Scythe’s Kaze Flex 120 RGB has a 4-pin header, so lighting controls impact all LEDs, resulting in one color at a time. The lighting looks good, though, with the semi-translucent blades allowing the illuminated hub to dish out color all the way along them. There’s also only 3-pin speed control, rather than 4-pin PWM, but most motherboards can still control 3-pin speed effectively. You get a Molex cable in the box too.
There are several variations available, with our sample hitting a peak speed of 1,800rpm. Its peak noise of 66dBA here was average, with a noticeable whine, but many other fans exhibited the same issue. Airflow was excellent, though, at 2.16m/sec. This puts it just behind the slightly louder Gelid Radiant-D, but comfortably ahead of the Noctua NF-P12 redux – only the be quiet! Silent Wings 4 and Phanteks T30 offered noticeably more airflow.
The Scythe was also the loudest fan on test at 1,000rpm. However, it also offered the best airflow here, meaning its efficiency isn’t bad. Our noise-normalized test saw the Scythe struggle, as it only reached 950rpm before it hit our noise level limit, but it still had far from the worst efficiency on test here.
Thanks to a low price, reasonable efficiency, RGB lighting and decent airflow, the Scythe Kaze Flex 120 RGB is a decent offering, although the Deepcool FC120 is better and cheaper if you need three or more fans.
SCYTHE KAZE FLEX 120 Benchmarks
VERDICT
Decent airflow, lighting and efficiency, but not particularly quiet.
+ Pros + Good airflow + Reasonable efficiency + Low price - Cons - Loud at most speeds - No PWM control - No 3-pin digital RGB lighting