Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Mid-Tower Chassis Review

The PC chassis market continues to be a bit of an enigma. It is an already crowded market, with numerous participants and numerous models and price points. At some point, we would expect chassis manufacturers to run out of variations of design, and sometimes variations of variations of design, to still be able to remain relevant and continue to offer products that have enough appeal to be successful and sell well. Perhaps the most crowded segment of all is the mid-tower form factor.

Today we have on hand for review Phanteks’ Enthoo Pro M mid-tower chassis. This is Phanteks’ latest iteration of their popular Enthoo series, which have historically reviewed quite favorably. As others in the Enthoo series, it is constructed of steel, with top and front panels of plastic with a brushed aluminum look. Both side panels are held in place by two thumbscrews per side, and with soft washers under each to reduce potential vibration.

Here is Phanteks’ description of the Enthoo Pro M: “The ENTHOO PRO M focuses on delivering great design without compromising price. Water-cooling builds will be a simple task with the help of our innovative radiator bracket and pump mounting locations. Whether you are a system builder or water-cooling enthusiast, the PRO M will give you unlimited possibilities.”

Enthoo Pro M includes 1 x 140mm fan in the rear. The ability to upgrade to additional fans is possible. All fans included are Phanteks’ new redesigned and better performing SP series fans.

When it comes to cooling, the chassis features direct airflow to CPU / GPU, as well as comes with 1 Phanteks premium fan PH-F140SP in rear (140mm), with three different installation areas for radiators (120mm or 140mm form factor). There are also plenty of reservoir mounting locations

Inside the chassis you will find one Drop-N-Lock SSD bracket, a removable HDD cage for installation of long PSU’s (>180mm) or a water pump,  removable dust filters (1x front, 1x bottom, 1x top magnetic), as well as the standard for clean cable management using Phanteks’ preinstalled Hoop-N-Loop cable ties. There is also a removable optical drive cage and five optional HDD bracket for 3.5”/2.5 drives.

The Enthoo Pro M is currently selling at Amazon for $84.99 in the US, and is available in either Satin Black or Titanium Green.  Our report today will analyze what sort of value the Enthoo Pro M represents for this price point. Below are the complete specifications:

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

First off, we would like to give a Technology X “hat-tip” to Phanteks for providing our Satin Black Enthoo Pro M review sample.

The Enthoo Pro M arrived at our door with the carton having suffered a bit of rough handling from the carrier. Nearly every surface of the carton had some damage, and the rear of the carton was a bit soiled. A testament to the quality of the internal packaging is that the Enthoo Pro M came out of the carton completely unscratched and undamaged.

Above we see the front side of the retail carton, which sports a line drawing of the chassis with the model name at the bottom, in standard “cardboard brown” and black. Below is the rear of the carton, which shows a line drawing “exploded view” of the Enthoo Pro M, as well as listing a number of the features. Please pardon the carrier-induced soiling of the rear of the carton.

Next we see the expected Styrofoam end shells protecting the plastic-bagged chassis within. As we stated above, we were pleasantly surprised that the Enthoo Pro M came out of the packaging 100% intact.

The HDD/SSD drive cage and power supply occupy a separate compartment at the bottom of the chassis. The dividing “floor” between the upper and lower section is well perforated to facilitate airflow. The supplied two drive trays are accessed from the right side of the chassis, rather than the left. The box of hardware and accessories is shipped occupying one of these drive trays. Opening the hardware box reveals an instruction sheet and a long Ziploc bag that contains a few zip ties, and an ample quantity of various screws for mounting components.