(Credit: John Burek)
TAIPEI—At Computex 2024, we visited PC case and cooling maker Hyte for an update on its most iconic product: the Y70 Touch PC case. The Y70 Touch was a sensation upon its launch in 2023, set apart by a unique vertical touch screen that stretched down an angled corner of the front panel. Indeed, Hyte could not source enough of the 4K displays to keep up with demand and the screen-equipped Touch variant went out of stock. The company continued to sell the case simply as the Hyte Y70, with a glass panel in place of the touch screen.
Fast-forward to 2024, and Hyte is relaunching the chassis with the same basic design but a few tweaks to colors and the screen itself. The new version is called the Hyte Y70 Touch Infinite, the last word a tongue-in-cheek reference to the company's pledge that you should be able to buy it for the foreseeable future.
The chassis' overall shape and dimensions are unchanged, so Hyte will be offering the new Infinite touch screen separately as an upgrade kit for the non-screen-equipped Y70. The kit will cost $199.99, though the company plans a $169.99 promotional price for a time for owners who bought a Y70 during the period the Touch version was unavailable.
A Unique Panel That's One-Way 2.5K
The new screen is the key to the case's refreshed availability. While the original was dubbed a 4K panel, this one is a so-called 2.5K, easier to source on Hyte's part and still plenty sharp for the function and space it fills. Of course, it's still no off-the-shelf component, considering how tall and thin it is and that it's a touch screen.
The first-generation Y70 Touch used a panel that was originally designed for laptops, specifically dual-screen Asus Zenbook models that put a second slim horizontal screen between the keyboard and the main display. The new 14.5-inch panel, according to Hyte, offers 25% higher contrast and 17% more overall peak brightness. Its native resolution is 688 by 2,560 pixels. (The 2.5K obviously refers to the vertical dimension.)
The screen combines a 60Hz refresh rate with five-point multi-touch capability. Though the resolution is lower, Hyte notes that the dot pitch is tighter (the pixel density is 183 pixels per inch), and the response time is significantly improved. You won't be playing games on this quirky panel, of course, but you should notice less lag.
As before, you can use the secondary screen as a straight-up second monitor of sorts. But you can also power it using Hyte's Nexus software, which enables custom themes, widgets, and other layout options appropriate for the display's portrait orientation and unique aspect ratio. If you're a current Y70 owner who opts for the upgrade kit, installation should be a cinch. A power-supply SATA connector powers the screen, while a DisplayPort loopback cable takes care of the video signal, and a feeder cable to a USB 2.0 motherboard header handles touch input.
Milk: It Does a Chassis Good
The other big change with the Y70 Touch Infinite (the complete case with preinstalled screen) is its color scheme. Instead of sticking to the original black and white, Hyte has gone all in for whimsy with what it calls a Milky Colors theme. The new Infinites will come in four shades: Blueberry Milk, Strawberry Milk, Taro Milk, and Snow. (Hyte didn't quite commit to the bit with Snow, but it is the color of actual milk.) The case in your choice of color will cost $379.99.
Apart from the touch screen, one of the reasons the chassis is so costly for a PC case is that Hyte includes riser hardware and cabling for mounting your graphics card vertically. Many modern PC chassis offer mounts and slot positions for vertical GPU mounting, but most make the cable a pricey optional accessory. All the hardware comes preinstalled here, with vertical mounting as the default. Hyte even color-coordinates the vertical GPU riser with the "milky" shade of the case. We've never seen color-coordinated GPU risers anywhere else.
To be sure, one might argue that the Y70 Touch Infinite is something of a downgrade over the original, with a lower-resolution screen at the same price. Still, a case that was a victim of its own popularity gets to make its own rules, at least until a competitor comes up with something comparable. We suspect Hyte will have another popular pick on its hands here. We're fans of the Infinite's new mix of colors, especially the unique Taro Milk, and look forward to putting the new chassis through a build as soon as it moves from pre-orders to shipment.