It took over three years, but a fan offering has finally outperformed the excellent Noctua NF-A12x25. It took going to 30 mm fan thickness, but Phanteks has done what no doubt many would not have expected. At first glance, the new T30-120 fan looks impressive, but so did many other such industrial-style fans, including the EK-Meltemi that disappointed. When I first heard of this fan project from Phanteks, I was quite curious since the older PH-F120MP had impressed in terms of low-noise prioritization, even as a radiator fan with decent static pressure. Phanteks correctly recognized that some use cases in PC DIY cooling, such as case filters, can be far more restrictive than the average consumer would think. So there is really no need to build a fan that is tuned only with airflow or static pressure in mind—you will always operate somewhere in between as far as the fan's P-Q curve is concerned.

What surprised me was not the 30 mm thickness, which some may point to as the only way Phanteks could have achieved the results it did. There is certainly some merit to that thought, with the taller blades helping push far more airflow than those on a typical 25 mm thick fan would. This helps the Phanteks T30-120 get stronger and stronger relative to the competition as you spin the fans faster and faster, and the gap to the NF-A12x25 also clearly increases to where credit must also be given to the fan design. Be it the 3-pole, 6-phase motor, Sunon magnetic levitation bearings (don't use voltage control please!), liquid crystal polymer composition for the impeller and frame, impeller design coupled with the stator vanes in the back, or balancing rings on the fan hub, there is enough of a working design here to impress even if the fan were 25 mm thick.

Nay, what surprised and impressed me more was the motor and its tuning. There are three operating modes, which all work beautifully. I am a sucker for a clean RPM response curve with PWM duty cycles, and Phanteks gave me three of those here. Hybrid mode allows for on/off functionality below ~50% PWM duty cycle and gives you a quiet fan even maxed out. The default Performance mode is best-suited for more pressing needs, be it as a radiator fan with multiple radiators or even up against a high-restriction case airflow intake. Then there is Advanced mode, really best-suited for SFF needs or in server racks, but I can also see it in play with the likes of the Black Ice Nemesis GTR that seems to have another match made in heaven now. Just realize that you will likely need to provide your own radiator screws as they need to be ~35 mm long, especially since Phanteks only provides one set that isn't compatible with most radiators on the market today.

These are not cheap fans in both senses of the word, and there is certainly a market that expects RGB lighting at the $30/fan point, too. This is why the CORSAIR fans sell so much, and also why it has so many different fans to cater to different needs. Phanteks has gone the route of making the T30-120 a far more universal fan and would rather you purchase its own Halos aftermarket fan RGB frame if you want some colors outside of grayscale. It won't be an inexpensive endeavor even with the triple pack saving you $5, but such is the nature of the feature set here that I can't help but be impressed by it.