Cooler Master MF120 HALO² Fan Review – Not What I Expected!

Epilogue

Whatever shines or glows, thanks to its ARGB lighting, isn’t as good as it promises, and this looks to be the case for the Cooler Master MF120 HALO², which, although it has top reviews on Amazon, still doesn’t manage to impress me, especially since it gets its b@tt kicked by a fan costing less than half, the Arctic P12 PWM PST which I recently reviewed.

Look at the two photos above and tell me what is wrong. To help you, the cables on the CM fan block take up a considerable space compared to Arctic’s fan, notably blocking airflow and increasing noise output. I wonder how the engineers who designed this fan were okay with that? Couldn’t they install the second cable, for ARGB signal and power, on the fan’s frame and not the center to block the airflow less? Also, the fan’s motor is big, not allowing for larger blades. Lastly, CM states that the protruded edges allow for larger blades, but I don’t see any real advantage compared to the classic design that Arctic’s fan uses. It looks nicer, yes, CM’s fan, but its design doesn’t offer anything in performance; on the other hand, it decreases it. Lastly, the last of the daisy-chain option looks weird in a fan costing 20 dollars, while the 9-dollar Arctic P12 PWM PST has that.

Users are attracted by fancy lighting and tend to forget that fans are for delivering high airflow and/or static pressure without breaking the bank and without breaking. ARGB lighting indeed looks nice, but I would prefer a fan with less attractive ARGB lighting, or not at all, if it performs better, especially if it costs less on any day of the week. Another lesson learned from today’s review is that Amazon’s reviews can be misleading, even in cases where a product has thousands of them and close to a 5-star rating.

I don’t want to be misunderstood. The Cooler Master MF120 HALO² is not a bad product, but at this price range, it doesn’t offer what I expected, and it looks to have a significant design flaw that takes away a performance percentage.

To check all alternative fan offerings, read my Best Cooling Fans article before investing in new cooling solutions. You help me a lot by using my affiliate links, which don’t increase the product’s price. I get a commission from Amazon every time you do it, which can make a difference for me, especially now that I am on my own, working exclusively for my media and not for someone else.