Teenage Engineering has drawn its fair share of criticism over the years for the price of its products – many fans of the brand have felt priced out of purchasing desirable instruments like the OP-1 Field and OP-XY, and releasing a $1,599 flat-packed desk didn't exactly do the company any favours.
In it defence, though, it should be noted that the Swedish design wizards have released some affordable products. Teenage Engineering's Pocket Operator is surely one of the best-selling pieces of budget music gear in history: the PO-10 launched at $59 a decade ago and the price of all Pocket Operators has remained well under three figures since.
This year, the company is addressing its avaricious reputation with a series of attention-grabbing offers rolled out on a monthly basis under the banner of Flipped Out '25. This kicked off in June with the head-scratching decision to invite customers to pay what they want for the OP-1 Field, choosing a price from a given range that went from reasonable discount to daylight robbery.
Next up in Teenage Engineering's calendar of promotions isn't another discount – it's a giveaway. The company has designed a DIY computer case and is giving a limited amount away for free (excluding shipping) with a limit of one per customer. Named Computer-2, the case is a plastic successor to Computer-1, a build-your-own aluminium PC case released in 2021.
Computer-2 is a small form factor case built to house a mini-ITX motherboard, SFX power supply and dual-slot graphics card up to 180mm. Constructed from a single piece of semi-transparent foldable plastic, it features snap-in hooks and flexible living hinges for convenient, screw-free assembly and disassembly – a novel design indeed.
Why is Teenage Engineering giving Computer-2 away for free? Aside from the obvious explanation (marketing stunt) it seems that the design was something of an experiment: a statement on the company's website says that the project was inspired by the goal of designing "the cheapest computer case in the world".
"Our engineers worked day and night to really push the limits and they went beyond all expectations," the company says. "They engineered it all the way down to a cost of 0. Now, that's Teenage Engineering."
Sadly, it seems as if Computer-2 is already "sold out" in Teenage Engineering's online store, mere hours after launch. However, as we're based in the UK, it's still worth checking to see if stock is available in your location.
