[section_title title=Conclusion]

Conclusion

Phanteks since 2007 (when the company formed) have been making big waves throughout the case industry, especially over the last year.  Since their epic introduction to the case market with the Enthoo Primo, they haven’t stopped the momentum and I personally compare them to the likes of NZXT etc.  Of course, both brands are different in many ways, but they do offer unique designs and have oodles of function about them.  Add the ITX form factor into the mix and you get slightly less room for error in terms of design.  The burning question is, is the Phanteks Evolv ITX a good case?  Is it good value for money?  Is it worth buying?  Let’s get on with it then!

Performance

Out of the ITX cases included in today’s test, the Evolv ITX reigns supreme and it’s pretty easy to see why.  With a large 200mm in take fan sucking copious amounts of air in the front, all that’s really needed is an exhaust fan, which would have been a nice addition, but given the price it does make sense.  Aside from cooling performance, the case has support for graphics cards up to 13” which does allow virtually any current performance graphics card on the market to be installed in this case.  Noting that, this case only has support for a dual slot card and although sometimes triple slot cards can be modded in, there just simply isn’t the clearance available.  Overall, I have absolutely no qualms about the performance of the case and in terms of noise, the 200mm fan is very quiet so all in all, the Phanteks Evolv ITX is certainly a good choice for enthusiasts or ITX performance junkies!

Design

When you take the price into consideration, you know you aren’t getting aluminium panels, bells or whistles, but what the Evolv ITX does provide is a sturdy and robust build quality; certainly more superior than the price makes out.  What I’m getting at is that this is a pretty premium case for under £50.  The exterior is like other Phanteks Evolv cases, a little bit aggressive, but with impeccable subtleness etc.  The interior is something else with all the space inside providing a useful function, such as the SSD mounts which allow users to showcase their SSDs; SSDs are getting prettier and prettier and it’s nice to show them off to the world.

My main highlight and one thing I do love about Phanteks cases, is the separate PSU/motherboard chambers which do make things easier to cable manage and thus looks neater!  If you are a fan of clean builds and want a case that’s ITX form factor and easy to build inside, then the Evolv ITX needs to be considered.  The only negative I have really is that this model isn’t available in white, although that is just my personal opinion; I have a fetish for white cases!

Value

At a mere £49.99, the Phanteks Evolv is a bargain and considering the fantastic support for water cooling, full size graphics cards and pretty good space management, this has to be one of my favourite ITX cases of 2015.  Although it doesn’t really do ITX justice due to not being SFF (small form factor), it is undoubtedly one of my favourite cases of 2015, not just ITX, but entirely!  It is worth mentioning that there is a non-windowed version available for £47.99 if you aren’t a fan of plexi-glass panels; or of course if you have components you don’t want the world to see!

Final Thoughts

If you are looking for a great performing, great looking and GREAT all-round ITX case, then the Phanteks Evolv ITX is sure to satisfy you.  For £49.99, this case is an absolute steal and will almost certainly be in the running for case of the year in the 2015 Play3r awards.  The only thing which could have made it better is of course the addition of a white version, but who knows, Phanteks might read this review and see my cry out for a white one!  If they do, I will most definitely be purchasing one!

• Gold Award – More than deserves our gold award due to the high quality of this case for the price, the price itself and of course, for scoring well in our 3 major categories which goes without saying.
• Editor’s Choice Award – As I mentioned above, this has to be my faviorite case of the year so far and that is exactly what the editor’s choice award is all about.

Thanks to Phanteks and Overclockers UK for sending the Evolv ITX case in for review.