Clocking in at $179.99, the Fractal Design North XL is a notable $40 more expensive than the current $139.99 MSRP of the North, which we already considered to be on the expensive side. As such, the same criticism holds true for the North XL. For that premium you get a larger, E-ATX capable case and better cooling capabilities. However, likely the bigger selling point for the price bracket continues to be the aesthetics and unique material mix with the wood strips in the front.

Otherwise, the North XL manages to truly be a bigger variant of the original and, for the most part, manages to offer more thanks to its larger size. Starting at the top, you get radiator support of up to 360 mm or even the ability to install two 180 mm fans. The same trend continues in the front, with space for a 420 mm liquid cooling setup. Furthermore, you get three 140 mm fans out-of-the-box with the XL vs. the two found in the smaller North.

The grommets within the chassis are also well-designed and placed in the right spots, giving you a true E-ATX capable chassis without any compromises in cable routing and management. This is complemented by six Velcro strips, which is also a notable step up from the three found in the case's smaller brother.

However, not everything feels like an improvement, as the Fractal North XL isn't actually as flexible with the 3.5" hard drive setup due to the simpler shroud, which can no longer suspend one of the trays in the ceiling to accommodate builds with thick front liquid cooling as well as long PSUs. On top of that, the plastic of the front panel feels a little bit softer as well, but that could just be due to the larger size. That said, it would have been nice to ensure it was rigid to give the user that extra bit of premium feel to go with the embedded wooden strips.

In the end, the same statement holds true for the North XL as for the North, but with a general sense that it manages to offer more both thanks to size but also due to a few tweaks that Fractal has made. The North XL is functional enough to be really useful, manages to move the needle positively with E-ATX support and improved internal as well as external cable management. While it would be hard to recommend the North XL for classic ATX builds - as there are plenty of alternatives out there feel more rounded for a similar or more affordable price, the case can be recommended for the more targeted E-ATX crowd.