Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Review

Phanteks Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Review

Manufacturer: Phanteks
UK price (as reviewed): £157.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $179.99 (ex tax)

Upgrading cases with tempered glass panels seems to be all the rage these days, and this isn't the first example we've seen from Phanteks. This is a company with a number of quality chassis to its name, and the original Enthoo Luxe certainly falls into that category. In theory, then, this should be an easy review, but the case is now a few years old, so it'll be interesting to see how well the design stands up now.


When you're splashing out £160 just on a case, you expect it to be well built (it's actually on sale at OcUK for less than £140 at the time of writing). Thankfully, this is an area where Phanteks delivers; this chassis is solid wherever you look. This is due in part to the external sand-blasted aluminium coating on the front and roof panels, which looks and feels great and cleverly disguises the fact that the two panels are actually made mostly of plastic. If you're not keen on the gunmetal grey of our sample, you may be interested in the black version instead. Naturally, the tempered glass is a big plus for build quality, but the steel too feels stronger than on your average case. The bulky case also utilises six rubber-tipped feet instead of the usual four, so it has commendable grip on any surface.

The front and roof don't just look good, they play host to a number of features as well. Airflow is aided by mesh in both areas – it dominates the roof, but at the front it's hidden by a centred plate that stops the case from looking too porous. A trio of optical disk drive covers are indicative of the case's age, while what looks to be a fourth cover (the top one) is actually a means of disguising the front I/O ports. This maintains a clean aesthetic but could be a bit annoying if you're the type to regularly be connecting and disconnecting peripherals here. The power button is located at the front of the roof panel, but the reset and LED control buttons join the ports behind the front fold-up panel. This latter button is used to control the external lighting that glows out through the grooves cut into the sides of the front and roof as well as the power button. You have ten different colours and three different effects to choose from, and any internal RGB LED strips you hook up to the internal connector will synchronise to these as well.


Four 140mm fans is a generous helping as far as out-of-box cooling goes. Two of these are mounted as front intakes, and two are mounted as exhausts with one on the roof and one at the back. Each one is installed using elongated mounting struts that give you some flexibility with regards to the precise location of each fan as well as being beneficial for radiator mounting.

With so much potential airflow, it's a good thing the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass is suitably shielded against intrusion from dust. The tightly woven mesh that makes up the clip-out roof section is one part of this, and another filter is found fitted to the inside of the front panel behind the mesh there – this is removable only after tugging the front panel off, although unfortunately this part of the case doesn't come cleanly away on account of the LED wiring. Finally, there are two removable dust filters on the bottom, with one pulling out to the front and the other to the rear. The rails for these two filters are easy to relocate once you've given those filters a good clean.


While the right side panel is made of steel as before, the left one has a new tempered glass design that's instantly favourable thanks to its good looks and strength. It has a black border section and is tinted, so systems with LEDs will look especially good. We like the way Phanteks has attached this panel too; a set of rear hinges allow the panel to swing open after you undo the two thumbscrews near the front. This means you don't have to completely remove it to access the interior, but you can simply lift it off the hinges if you wish as well.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 235 x 550 x 560 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, aluminium, plastic
  
• Available colours Black, gunmetal grey
  
• Weight 14kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, stereo, microphone, LED control
  
• Drive bays 3 x external 5.25in, 6 x 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX, SSI EEB
  
• Cooling 1 x 200mm or 2 x 140mm/120mm or 3 x 120mm (with ODD cage removed) front fan mounts (2 x 140mm fans included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 200mm or 2 x 140mm or 3 x 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
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, PWM fan hub, RGB LED lighting and controller, reservoir bracket, pump bracket