The O11 Air Mini: A Case Review with Some Mixed Feelings

In this review, we will delve into the world of case reviews and examine the O11 Air Mini, a mid-tower case designed for standard ATX components. The case's design and features are sure to appeal to enthusiasts looking for a high-performance build.

One of the standout features of the O11 Air Mini is its unique approach to mounting a radiator. In the case, there is no room for a traditional radiator mount on top of the case. Instead, Lee and Lee have designed an optional bracket that allows you to offset the radiator closer to the side panel, providing more clearance for components and addressing a common issue with mid-tower cases. This design choice may seem counterintuitive at first, but it ultimately provides a solution to a common problem.

The O11 Air Mini also boasts a modular back section, which can be converted from a 7-slot to a 5-slot configuration. This allows users to accommodate smaller micro-ITX and ITX motherboards while still providing ample height clearance for radiators. The main difference between the previous mini model is that the three-slot layout option has been eliminated, leaving only five or seven slot configurations.

In our review of the O11 Air Mini, we encountered some issues with the case's design that left us feeling disappointed. One such issue was discoloration on the corners of both the front and top panels. Initially, we thought it might be rust, but further inspection revealed that it could be a painting issue caused by over-tightening of the PCI screws. Another concern was the blue power button LED, which flashed purple for hard drive activity. While this color may not be to everyone's taste, it is still a useful feature.

The large rubber grommets on the case were easy to work with but seemed quite loose, requiring users to align the back panel carefully after routing cables. The main issue with airflow in the O11 Air Mini was its poor performance compared to the promise made by the manufacturer. The front panel's design is more solid than mesh, resulting in a seven-degree difference in airflow between the stock and front panel configuration.

In terms of GPU cooling, the case did not excel but also did not perform poorly. However, overall airflow was disappointing, especially considering that the included fans were high-quality. It seems that the metal mesh on the case's air intake was not designed to provide adequate airflow.

There are a few things to keep in mind when working with the O11 Air Mini. First, users cannot use the thumb screws on the left side of the power supply mount due to the side panel. If this is the case, the back panel will not close properly. To avoid this issue, it's recommended to install the side panel at an angle to ensure that all pegs are properly aligned.

Finally, mounting the side 120mm fans behind the frame can introduce excessive noise due to the turbulent airflow caused by the fan being right against the side panel. Additionally, repositioning the front fans to the bottom for intake did not improve airflow but instead resulted in worse temperatures on the GPU, suggesting that hot air was recirculating back into the case.

In conclusion, while the O11 Air Mini has some impressive features and design choices, it ultimately falls short of expectations when it comes to airflow performance. The inclusion of a dust filter would have been a welcome feature, but unfortunately, this aspect of the case's design seems to have been overlooked. If you're looking for pure performance with excellent airflow in this form factor, the O11 Air Mini may not be the best option.

Despite its flaws, we do appreciate the layout and internal design of the O11 Air Mini compared to its predecessor, the 011 Dynamic Mini. While it may lack a front glass panel, we think that a more substantial airflow design would have been beneficial.

In conclusion, our experience with the O11 Air Mini has left us with mixed feelings about this case. It offers flexibility for standard ATX components and is easy to work with due to its cable management features. However, the poor airflow performance and some other design choices make it a less-than-ideal choice for those seeking top-notch cooling in this form factor.

