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Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review

Color-Coordinated Cooling

A Closer Look

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 1 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 2 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Fractal uses a nearly all-black box with a full-color picture on the front a few features highlighted on the back. All of the specs are listed on the edges of the box.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 3 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Inside, everything Is cradled in a form-fitting tray and everything is wrapped in plastic to further protect it.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 4 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

After extraction, you end up with the Lumen S28, a fair of 140mm fans, a detailed and actually useful manual, and a baggie of hardware.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 5 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The baggie of hardware includes mounting screws for the fans and/or radiator, block mounting hardware that covers almost every socket out there, extra mounting hardware for Intel’s HEDT platforms, an intel backplate, an AMD bracket, and the RGB cable for the block itself.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 6 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

All models of the Lumen RGB come with Fractal’s own Aspect fans, ours with two of the 140mm version.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 7 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The fans have two cords, 4-pin Power and 3-pin ARGB, both pigtailed for easy daisy-chaining.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 8 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The block on the Lumen RGB is quite literally just a block, no pump included. The faceplate can be removed and reinstalled in 90-degree increments so that it faces the way you want in any build. If you like the satin smoke color you need to do nothing more than install it.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 9 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

If you prefer to release some of those namesake Lumens, you’ll need to connected the included 3-pin RGB cable to the small port on one side.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 10 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The hose connections to the Lumen block swivel easily and can point any direction your build requires.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 11 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Everything is flexible enough you can even run both tubes in one direction and stay lower than the top of the block, great for highly compact builds that have become quite popular.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 12 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Out of the box, Fractal’s Lumen RGB has thermal paste pre-applied. This makes it easy to get up and going quickly for most users without worrying about how much thermal paste you need and how to apply it correctly.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 13 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The radiator is quite compact with small tanks on each end, another boon for SFF build lovers. Something that is out of the usual is the 3-pin fan cable hanging out of the radiator and the square area on one end blocked off.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 14 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

This is actually the pump for the entire cooler and don’t worry, it sits under the hub of the fan where there is almost zero airflow anyway, you aren’t losing any noticeable performance with this area blocked off.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 15 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

There are notches on each side to run the cable through without interfering with your fans or risking pinching it between the rad and case panel you mount it on.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 16 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Non-removable tubes come into the rad centered and to one side. A capped-off fill port sits next to them.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 17 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

The rad itself is a fairly dense 20.5 fins per inch for good cooling performance with higher static pressure fans like the included Aspect series.

Fractal Lumen S28 RGB AiO Liquid Cooler Review 18 140mm, 280 Cooler, 280mm, AIO, ARGB, CPU Cooler, Fractal, Fractal Design, Liquid Cooling, Lumen, Lumen RGB, rgb

Both edges have the Fractal logo embossed in a subtle gloss black over the satin black radiator.

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