“Nice case with efficient cooling. As already said, the routing of the fan wires is not evident, but I manage to do it by reading attentively the instructions. The metal part reduces the Wi-Fi signal receipt, so it should not be put far from the Wi_Fi router.”
“The Argon NEO 5 case is substantial well engineered item. Easy to assemble around the Pi 5, taking only 5 minutes or so. I liked the mostly metal design with a plastic base. It weighs 165 grams including the Pi and so is less likely to be dragged around by attached cables. The combined passive and active cooling allowed the Pi to stay in the region of 44 to 57 degrees C over the usual temperature stress tests for 20 minutes. This could no doubt be reduced further if the top was removed! This model has eady access to the MicroSD card and if you wish. there is a small screw-in plasic cover to conceal this. Definitely recommend and if you must have a built in NVMe M.2 slot this model has a bigger brother with this facility included.”
“The case is overall very nice. It's well made and fits together snugle. And it looks smart. It is odd that the base is plastic while the rest is aluminium. It's not clear why this choice was made, though perhaps it's to keep whatever is underneath the case cooler because plastic doesn't transmit heat as well.
The case obviously does have significant flaws if the intention is to use the Pi as more than just a basic computer. If there is a need to access any of the places to plug accessories in, add hats or something like the SSD base, this case will leave you high and dry. It has to be opened to allow access and the sweep of the heat sink fins might get in the way of some hats. Screws have to come in from underneath, so unless long alternatives are available, no base is likely to be attachable. Of course, these problems are all clear from the images. It's just unfortunate that no holes were cut for ribbon cables.
The case is a bit fiddly to put together. The fan cable has to run down a channel that isn't designed for it. Following the instructions, the cable keeps jumping out of the section where it has to make 2 90 degree turns. Because the cable is flat, it's not designed to make turns and the channel is too shallow for the cable to be on-end. Unfortunately, those corners force it to be on end. I had to leave the cable unplugged while putting the case together and use needle-nose tweezers to plug it in afterward. This is disappointing for a case that is pretty expensive.
The fan is almost never on. It's not clear at what temperature the fan is supposed to turn on because I think it would keep the Pi a lot cooler if the fan actually ever turned on. It is plugged in because it runs for a couple of seconds when the Pi is starting up. But then it turns off, never to be heard from again. It's not clear whether this is a flaw or intention because there is no information about the fan's intended behaviour. Again, disappointing for a case this expensive.”
“Fabulous. Precision engineering at its best. Everything fitted perfectly. One recommendation to the manufacturers is to make the screw that holds the cover over the MicroSD card to be of a captive type.”