Overall, we will continue to monitor the O11 Air Mini series and provide updates on future releases. In the meantime, we invite our readers to share their thoughts and experiences with this case, as well as any suggestions they may have for improving airflow performance.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enoh hello good people i'm dmitry i'm going after the tropical look because i am expecting to be refreshed with the airflow from this thing this is the lienly 011 air mini and it's a totally different enclosure from the previous mini the 011 dynamic mini the promise we are told is to give us the same compact atx experience but with airflow performance similar to that of the lanco 2 mesh and that my friend is very exciting especially because the price is supposed to be 99 and 109 which is very competitive imo plus the interior is exactly the type of stuff i'd like to work with when it comes to my simple airflow configuration where the hardware occupies most of the space while not feeling cramped so i'm going to break up this review in three parts we'll talk about the things i like things i don't like and obviously things to keep note of because there are plenty of quirks when it comes to the 011 air mini so let's begin right after this oh a 30 millimeter frame so it's a little thicker ideal for multiple locations but is the performance mind blowing exactly introducing the new t30 fans from fantax the ultimate fan for radiators heatsinks and cases where you need powerful airflow with an excellent sound profile the three rpm mode switch is a clever integration you gotta appreciate daisy chain potential and of course a good looking fan will keep the system clean check out the t30 fan down below alright so welcome back let's start with the things that i like the form factor so for simple atx enclosure it's only as tall as my corsair one and slightly wider than your usual mid tower they have now modified that second chamber at the back to support a full-size atx power supply which is fantastic and that is an upgrade over the previous o11 dynamic mini which could only support an sfx unit as for the cpu tower and gpu tower clearances they are adequate enough for 2021 i like the exterior panel installation where you remove the top panel first then pop off the side or the front and they all sit on these pegs plus these silver thumb screws at the back tie in with the white model nicely the io is pretty standard for 2021 i do like the three included fans so two 140s at the front and the 120 at the back for ready to go cooling and this is a big upgrade over the dynamic mini which came with no fans at all and so here you have three i mean makes sense for a case to include fans when the air is in the name the front fans sit on these removable brackets which are super easy to work with and can be removed completely for a really long gpu or to clear up some space if you're mounting really thick radiators on the side i also like the consistency of the ventilation pattern i know it's a minor thing but it makes the case feel cohesive while the metal mesh on the exterior acts as a dust filter as well because of those tiny holes plus the removable fine dust filter at the bottom is appreciated if you're mounting fans there for intake so overall the cooling potential with the o11 air mini is great for the size just be mindful these radiator spaces overlap so if you're doing a 240 at the bottom and up top you'll eat into your space for the front radiator or if you have anything thick at the front the side mount becomes less convenient to access but it is really cool to have your standard options available plastic side mount which does not interfere with your motherboard does not interfere with your cables so if you are mounting a set of fans on the radiator there uh it's just an additional value add for cooling if you want to populate literally everything in the case also in the standard seven slot atx configuration mounting a radiator up top is going to be super challenging because it's gonna bump into any of your components and so that's why lee and lee will sell these optional brackets which is kind of unfortunate why they're optional which will allow you to offset the radiator even closer to the side panel giving you a bit more clearance for your components and so you will need to get these if you're going for the full size atx stuff if you are going for the micro tx motherboard stuff where everything is slightly lower obviously you're gonna get uh a lot more clearance up top for radiators and you won't need these which brings us to that whole modular back section where you can convert the layout from a seven slot to a 5 slot case so for slightly smaller micro tx and itx motherboards giving you additional height clearance the main difference here between the previous mini is that we no longer have the three slot layout option uh it's only five or seven all of your storage will be located at the back with this middle spine for two ssds and that conveniently hides all your cables the ventilated cage with two drive caddies is right above the power supply and two more large drive caddies are located on the side mount if you need them now moving to the second part of this review of the things that i don't like so this could be an isolated incident with just my sample but i have some discoloration happening on the corners of my both front and top panels it seems like they're kind of dirty but from something red at first i thought it was rust but it could be some painting issue next are the pci screws that were over tightened causing the paint to strip as i remove the screws the blue power button led flashes purple for hard drive activity