Best all-round case Argon Neo £15

The Argon Neo has attractive gunmetal-grey aluminium on its top and sides, with a shiny black plastic bottom. An aluminium plate covers the surface of the Raspberry Pi 4 itself and uses an included thermal pad to bond the CPU and RAM to the metal for passive cooling. There are cut-outs for the GPIO pins and the CSI/DSI ports. You can easily fit a standard-size HAT on the Argon Neo, without the need for an extender or a ribbon cable. There’s even a little nook where you can prop up a Raspberry Pi Camera module.

Best project case Pimoroni Pibow Coupe 4 £10

If your priority is ease of access to the GPIO pins so you can add a HAT, this could be your best choice. The Coupe is not completely sealed on top, so it leaves the GPIO pins unobstructed and provides enough room to run cables to both the camera and display CSI ports. If you like a dash of colour, the rainbow version will brighten up your desk, while different options for various Pi models are available.

Best smart case SmartiPi Touch 2 £24

The SmartiPi Touch 2 enables you to combine the official 7-inch touchscreen (sold separately) with the Camera module and just about any Raspberry Pi board (except the Zero) to create an awesome kioskstyle device. You mount the official touchscreen in the SmartiPi Touch, which provides a space on the back to screw on your Pi and a camera hole as well.

Best advanced case Argon One M.2 £40

A stylish but large piece of kit, which measures 140x93x40mm, the Argon One M.2 looks like a prop from Star Trek and is made with an aluminium top piece and a plastic lower section, where an M.2 SATA hard drive can be installed. The Pi 4 is placed sideways and custom boards break out the ports, control the cooling fan and provide a power button. A magnetic hatch on the top of the case provides access to the GPIO; next to this is a slot that is useful for routing the Pi Camera and official display cables through.

Best active cooling Unistorm dual-fan case £15

This case both passively and actively cools the Pi 4 via a two-part aluminium construction and a pair of 20mm fans, which are powered directly from the 5V and GND pins of the GPIO. This does mean that HAT connectivity is blocked, but individual GPIO pins are available for use. The case offers access to ports, including making connections to the CSI and DSI before closing the case. Fan noise is low, and no louder than a typical laptop fan running at idle.