Akasa Plato X Slim Fanless Chassis i5/i7 NUC Chassis Review

Peter Donnell / 8 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

This level of precision engineering isn’t going to come cheap, but it’s certainly not what I would call unreasonable. The Akasa Plato X Slimline Case for Intel NUC is just £99.00 from Scan.co.uk.

Overview

The build quality on this chassis is simple incredible. Despite its slim and compact form factor, it’s incredibly heavy thanks to that rock solid aluminium construction and were you to drop it on the floor, I don’t hold much hope for your floor; the chassis will be fine. It’s also clear now that this chassis is sealed up pretty tight, so dust is not going to be a problem at all, meaning you can install this behind a monitor, under a desk or anywhere really and forget about it for years without it needing maintenance. It’s also completely silent, so you may just very well forget about it anyway.

There are a huge range of applications for a chassis like this and the only real limit is your own imagination. You could mount it behind your desktop monitor, freeing up a huge amount of space in your office that a regular tower chassis would require, you could mount it on the back of your TV for a stealth HTPC setup, you can use it for digital signage, for use in the workplace, as a durable and portable workstation and so much more. The easy installation and low-maintenance required is a huge benefit here and one that is well worth considering when you need a long-lasting and efficient system build.

Of course, the setup of this chassis means it is well suited to being hidden out-of-the-way, but Akasa have put a lot of effort into making the design every bit as stylish as it is practical. I could quite happily leave this on show as part of my home AV setup and I’d be proud to show off that gorgeous front panel.

With support for high-end hardware, such as the i5 and i7 NUC boards, performance isn’t going to be an issue. Add in room for M.2 drives as well as a 2.5″ drive and you’re set for a decent amount of storage too. With USB 3.0 support on the front panel, IR support and the competent connectivity offered by NUC motherboards. Of course, the biggest selling point is the completely silent and passive cooling design and the Plato X is certainly a well-rounded product with a price tag that I think is excellent value for money.

Pros

Stylish design
Lots of practical applications
VESA mountable
Super slim design
Room for extra storage
Completely silent
Passive cooling – even for i7 NUC boards
Low maintenance
Extremely durable
Easy to use
Competitive price

Cons

None

“NUC opens up a lot of possibilities and the Akasa Plato X is one of the best chassis out there for system builders, it’s easily one of the best-made chassis in its class”