Page 4 - Installation and Conclusion
The installation process was extremely straightforward with the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB. For the most part, it was very easy to work with as far as a standard mid-tower is concerned. Out of preference, I installed my Seasonic PRIME TX-1300 ATX 3.0 1300W power supply first, followed by the rest of my components. It does not matter what you install first, since they will all work out just as well in the end. The massive 21cm long PSU had no issues fitting in even with the HDD tray installed, even though Fractal Design specifies a maximum of 18cm.
Executing a good cabling job was also very easy on the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air. As mentioned earlier, there is a gap of 23mm directly behind the motherboard to 35mm in the cable routing area space. The two pre-installed Velcro straps improve the experience, but there are unfortunately not many zip tie anchor points to work with. There are two large openings adjacent to the motherboard on the right, so choose your half. You can also route cables through two openings on the shroud adjacent to your power supply. They are all appropriately placed for routing cables through, whether they are from your power supply or your ARGB LED fans. However, there are no rubber grommets for looks and vibration dampening as a cost-savings measure.
The rest of the installation process came and went smoothly. I installed my sample motherboard with a Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black. I did not install any 2.5" or 3.5" drives, even though the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB supports them. This is because most modern builds only have NVMe SSDs. The three front fans can be daisy chained together, so you will only need to connect one 3-pin voltage to your motherboard and one ARGB connector to the built-in ARGB controller or your motherboard rather than two connectors each.
Installation of most components will require you to keep your screwdriver handy unless you count thumbscrews as tool-free. This includes all add-on cards as well as your disk drives, if you have any you want to install. I do not have much beef against this though, since it is usually much more secure, and it is not like I will take my computer apart occasionally anyway. The Pop 2 Air will give you no surprises.
After plugging in everything, our system configured inside the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB was ready to roll. I hit the oval power button in front, and my computer came to life. You can see how the internal ARGB LED fans look when fired up in my above photo.
On a scale from 0.0 to 10.0 where 0.0 is silent and 10.0 is the loudest, the stock Fractal Design Aspect 12X RGB 120mm fans would come in at 4.0 subjective sound rating at full blast. I measured them at 37 db(A) at 50cm, and they produced an airflow speed of 9.7 km/h, or 6.0 mph, directly at the outlet. I am quite sensitive to perceived sound volume, and as a quiet PC enthusiast, the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB is reasonably good thanks to the fans. The rifle bearing fans have a smooth-running motor with no annoying noise during operation. That said, there is nothing intrinsically quiet about the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air, as the chassis is fully ventilated with no sound dampening elements.
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The Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB I am reviewing today carries an MSRP of only $100. Without even accounting for inflation, the absolute dollar amount of its retail price in 2026 is likely comparable to chassis like the Thermaltake Matrix VX 20 years ago. How did we get here, and is it any good? To start, I like the Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB's full-height cubic-pattern front mesh and side fabric logo tab, which is positively interesting to look at. The large tempered glass panel produces a full inside view with almost no obstructions. Behind the cubic-pattern front mesh are three Fractal Design Aspect 12X RGB fans that can be controlled either by your motherboard or the included integrated RGB LED controller, adding cool details like the ARGB-synchronized power supply button LED. The fans are reasonably quiet and powerful per my measurements. I also like the high quality magnetically attached metal frame dust filter at the top, removable PSU intake dust filter, and lower fan internal air guide. However, there were some notable cost-cutting measures to bring it down to the $100 MSRP price point. The three front Fractal Design Aspect 12X RGB are rifle bearing 3-pin voltage fans rather than fluid dynamic bearing 4-pin PWM fans. No rear fan is included either. There are no rubber grommets, and zip tie anchor points are few and far between. I think most of these are fair compromises, since you can always change your fans later should more funds become available. If you are looking for a good-looking ATX computer case with a large tempered glass panel and ARGB fans at a surprisingly affordable price, the Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB is a quality product as one would expect from Fractal Design to consider for your shopping list.
Fractal Design provided this product to APH Networks for the purposes of evaluation.
APH equal.balance Award | APH Networks Review Focus Summary:
8/10 means Definitely a very good product with drawbacks that are not likely going to matter to the end user.
7/10 means Great product with many advantages and certain insignificant drawbacks, but should be considered before purchasing.
-- Final APH Networks Numeric Rating is 7.2/10
Please note that the APH Networks Numeric Rating system is based off our proprietary guidelines in the Review Focus, and should not be compared to other publications.
The Fractal Design Pop 2 Air Black TG RGB is a quality ATX computer chassis that packs tempered glass and ARGB fans at an affordable price.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
