Packaging and Accessories

This is my first Lian Li product review, so I went in without knowing much, including on the unboxing front, which is where the size of the product box made it immediately obvious that a triple-pack of the UNI Fan SL-INF is inside. The design is well executed, adopting multiple colors to good effect, including for a render of the fans lit up on the front along with the company logo, product name, and salient marketing features. These fans are available in black or white, and I have the black set here, which is also confirmed on the box. More listed features are on the back along a handy list of contents and technical specifications, as well as a double flap on the top to keep the contents in place.


Opening the box, we see a bunch of cables along with a thank you card from Lian Li, which also prompts you to follow their social media channels. The cables are unlike anything I've seen, which might well be my inexperience with RGB-focused fans speaking, but Lian Li claims these are updated power module connector cables debuting with these fans. Even the 7-pin flat connector on the other end is going to require a different controller, practically making these proprietary compared to the typical 4-pin PWM and 3/4-pin LED cable seen these days. Underneath, we see an accessory box which holds the expected controller/hub and a few more cables.


There's a splitter cable adapter for the 7-pin connector from before, and we get to more familiar territory with a micro-USB to 9-pin internal USB 2.0 header cable and mini 4-pin to combo 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB LED cable. These no doubt convert the 7-pin connector for more accessible control methods from a motherboard, and as we will see soon, the USB connection is for software control and hardware component monitoring to set up fan curves. The most critical part is the so-called Lian Li UNI Hub, which has been updated specifically for these fans to have four of those 7-pin female connectors in addition to two ARGB SM-type ports that can be used with other compatible Lian Li ARGB devices, such as their Galahad AIO coolers. There are hardware synchronization buttons for these too, and two full-size SATA connectors provide up to 29 W of power to the hub, with one SATA connector sufficient for this triple pack.

Next to these cables are the expected micro-USB and mini 4-pin ports. Those ordering a single fan SKU will get an adapter cable that bypasses the need for this hub controller, but still necessitates multiple connection adapters—this system only makes practical sense if you are fully invested in a Lian Li cooling system and have multiples of their fans. Unfortunately, there isn't much backwards compatibility with most other Lian Li RGB fans aside from those using the quick connect power module system, which leaves a question mark on the longevity of this approach, as there isn't a single universal solution yet and companies continue to update these connector types every few months.


The accessory box is next to the fans, but we are not done yet with Lian Li packing in even more accessories. This time, there are two separate user guides; one focuses on the software experience and the other guides you through the fan and cable connections. There is no mention of the 4-pin PWM cable, and I spotted some typos, too. Lian Li also includes three sets of four metal self-tapping screws to use these as case fans and replacement plastic strips that act as protectors for things we will talk about shortly. Not the best start for an undoubtedly complex system, but we now get to the fans which come individually packed in bubble wrap, with tape securing them for additional protection.