Is fanless laptops not risky to buy?

[Nylanner]

Fanless laptop pros and cons

 

[velo3100]

It depends on what you are going to do with it. If it is going to be used for normal things then its good as you don't have to deal with fan noise. But this does mean that it will be warmer than a fan machine. I have a chromebook and it is very good as it does not need a fan but if I open more than 5 tabs in chrome and start listening to music, I can feel some heat where the cpu is.

 

[KirbysHammer]

If you're just browsing or using word processors it's great. For just about everything else you're going to encounter thermal throttling and with it, lag.

 

[jaguarskx]

I suppose it depends on the specific laptop you are considering. Most fanless laptops use Intel Core M CPUs or the less powerful Intel Pentium, Celeron or Atom CPUs. So you are giving up performance for a fanless design.

However, there is one laptop (actually a 2-in-1 convertible) that has a uses liquid cooling to cool the Core i5-6200u or Core i7-6500u; the Acer Switch Alpha 12 which competes with the Surface Pro 4. The liquid cooling works well enough where there is no thermal throttling. Links below to a video review and written review of the Acer Switch Alpha 12.

https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP404GpoE2Y&t=380s
http/www.mobiletechreview.com/notebooks/Acer-Switch-Alpha-12.htm


Acer has announced the Switch 3 and Switch 5 which replaces the Switch Alpha 12, but they have not been released yet. Both will be using liquid cooling. The Acer Switch 3 will have either a Pentium or Celeron CPU and is expected to start at $400. The Acer Switch 5 will have either the Core i3-7100u. i5-7200u or i7-7500u with an expected starting price of $800.

https/liliputing.com/2017/04/acer-switch-3-apollo-lake-2-1-coming-soon-399.html
https/liliputing.com/2017/04/acer-switch-5-2-1-tablet-coming-june-799.html