INTRODUCTION

   As I’ve made abundantly clear in past reviews it's not really that hard for any PC peripherals company to design and manufacture a high quality tower with good looks, sufficient airflow levels and plenty of interior space. In the end what this almost always comes down to is cost and well some manufacturers tend to prefer affordable models in their product lines aimed at the masses. Luckily there's no shortage of high-end PC towers/cases in today's market but that doesn't mean there's not enough room for even more, especially when it comes to offerings by new players. AQIRYS may not be one of the most popular and well-established names in the PC market but their products have yet to disappoint me and so today I’m taking a look at one of their latest mid-towers, the AQUILLA.

   AQIRYS is about IT products and hardware dedicated to gaming. Our solutions are developed and perfected by a passionate team with over 15 years of expertise in the IT & gaming industry, heavily focused on variety, quality, and affordability. We all are avid gamers, some of us even reaching pro levels. Top that with the excitement for PC modding and overclocking that was well established through our parent company about 13 years ago (the first company in our country to receive the NVIDIA SLI certification). The whole experience we amassed from gaming and crafting super high-end PC’s is now put to work in developing the AQIRYS products. Our final goal is to deliver these products in a cool, dynamic way to people who are keen or enthusiastic about PC gaming and modding, making them feel more satisfied than before. Welcome to AQIRYS! The galaxy of gaming tools that will lead you to victory!

   The AQUILLA Mid-Tower by AQIRYS is currently available in two colors (black and white) both of which feature side panels held in place by hinges (tempered glass left side panel and 0.9mm SPCC right side panel) making it extremely easy to open when needed. As expected however the AQUILLA has numerous other features up its sleeve including a perforated metal mesh fascia, dual-chamber design, removable front and top air-filters, 4 pre-installed 140mm ARGB fans (probably their CETUS model - 1600RPM/52.61CFM/32.1dBA/22 LEDs each) complete with their very own ARGB fan hub (RF remote and mode/fan speed/LED speed buttons). In regards to interior space, the AQUILLA is an E-ATX mid-tower with enough room for 4 drives (2x2.5” and 2x3.5” or 3x2.5” and 1x3.5”), 9 fans (6x140mm or 9x120mm) and/or two radiators (front 240/280/360/420mm, side 240mm and top 240/280/360mm), 170mm tall CPU coolers, 175mm long power supply units, and 395mm long graphics cards (270mm if you decide to mount side fans). The AQUILLA is the very 1st tower I’ve received by AQIRYS so let's see what it delivers.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

AQIRYS ships the AQUILLA inside a plain cardboard box that has a single product drawing at both the front and rear.

The product specifications table along with the case color is printed on the left side of the box.

Moving on the left side we find the product features in 12 languages.

Typically, the case is wrapped inside a plastic bag and placed between two foam spacers.

Along with the AQUILLA mid-tower you’re also getting an RF controller, cleaning cloth, 5 cable ties, 4 rubber feet (probably for the PSU area), thank you card and the installation guide.

THE AQUILLA EXTERIOR

Measuring 493mm in height, 479mm in depth and 233mm in width the AQUILLA is a large mid-sized tower.

The left side panel is entirely made out of tempered glass held by two hinges (just pull the cloth handle to open the panel).

The perforated metal fascia is actually silver in color and looks great.

You can easily remove the fascia to access the air-filter and the three 140mm ARGB fans.

The I/O is located at the top right side and includes the on/off, reset and LED mode buttons, two USB 2.0 ports, single USB 3.0 port and the usual 3.5mm headphones and microphone ports.

Most of the top area is covered by a magnetic air-filter beneath which you can mount three 120mm fans, two 140mm fans or a single 240/280/360mm radiator.

The left side panel is also held by two hinges and has room for two 120mm fans.

Moving at the rear of the case we find the fourth 140mm ARGB fan, 7 PCI expansion slots and the PSU area.

The tower sits on 4 rather tall feet (the rubber pads beneath them are obviously not glued on well) and has a very long air-filter at its base.

THE AQUILLA INTERIOR

As far as I’m concerned, the AQUILLA is a very spacious mid-tower.

At the front we see the 4 ARGB 140mm fans next to which you can always mount an 240/280/360mm radiator up to 60mm in thickness (420mm radiator up to 35mm in thickness).

The PSU shroud has several holes on it which could probably be used with fans.

Here you can see the rear 140mm ARGB fan.

The motherboard tray has 8 openings (4 are rubber grommets) and the pieces with the 2 rubber grommets on the right can be removed allowing you to mount an 240mm radiator (which is right next to the right-side fan mounts).

Taking a look on the right side of the AQUILLA we find two 2.5” vertical drive trays, fan controller/hub, 3.5" drive cage (1x2.5/3.5" drive tray and 1x3.5" spot on the cage) and the PSU area.

The single 3.5” drive tray is made out of plastic whereas the two 2.5” drive trays are made out of aluminum.

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.

With room for up to 175mm long power supply units you will have no problem mounting even up to 1KW models.

The AQUILLA is an E-ATX compatible tower so there's still quite a bit of room inside after mounting one.

Mounting a 240/280mm radiator at the top is a good feature but nowhere close to being able to mount an 60mm thick 360mm radiator at the front.

Air coolers up to 170mm in height can fit in the AQUILLA.

Even if you decide to mount an 60mm radiator at the front like i did you’ll still have roughly 320mm space for a graphics card.

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, i use my very own).

CONCLUSION

   The AQUILLA Mid-Tower by AQIRYS may not be a completely new concept (we’ve seen similar designs in the past) but due to its higher build quality and number of available features it actually stands out compared to most. For build quality you just need to look at the fascia (silver for the black version and white for the white version) and the side panels whereas in terms of features the side hinges which allow for very easy opening of the panels and the 4 pre-installed 140mm ARGB fans with their fan hub/controller and the multiple lighting modes are more than welcome. Also having enough room for 240/280/360/420mm radiators at the front, top and right side is certainly not something we see a lot with mid-towers and i dare say the same goes for its GPU, PSU and CPU cooler size compatibility. Yes, room for just 4 drives is far from stellar, noise levels could be better (although not really excessive) and i also have to admit that i didn’t like the fact that the rubber feet of the AQUILLA were all not glued on properly but the latter at least is something you can easily fix by applying some glue of your own (if this is not an issue with my sample that is).

   AQIRYS just recently finished working on their online shop so you can acquire your very own AQUILLA mid-tower directly from them for just 129.99Euros (shop.aqirys.com), a price tag which is more or less alright for this particular model. Yes, as expected the AQUILLA just like all other products by AQIRYS is available only in the EU but that’s something we’ve seen many times in the past with EU based manufacturers. That being said the AQUILLA delivers on everything a quality mid-tower should and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Build Quality
- Looks (4 ARGB Fans / Metal Fascia / Tempered Glass Side Panel)
- Airflow Levels (Mesh Fascia / 4x120mm ARGB Fans / 9 Fans Supported Total)
- 3 Radiator Mounts (240/280/360/420mm)
- Space For 170mm Tall CPU Coolers, 175mm long Power Supply Units & 395mm Long Graphics Cards
- 8 Port ARGB Controller
- Top & Front Removable Air Filters
- Available In Black & White

CONS

- EU Only
- 4 Drive Mounts Only