Introduction

I would like to thank Fractal Design for providing the review sample.

Most of you may not know Fractal Design, but the company has been making a splash with their unique enclosures at a competitive price. The company also sells power supplies, case fans, and a few accessories on top of that.
Not much else to say really, but this is their official vision:

Our vision is to have a constant, healthy growth together with our partners worldwide. Our goal is to be widely recognized for our designed products and to have them available in all major market regions within EU and US. We should be a good alternative to the already established retail brands of today. It's of great importance for us that our partners understand the values of Fractal Design, therefore we are putting great effort into choosing the right partners from the start. We will work actively to maintain sales territories and profitable business for our partners.

We are taking a look at the Define R2 today, which is available in three different colors. Fractal Design sent us the all black variant for review.

Packaging

The package of the Define R2 is quite sturdy and features a full color logo of the company. In front you will find an image of the chassis, while the rear goes into greater detail about the enclosures feature's. The sides do not hold a lot of information, only which color you will find within the package. What is missing is a list of specifications, I would consider that a vital piece of data and the space is there to print it on the box.


Fractal Design secures the Define R2 with foam spacers and a plastic bag. The spacers are rather compact which means you do not want to drop this case, even when it is packed up as doing so may have the result seen below.


Let me jump ahead a bit, as I stumbled across a few issues. First off, the foam spacers do not seem to be thick enough for the dimension and weight of the chassis. While there was no obvious damage to the outer packaging as you can see in the images above, one of the rear upper corners is bent out of shape. The Define R2 was probably dropped on this spot, resulting in the bent metal. The next issue was the sound dampening material, which has come loose. I have no idea where this piece is usually placed, but since the only right location as far as dimension go was the bottom air intake, I placed it there. Turns out, the unit is actually intended to cover the 5.25 inch bays, but since I did not have a manual the first obvious possibility is the one I took for this review.

Contents

I was surprised by a few things included with the chassis. First off, the good stuff: A fan controller to dial down up to three fans. This can be installed in an unused expansion bay on the very bottom. You also receive a pair of Velcro strips to tie cables together. These are much better than normal zip ties or none at all. Now to the less pleasant part: It seems like Fractal Design has a very obscured definition of a "user manual". The one included just has a few paragraphs about the company and holds the specifications of the chassis. No manual, no assembly pictures, no help with how to fill the Define R2. That is by no means a manual in my books. A small bag filled to the rim with black screws rounds up what you will get with the chassis.