Except it wasn’t new, if the article can be believed. It was one they’d already reviewed and found to be inferior.
> Here’s what the Wirecutter writer of the article said:
> “I don’t part with that kind of money easily, but after seeing all the desks out there, I bought a NextDesk Terra.”
> The Wirecutter ultimately said: The best electronic adjustable height desk is the NextDesk Terra.
> Also important is what the Wirecutter said about another desk, the Ergo Depot Jarvis Fully desk (later name changed to Fully:
> They are noisier and clunkier. It’s a more basic technology, so it’s cheaper.
> - The Wirecutter Writer
Except if you follow the article's link to the web.archive.org version of the review (captured 2014-01-06), you'll see this is what the Wirecutter actually wrote:
> There are two cheaper options that I looked at: ErgoDepot, and VertDesk. These are cheaper desks first and foremost because of the motors. The expensive desks hide their motors in the legs, they work quietly, and they become something you almost forget about. The cheaper desks instead hook a motor to a rod that attaches to the other leg on the desk, and as the motor runs, the rod turns. These are motors that you notice. They are noisier and clunkier. It’s a more basic technology, so it’s cheaper. That’s how the desks can cost so much less.
That is, they looked at a desk from the company Ergo Depot (the company is now named Fully) - they did not look at the Ergo Depot Jarvis.
If you scroll down later in that snapshot, you'll see a mention of the Jarvis - in the comment section, where someone notes that it's brand new.
So, the Wirecutter did not review and could not have reviewed the Jarvis at the time they made those quotes about it being "noisier and clunkier," because it didn't exist yet. The Jarvis was released after their review. (That also provides a legitimate reason for the Wirecutter to have put a "hold" marking on their review, commenting that new options had just come out.)
The Wirecutter's official response to NextDesk/XDesk agrees with that timeline: "When we changed our top pick in February 2015, we did so because another company had entered the field with something nearly as good but for half the price. ... We still recommended the NextDesk product when there wasn’t an affiliate relationship, up until February 2015."
And if you look at the Wirecutter's February 2015 review, also from the web.archive.org link graciously provided by NextDesk/XDesk, you can see that they have several positive things to say about the NextDesk Terra - but the Jarvis is cheaper and almost as good overall, and better in a few ways. Look back at the 2013 review, as quoted in the article, and you can see that they're clearly unhappy with the price - they only think the Terra is the top pick because there aren't competitive cheaper options.
Another hint - the old web page for the Jarvis, http://www.ergodepot.com/Jarvis_Desk_p/jrv.htm , has its first web.archive.org snapshot on 2013-11-05. The review that favors the Terra is from 2013-08-29.
(Allegedly.)