A Closer Look - Inside

To access the interior, detach the captive thumb screws from the frame of the case, which releases each panel. The interior of the Pop Air RGB looks great in the green color. It can safely be assumed that the other color options will be just as bright. Fractal has kept things simple with a classic layout and minimal set of cutouts. However, with them nicely placed around the motherboard, you should be able to build a clean system. With that big slit to the right edge, it will be interesting to see if it adds visual noise to our finished system build. The shroud also has two cutouts for cables to be passed though and a unique-looking vent for your PSU. There is some subtle Fractal branding on the shroud bend itself. On the backside of the motherboard tray, things are rather simple with some thoughtfully placed hooks for cable management.


While some brands would have kept the drive brackets black to save on cost as you won't see them anyway, Fractal painted them the same color as the interior. Thus, the one for two SSDs fits in perfectly, which just adds a bit of joy to the building experience as there is no functional benefit. Two Velcro strips help with cable management, which is nice to see. That said, a third a bit further down would have been quite useful as well.


Towards the front of the chassis is a solid area behind the motherboard tray with two elongated cutouts that act as hooks. You may place one of the 3.5" trays from underneath the shroud here instead, which could be useful if filling one of the 5.25" bays since you won't have to sacrifice any storage capabilities.


Fractal designed an I/O PCB with an ARGB header to which you may connect any lighting elements. As you can see, there is a plastic cap on the USB-C port for you to replace if buying that additional cable for the Pop Air RGB.


In the front, underneath the shroud, are the two 3.5" drive trays, once again in the same color as the interior of the chassis. Fractal actually mounts one on the ceiling of the shroud, and each of these can hold both a 2.5" and 3.5" drive simultaneously, making for a total of six hard drives within the Pop Air RGB. Above that are the two 120 mm fans, where you may also install a radiator of up to 280 mm. There is no cutout in the shroud to accommodate anything bigger as the bottom is used for storage or 5.25" bays.


In the rear, the PSU bay is straightforward, with rubber pads as vibration barriers. Above that are the expansion slots with covers held in place by thumb screws. That third 120 mm fan in the very top is clearly visible.


Looking at the ceiling, you can see that the front third is completely solid. Some may say Fractal could have enabled 360 mm AIOs by extending the vent all the way. While probable, it would have adversely effected out-of-the-box cooling as the solid piece means any air pushed into the chassis from the front is more likely to move across the motherboard before escaping out the top or back of the enclosure.


All the cables within the Fractal Design Pop Air RGB are of the default variety. As there is no reset button or HDD activity LED, you won't find any wiring for those either. A SATA power connector provides juice to the ARGB controller as well as the ARGB LED element inside the power button.