A Closer Look - Outside

Phanteks sent us the black variant of the case. Taking an initial look at the Evolv Shift 2, it essentially looks the same as the original Shift. This means you will still find the same edgy, straight lines and no soft curves at all across the board. It is nice to see that a well-designed case can still look modern after several years.


Looking at the front, a solid aluminium plate covers the entire height of it. Unlike the original, you will now find the two USB 3.0 ports at the bottom of the case, which allow for easier access. This is an improvement over the original, which had them placed facing the side of the chassis.


In the rear, this trend continues, but Phanteks included an opening for your system cables in the top, as well as another for the PSU connector on the bottom. An obvious improvement with the Evolv Shift 2 here is the vent—the original came with a solid panel.


Both sides of the Evolv Shift 2 consist of tempered glass. Instead of going for any unusual shapes or forms, Phanteks has kept them square, which works perfectly well.


In the top, a plastic cover looking much like a large heatsink is found. The Evolv Shift 2 includes an ARGB controller, so you may adjust lighting color and mode through two buttons next to the power button. These two buttons replace the reset button that was part of the original Evolv Shift.


You may swing the plastic cover open for access to the motherboard connectors and the large thumbscrews holding each exterior panel in place—use it to access the motherboard IO and GPU ports underneath. There is a fine, non-removable mesh here so dust cannot enter the chassis trough this part of the enclosure.