The Enermax Aeolus N14 was first debut back at Computex 2009. Finally it has reached the consumer market and we will find out if the wait was worth it. Fitting right in with the rest of the Aeolus lineup, the N14 is one of the ‘sexiest’ coolers on the market.

It is the latest cooler to join the growing netbook cooler battle and it comes fully loaded: it packs a 140mm fan with four blue LEDs and is composed of plastic and aluminum.

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Specifications

Enermax Aeolus N14 CP002 Netbook Cooler

Dimensions: 8.66 x 10.63 x 1.77 inches (D x W x H)

Weight: 1.1 lbs

Material(s): Plastic and Metal

Noise: N/A

Input Voltage: 5V / 500mA

Color(s): Black/Silver/ 4 x Blue LED

Supported Sizes: Up to 33.78 cm /13.3″ Notebooks, Netbooks & Tablets

Fan

Fan Quantity: 1

Individual Fan Size: 140mm

Bearing Type: N/A

RPM: 1850 rpm ±10%

Price: $30

A Closer Look

Like any box should, the Enermax N14’s box displays various images of the product and lists all the necessary specifications. Inside, the cooler is held between two styrofoam forms like a notebook. Along with the cooler there is a pair of extra grips and a USB to USB cable included.

Right out of the package, it was clear that Enermax put a lot of thought in to the development of the design. The frame of the cooler consists of plastic with various finishing’s placed strategically. The front of the cooler has a brushed metal plate for aesthetic appeal while the cooling surface combines a honey comb grill enclosed by matte plastic and glossy groves. The rear of the cooler comes back towards the front like a Z and is the only part of the cooler that is fully glossed. Since it is the back, fingerprints are no problem because it is very unlikely anyone will be looking at it for too long.

The overall design of the cooler makes it one of the best-looking and best-designed coolers from an aesthetic standpoint. Its design matches nearly any environment from the office to the gamers lounge. Accenting the overall design are the four LED bulbs integrated into the fan giving off an ideal blue glow. The light only seeps out of the front and sides enough to notice but not enough to become a distraction or nuisance.

Than angle at which the cooler is skewed at is perfect for smaller notebooks. As many netbooks have keyboards that are roughly 90% to 97% smaller than the average notebook keyboard a larger angle could hamper typing comfort and ability. Also in regard to practicality only positive things can be said. The lip on the front of the cooler which is designed to help hold the notebook/ netbook onto the cooler is significantly lower than most coolers leaving any ports in the front easily accessible. Moreover, rather than just putting in one USB port to power the cooler, they put two. This is beneficial for the majority of users as the number of “required” peripherals has increased while many notebooks and netbooks only have 3 ports. There is no power button though we believe it is unnecessary as the cooler is so silent that the only way to tell if it is running or not is to put your ear within an inch of it or look for the blue LED lights. And if it is really necessary to turn the cooler of, it can be easily unplugged from the notebook/ netbook. As mentioned previously, there are two extra grips provided to increase grip on the top of the N14, though there are a total of 5 grips on the base which keep the cooler in place on the desk and prevents any scratching.

The build of the cooler is solid to say the least. There are no “loose ends” and all the cables are tucked away nicely. On the underside the fan is protected by a fan guard that is easily removable in case the fan needs to be cleaned. Everything is held together firmly and holds its shape like it should.

It would have been nice to see the overall size of the cooler expanded by an inch or so. Its size fits a 10.2” netbook comfortably, though 11 and 12” netbooks would have some overhang.

From a cooler perspective Enermax carried over the single fan concept from the CP001. The Aeolus N14 uses a single 140mm fan in the center of the cooler that draws air from directly below then pushes up to the notebook.  The amount of air moved decent and cool.  Even though the fan is concentrated on the center area of the grille, the entire metal surface remained cold to the touch. Moreover it is one of the quietist notebook coolers to surface on our review bench. If you take the sound of your quietist breath and reduce its volume by 20% or more then you have reached the silence of the N14.

Performance

As usual we ran four separate tests to benchmark the performance of the Enermax Aeolus N14.  The cooler performed very well considering that the test netbook only had two narrow stripes of air intake and proved its cooling ability.

Conclusion

The Enermax Aeolus N14 is a delight of a netbook/notebook cooler. Its design is practical and pleasing while it matches nearly any netbook from the classy Asus N10 to the powerful gaming Alienware M11x. It was clear to us that Enermax put a good amount of effort in designing this cooler and that made it hard for us to find any flaws.  The only improvement we could come up with was expanding the surface by an inch.  In the end there were no corners cut on the cooler as build quality was great and has a long list of positive things going for it.