Okay, okay, let’s get this straight from the start: Of course the fans have cables. So the power supply is not via induction or batteries. But what’s the deal with wireless, which in itself implies wireless operation? What’s new about it? What do you need it for? I will answer all these questions in the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD review. It should be mentioned that these fans are available in many different versions: With display, without display, normal rotation and reversed, black and white. In this test, the LCD version with the display and normal direction of rotation will be scrutinized.
Specifications
| Size | 120 × 124.5 x 28 mm |
| Speed | 350 – 1900 RPM |
| Air pressure | max. 2.4 mm H2O |
| Air flow | max. 50.08 CFM |
| Material | PBT |
| Bearing | FDB (Fluid Dynamic Bearing) |
| Connection | PWM + USB (internal) |
| Power consumption | max. 2.64 W |
| Warranty period | 3 years |
| Price | € 150.99 * (white) € 150.99 * (black) |
Packaging and scope of delivery
- Three-pack with controller
- Fans are also individually wrapped in bubble wrap
- Connection cable and slightly longer fan screws included in the scope of delivery
In the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD test, we have the three-pack with controller. There is also a single fan package, which also includes a receiver cable, but not the controller.
The packaging is black and where the specifications are listed on the back, there are illustrations of the fans on the other sides. As soon as you unfold the box, you first see the accessories – a few cables, housing fan screws and a box containing the controller.
In the controller box you will also find various labels, with a QR code referring you to the online information. On the one hand, this is practical because the data can always be kept up to date there. On the other hand, it’s another step if you just want to have the information to hand.
The fans are individually wrapped in bubble wrap to protect them from scratches or crushed packages. Last but not least, the displays in the center of the fan are covered with a protective film, which should be removed before operation. During installation, however, the film can be left on the displays if necessary, for example to avoid fingerprints.
Design
- The white fans are rather light gray
- Very extensive lighting and a large, round display
- Shiny metallic side panels
In terms of design, the “white” fans tend to be light gray, as was the case with other Uni fans. And there are large metallic-look elements on the sides, as can also be found on other Uni fans.
Similar to the protective film, one fan in the set was an outlier here, with a shiny metallic side panel that looked slightly different. It’s not a massive difference, but it is visible depending on how the light falls.
The Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD has a few special features that affect the control on the one hand and the design on the other. The screens on the fans are particularly prominent and can be used to display a variety of options, from temperatures and speeds to your own (moving) images. Apart from this, the fans are equipped with a large amount of RGB lighting.
A special feature of the new fans is that there is now a cover for the screw holes. Other manufacturers have already brought this into play in some cases, but Lian Li is also going all in here and is not letting the competition take the lead in clean appearance without a fight. The covers are tabs that can be pulled off. The fans can now be screwed in and then the covers are pressed back into place over the screws.
The lighting is located in two zones on the case frame – once around the shiny metallic side panels and once on the front around the screw covers.
Build quality
- Basically solid workmanship
- One spot looks a little rough – on each of the fans
- Slightly out-of-round fan blades
I have always been completely satisfied with the build quality of previous Uni Fans from Lian Li. In the case of the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD, there are a few small flaws that tarnish the otherwise positive picture somewhat. Of course, this is an area that is not usually in view, but there is a small flaw on the side of the screen frame facing the impeller on each of the fans. Seen from the front, this is no longer really noticeable, but in relation to previous Uni Fans, it stands out a little.
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Apart from that, the workmanship makes a good impression. However, the fan blades themselves are somewhat smaller than on the version without the LCD in the middle. This needs a certain size to take on a recognizable format and this takes up a little space for the fan blades. On the positive side, the inner area of the fan blades is the least efficient anyway, but it is to be expected that the performance suffers a little. The distance between the impeller and the frame is within a normal range – the distance is neither impressively small nor noticeably large.
The fans don’t run 100% smoothly either. It’s not really noticeable, but there is a very slight angle.
Daisy chaining
- Up to four fans can be connected in series
- There is no cable extension of the daisy chain connection
- A complete set requires two cables for power – PWM for the fans and internal USB-2 for the LCDs
With the Uni Fans, Lian Li is one of the absolute pioneers in the field of interconnected fans and cable saving. This is of course also the case with the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD in this test. There are no cables on the fans themselves, only contacts on two sides. The fans can therefore be plugged together and a cable for control is connected to the last fan, which also contains the receiver for the wireless control. Or two, as in this case. Wireless? More on that later.
