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Got a bit excited to see a new Lian Li case available for sale. The Lian Li LanCool 207 we've previously reviewed stood out for some novel approaches and highly impressed us and most other reviewers, we even use it as the case for our shop computer! The Vector V150 INF doesn't use the rotated power supply solution, instead opting for the more traditional rear mounted basement solution. The basement itself is truncated by a large, slanted portion that funnels front intake air to the GPU, and features infinity mirror fans, plus an infinity mirror front facade! The infinity mirrors were previously used in the LanCool 207, and the front slanted air intake scoop we have seen before in cases like the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air have featured a front air scoop to get fresh air direct to the GPU before. This is the first case we've seen that focuses on these two features, so much in fact that the front glass panel is even angled along with the front scoop!
As always, we start with the beginning. With the box. On the front we get a nice lined graphic of the case itself. On the back we get the case measurements, X, Y, and Z dimensions, so the case itself holds the information needed to know if it will fit where you plan to put it. We would typically like a bit more information on the box itself, but this is a good middle ground. Opening it up, the box is a very thick and sturdy dual layered. The styrofoam inside is of the cheaper, more brittle variety, but this would likely survive shipping with a fully build computer inside if the parts aren't of the heaviest variety.
Opening it up and taking it out of the box, we get the first look at the infinity mirrored front panel. The first thing we get when opening the box is the instruction manual. The manual does a very good job of itemizing everything the case comes with and very well illustrated diagrams for assembly and disassembly.
The case itself looks better in person that it does in photos, including the carefully curated promotional photos, which is a very rare thing to say. That angled glass stands out. And the mirrored front panel catches the eye and the light. It does look very cool indeed. When turned on the LEDs around the edge create an infinity illusion that makes it look like the mirror goes 6-8 inches deep, which is really very impressive.
Speaking of the front panel, we both like and dislike it. This front panel also has 2 front fan dust filters built in. The look and style requires that these 2 fans will not be replaced except with roughly equal fans. This is not something we particularly like, as more variety and options is usually better, but it's an understandable requirement for a particular style. And the style we do indeed like.
More disappointing is the front pane itself. It pulls away easily enough, but it is attached at the top by RGB wires that connect the front panel's LED strip to the front IO. Instead of being something like a pogo pin, it's hardwired, with delicate feeling cables, which makes accessing behind the front panel a tricky circumstance. The front filters must be removed from behind the front panel, but not only do the front filters not come away from it easily, but removing them while dangling the front panel from a thin wire is a tricky operation.
In our exploratory tests of this case, we found that the force and pressure needed to twist and remove the front filter, along with the precarious balancing of the front panel since it's still attached by a thin wire, means one of the front filters went flying! It cracked against the ground, and a small piece of plastic went to parts unknown. It's not every day when we accidentally break a piece of the case just examining it for review purposes, and it largely comes down to difficulty in disassembly. Which would be MUCH harder when the case is dirty and grimy and you're trying to clean it. This earns the top spot on our cons list for this case.
The next negative is the ATX standard. This case is so, so very close to fitting a full ATX motherboard. I genuinely have no idea why they chose to make it mATX and ITX only. ATX is the most common, and thus most affordable and ubiquitous motherboard standard on the planet. The fact that Lian Li choose to design this cool looking case in such a way to eliminate ~60% of all motherboards from fitting within it is disappointing. They packed so much versatility and room for user-options into this case, and one of the biggest and most important varieties? Nope. Quite disappointing.
But let's look at some of those versatile options next!
Let's take our first look at the case proper. Popping off that front panel, it becomes even more apparent how different this angled glass actually is! It pulls off similarly, but not identically, to many other glass side panels. An important thing to keep in mind is that, when putting it back on, the front tab slots in just behind and above the power button. Because it's lower it feels natural to try and slot this in first and pivot the other into place, but it'll actually be better to slop both in at once. Keep that in mind!
Looking inside, we can take a closer look at an infinity fan. That mirror inside has depth to it, caused by the infinity mirror illusion, and when it is alight with power it looks even cooler! All 3 included fans in this system are fully addressable ARGB fans, and they just fit the aesthetic so well.
Inside the case there's also an included GPU support bracket. This bracket has a top mounting point that will fit the default PCIe card height from the top. The bottom section slides up and down, and secures with a thumbscrew in the basement. (Even though it's a thumbscrew with knurling and everything, we would recommend using a screwdriver to tighten it more, just to be sure.) The top has a little bracket secured by two screws. Loosen these screws to slide it left or right, letting you line up for different card layouts. Or remove them entirely and you can flip the bracket around, letting it go in towards the motherboard to even be more versatile and support shorter cards. That's what we like to see!
Also just to the right of the GPU support bracket you can see mounting points for drive support. Up to 2 HDDs or SSDs are supported on this panel, and the entire panel is removable so that the drives can more easily be accessed, swapped out, and worked on. Again, a very good option for versatility and ease of use. You love to see it!
