Lian Li O11 Air Mini Review

Conclusion

There is a lot to like about the Lian Li O11 Air Mini, as its versatility alone allows it to cater to a large potential market. Its cube-like monolithic design makes the enclosure suitable for airflow-focused gamers and workstation users alike. Need this to be an office PC, turn off your RGB lights, want this to be an RGB-filled rainbow machine, all you’ll need are is some LED strips. 

Versatility is a key strength of the O11 Air Mini, as it offers users the ability to transform this case from a 7-slot ATX enclosure to a 5-slot MATX enclosure. While this option is designed for extensive liquid cooling setups, it transforms the case from an air-cooling optimised chassis to a liquid cooling case with crazy levels of potential. 

With MSRP pricing as low as £99, it’s hard to complain about the pricing of Lian Li’s O11 Air Mini. It is an affordable case that gives its users more options than any case like it on today’s market. While we would have liked to have seen more fans ship with this case, it would only make the case’s price higher. Beyond that, liquid coolers would likely replace all of this enclosure’s fans anyway, making Lian Li’s additional fans purposeless. 

Our only problem with the Lian Li O11 Air Mini is a problem with all compact case designs. You need to think about how you will be using this case and buy the right hardware for the job. If you want to fit a lot of hardware into this chassis, you will need to think about airflow, component clearance, and more. If you are fitting liquid cooling radiators into this case, you will need to consider your options carefully. That said, this case is excellent if you are willing to make the most out of its potential. 

Cooling-wise, this case wasn’t a chart-topper for us. That said, adding a few fans to the bottom of this case will do wonders for airflow, especially for users of high-power graphics cards. For £99/109 for the black/white versions of this case, we cannot fault Lian Li for not shipping this case with more fans. The case offers enough cooling performance for most rigs, but adding more fans to the system will deliver you better results in most cases. 

So what about faults? There aren’t many. The only flaw that we have seen with this case is the fact that cable management for the case’s front fans is poor, but a little thought and effort on your part will quickly rectify this issue, assuming that you even see a few stray cables as a problem. 

Lian Li’s O11 Air Mini is a great case, but it isn’t revolutionary. It’s highly customisable and can meet the needs of a broad userbase. Experienced PC builders should see the amount of potential that this case has, but it will require effort on your part to exploit it fully. For that reason, we are giving this case the OC3D Approved award. For £99/109, this is a cracking case for whoever wants it.  

You can join the discussion on Lian Li’s O11 Air Mini on the OC3D Forums. 

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