Endorfy Arx 700 Air

[Darksaber]

The Endorfy Arx 700 Air may not stand out in the crowds, but turns out it has a lot to offer for a well priced chassis. It presents the brand’s own spin on what a simple, yet functional mid-tower should provide to enthusiasts and gamers. With its five 140 mm fans, it sets itself up for success in combination with a solid build and excellent feature execution.

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[Chrispy_]

How thick is the steel on this case?

I recognise the base chassis tooling from so many of the rebranded $30 cases sold all over Europe under half a dozen different brands and it also has all the other classic hallmarks of a very cheap base chassis such as flush rear panel with protruding PCIe slot screw cover, hard styrofoam packaging in a shipping carton that's not even an inch wider than the case itself, and the standard plastic front panel held in by six split plastic tube prongs.

In terms of features, this case has a LOT. Grommets, lots of fans, the PWM hub, slide-in PSU plate, velcro ties, tons of cable management and cooling features. I can see why you gave it an editor's choice, but from the pictures alone it looks like the super deluxe edition of a nasty, cheap, flimsy chassis that I've had trouble and bad experience with from at least three other budget brands in the last 3-4 years. Perhaps there are OEMs out there copying or buying the same basic tooling and this is made by a different OEM with much better quality steel - but all my experience with this design to date says the raw chassis is flimsy, light, and often damaged in shipping even as an empty case. You absolutely cannot ship a built system in the original carton and expect it to arrive in the mail undamaged!

 

[captain_hook]

How thick is the steel on this case?

I recognise the base chassis tooling from so many of the rebranded $30 cases sold all over Europe under half a dozen different brands and it also has all the other classic hallmarks of a very cheap base chassis such as flush rear panel with protruding PCIe slot screw cover, hard styrofoam packaging in a shipping carton that's not even an inch wider than the case itself, and the standard plastic front panel held in by six split plastic tube prongs.

In terms of features, this case has a LOT. Grommets, lots of fans, the PWM hub, slide-in PSU plate, velcro ties, tons of cable management and cooling features. I can see why you gave it an editor's choice, but from the pictures alone it looks like the super deluxe edition of a nasty, cheap, flimsy chassis that I've had trouble and bad experience with from at least three other budget brands in the last 3-4 years. Perhaps there are OEMs out there copying or buying the same basic tooling and this is made by a different OEM with much better quality steel - but all my experience with this design to date says the raw chassis is flimsy, light, and often damaged in shipping even as an empty case. You absolutely cannot ship a built system in the original carton and expect it to arrive in the mail undamaged!

0.8 mm. This chassis is sturdy enough, not like the OEMs you're mentioning.

 

[Space Lynx]

looks like a good case to me. I like the darker glass too

 

[JasBC]

Just an fyi - Endorfy is the merged successor of SilentiumPC and SPCgear. Saw in the announcement-thread it was written the company was "new" but that isn't totally correct.

 

[RegaeRevaeb]

Sounds like something I'd use in the kitchen -- the Endofry Air for healthier breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Yes, I know it's not Endofry, but if you're dyslexic...

 

[Space Lynx]

Sounds like something I'd use in the kitchen -- the Endofry Air for healthier breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Yes, I know it's not Endofry, but if you're dyslexic...

hey at least you live in an age where they have Dyslexic friendly fonts now. I enable that font on my kindle paperwhite ereader sometimes, helps me a lot. highly recommend you try to enjoy reading again someday with that font, speaking of which, I think I am going to spend the rest of my afternoon reading.

 

[Chrispy_]

0.8 mm. This chassis is sturdy enough, not like the OEMs you're mentioning.

That's good to see.
Even some of the bigger brands like Corsair and Fractal are skimping on steel thickness these days!

 

[Camm]

Its quite a well thought out case and with the included fans at the price point, is probably going to be on my list of cases for builds that people aren't going to buy fans for.

I quite like that the rear of the case is heavily ventilated for good performance in positive pressure arrangements and the good amount of clearance in the top for rads. Also, there's actually clearance for EATX to use the side grommets, something even cases like the Fractal Torrent XL don't manage.

I almost wish this case came with less fans to drop the price a bit, because its also quite compact for that EATX support and might be begging for a higher end build.

My only real gripes is the poor 3.5" support. 2x3.5" = 4x2.5" with brackets, which is the most most motherboards can support without using external controllers. Whilst you can still achieve it in this case, you either need to use two display SSD's and the rear, or two rear plus two in a single tray. Make that single tray a double tray and the only issue you'd really have left is the PCI cover 'cheapness'.

 

[Fluffy_Panda]

That's good to see.
Even some of the bigger brands like Corsair and Fractal are skimping on steel thickness these days!

They often make so many overcomplicated hinges, latches, covers, frames and trays that they have to cut costs somewhere. So the steel is first place to look for savings, as most people will not notice... to a point. That's why I actually appreciate straight forward designs like this one, trading these 'features' for something actually useful. I wish bottom dust filter was made on a plastic frame, though some reviews showed it is easy to slide the filter in from the front, without tilting the case or anything.

I almost wish this case came with less fans to drop the price a bit, because its also quite compact for that EATX support and might be begging for a higher end build.

My only real gripes is the poor 3.5" support.

Basic fans are rather cheap. 10 EUR (or so) they could save would not be a game changer here, but would deprive them of a popular selling point (AiRfLoW).

I can see where you are coming from with 3.5" HDD support. I wish there was a HDD cage in it. But is it really a downside for average person? 2.5" SSDs are available for as cheap as 3.5" HDDs nowadays. And I feel like this argument can be extended indefinitely - why not put space for 3, 4, 6 or more 3.5" drives while we are at it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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The simplicity of the design actually excites me. Lack of any useless custom trays or frames, bequiet!, Fractal and Phanteks accustomed us to. Just simple, standardized, easy to access hole patterns: 2.5"/3.5" drive and 120/140 mm fan mounts + ATX holes with set of additinal, straight forward, easy to measure, universal slots. Clean 360 + 240/280 rad custom loop should be easy enough to put in it as well. I wonder if rubber grommets are big enough to feed water loop lines through them. If they are, pump could be mounted and hidden under PSU shroud using 120 mm fan holes there, making it even cleaner.

Holes under the MoBo could be made smaller or with some rubber grommets in place, fan hub could have more PWM plugs and SATA power, better dustfilter at the bottom and HDD cage could be included, rear fan put lower by default. But I feel like all of these downsides are really small and should be easy to work with.