To plug the fans together, there are indentations on one side of the fans and two plugs on the other side, which are used to connect the fans. These clips can also be removed from the last fan by turning them (and put back in the other way round). However, I would only recommend this if they are really in the way, otherwise they can be easily misplaced.
The fans are sold as a pack of three or as a single fan for expansion. A maximum of four fans can always be connected together.
Installation
- The fans are slightly thicker than standard
- Screw holes are deeper to still allow normal radiator fan screws
- To compensate, the housing fan screws are slightly longer
With a thickness of 28 mm, the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD is around 10% thicker than the standard fan format. Therefore, in most cases it will not be possible to use them on an air cooler, whose mounting brackets are usually standardized. This leaves the use on a radiator or as a case fan.
The screw holes in the rubberized corners are slightly offset inwards so that no special, extended screws are required for mounting on a radiator. However, this also makes it possible to use the covers, which can be used to hide the screw holes again in a visually appealing way after installation – and it doesn’t stand out so much if a screw is missing. Thanks to the daisy chain connection of the fans, it’s actually not so bad if you don’t screw the fans into each individual position – they hold each other firmly.
The corners of the fans are heavily rubberized and thus compensate for some vibrations. However, as the fan holes are deeper, the screws included in the scope of delivery for mounting the case are slightly longer so that they can be gripped properly. They are also black, so they stand out visually. And, of course, the screw covers can no longer be fitted on the side of the case.
If you want to use several of these sets, you can benefit from a few new power supply units from Lian Li, which are equipped with several USB 2 ports. Why is that? It’s because of the control.
Control
- Controller can be connected via USB-A or via an internal USB-2 header
- Fans should be connected to a fan connector with full 12 V
- Alternatively, the SATA splitter cable can be used to supply the fans
- If the controller is connected internally, you can tap a PWM signal from the mainboard
Now we come to the real highlight: the control. As we have already seen, the fans have cables. What is wireless is the control. A USB controller is used for this, which can be connected via an internal header or via a USB-A port on the outside of the computer. The cables to the fans therefore only provide a power supply, so that this can also be solved completely via the SATA adapter without having to go via a mainboard header. The fans are controlled wirelessly via the controller.
Why go to all this trouble? What are the advantages of wireless control? For one thing, you don’t have to fiddle with the fan control in the BIOS, but can use the software from Lian Li. In addition, wired controllers are often quickly occupied – so here you can control more components with a wireless controller. The power supply via the SATA adapter means you no longer have to route cables to the front of the mainboard, which results in a cleaner appearance and follows the trend of clean design. In addition, you don’t need many headers on the mainboard.
The LCD version of the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless in this test requires an internal USB connector to control the displays. The version without LCD does not require this second connection. In most cases, you will only need one set with LCDs and can use the other fan slots with the regular version of the SL Wireless.
The controller also has a cable to use the mainboard fan controller. This is a 3-pin cable that can also receive the PWM signal in addition to the power connection. However, this does not measure the speed.
Software: Lian Li L-Connect3
- Basically good operation, but with a few bugs
- Clear control of the individual fan parts
Version 2.0.33 of the L-Connect3 software was used to control the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD at the time of testing. Downloaded, installed – and restarted the computer. Then it started. I opened the program, was informed that there was new firmware for the fans and was redirected to the update page. There you could download the new firmware and click on Update: Failed. I tried this several times and the suggested manual installation also failed. So I continued the test without the firmware upgrade.
So I went to the “L-Wireless Fan Utility” page and briefly established a connection there.
Wait… and switched back to the update page:
Suddenly the update works. Joa, a bit confusing. It’s best if the popup with the update doesn’t appear until it can actually work. Back to L-Wireless Fan Utility: Here you can make all the settings that are then transmitted – wirelessly – to the fans. On the settings page, you can press the LED frame, the fan blades and the LCD for the respective setting. Somewhat confusingly, I was initially only shown two of the three displays. I’m not sure where I pressed everywhere, but I also had to restart the computer before the third display was shown.
Setting options
- Versatile adjustment of the RGB lighting
- Setting the fan speed
- The display can be shown with images, videos or sensors.
From the outside in: The lighting. You can choose between many different modes, from single-color to multi-color. On the far left, you can also choose whether you want to apply the respective mode to the entire fan or only control the LEDs in the outer or inner frame area. For example, you can also illuminate the fans statically, but also with two colors instead of just one. These are really cool settings. With the moving modes, you can also select the direction of movement, as well as the speed and brightness. However, most of them still tend to look too hectic in the corner of my eye, even on very slow. Well, I’m more of a “static color” person.
