be quiet! is a German brand that is active in many areas of PC parts. Coolers, cases, power supplies, but especially fans are part of the range. For a long time, black fans without any lighting were the brand’s flagship. Then in 2021, the time had come: with the be quiet! Light Wings, the range was expanded to include RGB fans in 120 and 140 mm. In the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm review, we take a look at the 140 mm version of the RGB fans and check whether they live up to expectations.
Specifications
| Size | 140 x 140 x 25 mm |
| Max. Speed | 1500 |
| RGB port | Standard ARGB |
| Cable length | 50 cm |
| Airflow | 95.14 m³/h |
| Static pressure | 1.49 mm H2O |
| Noise | 23.3 dB(A) |
| Warranty | 3 years |
| Price | € 28.89 * (single, black) € 61.65 * (set of 3, black) € 72.26 * (set of 3, white) |
Packaging and scope of delivery
- Clear design
- Fans are protected by several layers of cardboard
The packaging of the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm PWM is kept very clean. So the packaging is not plastered with advertising, but on the front there is the product imprint and the item name. On the back are the specifications summarized and also the link to the official manufacturer product page as a QR code. The fan itself is in a “drawer” that provides another layer of protection for safe shipping. Overall, however, the packaging is kept very compact. For example, the cable is tightly bundled and aside from the typical fan screws, nothing is included.
Note to PC hardware packaging enthusiasts: The tab put up quite a bit of resistance when opened, which may well cause damage to the packaging if opened carelessly.
Design and lighting
- Typical fan blade design
- Strongly illuminated frame in the front
- Low illumination in the rear
- No large illuminated area
If not for the milky white stripe, the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm would blend inconspicuously into the fan manufacturer’s lineup. The fans are monochrome and even the fan blades do not glow. Instead, they have the typical wave shape for be quiet! Otherwise, the white-orange logo in the middle of the fan stands out a bit, which may not match every color scheme. The logo can also be found on the back, along with some other text.
The illuminated frame shines forward for the most part. However, if it is not illuminated, the ring can also be seen in the back, but it is much narrower and less luminous there.
Overall, the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm show themselves to not be overly bright in this review. They offer targeted lighting effects, but are only moderately suitable as case lighting. The white version will reflect more light.
Workmanship
- Standard connectors
- Robust frame
- RGB daisy-chaining possible
The be quiet! Light Wings 140mm show themselves to be very solid fans when tested for workmanship. The fan blades are typical of be quiet! in a black wave pattern and are cleanly finished all around. The frame is also solid and torsion-resistant. However, due to the RGB strip in the frame, it is also a bit wider (and thus very torsion resistant!) and thus the fan blades are a bit smaller than some other 140mm fans.
Pleasantly, the RGB cable has a standard ARGB connector, giving the fan great compatibility with RGB controllers and eliminating the need for proprietary devices or special software. Speaking of cables, they are not sheathed, but that makes sense. After all, the narrow design allows the two cables to be routed relatively inconspicuously. The RGB connectors are also available in both male and female versions. This allows you to connect several of the RGB fans in a row without needing multiple headers on the motherboard or controller.
Testing procedures
- Unified test procedures
- Comparison with many other fans
The test as a case fan is conducted in a DeepCool CH510 Mesh Digital, which supports both front and rear 140mm fans. Accordingly, the test is managed with one fan in the front bottom and one in the rear. Three scenarios are tested: Once the test at a unified speed of 800 RPM, once at a unified volume of 31 dB(A) on the border of audibility and once at full power. Comparisons are made with other fans. All other fans are set to a fixed speed in order to not let automatisms influence the results. The processor is an AMD Ryzen 5 3600X with a slight overclock, cooled by a DeepCool AK400 with the fan set to 25%. The graphics card is an MSI GeForce GTX 960 with its fans set to 35%. The heating load is 3DMark Night Raid, which warms up for 10 minutes before measuring the average temperature of the processor and graphics card for one minute.
For the test as a radiator fan, the procedure looks similar in principle. However, an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 280 mm is found in the front of a Fractal Design Pop XL Air here. It cools an overclocked AMD Ryzen 9 5950X. Apart from the two radiator fans, only two case fans are found in the system. Cinebench R23 is used as load and the temperature is measured after a warm-up period of 8 minutes.
Test as case fan
- Very high efficiency as a case fan
- Extremely quiet
Even at a uniform 800 RPM, the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm know how to impress in the test. Not only are they among the quietest fans in the test in this comparison, but they also move a decent amount of air in the process. This makes them a very efficient model. This is also evident when you normalize the volume. For this test, the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm can also be sped up. And thus, they beat almost all other RGB fans except for the Arctic P14 PWM PST ARGB. In the non-RGB range, the regular Arctic F14 and P14 also find themselves just ahead of the Light Wings in terms of performance. Overall, an impressive result.
Of course, if you run the fans at peak performance, the fans that come with a higher overall RPM will pull past. Here, the be quiet! Light Wings stay true to the name and end at the maximum speeds before it gets too loud. For most home computers with automatic fan controls, this is quite desirable.
Tested as a radiator fan
- Very high performance at low noise
- The maximum power is limited in favor of a volume limit
When testing the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm on the radiator, the pure performance result at 800 RPM seems unimpressive at first. Here, the fans land in the midfield. However, when you factor in the volume, the tide turns. The fans remain surprisingly quiet here. This is also evident in the test at a uniform 31 dB(A) – here the be Quiet! Light Wings 140 mm spontaneously hit the top of the list, as all other fans have to spin slower or simply overcome the air resistance less efficiently.
In the RGB range, the Corsair AF140 iCUE RGB Elite follow with glowing fan blades that had performed even stronger at 800 RPM. The ENDORFY Fluctus 140 PWM ARGB are not far behind either. On the radiator, they are thus even more efficient than the be quiet! Silent Wings Pro 4 or the Noctua NF-A14 at low volumes. An impressive result!
On the other hand, the same game shows up at maximum performance as when used as a case fan: The faster fans pull ahead, but the be quiet! Light Wings 140mm remain quite quiet even when tested at maximum performance. And quieter than many even slower and weaker fans at that. Overall, a good result if you don’t want to run the fans above a certain volume anyway. They are rather unsuitable for high-performance use in warm server rooms, but that’s not what they were designed for.
Conclusion
The be quiet! Light Wings 140mm know how to convince in this test and thus also stand out from the relatively somewhat disappointing performance of the 120mm version. They offer a good all-round package: an impressively low noise level comes together here with a decent performance. Especially when used as a case fan, but you don’t have to worry about it as a radiator fan either. And on top of that, there’s an RGB-lit frame and the whole thing comes at a not-so-low, but not outrageous price either. I come away from this review impressed.
be quiet! Light Wings 140mm PWM
Workmanship
Features
Performance
Noise level
92/100
The be quiet! Light Wings 140mm are very robust and quiet RGB fans that show high performance both as case fans and on radiators.
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