Akasa is one of the few vendors with a portfolio of passively cooled chassis solutions for Intel NUCs. We reviewed a Turing solution with a Bean Cayon NUC and a Newton TN with a Tiger Canyon NUC and were impressed with the performance of both cases. At CES 2023, the company will upgrade its portfolio of fanless NUC cases, using 12 to support his mainstream NUC Pro.th– Generation Core Processor – Wall Street Canyon.
Turing WS
The Turing WS builds on the original Turing chassis and accommodates the updated I/O of the Wall Street Canyon NUC.
The 2.7L chassis can be positioned horizontally or vertically and retains the ability to install 2.5 inch SATA drives. Improvements from the previous generation include an updated thermal solution for M.2 SSDs.
The Turing WS retains all the I/O of the regular Wall Street Canyon kit and also features an antenna hole for anything that requires Wi-Fi connectivity on your system. The company suggests complementary additions to the build for that purpose – a tri-band Wi-Fi antenna and matching pigtails. I hope it will be included.
Newton WS
Newton WS is a minor update to the Newton TN reviewed last year.
The main change is the removal of the serial cable and corresponding I/O cutout on the back. In fact, Akasa has shown that the Newton TN can also be used with Wall Street Canyon for consumers who need serial I/O support.
The 1.9L volume, additional USB ports for front I/O (not available on the regular Wall Street Canyon kit), and VESA mounting support are all retained on the Newton WS.
Plato WS
The Plato WS is a slim chassis (39mm height) built on user feedback on previous Plato cases. The main update for Plato TN is the integration of front panel audio jack support.
The Plato WS inherits all other attractive aspects of the product family, such as VESA and rack mount support, support for installing 2.5″ drives, serial ports on the rear I/O, and additional USB 2.0 ports on the front panel. I’m in.
In addition to the three SKUs above, Akasa also recently launched the Pascal TN, a passively cooled IP65 rated case for Tiger Canyon and Wall Street Canyon NUCs, suitable for outdoor installations.
Akasa’s main competitors are fanless system vendors such as OnLogic and Cirrus7, who prefer to sell high-margin off-the-shelf systems. The DIY space has products like HDPLEX H1 V3 and HDPLEX H1 TODD, but unfortunately they don’t have the wide distribution channels that Akasa’s do. Because the quantity is small, the price is also a little higher. For Wall Street Canyon, Tranquil offers DIY cases in addition to the usual pre-assembled products. It remains to be seen if the company will continue to focus on the DIY space.
Passive cooling cases usually carry a significant price premium that regular consumers are usually unwilling to pay. Vendors like Akasa are changing the category by offering affordable yet compelling e-tailor offerings. As evidenced by his continued work on thermal solutions for various NUC generations, Akasa has found success by simultaneously focusing on industrial deployments, his OEM contracts, and consumer retail. .
Source: Akasa, FanlessTech