Coming around the back and we're very happy to see quite a lot of cable management options! The whole back panel is cut out to support rear connect IO, such as on the ASUS B760M-BTF Motherboard. As a rule we don't particularly like the rear connect system, if only because it's ASUS proprietary. We do not like proprietary "standards". First off, it's not a standard at all if only one brand is allowed to use it. Secondly, its more expensive and prone to failures; when more companies get access to a resource, there's more hands and eyes on the problem to find weak points and ferret out solutions. In this case (no pun intended), Asus creates a standard, and then doesn't let anyone else touch it. Then charges significantly more for that standard, and drop support for the more universal, genuinely standard in order to encourage more people to buy the artifically more expensive options instead. But I digress, this is getting off topic for a case review.
Regardless of our opinion on the rear connect standard, again, it's great that the case has options and more versatility. More than the back connect, this case has tie-downs for cable management everywhere! Above, below, to the left and right of the motherboard tray, you'll find mounting points. Even on the thin edges of the motherboard cutout there are mounting points. This makes optimal cable routing and securing a major plus in this case! We're trying something new here and posting a rear photo not with an empty case but with a full build, so that we can show off the cable management options. We intentionally left a few cables loose, as this photo was taken during testing, but it gets the point across well.
Back here we can also see the fan hub. Lian Li used proprietary connectors, using a single connection for PWM and ARGB support. These are all pre-wired into the hub mounted in the back of the case. This hub supports only and exactly 3 fans, plus one additional accessory (in this case, the front light strip going around the front edge of the case) so replacing the fans from this case with anything else will leave a logistical connections mess. This hub is also interesting in that it supports "wireless mode", in which an RF ARGB remote could be used to control the ARGB of the 3 fans connected into it. The bad thing here is that when "wireless mode" is on, which it is straight out of the box, it disables motherboard control of the ARGB. Meaning syncing all the ARGB in the system becomes impossible. Furthermore, because this is a proprietary hub with proprietary connectors and no possibility of any other device using it, it makes itself obsolete. The only time this "wireless mode" would ever be useful would be when there are literally no other ARGB hardware or accessories connected into the system, other than the ones that are built into the case. And even then, it does not come with a wireless remote. A wireless remote must be purchased separately, just to support a very, very uncommon ARGB configuration that the vast majority of users would never have. Overall, it's a bizarre way to do a hub. We wish they would have just left the "wireless mode" option off entirely and defaulted to only being controlled by a motherboard.
Since we've just mentioned the front LED twice now, and mentioned the infinity effect of the front mirror, we thought to make a little .gif to show it off. This brief segment shows the front fans and the front frame doing a "chase" sequence.
A strange touch is that the LED strip in the front panel begins and ends near - but not directly at - the top right corner. Such an odd place. Any pattern you attempt will invariably have an awkward cutoff here. Bottom center would be preferred, but center of any side or directly in a corner would be preferable. In other words, it's just about the worst possible space, aesthetically speaking, to begin and end a LED strip. Bizarre that this is where they put it.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Just strange. Most ARGB patterns or profiles won't care about this quirk, so it's just an observation and not a complaint. Overall, we are heavily in favor of the looks of this case. A minor nitpick doesn't undo that.
This case does support a full 360mm AIO or up to 3 120mm fans. It's just barely too shallow to fit 3 140mm fans, but you may be able to make it work if you don't mind some screws not being screwed in.
It's got great cable routing options for cables going to the motherboard from various different points. The biggest thing is the front angled scoop for airflow. We did testing in this case and in a more traditional case, and did find a small but noticeable difference in temperatures in our test card (a 9060 xt). While that small difference wouldn't translate to any gaming performance differences with our test hardware, it could make a long term impact on the longevity of the factory thermal paste, as well as possibly a small performance difference on any GPU that runs hot. Overall, we're in favor of the way Lian Li designed this.
All of that brings me to the cost. When we picked this up, the first day it was available for sale, the MSRPs was announced as $85 from Lian Li, but it was only available for ~$92. At the time of writing this review, it is on sale (regular price, not limited sale price) for only $84, so it seems like it took them some time to get things sorted out but did get to that target. At the price of $85 or so, this is a good deal on a good case.
The only major issue that we have with this case is the front fan filter solution. Proprietary fan connectors and strange hub are more than cancelled out by the versatility in build options (except ATX motherboads), good airflow, and especially the great looks. Overall, we do really like this case, and would recommend it if you think the style matches what you're looking for!
If you're interested in buying one for yourself or learning more from the official listing, you can read all about the more technical specs or order your own on Amazon here.
Some photos in this review are out of chronological order. You may see a motherboard installed in one photo but missing in the next, for example. This is because we took notes as we built in this case, and we noticed things in different orders. We did our best to organize this review in a cohesive manner that made it easy to follow and transition cleanly from one topic to the next.
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