Review on Phanteks PH EC360ATG_DBK01 Ultra Fine Performance Digital RGB by John Mceachern

This is a fantastic budget case with some just minor annoyances. First of all, what I love about this case is the airflow, the mesh front panel and two included 120mm PWM RGB fans. lots of fresh air while remaining pleasantly quiet. There are two removable dust filters: a magnetic one on top and one that slides under the power supply. The built-in RGB controller works great when the fans and light bar are on. If you prefer to control RGB via software, there is a cable that plugs into the appropriate motherboard header. It fits easily into my 160mm high NH-D14, similarly sized coolers shouldn't be a problem. It was easy to install and route cables, although I only used the two included Velcro cable ties, the back is fairly clean with no bulges in the side panel. What bothers me and has disadvantages are the dark labels on the upper I/O panel. Because my case is under a table with no direct light, there isn't enough contrast between the gray labels and the black box to easily distinguish the headphone/mic mode/color and RGB labels from one another. This is just a minor annoyance specific to the black P360a, the white one looks fine. The front 3.5-inch drive bays are a bit intrusive when cables are plugged into them. The hard drives sit in their own bays and the SATA connectors face the front of the case, so you must route cables either above or below the drive bays, or along the side. If the plugs were facing the power supply, they would be a bit more difficult to reach, which would make cable routing easier. Finally, there is no USB Type-C on the front/top I/O panel for those who want it. Now for what I noticed in the case, there is only one power button to plug into the motherboard, no reset, power/hard drive button. activity indicators. Although not specifically mentioned in the manual, you can remove the entire top cover by unscrewing the 14 screws that run along the top edge of the case. This gives you plenty of extra space to plug in the 8-pin EPS connector and manage fan cables. I wish there were captive thumbscrews on the back like the tempered glass panel. All thumbscrews are generally tightened, there is a screwdriver to make your life easier. I think this is one of the best options for a budget case. The positives far outweigh the negatives and given the small issues I had with giving it 4 stars it may be overly critical but I think it's justified. If I could I would rate it a 4.5.