Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X Glass Grijs

Sorry for the English review, I had already written this, and wanted to share it here as well. If there's an option to do so, I'll add a Dutch translation later.

Please note that this review is for the dual-system setup of the case.

The final 3 pictures show some of the issues this case has.


== Documentation & Design ==

Documentation is appalling. While documentation for all your single-system needs are covered, and mostly quite clear as well, documentation for the dual-system portions is either straight up missing, or very unclear. For instance, there is no information on what top-mounted radiator options you get with an mITX board installed. I measured it up and figured a 240mm radiator would fit. Wrong. There is enough room for Phanteks to make it fit, but the case is designed as such that it does not fit.

Another issue that I ran into, is the lack of documentation or labels to indicate which kabels should be used where. It took me way too long to realize that one 16pin motherboard cable was slightly longer than the other. The longer one only barely reaches the top-mounted system, meaning the shorter one does not.

Also, the holes at the top of the motherboard tray are not big enough for the cables included with Phanteks' own PSU, which is speficially meant for this case. This is especially concerning, since in a dual-system setup, some of these cables MUST be routed through these holes in order to fit. And if you care about aesthetics, you obviously will want to run the CPU and 16pin mobo power cables through there, even if you just go for a single-system setup. I don't know which PSU's cables will or will not fit through the holes. My cables though, are now severely damaged at the bulges.

I noticed Youtubers who reviewed this case like to complain about the SSD mounts. I'm not going to complain about them, as they work very well. However, I will say that Phanteks should include a big warning label for their customers, informing them not to stress the connectors on their SSDs when using these mounts. You'll be surprised how easy it is to snap off a SATA connector. I have been there before, with an HDD.

Lastly, the little board on top of the case, near the front IO, begs some concern. I don't know if every Evolv X comes like this, but in my case this board is severely bent by the cables underneath it. This might be a assembly issue, but I suspect it is a design issue and there is just not enough space for the cables. In the middle, it is pushed up by multiple milimeters, which is a concerning amount for such a small board, and this leaves it in a rather apparent banana-shape. I have decided it is safest for me not to touch it, and leave it be.

With all that in mind, we're now at a 7/10 maximum potential rating, as far as I'm concerned.


== Assembly ==

The assembly on my case was also poor. The case comes pre-installed with 3 case fans; 1 in the rear and 2 in the front. One of the rear fans, and one of the front fans came installed with 4 screws and no thread lock. However, the other front fan came installed with only 2 screws, and with thread lock. Now this is perhaps on me, but I did not immediately realize that one fan had thread lock on the screws, and managed to strip the thread on one corner by re-installing a screw that had thread lock on it. Please be careful, because due to the fairly soft plastics, it takes very little effort to completely strip the thread. Additionally, one of my front fans has a noisy hub, which I yet have to contact Highflow/Phanteks about. I have to assume this should be relatively easy to resolve, though.

I'm knocking off another point here, which leaves us with a maximum potential of 6/10.


== Build quality ==

Build quality is great. Almost everything you touch, move, or remove feels great. Especially great is how easy it is to remove and install all the panels, and how smoothly the side windows open and close. The only plastic items in the case are the front IO housing, and the optional vertical GPU stand. Since everything else is metal, I would have liked to see these be metal as well, with some padding underneath the vertical GPU stand to avoid scratches. With such minor complaints however, build quality alone easily gets a 9 if not 9.5/10 from me.

As a result, I'm of course not knocking off any points here.

I could also rate the aestehetics, but aesthetics are very personal. Personally I do think this is one of the best looking cases out there, and that was also a big reason I bought this case in the first place. The only thing I don't like is the front RGB. It is way too loud for my taste, and I would prefer a low brightness option here. After trying different things, I opted to disable the front RGB by disconnecting the cable from the hub.


== Price & Performance ==

Do I think this case, in its dual-system form, is worth its price? No. Not once you factor in the accessories you will also need, when you consider the blatant issues you will need to deal or put up with, as you ponder why Phanteks hasn't put just a little more thought into designing this case.

However, you don't get a lot of options for dual system cases, and this case can look really nice when it's all said and done. Though in my opinion, due to Phanteks' design flaws, this case is best used with a top-mounted 120/140mm AIO on the vertical system, and a tower cooler on the mITX system. Any bigger AIO would have to be front-mounted, compromising aesthetics and cooling. Any dual AIO setup would also require (at least) one front mount. And a top-down cooler or AIO on the mITX system would increase its VRM temps, unless you manage to find a way to get better airflow up there.

Considering the price of this case and its clear focus on good aesthetics, I must subtract one more point here.


== Final thoughts ==

The Phanteks Evolv X is a very well-built case with looks that many will appreciate, but it is not without its issues. Its plentiful design problems and poor documentation make it easy to forget this is supposed to be a premium case. Phanteks force you to compromise on aesthetics, cooling performance, or both, where this could have easily been avoided with a slightly better thought-out design. Combine all its issues with its steep price, and it starts to feel like Phanteks only decided to add dual-system support as an afterthought, just so they could impress the media and gain exposure. My final rating? I hate to say it, but a mere 5/10. It does the job, and it looks pretty doing it. Even if it could have looked and performed better with minor design improvements, with would also lead to a lot less heachaches building in it.​​