At $180, the Fractal Design Terra is certainly in that price segment of boutique SFF enclosures. And while it comes from a larger brand, the design and material mix of the Terra is just as boutique as any of the more specialized smaller brands out there. The one thing that should be really clear though is the fact that the Fractal Design Terra is not meant to squeeze every ounce of potential performance into a small chassis, and that is perfectly fine!

With the Terra you get a really compact chassis that still manages to offer lots of flexibility, whether you are going for a compact GPU in combination with a 120 mm AIO for a balance between the best possible cooling and mainstream graphics or want to opt for air cooling but go for a higher-end GPU that fits within the case. Due to its size, you won't be able to go for a highest-end CPU as you won't have the space to cool it. The same goes for the biggest GPUs as they simply won't fit. That means that the Fractal Design Terra feels perfectly at home in the performance mainstream. Which, in other words, also tends to be the mass market.

One thing is clear with the Terra: it is a statement piece. Fractal Design has always billed itself as a design focused brand in the industry but also focused on mass market products with classic enclosures, AIOs, fans and PSUs quite a bit in recent years. After some attempts at ITX in the past that did not get positive traction, it is clear that Fractal Design is a lot more deliberate with their designs around the restrictive ITX format instead of trying to force ITX unto existing product lines.

Thanks to the careful design in combination with a focus on detailed engineering of the Fractal Design Terra, the case deserves our Highly Recommended along with the Innovative award. The only reason it doesn't manage to get the Editor's choice is due to the somewhat restrictive nature of component choice in combination with the case thermals - two areas other SFF cases manage to provide better baselines.