CONCLUSION

   The Black Vortex by ICY DOCK is unlike any other external HDD enclosure in the market today and that was enough for us to welcome it in our lab with many positive comments (mostly regarding its design and 120mm intake fan). True it may not have the same amount of space for drives like some other enclosures (including the 5 bay one by Terra Master which we reviewed a couple of weeks ago) but even just 4 bays should be enough to cover most consumers out there (not nearly enough for our backups but the Black Vortex has secured a place next our primary test rig). The front 120mm LED fan is quite silent even at full speed but since its performance may not be enough for some people being able to swap it with a model of your choosing is a great feature (for example after our tests we equipped the Black Vortex with a Noctua Industrial PPC NF-F12 fan) as is the 3-speed controller (although I’d prefer the “accuracy” of a knob). ICY DOCK did well to introduce their EZ-Grip handles for faster swapping of drives but the use of screws is something that may disappoint potential buyers (although it shouldn’t be enough to make them choose something else). As for performance we got similar results as with the 5-bay Terra Master D5-300 model so we have no complaints here.

   With a current price tag set at USD89.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 124Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) you really can’t go wrong with the Black Vortex (MB174U3S-4SB) by ICY DOCK. It can accommodate up to four 3.5” drives, has very good read & write performance levels, looks great and has one of the best cooling systems we’ve seen with an external HDD enclosure. Granted it does not feature RAID and BIG modes so for some professionals the Black Vortex may not be exactly what they’re looking for but for most people JBOD is more than sufficient (not to mention more “certain” in case of a drive failure). Long story short if you’re after a 4-bay JBOD external HDD enclosure then the Black Vortex by ICY DOCK is worth every penny and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Very Good Performance
- 4x3.5” Drive Bays
- USB 3.0 & eSATA Connectivity
- Single Removable 120mm LED Intake Fan
- 3-Speed Fan & LED Controllers
- Removable Air-Filter
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- JBOD Mode Only