The OASIS LCS

A big part of what makes the XMG NEO 17 stand out from other gaming laptops is the ability to add watercooling to the NEO via XMG's OASIS watercooler. There's a a small simple loop inside the laptop chassis that makes this all possible; however, the OASIS cooler itself is a separate purchase and is not included with every NEO 17, so you can add it on later if that's your choice.


The OASIS cooler is packaged in a rather small box, and inside you'll find the cooler clad in thick closed-cell foam.


The OASIS is wrapped in a cloth bag like the NEO 17 and comes with a few accessories of its own. I'm still not sure what the Allen Key is for except for you to open it up and peer inside. Or maybe clean it. It's probably to clean it. :P


These hoses are fancy, and are self-sealing, so you don't have a flood of water everywhere when you disconnect. There is a a special fitting provided to drain the laptop or the OASIS cooler lines.


The cooler measures in at 190 mm by 170 mm and contains its own power unit, pump, fan, and reservoir.


Each side features large grille openings for airflow, while from the front the OASIS almost seems like a mini PC case.


All the connectivity is on the back of the cooler, with power plugs sitting above the self-sealing water fittings.


Those fittings are magnetic, and the connectors snap into place with ease. I played with this a lot and it actually quite secure. Sitting on my desk, there's a decent bend on the line as the NEO 17 is close to the wall, but there's no issues with it popping off under reasonable amounts of strain. I do also like how the power plugs connect, but the one 45-degree plug bugs me just a wee bit.


So, naturally, I pulled the cover off to see what was inside. It was actually harder to do that than I thought it would be. This cooler is really well-made, and crams a fair bit of stuff inside. it is all packaged nicely though, as you can see above. I really like this new reservoir, with clear level indicators.


Both the fan and the reservoir are lit with LEDs. You can even control them independently, and there are several different modes you can put the lights into for a bit more flair if you like. Personally, I prefer a static single color, but you can mix it up for sure.