INTRODUCTION

   Up until rather recently interior space, build quality and airflow levels were arguably the most important things to look for when out in the market searching for a new PC case. Nowadays however this has changed and so features like tempered glass panels, ARGB (or plain RGB) lighting, liquid cooling support and front USB-C connectors have become of equal importance for many consumers (primarily enthusiasts and gamers). As a result most PC cases to be released lately by the majority of the manufacturers pack most if not all of those features. One such model is the Aero One Eclipse Mid-Tower by our friends over at Aerocool and today we've placed it under our microscope.

   Aerocool is a Taipei-based, global computer components company with an outstanding record in product design and innovation. Driven by the mantra ‘Be Cool, Be Aerocool’, Aerocool strives to provide innovation in design yet deliver an affordable solution to PC users worldwide. For more information on Aerocool, please visit http://www.aerocool.io/.

   The Aero One Eclipse Mid-Tower by Aerocool is one of their best looking models to date not only because it's available in two colors (black and black/white - there's also a mini version available for micro ATX / Mini ITX motherboards) but also thanks to its 4 pre-mounted Eclipse 12 120mm fans (12 addressable RGB LEDs each - 1200RPM/32.1CFM/1.27mmH2O/19.8dBA) and its tempered glass side panel. Of course much like most recent mid-towers by Aerocool the Aero One Eclipse also features a PSU shroud (dual chamber design), drive cage with two 3.5" drive trays, three 2.5" drive mounting areas, top/front magnetic air-filter, removable bottom air-filter and enough room for up to 7 fans (or 2x140mm and 4x120mm) and/or two radiators (240/240/280/360mm), 161mm tall CPU coolers, 180mm long power supply units (220mm with the drive tray removed) and 327mm long graphics cards. Yes, the Aero One Eclipse is a rather compact mid-tower but it does look very capable, on paper at least.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The Aero One Eclipse arrived inside a plain cardboard box that has a single product drawing at the front right next to a description of some of its main features.

Two stickers with the product serial number, barcode and weight are located on the left side.

On the right side you can see the included side panel type, whether or not the case is bundled with a PSU and of course the color (black or white).

Yet another product drawing is located at the rear of the box alongside the specifications table and above the features list printed in 12 languages.

As always, the tower is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two styrofoam spacers.

Along with the Aero One Eclipse you are also getting a fan speed/RGB hub, 5 cable ties, magnetic air-filter (you can use this at the front of the tower), two plastic bags with screws, spacers and standoffs and a paper showcasing proper mainboard installation steps.

THE AERO ONE ECLIPSE EXTERIOR

The Aero One Eclipse is a rather compact mid-tower that measures 520mm in height, 404mm in depth and 210mm in width.

As with most similar cases almost the entire right side panel is made out of tempered glass held in place via 2 thumbscrews located at the rear.

The mesh fascia allows plenty of air to enter the interior of the case and ontop of that it helps make the interior Eclipse 12 fans show their colors.

You can always replace the three pre-mounted Eclipse 12 fans with three 120mm (or two 140mm) of your choosing or you can pair them with an 240/280/360mm radiator.

Just over the fascia we find the I/O which includes two USB 3.0 (3.1 Gen1) ports, headphones and microphone jacks, hard drive and power LEDs, RGB lighting cycle button and the power on/off button.

At the top we find another magnetic air-filter located just over the fan/radiator mounting area (here you can place either two 120mm fans or an 240mm radiator).

Turning the case around we see a 4th Eclipse 12 fan, 7 PCI slots and the PSU area.

Taking a look at the base of the Aero One Eclipse we see a third air-filter (not magnetic) and two tall feet with rubber pads beneath them.

THE AERO ONE ECLIPSE INTERIOR

As already mentioned, the Aero One Eclipse is a rather compact mid-tower so interior space is somewhat limited.

Thanks to a hole on the PSU shroud you can mount a single 240/280/360mm radiator at the front, as long as it doesn't exceed 30mm in thickness (on the left you can also see the two 2.5" vertical drive mounts).

There are two 120mm fan mounting holes on the PSU shroud in case you need extra cooling for your graphics card(s).

Three cable routing holes are located on the mainboard tray and two on the PSU shroud.

Moving at the rear of the tower we see the 3.5/2.5" drive tray and the PSU area.

To accommodate longer power supply units the drive tray can be removed.

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

As always, the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Unfortunately, due to the somewhat limited width of the Aero One Eclipse you will need to remove the drive cage in order to install a high output PSU.

Likewise, after mounting an ATX sized mainboard there's not much room left in the case.

161mm clearance for CPU coolers is just enough for most models in the market today.

In the above picture we mounted an 240mm radiator at the top of the tower and an 280mm radiator at the front without issues.

Still as you can see mounting a front radiator may not leave enough room for a very long graphics card (though not many are longer than the 280mm one we use in our reviews).

NOISE LEVEL TEST

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically on top of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one, we use our own).

CONCLUSION

   The Aerocool Aero One Eclipse may not be along the largest mid-towers in the market today but for some people that may not necessarily be a bad thing, not when there are many out there with space constraints/restrictions. Also, even though it’s a compact model it still has enough room inside for 5 drives, 8 fans, 2 radiators, 161mm tall CPU coolers and 327mm long graphics cards so it should be able to cover the needs of the largest majority of the market. On top of that thanks to its mesh fascial, tempered glass side panel and of course the 4 pre-mounted Eclipse 12 ARGB fans it looks great something which should appeal especially to gamers.

   As with other recently released mid-towers by Aerocool the Aero One Eclipse was launched as a mid-range, budget-friendly model and so its current price tag of 74.90Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) certainly reflects that. Long story short the Aero One Eclipse Mid-Tower by Aerocool is aimed towards consumers looking for a budget-friendly, good looking and rather compact PC case with adequate interior space and very good airflow levels out of the box which is why it deserves our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Looks (Tempered Glass Side Panel / 4 Eclipse 12 ARGB Fans)
- Radiator Space (Front 240/280/360mm & Top 240mm)
- Airflow Levels (Mesh Fascia)
- Top / Front Magnetic Air Filters
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Interior Space (Overall)
- USA Availability