Testing

Testing fans is a bit of a difficult one. Checking the credibility of the manufacturers stated noise levels (DB) or airflow rate (CF/M) takes very expensive equipment so we need to find other ways to look at them.

What we tested were several things. I checked out noise levels by ear to see if either fan was uncomfortable to listen to and if so at what RPM. We also left the fans running for a week to check for dust build up on the blades and frame. As a little extra we also looked at the cost of these fans compared to some of our previously reviewed products.

Results

After reaching the end of the 1 week dust build up test I strolled over and unplugged the kettle lead powering the rig. Pulling apart the machine to get to the fans I was surprised to see not a single spec of dust. This may seem like an over reaction, but we have reviewed fans in the past that had a sizeable coating after just one week (Noiseblocker fans especially). We can put this down to the very smooth blades that both fans have although I was a bit surprised that no dust built up on the notches in the FM83; I was sure there would be some there but, nope, I was wrong.

In terms of noise, the FN122 is almost completely silent throughout operation; you can only hear a slight hum from it when placing your ear right next to it. The FM83's noise levels vary on what setting you put the fan controller at. It is comfortably quiet from 0-50% but after that it starts to get quite loud and at 100% there is not way you could use it as an everyday setting; it would drive you insane. Even though you can only comfortably use it at a max of 50% speed, it still moves quite a lot of air at this point; it's quite a powerful little fan.

Cost

Both fans cost about £8 each which isn't entirely unreasonable for near silent fans. They come in around the same price as the Noiseblocker fans we reviewed in the past.