If you press on the fan blades, you can access the fan speed setting. The fans are set to standard by default, of course, but there is also a quieter profile, a louder one and one at maximum speed. There are also several custom settings so that you can set several of your own fan curves. All in all, a comprehensive and easy-to-understand solution.
Finally, you can press on the LCD and make settings here. Here you can select and crop images, load moving images (GIFs) or MP4 videos. The videos are also trimmed using a movable selection window that shows you which section remains. You then have to “record” the desired sections using the tool and can then transfer them to the display.
What I like best, however, is the display of various sensors, for which you can save on other software. Temperatures? Check. Utilization? Check. Fan speed: Yes, why not?
Screen
- 400 x 400 pixels on 1.6″ are actually sufficient and sharp
- Highly visible IPS display
- A mesh screen is not enough for a clear view, a view through glass is preferable
The displays on the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD have a resolution of 400 x 400 pixels… theoretically at least, because the display is of course round, so that the 400 pixels represent the widest part. With the size of 1.6″ and the distance, even this resolution already looks decent.
The displays are based on IPS technology, which ensures that they are viewing angle stable and therefore remain clear even from steeper angles. Nevertheless, the fans should be positioned so that the front is clearly visible. For pull positions, it is therefore better to use the reversed version of the fans, for example for the side fan inlet on many modern cases. If you’re now wondering what the view of the displays is like if you place them behind a mesh panel: Not so good. The lighting remains very good, but it is very difficult to read.
So these would be fans that can also be placed behind a glass panel without any problems, as long as other fans provide practical ventilation for the case. If the fans then also become pure design components, but aren’t they already?
Performance
- Very small fan blades
- Performance comparable to entry-level fans
- Relatively quiet, but rather weak
First things first: although these fans move air, they are not designed to deliver the best performance, but to offer all the features and still get the job done. Realistically, the performance of most current fans on the market is sufficient for almost all scenarios. That’s why it doesn’t always come down to the last bit of performance if you’re not in the temperature limit (“throttling”), which is often forced by the 13th and 14th generation Intel Core i processors and the X models of the Ryzen 7000 series.
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From a purely visual point of view, it is already clear that the fans cannot offer the best performance. The frame is quite wide in favor of the RGB lighting, which takes away space from the fan blades from the outside. On the other hand, the displays are located in the middle, restricting the fan blades from there. And although the fan blades are not extremely far away from the frame, they do not follow the trend of “as close as possible” LCP fan blades, such as those found on the Uni Fan P28, which perform really well.
All in all, the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD are therefore more comparable in terms of performance to entry-level fans or flatter 15 mm fans. I would therefore not use them as the only fans, because it’s the mass that counts here: the more fans fit into a case, the less the performance of a single fan matters. After all, the Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD doesn’t get too loud.
Conclusion
The Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD proved to be a special fan in the test. The focus here is on a comprehensive feature set: bright RGB lighting, the display, daisy-chaining, screw hole covers, control with the wireless controller – wow. I even understand the high price here, even if I’m not jubilant about it. Only performance records are not broken or even approached. And the workmanship is not quite as outstanding as I was used to from previously tested Uni Fans. But the design is very cool and these fans can definitely be the visual highlight of a modern computer – including live monitoring from a few sensors. The more fans you have in the system, the less the performance of a single fan comes into play – it’s the mass that counts.
Of course, the wireless feature is still just a gimmick that is only worthwhile when operating a really large number of wireless components – for smaller quantities, such as “only” four rows of fans, the connection with a cable-connected controller tends to be the simpler (and actually more cable-saving) solution. However, Lian Li is only just building up its portfolio and there are already a few components that can be controlled via this and there will in all likelihood be even more. So far, the wireless benefit is negligible, but I’m excited to see what’s to come.
In short: Yes, these fans are cool. Whether you invest in this not exactly inexpensive system and accept certain performance compromises for the impressive look is an individual decision.
PRO
- Simple cable management
- Outstanding concept with screens in the fans
- Daisy chaining
- Powerful RGB lighting
- Neatly covered screw holes
- Controller can handle many fans
CONTRA
- Still two cables
- No extension cable for use between the fans
- Design comes at the expense of performance
- High price
Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD
Design
Processing
Assembly
Performance
Price-performance ratio
83/100
The Lian Li Uni Fan SL Wireless LCD are impressive fans with an incredibly large set of features - only the pure performance is less impressive. And you still need cables.
