Phanteks Enthoo Evolv MATX Tempered Glass Review

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv MATX Tempered Glass Review

Manufacturer: Phanteks
UK price (as reviewed): £114.95 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $129.99 (ex tax)

The original Evolv chassis was a micro-ATX one, after which followed the mini-ITX and ATX versions. Now, Phanteks is continuing with its trend of adding tempered glass to all existing case designs (not a bad thing, to be honest), but this time it has tweaked the design compared to the original, which is coming up to almost three years old.


Similar to the original, this is a premium case: £115 isn't cheap for any case, let alone a small form factor one. However, the materials are just as premium. The core steel chassis is definitely strong, but the real stars are the external panels: 3mm aluminium makes up the front, bottom, and top sections, while 3mm tempered glass is used for the entirety of both side panels. It's absolutely a winning combo, and Phanteks offers the chassis in three different colours – black, anthracite, and silver. We have the latter, and judging by its quality the other two will be just as desirable.

The front panel is cleverly designed, as from the outside it looks very solid. However, with a smart use of angles and indentation, there's actually plenty of room around the edges for air to be drawn in by the single 140mm front intake fan. This used to be a 200mm model, but the front fan mounting area has been redesigned to accept up to three 120mm fans now (or 360mm radiators). This area is very easily accessed by pulling off the front panel, at which point you can tug off the full-height dust filter with ease as well.


On the bottom, we find rubber feet and a dust filter for the PSU that has its own cubby-hole built into the chassis, making it very easy to remove and replace.

The front I/O ports have moved from the inconvenient right side panel to the top of the front panel but are neatly hidden behind a fold-up panel that's otherwise flush with the rest of the front. On it, you get the usual USB 3.0 ports and audio jacks but also a new RGB LED control button. This switches the colour of the LEDs behind the power button on the roof and the slit in the front panel through 10 different colours. You can also add extra RGB strips to internal connectors and synchronise them using compatible suites from the likes of MSI and Asus, which is pretty neat.


There is plenty of scope for adding additional fans to this case, although you do get a second 140mm installed as a rear exhaust, and this can be height-adjusted to better match the exact position of your CPU cooler. The roof is similar to the front panel in looking solid but having discrete ventilation along the sides, avoiding the need for dust filtering.


The two glass panels swing open on hinges. The left one is predominantly see-through barring some black edging, while the right one sensibly takes a fully black out approach. Well, almost – it actually has a small, transparent bit that exposes any SSDs you have behind your motherboard tray while hiding the mess of cables you'll no doubt accumulate. One thing that did irk us with these panels, however, is that the stickers on them warning you to handle them with care leave behind a messy residue that takes some scratching, finger linking, and wiping to be rid of. It does come off eventually, but we'd prefer not to have to do this.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 230 x 400 x 453 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Aluminium, steel, tempered glass
  
• Available colours Black, anthracite grey, silver
  
• Weight 9kg
  
• Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3.0, headphone, microphone, RGB LED control
  
• Drive bays 2 x 3.5"/2.5", 2 x 2.5"
  
• Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140mm or 3 x 120mm front fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included), 2 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 192mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 319mm
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, RGB LEDs, internal RGB headers, pump bracket