Packaging
“A Picture is worth a thousand words” (Fred R. Barnard)
The front box shows Phanteks PH-ES314E_BK Enthoo EVOLV and lets you understand right away that you are not dealing with just any ordinary computer case. The black box with the picture in the center is beautiful and the corrugated boxing is strong and its wrap around type that tightly encloses the inside by coming together with large copper industrial double copper staples that hold the box firmly together.
The back of the case box shows the many unique feature of the Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV case in full detail and can be easily understood by anyone interested in studing the case in full detail.
The printing quality and the box itself is very easy to read and the box is treated with the utmost care and respect.
The form and function is described here on the side in 9 different languages that is sure to be able to be read by anyone that that needs know about the specifications of the case inside cocooned inside.
The case specifications are labeled in great detail on this side of the box along with the UPC code and serial number of the case inside. The handles cut into the box works sufficiently to move the box and carry it. While the case is pretty heavy the size of it makes it easy to carry around.
Once the box is lifted off you have the case that is protected by very high quality Styrofoam. I actually checked it’s durability as I usually detest regular Styrofoam but as I stressed it and tried to break it I found that this was not regular Styrofoam but this stuff stood up and seemed to ask me, “is that all you got?” I walked away like a good reviewer would surprised by my findings.
The Plastic that covers the Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV is not exceptionally thick as some, but it is good enough for covering a high quality case without too much overkill so I would say nothing wrong with this part as well.
Once the plastic is finally removed you can see that there is one more layer of protection to remove and that is the self sticking plastic that has been popular with windowed panels for over a decade and it works really good to cover and keep any scratches from the smoked window panel on the side. The one that I received had only the outer side of the screwed in window panel covered in the plastic and not the inside but the window was not damaged or scratched in any way as I looked it over but if Phanteks is reading this I think the inner part should be protected too since some of the parts box and the wires are movable and that little piece of cheap protection would go a long way in the future to keep down RMA’s
Great case! What were noise levels and temperatures like? 🙂
Con: You can’t buy it anywhere in the US.
Sure it might be a nice case, but what about 5.1/4 inch bay drive, Yes people still use that by the way and for the record the Cooler Master Cosmos II Chassis will be the last Case I’ll never own. Of Course until something don’t fit, then again I’ll make it fit.
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It has a 5.25″ bay in the rear.
Not yet.
There are so many USB external drives the best way to use this 5.25 drive bay is by using it for a holder for a reservoir for a water cooling solution. Yes its strange these days to see newer cases with no 5.25 bays and there will surely be more to come in the future. This case is a trend setter.
The noise level will be according to what fans you choose or what pumps you decide to use and even what video card you use. Overall its built like a bullet proof vehicle so you won’t be getting any noise from the case itself at all.
ITs getting introduced now.
I like this case and will be buying one, but I’m a little bothered about the side ports. These would have been much better placed at the top of the case, allowing the user more flexibility to place the tower according to their side preference. Many people place their tower against a wall or a desk side panel and with the power button being on the right hand side, this makes the side window feature pointless if they plan on having access to the power button easily. Not to mention people who have desks set up that benefit from having towers on the right hand side will have to reach around for the power or at the very least bend down if they want to fiddle with the front USB/Audio instead of easily insert/pull from a top access port.
Internally I think the detachable SSD mounting panel could use a little better placement for the SSD SATA connections that are at the extreme top and bottom points. Why weren’t the brackets able to be placed horizontally for better management or have at least one one SATA connection point coming from the center of the plate? It also would have been helpful if this plate were hinged like the main side panels instead of freely detachable as you do need to remove the plate to have access to the other front panels components but with any attached SSDs there this looks to be annoying to work around. The Hardware Canucks video review points this out fairly well. (http://youtu.be/i_Mso3V5SAw?t=12s)
I do feel these points deserve a callout if a product is going to be listed as ‘perfect’ because something as basic as case orientation is something a consumer may have to take into account. Other than that, this is a case I’m excited for and only wish it were released sooner as the initial release dates from other hardware sites started claiming its availability back as far as June. Lets hope it actually appears soon now. Thank you for the very thorough review.