Can a German case beat the mighty Taiwanese?
From the outside, the Volant looks like a rugged but not exactly groundbreaking mid-tower case. Up top it has a hot swap bay that can handle both 2.5in and 3.5in drives. On the front of the case you get two USB ports (one 3.0 and one 2.0), 3.5mm audio I/O and blue LEDs in the power and reset buttons.
Inside the case the black paint continues over every surface and all edges are pleasantly rolled over or smooth. The Volant has three 5.25in bays, space for six 3.5in drives and support for a 2.5in SSD. There are plenty of well placed cable management options included, not to mention a huge motherboard cut-out to make installing CPU coolers a breeze. The Volant only comes with one fan, which should just be enough for a simple setup, but you can add in up to seven more if needed. Round the back you have dual cut-outs for water cooling as well as rubber grommets to protect your pipes.
While it’s a nice budget option, the Volant certainly isn’t perfect. For a start, the side doors are quite stiff to remove and the tool-less drive bays, while secure, are clunky to operate. The Volant has mesh for filtering dust on the front and bottom, but if you have installed extra fans they require removal before you can clean it easily.
Considering the low price and the mostly excellent German engineering, the Volant is a good choice for any mid-tower build on a budget.
Available from Fortune Tec, retailing for $75.
APC rating: 7/10
