By: Jonathan Kwan
April 29, 2026
Last month, my wife and I did a road trip to Vancouver from where we live in Calgary for fun. One of the things I like to do on a long road trip like this one, covering about 2500km in the span of a week, is to rent a car. After all, the cost of the trip is not just fuel itself, but also maintenance and depreciation. Furthermore, any damage caused to the rental car can either be covered under my credit card insurance or often ignored entirely, such as small rock chips on the windshield or minor dings and dents, which allows me to focus on the trip itself and relax rather than worrying about my car getting damaged. Now, I did not want to be stuck with an economy car, so I paid a little extra -- about $100 for the entire week -- and rented an Audi A3. It was totally worth it, not to mention the Audi was very fuel efficient. It is a mild hybrid with a small 2.0L turbocharged engine, so it used half the amount of gas as the massive V6 Chrysler 300S I got last year. The Audi also took regular rather than premium gas. How, you may ask? Well, the fuel door does say "91 required", but nothing stopped me from putting in 87. That aside, the Audi A3, while being a marketed as a car from a premium brand, is surprisingly economical to use. I easily got all my money back and more in gas savings, not to mention we both had a great experience. In a similar way, Fractal Design has long been a manufacturer of premium chassis like the Define 7, but in the last few years focused on cases with premium features at a surprisingly affordable price like the Pop 2 Air and Epoch. Today, we have yet another model from their Pop 2 series, the Pop 2 Vision Black RGB. It has premium features like 270° tempered glass and four Aspect 12X Reverse RGB fans, all for very reasonable price of MSRP $100. How did they do it? Will we have a good experience, like I did with the Audi? Read on to find out!
Fractal Design sent their Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB mid-tower in a large custom fit brown corrugated cardboard box from the company's offices in The Colony, Texas, USA. The Colony is a city within the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. It made its trip up here to us here in Calgary, Alberta Canada safely via UPS Standard. Everything arrived in excellent condition for our review today.
As you can see in my photo above, Fractal Design's retail box design for the Pop 2 Vision Black RGB comes from the same template as previous models like the Pop 2 Air and Epoch. The environmentally friendly -- or economically friendly, depending on your perspective -- brown corrugated cardboard box has all the contents printed in black ink. On the box, you will find Fractal Design's logo, the line "Pop 2 Vision Computer Case", and a small array of icons along the bottom indicating which side up and the fact it is fragile. The opposite side is the same, while the remaining sides do not contain additional information other than details like the model variant. There is minimal waste in packing material, and the box is easily recyclable, reducing its environmental impact.
Out of the box, you will receive the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB chassis clipped between two large polystyrene brackets. I prefer polyethylene brackets instead, but I digress. The accessories bag is placed inside the chassis. A user guide is also included, which is very well-written with nicely drawn diagrams. I found the user guide to be very informative on the features of the case and how to use it.
Before we move on, let us take a look at the specifications of the Fractal Design Pop 2 Vision Black RGB, as obtained from the reviewer's guide:
Dedicated 3.5" drive mounts: 1
Dedicated 2.5" drive mounts: 3
5.25" drive mounts: -
Expansion slots: 7
Motherboard compatibility: ATX / mATX / Mini-ITX
Reverse motherboard connector support: Yes
Power supply type: ATX
Front interface: 1 x USB Type-A 5 Gbps, 1 x USB Type-C 5 Gbps, 1 x Audio/Mic Combo Jack
Total fan mounts: 8 x 120 mm or 2 x 140 mm + 5 x 120 mm
Front-right fan: 2 x 120 mm (Included)
Top fan: 3 x 120 mm or 2 x 140 mm
Rear fan: 1 x 120 mm
Bottom fan: 2 x 120 mm (Included)
Dust filters: 1 x Top, 1 x Bottom, 1 x Perforated Side Panel
Front radiator: -
Top radiator: Up to 280 / 360 mm
Rear radiator: 1 x 120 mm
Bottom radiator: -
PSU max length: 190 mm
GPU max length: 412 mm
CPU cooler max height: 172 mm
Cable routing space: 93 mm (w/o 2.5"/3.5" bracket installed)
Cable routing grommet: Yes
Hook-and-loop straps: 5 pcs
Tool-less access: Top filter, left side panel, right side panel, front side panel, bottom filter
Thumbscrews: 7 x PCIe blanks
Left side panel: Tempered glass
Front panel: Tempered glass
Right side panel: Steel
Case dimensions (L x W x H): 434 x 297 x 441 mm
Case dimensions w/o feet, protrusions, screws: 431 x 297 x 421 mm
Net weight: 9.7 kg
Chassis type/structure: Dual-chamber chassis
Fans included: 4 x Aspect 12X Reverse RGB BK
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
