The Argon one case from Argon Fourty is extremely promising. Here are my first impressions of the unpacking and installation of the Raspberry pi 4 version of this case.
At first glance, this case is magnificent. That said, it’s subjective, everyone has their tastes. It is an aluminum housing with passive and active heat dissipation. It moves all of the Raspberry Pi’s side sockets at the back of the case, which I was looking for from the old Media Pi case that I still have in its box. It also manages an active power button, and has an infrared option, not supplied as standard. That said, someone who is a bit of a DIY enthusiast can easily add it.
The box contains:
- The installation manual, in English, but very well illustrated;
- The upper shell;
- The lower shell;
- The offset of lateral connections in an antistatic bag;
- The accessories (screws, thermal pads, feet) in a second bag.
To see beautiful photos taken in the studio, here is the manufacturer’s product sheet: Argon ONE Pi 4 Raspberry Pi Case.
This case consists of two shells. The upper aluminum shell allows passive heat dissipation thanks to two guides that go down to the chips and two self-adhesive thermal pads (supplied) that you will need to install. It also manages active dissipation by exhausting air from the fan. A magnetic hatch on the top gives access to the deported GPIO while serving as air exhaust. The network plug in a bit tight and difficult to insert. A file stroke would not be luxury.
The lower semi-transparent plastic shell allows you to view through the LEDs of the Raspberry pi 4 and infrared LEDs if you install them. I will come back in a future article to this option which I like.
It is supplied with 2 circuits. One, already installed in the metal shell, manages the power button, the fan, the GPIO remote, and the optional infrared port. The other, to install yourself, manages the offset of the side sockets at the rear of the box.
We see everywhere on the Internet people who complain that their Raspberry Pi does not start. So here I remind you how important it is to use an official power supply, or at least expressly provided to power a Raspberry Pi, and not just any phone charger. Charging a battery is not at all the same as powering a computer, so charger manufacturers do not have the same specifications.
The software installation of the box is just as simple. A script, shown in the manual, installs the fan and power button support. To date, I have only tested the installation under Raspbian, but on the blog part of the official site (which I gave you the address above) you will find articles on its specific installation under OSMC, RecalBox, LibreElec, and maybe even others since.
Regarding heat dissipation, I have not managed to exceed 35 ° C in several hours of operation. So I cannot say if the fan works or is silent, so the passive dissipation is already effective. I would push it a little more in the next article on the subject.
In conclusion, I find this case beautiful, well thought out, effective. It will most certainly take the place of my emulator. Probably also from my multi-media player (LibreElec) if it is compatible with my ambient lights. And I also plan to make a second workstation based on a Raspberry Pi, which will use this case. There is still research to be done and things to be said about it, which will lead to at least one other article.