Official Kodi Edition Raspberry Pi Case now available with advanced overclock cooling

The Raspberry Pi family of computers are insanely popular. It is not hard to see why; the mini machines are very inexpensive while also being very capable. They can be a great choice for tinkering, plus teaching children to code and make.

For many folks, however, the Raspberry Pi makes a great media center device. By loading something like Kodi (formally XBMC), you can have a rewarding diminutive home theater experience. Today, Kodi partners with FLIRC for an official Raspberry Pi case.

"With the help of a company called FLIRC, we are excited to announce the very first piece of hardware ever offered by Team Kodi: the Kodi Edition Raspberry Pi Case. After looking long and hard for the ideal design for this case, we found it in FLIRC, a tiny company located deep in the heart of Silicon Valley. This beautiful case has an aluminum core sheathed in silver and black. It’s designed from the ground up for your living room with its clean lines and sleek colors, a perfect match for your TV and other media center devices", says Nathan Betzen, Project Manager, Kodi.

Betzen further says, "this case is not only sleek, but also functional. Designed with the Raspberry Pi 3′s superclocked CPU in mind, the aluminum running throughout the Kodi Edition case acts as a passive CPU heat sink, silently and efficiently distributing and expelling the heat. This creative approach allows for the most efficient use of processor and potentially some casual overclocking at the user’s discretion".

What I find particularly intriguing about this case, is that it is not form over function. True, the case is beautiful, but there are many such pretty cases on the market. Using the aluminum body and thermal pad as a heat sink for overclocking is downright genius. Even if you don't overclock, the advanced cooling can potentially extend the life of your device -- on the heat-prone Pi 3 especially.

Besides the Pi 3, it will also work with the Pi 2 and B+. On those two older devices, the LED lights can be seen through the front of the case. Showing that the case was likely designed before the Pi 3 was announced, the lights cannot be seen with the newest Pi, unfortunately. Access to the GPIO pins is possible with all three computers, however.

If you want to buy it, you can get it here. It is only $20, which is quite reasonable for the metal body case. BetaNews has already placed an order, so keep checking back for a review.

Will you buy the Official Kodi Edition Raspberry Pi Case? Tell me in the comments.