A Closer Look - Outside

Having seen the Shift at CES, it still looks just as good in front of the camera in our studio. Phanteks has chosen to send me the two-toned variant of the chassis, but there is also an option of an all-black variant if you like that more. The Shift features lots of straight lines, edgy corners, and basically no curves at all across the board, which is a great design choice. Looking at it, memories of the Silverstone Fortress FT03 come flooding back as that was the first case to opt for a slim and sleek design. Since 2012, however, things have come a long way, and the last five years have fundamentally changed not only what is considered good looks, but also the cooling options, GPUs, and storage solutions a case needs to house.


Looking at the front, there is a solid aluminum plate that covers the entire height of it. In the rear, the trend continues, but Phanteks has included an opening for cables. Both these panels are lined by plastic strips that come with fine metal mesh dust filters which feel a bit flimsy compared to the rest of the chassis. It looks as though the plastic used is actually quite soft.


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


If you look closely, there is a nearly indistinguishable Phanteks logo on the aluminum front cover, which is clearly the best way to appease system integrators while using the chassis as a marketing tool to let onlookers know which company is behind it. On the left side, you will find two USB 3.0 ports. While there are no other plugs here, this is simply so because all the motherboard connectors are at the top.


Looking closer at the rear, the opening in the top is intended for monitor or networking cables, which have to be lead away from the user in a clean fashion. There is nothing keeping you from routing these down to the opening at the base of the Shift for an even nicer setup. There, you will also find the power connector, which means Phanteks has chosen a unique position for the SFX PSU within the chassis.


In the top, a plastic cover looking much like a large heatsink can be found. Interestingly enough, this part is made out of aluminum on the Shift X, but Phanteks has chosen to go with a cheaper and lighter plastic version of it for the Shift. With everything assembled, you may swing it open for access to the motherboard connectors and the large thumbscrews holding each individual exterior panel in place.


Here, you will also find two buttons - one for power and another to cycle through the RGB LED lighting's colors. Unfortunately, Phanteks has not labeled these buttons, so your guess is as good as mine when it comes to which of these actually toggles power. I can see people turning off their system by mistake when simply wanting a different LED color for the day.