A Closer Look - Outside

Out of the box, the DarkFlash DLH 21 feels really solid and quite refined, which is nice to see from an up and coming brand. The panels have differently sized holes, and if you look closely, there is metal mesh on all of them on the inside as well. That said, I am a bit worried things are quite restrictive for airflow, a common problem with SFF enclosures.


In the front, the whole design looks pretty cool, and DarkFlash only put a small logo in the top-left corner, which could make the chassis of interest for system integrators who much rather brand the whole system with their own logos.


In the rear, the panel looks the same, but DarkFlash includes a grommet-covered opening for the power and display cables. A little nook in the top edge allows you to easily grab the top panel to pull it off the chassis.


Both sides of the DarkFlash DLH 21 are identical and lack any other openings besides air vents.


In the top, the panel utilizes steel as well, but this one is framed in a thin plastic bracket. The whole contraption is held in place with magnets, so you can just pull it off, which reveals a bit of space for external cable routing. An angled power plug points towards the back of the chassis, so you won't have to worry about whether your cable will fit here. The I/O consists of two USB 3.0 and one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C plug alongside a combo audio port. DarkFlash has done an excellent job of engineering it such that it fits within well, with the nifty looking power and LED toggle buttons at the center of it all.


The whole frame sits on a plastic base, which is solid as well. DarkFlash embedded ARGB around the base within that plastic layer, which we will see in action at the end of this review.