Akasa Integral 3.5in External HDD Enclosure Review

Akasa went with a minimalist approach when designing their Integral series of enclosures. There are three parts to the entire case: the main aluminum shell, an acrylic front panel, and a sliding acrylic back panel. On each side is a clear plastic strip with indentations to refract light coming from rear-mounted LEDs, in effect creating a lighted strip. The rear has a USB2.0 connection, a power plug, and an on/off switch. There are also a few vent holes present. Notice that no fans are present. Many 3.5" cases use 40mm fans to cool down the drives inside them. I assume Akasa decided against any fans in order to allow for a quieter and much smaller enclosure; how this impacts heat output is something we'll see in our thermal test.