[section_title title=Conclusion] Conclusion
With the CoolTouch-R far from being Aerocool’s first foray into the fan controller market and being released straight after the excellent offerings from the Dead Silence range, I had high hopes for the CoolTouch-R.
Starting with the design. I still cannot see why the IO panel has been included. Yes, there are going to be people out there who will use it, but those that will not use it are going to far outweigh that. With that issue aside, at solved by the inclusion of the CoolTouch-E, the CoolTouch-R is a very good performer. The touch screen display is easy to use and is pretty accurate with regards to touching the screen. The customisable colours are also nice as it allows the user to adjust the colour scheme to there system build. Those with slightly larger fingers may struggle in to operate the touch screen properly, but then there are other alternatives to touch screens in this part of the market.
The main criticism I have is the lack of refinement from Aerocool. Most of the fan controllers we see on the market today at this price point have the fan headers soldered directly on to the PCB with extentions bundled with them. None of them come with molex adapters and if you were going to use molex powered fans with a fan controller then I would suggest that investment into new fans is needed.
Performance wise the CoolTouch-R cannot be faulted. It allows the fans to be controlled at 5v, 7v and 12v with the option to turn them off altogether which I think is a brilliant piece of design. Aerocool have been pushing hard into the cooling and fan market recently, and with the introduction of the Dead Silence fan series they are now a force to be reakoned with.
The CoolTouch-R was very nearly the perfect product to go with them. With a little more refinement on the PCB and a cleaner aesthetic, maybe the inclusion of six fan channels, it would be a brilliant fan controller. However, because of the faults noted and a slightly high price I can only give the CoolTouch-R our Performance Award. I would like to thank Aerocool for the samples and hope to see more from them in the future.
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
Aerocool have produced a solid fan controller in the CoolTouch-R. The performance is what you would expect, with 5v, 7v and 12v control and the ability to turn the fans off altogether being a particularly nice touch. With no stock in the UK at the moment, it is hard to judge the value. With the figure from Aerocool being quoted at approximately £30, this puts them at an extremely competative end of the market, with the likes of Lamptron and NZXT. As the CoolTouch-R is no where near as refined or polished as the offerings from Lamptron in this range, it gets marked down for design and value.
