Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Review

Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Review

Manufacturer: Phanteks
UK price (as reviewed): £119.99 (inc VAT)
UK price (as reviewed): $149.99 (ex Tax)

Phanteks has already impressed us with its début and second entries into the case market, with the Enthoo Primoo and Enthoo Pro both picking up our Premium Grade award. Today, it's back for a third time with a chassis that makes the Enthoo range a trio. The Enthoo Luxe is another full tower offering, albeit smaller than the flagship Primo, and is so-called because of its built-in customisable LED lighting. The asking price is £120, putting it roughly on par with the similarly sized Corsair Obsidian 750D depending on where you shop.


The Enthoo Luxe retains the series' split window design, with a large rectangular one complemented by a smaller, right-angled trapezoid one. The view inside afforded by this pair is excellent because of the way Phanteks has shielded the hard drive cages and PSU from view, leaving just the motherboard and attached components to provide all the eye candy.

The core chassis is rock solid, and while there's some flex to the left panel, this is understandable given the size of the window, and the right one has no issues here. The roof and front panels are plastic at their cores, but are both fitted with large sand-blasted aluminium sheets that are gorgeous and also ensure excellent rigidity. In the centre of the roof is also a large clip out mesh section that extends practically the entire length of the case. Two push-clips at its rear will release and secure it, although annoyingly it doesn't sit completely flush with the chassis, and this is most noticeable in the corners. It's not a major problem, but it is a slip up in build quality that we weren't expecting. Thankfully, the case's six large rubber feet give it flawless stability and grip.


The external drive bay shields are covered in the same aluminium as the rest of the front panel. However, the top cover is a foldaway one that protects and hides the I/O panel when it's not in use. The USB and audio connections are joined by two buttons, one for reset and one for LED control – the power button is instead found on the roof.

The LED controls are simple to work – hold the button to turn them on or off, or use it normally to cycle through the ten available colours. As well as the power LED, both the roof and front panels will light up with the selected colour. As the lighting strips are housed within the cutaway sections along the sides of the two panels, the resultant light is indirect and produces a soft glow rather than harsh or blinding luminance.


Like the Enthoo Primo, the Enthoo Luxe has an aluminium rectangle in the middle of the front panel's lower mesh section for added aesthetic appeal. Behind this is a 200mm intake fan and this is complemented by a pair of 140mm exhaust fans. One of these is in the rear fan mount, which is height adjustable so you can align the fan with those of your CPU cooler. The second is found in the large roof fan/radiator mounting area in the furthest back position. Again, the mounts here allow you to adjust the positioning of your fans, but are more useful for ensuring radiator compatibility, as the spacing between radiator mounting holes is not a fixed value.


With so many fan mounts, it's important for the Luxe to be well protected against dust, and thankfully this is so. The easily removable roof mesh section is backed by filtering material, as is the front one, though you'll need to pull the front panel off to access and clean it. Lastly, there are two pull out filters for the bottom of the chassis, one for the PSU and one for the two fan mounts. Both have handles so they're easy to remove, and the alignment notches means it's also very easy to replace them without having to tilt the case.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 235 x 560 x 550 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Aluminium, steel
  
• Available colours Black, white
  
• Weight 13.9kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, microphone, LED control
  
• Drive bays 3 x external 5.25in, 6 x internal 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x internal 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX, SSI EEB
  
• Cooling 1 x 200mm or 2 x 140mm/120mm front fan mounts (200mm fan included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (140mm fan included), 1 x 200mm or 3 x 140mm/120mm roof fan mounts (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 140mm or 2 x 120mm bottom fan mounts, 2 x 120mm internal HDD cage fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 193mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 347mm (338mm with reservoir bracket; 472mm without HDD cage)
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, PWM fan hub, LED lighting and controller, reservoir bracket, pump bracket