Packaging and Accessories

Given that I waited for the retail units, the least I could do is show off the unboxing experience of the Alphacool Stealth fans. I was sent a multi-pack, which seems to normally contain three units but this time had two for review. Alphacool appears to have gone the subdued route with these fans given the bare cardboard box that has information printed directly on it as opposed to on a fancier banderole. On the front is the brand logo and product name as well as part of a technical drawing of the fan itself. A sticker on the back tells you the exact SKU inside—the fast "Power" version in matte black here—with another drawing to show the three fans inside. More branding is seen all over and you can open the box from the top to find the individual product boxes inside. This means the outer box is merely a container in practice.


The individual product boxes follow the same design language with bare cardboard. In fact, the front is exactly the same although the drawing seems cut off slightly owing to the more rectangular form factor of the box. On the back we again see contact info for Alphacool, various certification labels, the aforementioned SKU sticker, and a render of a single fan this time round. Open the seal on the side to reveal a multi-language user manual (online version here) on top of the fan which comes inside a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine out of the box. The various accessories are neatly placed in a separate, aptly named box to the side. Here we get an Alphacool-branded microfiber cloth which can be handy to keep the glossy finish fans clean, a 50 cm long 4-pin PWM extension cable, and four sets of metal screws in individually labeled plastic ziplock bags. These are handy given the frame of the Apex Stealth isn't flat throughout and thus these screws—shorter than what is usually provided with radiators—are essential to install the fans directly on radiators. You will see the usual suspects covered here—M3, M4, UNC 6-32. There is also a set of mounting nuts to use with the M4 threaded screws for case fan installation.