i don't like this color at all the large rubber grommets are easy to work with but are pretty loose so you will need to align the back in place after routing cables but the main thing here is the airflow is indeed mini so check this out the promise of this matching the lanco 2 mesh performance is pretty misleading as the front panel is more solid than mesh so that is the reason behind seven degree difference of stock versus your front panel removed when we look at gpu cooling it's not fantastic but not terrible either but overall the air in the name is pretty disappointing especially because the included fans are high quality but the metal mesh isn't now a few things to keep in mind so let's mention some of the quirks about this case you cannot use the thumb screws on the left side of the power supply mount because of the side panel it simply will not close when reinstalling the back panel make sure all pegs are properly inserted otherwise it'll bulge and i find installing it at an angle like this is much easier to get them all aligned you can mount the side 120mm fans behind the frame but in doing so you will introduce a lot more noise because the fan is basically right against that side panel and if you are exhausting air it will sound quite turbulent i also reposition the two front fans at the bottom for intake hoping that we will get better airflow but instead i got worse temperatures on the gpu which is surprising that means that there's some hot air recirculating back into the case and so that's not an option so that means that the front panel here just has to change or you're not looking for like a super high performance in this form factor and so in the end of the day the o11 air mini structure wise i feel like is a much better upgrade versus the previous 011 dynamic mini basically giving you lots of flexibility for standard atx components and super easy cable management because of that cable bar and just routed things all around the motherboard no issues whatsoever but there's definitely something wrong with that front panel because it blocks so much airflow even when i put it against my face and try to blow through it i don't feel anything coming out and so their whole dustproof approach here definitely backfired i think i would have much preferred like bigger holes here and it included dust filter i think that might have worked better so if you are after pure performance with the airflow and this form factor this ain't it my friend but it is definitely better in terms of layout and internal design versus the previous 011 dynamic mini despite not having a front glass panel but it might as well just have it all right guys let me know what you think of the o11 air mini so disappointed that the airflow isn't to what we were promised especially when you're comparing it to the land co2 mesh which is one of the best in my entire cooling stack so come on liam lee what you doing but check out this other world of content subscribe for more i'll talk to you in the next videooh hello good people i'm dmitry i'm going after the tropical look because i am expecting to be refreshed with the airflow from this thing this is the lienly 011 air mini and it's a totally different enclosure from the previous mini the 011 dynamic mini the promise we are told is to give us the same compact atx experience but with airflow performance similar to that of the lanco 2 mesh and that my friend is very exciting especially because the price is supposed to be 99 and 109 which is very competitive imo plus the interior is exactly the type of stuff i'd like to work with when it comes to my simple airflow configuration where the hardware occupies most of the space while not feeling cramped so i'm going to break up this review in three parts we'll talk about the things i like things i don't like and obviously things to keep note of because there are plenty of quirks when it comes to the 011 air mini so let's begin right after this oh a 30 millimeter frame so it's a little thicker ideal for multiple locations but is the performance mind blowing exactly introducing the new t30 fans from fantax the ultimate fan for radiators heatsinks and cases where you need powerful airflow with an excellent sound profile the three rpm mode switch is a clever integration you gotta appreciate daisy chain potential and of course a good looking fan will keep the system clean check out the t30 fan down below alright so welcome back let's start with the things that i like the form factor so for simple atx enclosure it's only as tall as my corsair one and slightly wider than your usual mid tower they have now modified that second chamber at the back to support a full-size atx power supply which is fantastic and that is an upgrade over the previous o11 dynamic mini which could only support an sfx unit as for the cpu tower and gpu tower clearances they are adequate enough for 2021 i like the exterior panel installation where you remove the top panel first then pop off the side or the front and they all sit on these pegs plus these silver thumb screws at the back tie in with the white model nicely the io is pretty standard for 2021 i do like the three included fans so two 140s at the front and the 120 at the back for ready to go cooling and this is a big upgrade over the dynamic mini which came with no fans at all and so here you have three i mean makes sense for a case to include fans when the air is in the name the front fans sit on these removable brackets which are super easy to work with and can be removed completely for a really long gpu or to clear up some space if you're mounting really thick radiators on the side i also like the consistency of the ventilation pattern i know