THE BLACK VORTEX

 Measuring 235.5mm in length, 144.8mm in width and 130mm in height the 1303g heavy Black Vortex looks very nice thanks to its open frame design (did someone say Borg?).

Out of curiosity we placed the Black Vortex right next to a compact dual-bay external enclosure (no longer available in the market).

As you can all see the fascia is largely perforated to allow air to reach the 120mm intake fan behind it.

To access the interior you just need to open the enclosure from the front.

Young Lin Technologies is behind the 120mm blue LED fan (1350±5%RPM / 46CFM / 20dBA).

The air-filter is placed between the fascia and the fan and can be removed by pulling it outwards.

Aside the 4 EZ-Grip handles inside the case ICY DOCK bundles two extra ones so you can swap two extra drives with ease.

Unfortunately these handles require you to use two screws with each drive (although if you have the enclosure in a fixed and secure position you can just slide in the drives themselves without these EZ-Grips).

Each drive has its own activity LED and beneath those we see the 3-speed (High/Low/Off) fan control switch and the on/off LED switch.

The activity LEDs and the two switches at the front are routed at the rear so pay extra attention to this cable.

The rear is also slightly perforated and has an on/off switch, USB 3.0 host port, eSATA port and the DC in.