There are lots of awesome cases available for the Raspberry Pi 4.
You can find all my favorites listed here.
The case you choose is largely a matter of personal preference, and I certainly won’t stop you from picking up the super fun __ case, but the best case around in my opinion is the Argon ONE.
It looks awesome and it’s got a great sturdy build that will protect your Pi.
But there’s a lot more to it. There are a few features beyond the aesthetics of the case that make it truly exceptional.
First off, it uses a custom bridge to reroute all of the ports. Normally, your Pi is running connections from at least two sides and it tends to look kind of messy.
The Argon ONE places all of the ports in the back, so it can look really clean on your desktop.
Since it’s made with metal, it has a nice weight to it that won’t let the cables yank it around. With a plastic case, the tension of the power cable can lift it partially off the desk and cause it to slide around.
Second, most cases include heatsinks that you can stink onto the __ to help reduce the heat. The Argon ONE case also…
Third, install a fan is a smart idea to keep your Pi cool at all times too. Argon ONE has a fan pre-installed in the top. Even better, it runs quietly, which can’t be said for all cases (especially plastic ones).
But perhaps my favorite feature of all is the GPIO pin access. Too many cases cover up the pins and make you choose between using them or using a case. Not only does the Argon ONE have a magnetic, removable cover for the pins, but it also includes these laser-etched labels for each one:
This is exceptionally helpful for beginners and avid Pi users alike and can save you time and the hassle of making bad connections by mistake.
The Argon ONE also comes with a nifty script for controlling the fan and power button.
Unplugging your Pi to turn it off is a bad practice, so it’s best to run a terminal command like this every time you want to turn off your Pi.
Argon ONE includes a power button which you can hold for 3s to safely power down. It also allows you to restart the Pi with a double click.
Furthermore, most cases have a fan that runs at one set speed, but the Argon ONE’s fan runs at three different speeds based on the CPU temp of the Pi. You can also configure these speeds via the interface.
The fact that the fan can run at much lower speeds is why the case will stay virtually silent unlike simpler cases that run the fan at 100% at all times.
Installing the script for handling the power button functionality and fan control can be done with one line in the terminal:
curl https://download.argon40.com/argon1.sh | bash