Fractal Design Pop Air Case Review
Peter Donnell / 2 years ago
Exterior
It doesn’t take long to notice this case is a lot more vibrant than what we usually see from Fractal Design. A crystal clear side panel window gives way to a vibrant blue interior. There are other colours and variants available, but I’m very much glad I have this version, as it looks awesome!
The little details add up too, with a set of colour-matching inserts on the feet.
Up on the top, there’s a large air intake for mounting 120mm or 140mm fans/radiators. It’s slightly recessed too, and there’s a magnetic dust filter in the box that will sit in there snugly enough, but we’ll see that later.
Some more colour matching here, with a fetching blue strip marking off the front panel I/O. Strangely the Type-C port is blocked off, and Fractal sell the kit for it separately, WTF are you doing Fractal Design? That’s properly stupid, just include the damn port as standard. The power button looks cool though, and there’s a built-in RGB controller button next to that too.
The front panel looks stunning, with a large mesh panel that has a honeycomb-style 3D surface that’s going to provide a huge amount of airflow for those front panel RGB fans. But what’s that little tag for in the bottom right corner?
Pull it, and a magnetic cover pops off the bottom of the case!
Behind that, there’s a little tray where you could hide all your secrets, neat!
It’s a clever use of the space, but if you take that little tray out, you can actually fit a pair of 5.25″ devices down here, and that’s something we don’t see very often these days. Perfect for an optical drive, hot-swap bays and more.
The right side panel is just a solid steel panel, nothing fancy, but it’s neat and tidy.
Around the back, you’ll find a lot of additional ventilation, with a triangle pattern that matches up with a range of other Fractal Design products.
The top fan amount is 120mm and uses elongated screw holes to allow for some height adjustment; great for improving AIO compatibility.
All of the expansion slot covers are ventilated, metal and reusable.
The PSU mount is standard enough and comes with a tight-fitting slide-out dust filter for quick and easy maintenance.