.

This article was edited by Ben Keough and Erica Ogg.