BitFenix Neos Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on January 21, 2015 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- bitfenix
- Case
Conclusion
BitFenix designed the Neos to be a low-cost yet stylish option for the average consumer that wants to build a simple system. It is a sound concept, as the vast majority of computer users will not be buying a case more expensive than $80-100. BitFenix offers the Neos for $50 to $75, depending on the color combination. A side panel window will cost the user an extra $18-20, bringing the minimum cost up to $70, pushing the boundaries of what most users would consider an acceptable price for a low-cost product. Still, the Neos would be an interesting choice as a stylish case for the casual user.
However, the Neos simply fails to deliver. Their aesthetic value is limited to the choice of a chassis/faceplate color combination. The neutral, minimalistic design is based on a low-cost SECC steel chassis, leaving the Neos without much to be proud of. With design being its major selling point, the Neos is certainly not faring very well. That however is just the tip of the iceberg formed by the cons of the Neos.
The chassis that the Neos is based on is, mildly put, archaic. We would not expect to see it used for anything other than the cheapest of cases nowadays. There is no clearance behind the motherboard tray and the cable/cooler cutouts appear to have been created with little thought for utility. No cages are removable and the use of destructible expansion card covers is nearly comedic (flashback to the 90s for those of us that are old enough). There is no top panel ventilation, it is not possible to use AIO liquid coolers, and the narrow chassis limits the selection of the CPU cooler as well, severely impeding the thermal management options.
The selection of the cooling fan is questionable as well. It would seem that BitFenix tried to balance the poor thermal performance of the Neos by installing a rather powerful 120mm fan... unsuccessfully. If it would help the Neos achieve good thermal performance, we could let this slide for a case of this price range, but the noisy 120mm fan is not enough to turn this outdated design into a competitive model.
Even for the price of the most basic model, the BitFenix Neos seems unable to face the competition. It would be able to house a typical PC without any issues, but there are many other and significantly more reasonable options within its price range. With its very poor thermal performance and virtually nonexistent versatility, it would be hard to recommend the Neos to any users, with the sole exception of those that simply really like its design.
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maecenas - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
Wow, probably the most searing Anandtech review I've seen. Thank you for your honesty, I'll steer clear of this product....nathanddrews - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
The first thing I thought was "are you sure your components are operating properly?" The results are outstanding, for sure. My personal experience with cases has been to either buy the most basic, affordable POS with its own PSU or go big and spend extra to get something really nice. There's not much in between.sfuzzz - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
Well, it's not completely true. For example, The CM N200 is a good microATX case (decent aestetics too, however it's subjective) that costs half the case in this review and can handle pretty powerful systems on air and liquid.drainplugofideas - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
I have that case! I really like it overall.Samus - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
I tried a Bitfenix Prodigy ITX about a year ago, and the case was simply awful. It weighed a ton, the panels were unnecessarily heavy, which directly correlated to poor thermals. It was like an oven inside, even with a 200mm intake and 120mm exhaust fan. The memory modules were too hot to touch. The 200mm fan was useless...even after replacing it with a coolermaster fan, it was apparent the problem was the air holes for the fan. There were 6 of them, and they are dime-sized. The intake system was starved. The appearance of these cases leads you to believe they are well designed, when in fact they are just a crap covered in glitter. The icing on the cake is the price. They are twice as expensive as competing models from Coolermaster, Antec, and Corsair, companies vastly more experienced in case manufacturing and design.Stay away from Bitfenix. If you're going to spend this level of money on something, get a "real" case from Lian Li, Silverstone, or a high end product from another established manufacture.
Gigaplex - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
"I tried a Bitfenix Prodigy ITX about a year ago, and the case was simply awful. It weighed a ton, the panels were unnecessarily heavy"I have a Prodigy, and I agree, it's heavy for its size.
"which directly correlated to poor thermals"
It sounds like you got a model with the solid faceplate. The mesh faceplate models give excellent thermal performance, and I have no issues with mine. Even the AnandTech review of it gave it an Editors Choice award. The fact that the panels are heavy don't contribute to poor thermal performance.
Alexvrb - Thursday, January 22, 2015 - link
While not as good at conducting heat as aluminum, steel isn't really an insulator so I doubt having a little thicker panels is going to trash cooling performance. I've used some really stout cases, including oldschool Lian Li cases that were built out of what seemed like 1/4" thick steel. They worked great even though they had panels that were "unnecessarily heavy". Airflow is much more important and it sounds like the particular model you bought suffered from poor airflow. Based on what I've seen and heard it would Bitfenix has at least some good models out there. Also Coolermaster makes a variety of fans and depending on the model it may not push significantly more air especially in a restrictive case (perhaps due to poor static pressure - if they don't publish this number it probably isn't very good).SleepModezZ - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
Currently on Amazon the N200 is around $50 - as is the cheapest Neos. So not half the price. In Finland where I shop the N200 will cost a bit more than the Neos. Seems like a nice case and better for a gaming system but it is for a microATX board unlike the Neos that takes a full size ATX board. The Neos also has place for two 5.25 drives and not just one. (I don't think that many needs two optical drives but the 5.25 place could be used for something else. I usually have my 3.5 HDDs put into the 5.25 places to eliminate the amplification of vibration and seek noises by the case.)Samus - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
There is no debate about it. Bitfenix makes crap. Anybody who says otherwise either hasn't touched one of their piece of crap products, or unfortunately owns one and is in the deeper stages of denial but will eventually reach acceptance that they do in fact own a piece of crap.There are various Corsair and Coolermaster cases that may not be that much cheaper ($30-$40 such as the Elite 110, Elite 361 and the Corsair Carbide Spec-01) and not much of a looker, but are significantly better at actual cooling.
I've had Rosewill cases that cost $20 and actually work, in that they house and cool components properly. Bitfenix is basically picking up old SECC tooling equipment on the cheap, hiring flunkie engineers to design what looks good, and selling them for bottom-dollar prices based on looks, not functionality or performance.
hughlle - Wednesday, January 21, 2015 - link
Unfortunately your opinion is completely and utterly contradicted by almost every review on the internet. So clearly there is a debate about it.