Installing the motherboard was easy enough, but the power supply presented difficulties. The I/O panel could use more than two USB ports, but it’s functional. The front panel was nearly impossible to pry off the first time, but we can’t complain TOO much about that after what we said about the H500P-and at least Bitfenix had the decency not to wire anything but LEDs directly into it, unlike some cases we could mention. We’ll elaborate more on this in the thermal section, but this is where the Enso’s problems really begin.

In other words, the front panel has had a lot of design work and presumably money put into it, but somehow nobody thought to put a vent in. It’s surprisingly heavy for an otherwise lightweight case, and it’s certainly sturdy, bordering on overbuilt-there’s even a thick reinforcing frame of plastic behind the steel. The front panel is a mess of filters, LEDs, wires, plastic reinforcement, and steel. Our glass was slightly chipped at one corner, but it’s very possible that this was done in shipping. A single tinted pane fully covers the side, and the other side panel is standard slide-off steel sheet, which got a bit stuck on our sample and difficult to slide it into place or remove. There’s no special hinge or mechanism holding the glass on, just four screws at the corners (as expected for a budget case). These are minor points on an otherwise good-looking case and it’s clear that Bitfenix really put some effort into making the various fittings all white, except for the cable grommets. The top of the case can optionally be covered with a magnetic mesh filter or a solid cover, similar to the Define C, but the cover isn’t precisely color matched and the filter looks better. To be incredibly nitpicky, the front I/O ports aren’t quite in a straight line (so that they’ll fit the curve of the front panel), and the power and HDD LEDs don’t completely line up with their holes.

The exterior is simple and symmetrical, with the exception of three filter handles jutting out from the sides. Overall, the RGB illumination is handled better and seems much less tacked-on than it did in the Shogun. Adapters are included so that the controller can be bypassed and all LEDs can be controlled with standard 4 pin RGB cables (a prominent sticker in the middle of the shroud helpfully notes that this is ASUS AURA SYNC). The rear fan is translucent and fully changes colors with different lighting, but it’s most effective with static colors-the rippling rainbow effects work better on the front panel. LEDs are connected to a tiny but versatile controller behind the motherboard with a few baked-in colors and rainbow patterns. Our review sample is nearly pure white, including filters and PCIe covers, with four LED strips that form a ring on the front panel, matched by an RGB fan in the rear. Mini-ITX, MicroATX, ATX, E-ATX up to 272mm

Bitfenix enso