it's a minor thing but it makes the case feel cohesive while the metal mesh on the exterior acts as a dust filter as well because of those tiny holes plus the removable fine dust filter at the bottom is appreciated if you're mounting fans there for intake so overall the cooling potential with the o11 air mini is great for the size just be mindful these radiator spaces overlap so if you're doing a 240 at the bottom and up top you'll eat into your space for the front radiator or if you have anything thick at the front the side mount becomes less convenient to access but it is really cool to have your standard options available plastic side mount which does not interfere with your motherboard does not interfere with your cables so if you are mounting a set of fans on the radiator there uh it's just an additional value add for cooling if you want to populate literally everything in the case also in the standard seven slot atx configuration mounting a radiator up top is going to be super challenging because it's gonna bump into any of your components and so that's why lee and lee will sell these optional brackets which is kind of unfortunate why they're optional which will allow you to offset the radiator even closer to the side panel giving you a bit more clearance for your components and so you will need to get these if you're going for the full size atx stuff if you are going for the micro tx motherboard stuff where everything is slightly lower obviously you're gonna get uh a lot more clearance up top for radiators and you won't need these which brings us to that whole modular back section where you can convert the layout from a seven slot to a 5 slot case so for slightly smaller micro tx and itx motherboards giving you additional height clearance the main difference here between the previous mini is that we no longer have the three slot layout option uh it's only five or seven all of your storage will be located at the back with this middle spine for two ssds and that conveniently hides all your cables the ventilated cage with two drive caddies is right above the power supply and two more large drive caddies are located on the side mount if you need them now moving to the second part of this review of the things that i don't like so this could be an isolated incident with just my sample but i have some discoloration happening on the corners of my both front and top panels it seems like they're kind of dirty but from something red at first i thought it was rust but it could be some painting issue next are the pci screws that were over tightened causing the paint to strip as i remove the screws the blue power button led flashes purple for hard drive activity i don't like this color at all the large rubber grommets are easy to work with but are pretty loose so you will need to align the back in place after routing cables but the main thing here is the airflow is indeed mini so check this out the promise of this matching the lanco 2 mesh performance is pretty misleading as the front panel is more solid than mesh so that is the reason behind seven degree difference of stock versus your front panel removed when we look at gpu cooling it's not fantastic but not terrible either but overall the air in the name is pretty disappointing especially because the included fans are high quality but the metal mesh isn't now a few things to keep in mind so let's mention some of the quirks about this case you cannot use the thumb screws on the left side of the power supply mount because of the side panel it simply will not close when reinstalling the back panel make sure all pegs are properly inserted otherwise it'll bulge and i find installing it at an angle like this is much easier to get them all aligned you can mount the side 120mm fans behind the frame but in doing so you will introduce a lot more noise because the fan is basically right against that side panel and if you are exhausting air it will sound quite turbulent i also reposition the two front fans at the bottom for intake hoping that we will get better airflow but instead i got worse temperatures on the gpu which is surprising that means that there's some hot air recirculating back into the case and so that's not an option so that means that the front panel here just has to change or you're not looking for like a super high performance in this form factor and so in the end of the day the o11 air mini structure wise i feel like is a much better upgrade versus the previous 011 dynamic mini basically giving you lots of flexibility for standard atx components and super easy cable management because of that cable bar and just routed things all around the motherboard no issues whatsoever but there's definitely something wrong with that front panel because it blocks so much airflow even when i put it against my face and try to blow through it i don't feel anything coming out and so their whole dustproof approach here definitely backfired i think i would have much preferred like bigger holes here and it included dust filter i think that might have worked better so if you are after pure performance with the airflow and this form factor this ain't it my friend but it is definitely better in terms of layout and internal design versus the previous 011 dynamic mini despite not having a front glass panel but it might as well just have it all right guys let me know what you think of the o11 air mini so disappointed that the airflow isn't to what we were promised especially when you're comparing it to the land co2 mesh which is one of the best in my entire cooling stack so come on liam lee what you doing but check out this other world of content subscribe for more i'll talk to you in the next video\n"