Overall and Final Verdict

The Urban S21 from Thermaltake is a mid-tower value offering enhanced by certain additions and marred by others. The front panel is simply designed with no frills and component installation is refreshingly easy and hassle free. Components feel secured in place the tool-free twist locking mechanisms make drive installation a breeze. The management clips are something new and a feature I would welcome in more cases as well as the dual USB 3.0 front panel.

UrbanS21 18

Still with all that, the cable management nightmare is impossible to overlook as this case’s Achilles heel. The top left 8-pin power connector is a problem for most cases but not even attempting a solution for the problem is upsetting. Couple this with the decision to not include open space below the motherboard tray and to orientate the HDD bay parallel to the case as opposed to perpendicular to it and you have a situation where compounding problems make a bad situation even worse.

Thermaltake is known for its quality case designs and some of that pedigree is shown in the Urban S21. Unfortunately, a lot of questionable decisions are also present under further review. Beyond the cable management, it would have been nicer to see a sturdier front door as well as a second front fan as opposed to the external 3.5” bay. The S21 is a decent case offering but is unfortunately placed at a very competitive price point against superior designs where it is left to come up short.

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Author Bio
William
Author: William
Review and Event Staff
William is the newest addition to both the Review and Event staff. Being in charge of power, hopefully you have to see very little of him during our lans. Outside of lans he can be found engaging in his unhealthy obsession with all things gaming in between writing the odd review and bothering Wes at all hours of the day. An avid gamer nearly all his life, it is common for the latest MMO release to cause him to drop off the face of the Earth for a week or two.

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Deb0's Avatar
Deb0 replied the topic: #31868 26 Jul 2013 22:15
Some good, some bad. The S21 is a decent case amid superb competition.

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