Is this the best Raspberry Pi 4 case ever designed?
In my previous post I talked about the Raspberry Pi case and accessories I got for my recent Raspberry Pi 4 order.
While I do like this case, for $15.99 it includes a 40mm fan, heat sinks, 3A power supply with flip switch, and a nice looking case.
For roughly the same amount of money as the official case and power supply, you get heat sinks, fan, and a power supply with a built-in switch.
I think I have found better, in fact, this case is amazing. It does come at a premium though.
Introducing the Argon One Raspberry Pi 4 Case
While it is rather large, you will see why in a few moments.
This case features a breakaway panel to get to GPIO pins easily. While keeping the case together. This panel is magnetic and not just a snap in and out.
The case also features a daughterboard that includes a fan and moves all the ports to the back of the case so they are all in one place. I really love these set-top cases that do this.
You would think that was enough to convince you this case is amazing, but I am not done! The case includes a power switch as well as a script to add smart functionality similar to a PC.
A short press of the Power button, while power is off, will turn on the Raspberry Pi.
While the power is on, you can long-press (3+ seconds) the button and it will initiate a safe power down and remove power.
If you double-tap the power button, it will initiate a reboot.
If you are having trouble with the Pi you can do a long press (5+ seconds) and it will completely power off the Pi with a forced shutdown.
The Argon One case also includes a smart fan script that will adjust the fan speed based on the CPU temperatures.
The top of the case is metal and acts as a large heat sink for the Raspberry Pi.
This case is pure genius but comes at a premium, the case alone is $25 on Amazon and does not include a USB-C power supply which can be purchased separately for $8-10 typically or you can get the bundle for $36. This case isn't cheap and starts to get into PC price territory, but it does come jammed packed with features.
I haven't tried it yet, but glancing over the scripts included with the Argon One they can be modified for any case to give smart fan control and a smart power button.
You can look over the installation script [here](curl https://download.argon40.com/argon1.sh | bash)
All Argon One Case images are from the Argon One website
i'm gonna buy this! Now!
That case looks neat if you need to use lots of ports to keep the cables tidy. The whole setup with the Pi and a decent SD card starts getting pricey, but if you want something small, quiet and low power the options are limited. I was looking at possibly using a NUC for my home automation, but they can get expensive.
I've had a NUC for at least 5 years if not more, and I absolutely love it, but yes it was a bit expensive. I figured the ability to repair it myself versus the difficulty of maintaining a laptop would pay off, and so far I've been right.
Laptops I've owned usually start falling apart after three years of use. With an ASUS ZenScreen and a bluetooth keyboard, I'm almost as mobile as a laptop too.
Happy to hear it worked for you. I mostly use my PC I built years ago. For things like home automation I want something small and efficient. I read that a NUC may work better than a Pi for that. Will look into it.
That's a slick looking case.
I can get a full on cheap pc case for this price. Premium indeed!
Agreed. It does start getting pricy. Especially when the entire computer is $35
If it is what you need, it's perfect. I think if pushing the limits.
That in mind I paid around 80$ for my PC case which is pricey. I really like it though.
The possibilities for these things are endless. I wasn't even aware there was a 4th generation one yet. Cool case, basically a mini PC with all those fixings.