Introduction

Adding RGB lighting to fans was expected, and then companies decided to add even more. We saw CORSAIR do it with their new iCUE QL RGB fans, and others, including NZXT and Thermaltake, have had versions of such fans with over 20 RGB LEDs in each. Bitspower went a slightly different route by hiding the LEDs outside of ring loops and still having a large number of LEDs in their Njord Dual Fin, so it was expected that the trend would follow. Cooler Master had revamped their cooling solutions a few years ago with fans under the then-new MasterFan series. The original entries were all about performance, and they continue to be sold today. Adding to the product portfolio was the MF120 Halo, which was introduced in other regions earlier and came to the US shortly after CES 2020. We take a look at these fans today, and thanks again to Cooler Master for sending along review samples!


The Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 Halo is already competing with the CORSAIR iCUE QL120 RGB for dumbest product name, especially since the "MF" in "MF120" stands for MasterFan as well, so I will take the liberty of referring to these as the Cooler Master MF120 Halo in this review henceforth. Available as a single fan or as a triple pack with an included RGB controller, I requested a sample of the latter to be able to test multiples of the same fans for statistical accuracy and also see if the bundle made more sense with the controller added in. As seen in the provided marketing image above, each fan has a dual loop of addressable RGB lighting and a hybrid blade design for supposedly a balance of airflow and static pressure. We begin the review with a look at the fan specifications in the table below.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

Cooler Master has adopted the black and purple scheme across the board for their products, with the packaging for the MF120 Halo fans being no different. This triple pack has a more substantial cardboard box than the single fan no doubt, and we see the company and product name along with a large render of the three fans and controller on the front, as well as a note on these RGB fans being compatible with the various mainstream motherboard lighting solutions. On the back and side are marketing features and specs in multiple languages, and two seals and a double flap on the sides help keep the contents inside in place during transit.


Opening the box, we see the included accessories in a separate cardboard box above the fans. These include a user manual with hardly any useful information and a set of four self-tapping metal screws per fan should you want to use these as case fans. For the sake of this review, they will be tested as radiator fans, in which case we will be using the ~30 mm screws provided with the radiator. The triple pack also includes 3-to-1 cable adapters for the LEDs (powered via SATA) and the fan motors that go to a 4-pin PWM header on your motherboard or PWM fan controller. The red input header for the PWM cables will dictate the PWM response to all the fans in series. There are three connector covers for the LED cables and a note about the included RGB controller, which is fairly small and has support for the LED cable as well as an LED reset header from a compatible case.


The fans come individually packed in a cardboard sleeve for further protection and are packaged together snugly inside the box. Not much else to see here, but this is otherwise a better-than-average unboxing experience with the included accessories on par with or even surpassing competing solutions from other brands.