Fractal Design Pop Air Case Review

Fractal Design is pretty well known for high-end quality and performance PC cases. Sure, they’ve dabbled in a few other products too, but their legacy is certainly their award-winning PC cases. However, if anything, I think they’re also known for taking themselves pretty seriously, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found out their new cases would be a little more… outlandish!

Fractal Design

There’s going to be a fairly large range of colour options with this new one, and a few front panel options too. That’s not uncommon for Fractal Design though, as they often have a fairly modular approach to their designs, offering many different configurations of their products at launch. Promising a large tempered glass window, a colourful interior, lots of airflow and dust filters, pre-installed RGB fans, a PSU shroud, hidden SSD mounts and more, their latest case is ticking all the right boxes. Not that any of those features are particularly innovative, but this case does have a few tricks up its sleeve that should make it stand out from the crowd, so let’s jump in for a closer look!

Features

• Accommodates ATX/mATX/Mini-ITX motherboards
• Wide choice of vividly coloured case cores with matching drive trays and exterior accents including Cyan, Magenta, Green, and Orange variants
• Easy-to-mount tempered glass side panel with a clean interior view (TG versions)
• Two neatly concealed 5.25” bays with storage drawer and magnetic cover
• Comes with two extra-versatile storage trays, each supporting a 3.5″ and a 2.5″ drive simultaneously
• Includes two dedicated SSD mounts behind the motherboard tray
• Alternative dual SSD mounting position on the PSU shroud (additional bracket available separately)
• Supports up to three HDDs and six SSDs without optical drives, or two HDDs and five SSDs with a bay in use
• Comes with three 120 mm Aspect 12/RGB fans and supports two more for a total of up to five
• Holds radiators up to 280 mm in the front, 240 mm in the top or 120 mm in the rear
• The easy-to-clean front mesh acts as a dust filter while maximizing airflow
• Removable mesh top cover and nylon PSU filter
• RGB versions feature a newly developed ARGB controller with front I/O integration and RGB power LED
• Front I/O comes with two 3.0 USB 5 Gb/s ports, mic and headphone jacks
• Optional USB-C upgrade kit (available separately) adds a full-speed USB Type-C front port
• Easy cable management with pre-mounted velcro straps, extra-large pass-through holes, and over a dozen tie-down points
• Bridgeless expansion slots keep add-in card ports and vents unobstructed
• Uniquely styled, hexagonally patterned mesh front

What Fractal Had to Say

“Fractal’s new Pop series cases focus on variety, value, and versatility, offering a wide range of aesthetic variations across multiple form factors with a choice of specialization in airflow or silent operation. Pop Air cases are built with airflow and cooling performance in mind and feature a more open design with mesh front and top panels. Pop Silent variants have a more muted design with closed exterior and sound damped construction, aimed at housing builds for mixed use, productivity and lighter gaming. Both versions come in standard, Mini, and XL sizes with ATX, mATX, and partial E-ATX support respective, and all feature two front 5.25” bays for continued support of front expansion options such as ODDs, card readers, port extensions and hubs. The series also includes a choice of standard and RGB variations, and Pop Air in particular features a unique range of color core choices for even more vibrant stylistic possibilities. All pop cases feature further upgradeability through optional add-on accessories, including additional SSD brackets, combination HDD/SSD drive trays, and a USB Type-C 10Gbps front port.” – Fractal Design