Review: Cougar Challenger

Final Thoughts and Rating

We've seen a couple of success stories in recent years, but traditionally, the chassis marketplace has been a difficult arena for newcomers to step into.

With so many tried, trusted and well-rounded enclosures already available, it's tough for an unknown name to step in and be heard. In an effort to stand out, Cougar has attempted to turn heads with an ostentatious facade that ultimately detracts from an otherwise functional design.

Simple to build into, with good cable management, decent cooling performance and ample room for a high-end build, the Challenger has the basics covered and throws in a few additional niceties, including a hot-swap SATA bay and a resizeable hard-disk cage.

There are glimmers of hope here, but they are merely glimmers and the Challenger is stifled by a garish exterior and a disproportionate UK retail price of £90. Aesthetics, of course, are a personal preference, but there are better chassis out there for this kind of money.

The Good

Decent cooling performance
Removeable/resizable central drive cage
External hot-swap SATA bay

The Bad

Looks are an acquired taste
Side panels are frustrating to align
Inflated UK price tag

HEXUS Rating

Cougar Challenger

HEXUS Where2Buy

The Cougar Challenger chassis is available to purchase from Amazon.

HEXUS Right2Reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.