The Fractal Design Focus G may share a lot of similarities with the aging Core 2300 series that was released in 2015, which is essentially a lifetime in the hardware industry. You may think this is a bad thing initially, but before you make up your mind, consider the following: Firstly, the Focus G costs much less than the Core 2300 does and also improves on some elements which will be of interest to that budget-conscious target audience. This means the Fractal Focus G is not really comparable to the Core series.

The affordability aside, Fractal Design makes sure the case feels as sturdy as possible, and although the internal look is quite simple, it does work well, which should also make the case interesting for system integrators. Two 120 mm fans in the front are great for a case of this price point, and the spacious, no-frills but functional assembly process really allows you to warm up to the chassis.

However, the biggest issues with this case have also been around in 2015, so it is very unfortunate that Fractal has not addressed these. On one hand, longer ODDs won't fit perfectly as they will collide with the motherboard. This could have simply been fixed by making the front cover slightly deeper, which would not even effect the metal tooling of the chassis. The other element which could have been fixed is the fact that the Focus G still offers a single USB 2.0 and single 3.0 slot. Cost is not a factor here either as offering two USB 3.0 ports means that you have one less cable inside the case, which offsets the additional manufacturing cost.

Luckily, considering the sub US$50 price point, those elements can be forgiven as any first-time builder will certainly love the chassis, especially as it comes in multiple color choices.