Cooler Master ML280 Mirror AIO CPU Cooler Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML280 Mirror is currently available to purchase for (the mildly bizarre price of) £99.80. Comparatively speaking, this is around £30 less expensive than the vast majority of its similarly specced competition.

While they may offer more extensive ARGB lighting effects for their money, in my opinion the aesthetics offered in the ‘infinity glass’ style pump head more than makes up for any lack to the radiators fans. And, on a more blunt note, put simply not everyone likes RGB!

Overview

While not the best performer we’ve ever seen in terms of CPU temperature control, it hard to deny that for the money this sells for, you’d struggle to find much better in terms of a strong combination of aesthetics and performance. More so, as we noted in the performance aspect of our review, we suspect that with a little tweaking to the fan speeds, better temperatures could be achieved with only minimal compromise to the noise levels.

While the temperature control sees the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML280 Mirror largely sit in the middle of a very competitive pack, one of the biggest stand out features is, as noted above, it’s noise levels. 280mm AIO coolers can often be quite vocal affairs and with this being impressively quiet, it’s genuinely difficult to think of anything to criticize here.

Should I Buy One?

Looking at coolers individually in terms of aesthetics or performance, there are better coolers out there. That could, however, be practically said about anything we’ve ever reviewed. The bottom line, however, is that the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML280 Mirror manages to tick so many of the right boxes to make it a fantastic all-rounder. It performs well, it looks good, it’s surprisingly quiet, and perhaps best of all, it retails for a price significantly lower than the vast majority of its competition.

Put simply, other AIO coolers may do some things better than this. They might be quieter, they might give lower CPU temperatures. In terms of a complete package, however, the MasterLiquid ML280 Mirror is a fantastic proposition that manages to hit the mark on practically all aspects a consumer could want. As such, it’s a design that we would heartily recommend as well worth consideration with some excellent value for money on offer to boot!

Pros

• Excellent value for money
• Strong performance in both CPU and low-noise output
• A unique aesthetic that should appeal to both RGB lovers and haters
• One of the best ‘all-round’ AIO coolers currently available on the market

Cons

• None

Neutral

• The manual could be better in terms of more detailed information
• ARGB fans would’ve taken this to another aesthetic level, but would’ve probably added at least £30 to the price tag. Make of this what you will.