Some fans are “too expensive”, others suffer from several technical imperfections. Naturally, these come from being made cheaper, but there is also an attempt to strike a sort of… balance. This, for example, from BeQuiet!, with its Pure Wings models. We compared the latest variants with serial number 3 (Pure Wings 3) in detail with massive competition in 120mm format. And they can be described as the most perfect in history. Undoubtedly.
“Pure Wings” is the relatively lowest-end line of BeQuiet! fans. Although they are not downright cheap models (BeQuiet! doesn’t make those…) and are still significantly more expensive than, for example, the Arctic P12 PST PWM, compared to high-end fans (such as the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM or Phanteks T30), they cost about half as much. Yes, this analysis will belong to the 120mm Pure Wings 3 model codenamed BL105. We’ve already covered the one size larger variant (140mm Pure Wings 3) in our tests.
The blade geometry leans towards a more aggressive curvature of the leading edges, but BeQuiet! does not take it to extremes.
That’s why the blades are characterized by a medium length for a 120 mm fan, and the flexibility could also be described as medium. The material used is PBT and at the tips, the most critical point, the blades are approximately 1.8 mm thick.
Due to the extra small impeller hub and the smaller distance of the blade tips from the fan tunnel (or frame…), the active fan area is quite large. This means that the potential for achieving high airflow per revolution with the Pure Wings 3’s 120mm fans is definitely there. But that’s at a relatively lower static pressure (the specs state a maximum of 1.45 mm H2O), because the spacing between the total of seven blades is quite large. Or, more accurately, they are not small, and a remark on a larger mutual spacing of the blades with a larger “dead” cross-section is in order. Still, high airflow through an obstacle can be achieved, even with this design. Naturally it depends on what the obstacle is, at what noise level, etc. But these are already questions that will be answered by practical tests in different application scenarios.
The model tested (the BL105) Pure Wings 3, then, is in the 120-millimeter format, with its maximum speed specified at 1,600 rpm. BeQuiet! does not disclose the lower limit, but the option to control the speed is there, of course. Either by pulsed (PWM) or linear (DC) voltage. In addition to the black variant we have for tests, there is also a white one with PWM control (BL110), and a black one with a three-pin connector or with DC control only (model BL104). And then, in both colours and with PWM, there are “high-speed” variants (BL106 and BL111), differing not only in speed but also in impeller geometry. We’ll get to them maybe some other time.
One of the reasons the Pure Wings 3 are relatively inexpensive fans lies in the use of cheaper (rifle) bearings. The mean time between failures is listed at “only” 80,000 hours.
The cable is quite long at 50 cm, but otherwise simple – with only one connector (i.e. without the possibility of daisy chaining, for that you will have to use separate adapters – two-way or three-way forks or splitters). The individual cores are next to each other, with insulations glued one to the other. This means that the cable is flat.
