Rosewill Meteor XR The Freshest Review

Specifications
Rosewill Meteor XR
Case Type — Mid-Tower
Material — Steel, glass & plastic
Net Weight — 8.07 kg / 17.8 lbs
Slots — 7
Drive Bays — 1x External 5.25"
2x Internal 2.5/3.5"
2x Internal 2.5"
Motherboard Form Factors — Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX
Dimensions — 19.26" x 8.27" x 17.25"
Front Door/Cover — N/A
Front Fans — 3x 120 mm or 2x 140 mm (1x 120 mm included)
Rear Fans — 1x 120 mm (included)
Top Fans — 3x 120 mm or 2x 140 mm (optional)
Bottom Fans — N/A
Side Fans — N/A
I/O — HDMI Port
2x USB 3.0
1x Headphone
1x Microphone2x USB 3.0
Fan/LED Controller — N/A
Compatibility:
CPU cooler — 160 mm
GPU — 360 mm
PSU — N/A

Packaging and Design

The device comes in a simple brown carton box with the necessary information on the sides. Inside there is protection foam that keeps case in place and a plastic bag that helps to avoid fingerprints and damage.
The customer receives a bag of black screws, some zip ties, a plug-in speaker, and a manual.

Out of the box, the Meteor XR offers a simple design with a square plastic front and a brushed aluminum look. The design is slightly asymmetrical as there is a little red element shifted to the right side of the front panel of the case.

On the front, you can see that the fake brushing is vertical, which makes the case look a bit thinner than it really is. In general, things look very traditional with the usual case layout and PSU bay on the bottom of the chassis.

With everyone utilizing glass instead of acrylic, Rosewill has improved their product too with the high quality material for its main side panel. It is held in place by four large thumb screws. The opposing side is completely flat and solid and made out of traditional steel.

At the very bottom, there is a pretty standard PSU bay with a single set of mounting holes. this way the user installs the power supply the right way. Above that there are seven expansion slots, each protected by simple breakout covers.
In the very top is a clear LED-equipped 120 mm fan that is set to flow hot air out through the back of the case.

Besides the usual pair of USB 3.0 and audio connectors, the user will also find a full-size HDMI port. This means that he or she can easily attach a VR headset to the chassis. The reset and power buttons are at the top of the case.

On the underside of the chassis there is another opening covered by a similar metal-mesh filter for the PSU fan. While there are openings for the HDD cage to be able to slide back and forth, which provide the user the utmost in flexibility when it comes to accommodating both longer PSUs and radiators. Rosewill decided to go with a simpler, unmovable solution for the cage.

Closer View

The novelty is offered in two versions: in completely black color design, and also in black with a white interior (modification Plus). Both versions have a side wall made of tempered glass.

In the case of Meteor XR format Mid Tower, you can place a motherboard of the size of the Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX or ATX. The novelty is equipped with one compartment for a 5.25-inch device. There are sockets for headphones and microphone, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. Dimensions of the device are 489.2 * 438.2 * 210.1 mm. The novelty is offered in two versions: in a completely black color, as well as in black with white. The price starts from 80 US dollars.

In the front part, there are seats for three 120 mm fans (one pre-installed initially) or two coolers with a diameter of 140 mm. At the top, the user can install two 120/140 mm fans. Finally, the rear is pre-installed 120mm cooler with LED backlight red. In case a liquid cooling system is used, a 240/280/360 mm radiator can be used.

If the user wants to get the access to the inner side, he or she should remove the thumbscrews holding the glass and steel panels.
The interior lacks any visible 3.5" drive bays since those are below the metal shroud. The user will find a rubber opening on the divider and holes for two SSD trays on the other side. Looking at the motherboard tray from behind, there are two simple openings at the top's edge, but only a large, partially covered opening has been put into the left edge of the tray. While this will allow for some interesting cable routing, it also means the user has to route elements like audio all the way across the motherboard.

There are two SSD trays on the divider, towards the front of the chassis. You may move these on top of the metal shroud if you want to show your SSDs off. Some brands that use this tooling offer a total of four trays for utmost expandability, which would have been nice to see here as well.

The user will find very simple but effective PSU bay. The PSU will rest on four foam spacers as an anti-vibration measure. There is not a lot of space for the PSU due to the way the HDD cage is placed, so you have to make sure to keep it below 150-160 mm in length. Above that are the seven expansion slots and a basic, clear, LED-equipped 120 mm fan set to push air out the back, which brings the total number of fans inside the Meteor XR to two.

Conclusion
Among advantages you will find:
+Clean design
+High-quality glass side panel
+All-steel interior
+Very good liquid-cooling capabilities
+HDMI port as part of the front I/O
+Well-placed fan-mounting holes in the top
+Magnetic dust filter on top
+Very good cable management.

But still there are some disadvantages:
-Included fans are not of retail quality
-No vents in the front diminish the cooling performance of fans there
-HDMI cable needs to be routed through a hole in the rear of the chassis
-Large HDD activity LED better suited as a power LED
-Break-out covers for expansion slots
-Interior tooling is also used by other brands.