Colorful puts liquid cooling under a laptop: 20°C cooler, just 4fps faster

Colorful has moved a laptop’s external liquid-cooling equipment underneath the computer. The Chinese company launched its Starwind S1 dock on November 9, and IT Home published hands-on results on November 12. The appeal is a different desk arrangement: cooling hardware becomes a tray rather than another box alongside the laptop. The compatible machine can leave the dock behind and continue using its internal air cooling.

At launch, Colorful listed a laptop-and-dock bundle from RMB12,198. IT Home puts the dock’s weight at 1.1kg. It attaches to the matching Hidden Star P16 Pro Starwind Edition. A pump circulates liquid through a system that rejects heat through a radiator and fans. This is a paired accessory, not a universal pad that can cool any laptop simply by sitting beneath it.

IT Home’s results separate cooler operation from extra speed. In Zenless Zone Zero, CPU temperature fell from 79°C to 59°C, but average frame rate rose only from 104 to 108. Phantom Blade Zero stayed at 88fps; its 1% Low result slipped from 67 to 64. The comparison also changed performance profiles, so it does not isolate the cooling hardware alone.

The earlier reference point is XMG OASIS. The German brand introduced that external pump, reservoir and radiator assembly on January 5, 2022, connecting its separate enclosure to a laptop with hoses and a quick-release fitting. Its laptop also worked without the accessory. S1 changes placement and connection, rather than inventing liquid-cooled portable computers. Stacking equipment may matter on a crowded desk, but it does not make the complete setup weightless.

Intel explains that thermal throttling reduces processor clock speed when temperature crosses its limit, protecting the chip. Better cooling addresses heat; it does not automatically remove every performance constraint. The practical reading of this comparison is to ask two separate questions: does the machine run cooler, and does the particular game run better? A large temperature drop is not a large frame-rate gain in disguise.

Original sources published: Colorful, November 9, 2026, 14:02:35 Beijing time / 1:02:35 AM EST; IT Home review, November 12, 2026, 13:55:34 Beijing time / 12:55:34 AM EST.