Conclusion
Overall, Antec has done a great job at redesigning the Solo for the Solo II. It offers some of the same features that many loved in the original while making it more modern and useful for today’s case standards. There is certainly a lot in the case that I like, such as the high quality material and construction of the case, the hard drive tray system, sleek and quiet design and the included rear 120mm fan with switch.
While I am impressed by this case, there are a few things I’m not really excited about. This case can be found at my favorite online retailer for $129.99, which would lead me to believe everything is pretty great in this case, however this wasn’t entirely the case. While I don’t really enjoy the suspension mount system for the hard drives, it can be used for some. It’s not something I’d recommend using. The drive tray system does however fit up to today’s standards.
What I’m not impressed by is the lack of thumbscrews on the case, starting off with right side panel, it doesn’t have thumbscrews. The expansion slots also are old-school and have standard screws for installation. While a standard screw does offer a secure installation, so does a thumbscrew, which is also easier to install. I can understand not including some elaborate expansion slot installation method, a simple addition of thumbscrews would fix the problem. I see thumbscrews almost everywhere on other cases, so I don’t know why a $130 case couldn’t include them.
I do enjoy the two-speed TrueQuiet fan included in the case, but it would have been nice, for $130, to include a second one. The case gets pretty hot with just one fan, so if you’re looking to buy this case you might want to think about purchasing an intake fan for it.
This case does have some things going for it and while it does have some modern upgrades, it’s just not enough to impress me. If a few simple things were changed in this case it could be a lot better. At $130 I would expect to see more modern changes to this case. Think Computers would like to award the Antec Solo II a 7 out of 10 score.
Pros:
- Sleek design
- Quiet
- Great upgrade from the original Solo
Cons:
- Gets hot, only 1 fan included
- Old-school installation methods for a moderately priced case