TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review: this laptop cooler sports a bold look – but could be much colder

This chiller ain't killer

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The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad showing RGB lighting and blue lit fans in front of a pink background at a 3/4s angle.
(Image: © Future)

TechRadar Verdict

The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad is a decent option for keeping your laptop from becoming too hot. It’s well built, pleasing to the eye – as long as you’re a fan of the obligatory RGB lighting – and runs quiet. But while cooling is decent, it didn't reach the frosty temperatures of some other budget pads. As such, there are better options available for less, making the TopMate C12 more difficult to recommend.

Pros

  • +

    Robust, ergonomic design

  • +

    Attractive RGB lighting

  • +

    Relatively quiet

Cons

  • -

    Other pads offer better cooling

  • -

    Rests uncomfortable when using slimmer laptops

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TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review

The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad is a mid-range cooling pad for high-performance gaming and creative laptops. Not only does it rock three 110mm fans and three 70mm fans, but it offers six different fan speeds, with the smaller fans capable of hitting 2400rpm. As such, I was expecting to see some seriously frosty cooling here.

Unfortunately, in our standard 3DMark stress test run on our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, I found the TopMate C12 more Chicago than Siberia in terms of chilliness. Our baseline test of the laptop alone saw it rise from 20.2ºC to 52.1ºC, an increase of 31.9ºC, while the TopMate on full fan power curbed its heating from 21.2ºC to 44ºC. While this reduced 22.8ºC temperature rise is a definite improvement, it’s nowhere near as impressive as the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad, for example, which reduced this down to 15.3ºC.

On the plus side, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad runs about as quiet as you could realistically expect. Ten minutes into our stress test, I used a sound level meter to measure the combined noise of the cooling pad and laptop – it registered 58.5dB from three inches away and 45dB from my head height at 21 inches away. That’s bang in line with any of the best laptop cooling pads I’ve tested, and better than the 60dB produced by the uncooled laptop.

Offering eight adjustable heights, you can adjust the angle of your laptop from 6.5 to 50 degrees, which really enabled me to position things at the most ergonomic angle for my height. Chunky flip-up rests keep the laptop firmly in position; however, while these were fine for a bulky gaming laptop, I did find they dug into my wrists when typing on an Ultrabook that these dug into my wrists, so bear this in mind if your laptop is on the slimmer side. In terms of additional flourishes, the RGB lighting is well designed and offers 10 different settings if psychedelic gaming rainbows aren’t your thing.

All in all, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad offers perfectly decent performance and a solid, aesthetically pleasing build. This may convince that it’s as good a choice as any other, but there’s one other factor I’d urge you to consider before making your purchase: its price. At $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77, it costs more than some of the other cooling pads I’ve reviewed while offering marginally weaker performance. If you really want something that delivers great bang for your buck, I’d argue that the $19.99 / £19.99 Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad or $19.99 / £19.93 / AU$47.95 Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad offer a better deal.

A closeup of the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad showing its USB ports and RGB lighting.

(Image credit: Future)

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review: price & availability

  • Released January 19, 2022
  • MSRP of $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77

First launched on January 19, 2022, the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad is now available for $29.99 / £29.77 / AU$49.77. It’s worth keeping your eyes peeled for better prices, though: it has occasionally been reduced to £25.30 / AU$42.30 – while this is a modest drop, it does help it compete better with some of the best cooling pads for value.

But, for the most part, it’s easy to find similarly powerful cooling pads that cost a bit less – both the Tecknet N5 Laptop Cooling Pad and the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad performed better in our benchmarking tests, while also costing less at $19.99 / £19.99 and $19.99 / £19.93 / AU$47.95 respectively.

A closeup of the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad showing its controls and RGB lighting.

(Image credit: Future)

Should I buy the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad?

Buy if if…

You want stable, ergonomic design
Not only is this cooling pad adjustable and comfortable to use, but it’s also rock-solid. Thanks to its flip-up rests, your laptop shouldn’t slip or slide about, even during frantic Counter-Strike matches.

You want competitively quiet running
The TopMate runs as quietly as the best laptop cooling pads we’ve tested. Even at max cooling, it should kick out less noise than your laptop’s fans straining on their own.

Don’t buy it if…

You want the best cooling
Despite the fact it comes packing an array of six fans, some of which top out at 2400rpm, I didn’t find the TopMate capable of as effective cooling as some comparable pads we tested. So if you only care about how many degrees you can shave off, you should probably look elsewhere.

You want a bargain
Don’t get me wrong: this is still an affordable cooling pad, especially compared to the $150 / £125 / AU$150 you'll pay for some products. Nevertheless, this pad is still more expensive than some others we’ve tested, and falls short of their cooling power. So you can definitely get better cooling for your cash.

The TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad showing RGB lighting, featuring the Acer Predator Helios 300.

(Image credit: Future)

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad review: also consider

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad
If you’re after the cheat codes for affordable yet arctic cooling, this is my personal tip. The Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad is reasonably priced, costing just $19.99 / £23.59 / AU$65.66, and yet during tests it kept our laptop from rising any more than 15.3 degrees – that’s a full seven degrees cooler than the TopMate. It’s well worth a look.

How I tested the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

  • Tested it over several days
  • Ran a stress test and measure temperature difference with a thermal camera
  • Measure fan noise 10 minutes into test using a sound level meter

Testing the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad, I ran it through several all of the standardised benchmarks we use for all laptop cooling pads. First, I checked the hottest point of our Acer Predator Helios 300 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 testing laptop, ran a 3DMark stress test for 15 minutes with the cooling pad set to max speed, and then re-checked the temperature.

I also tested how noisy it was with a sound level meter. Ten minutes into the test, I measured sound levels from three inches away, as well as from head height to get the absolute and subjective volumes of the pads fans combined with the gaming laptop’s cooling system. I then compared this to benchmarks of the noise generated during a stress test by the laptop’s fans alone.

I also used the laptop cooling pad while gaming and conducting everyday office tasks to test its overall design, sturdiness and ergonomics. For this, I drew on my 30 years experience as a gamer and laptop user, not to mention my 10 years’ experience covering tech and gadgets.

Josh Russell
Josh Russell
Reviews Editor

Josh is Reviews Editor at TechRadar. With over ten years of experience covering tech both in print and online, he’s served as editor of T3 and net magazines and written about everything from groundbreaking gadgets to innovative Silicon Valley startups. He’s an expert in a wide range of products from Spatial Audio headphones to gaming handhelds. When he’s not putting trailblazing tech through its paces, he can be found making melodic techno or seeking out the perfect cold brew coffee. 

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