// PC GAMER — GAMING
Pulsar Feinmann F01 Noctua Edition review
Very unique and very expensive, the F01 Noctua edition is surprisingly fine-tuned and smartly engineered. It is crammed with competitive-level specs (though a tad heavy), and it's comfortable too. But you can get bona fide gaming beasts for less money, and if you use the mouse's features, you will be left charging it far more than you'd likely want to.
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Would you believe me if I told you the Pulsar Feinmann F01 Noctua Edition is actually the second gaming mouse with a fan I've tried? Back in 2021, I had the unique experience of getting my clammy mitts on the Marsback Zephyr Pro, and I was… a fan.
But I can comfortably say that Pulsar's Feinmann F01 Noctua Edition is the most luxurious gaming mouse with a fan I've tried—a prestigious award, I know. It's loaded with great specs, like a Pulsar XS-2 sensor with up to 42,000 DPI and up to an 8,000 Hz polling rate. As such, it's not just a gaming mouse with a fan; it's a full-on competitive device.
I suspect the most 'love it or hate it' aspect of Pulsar and Noctua's Frankenstein gaming mouse won't actually have anything to do with the aforementioned fan but will instead be its honeycomb shell. In order for the fan to actually blow cold air on your palm, it needs room to do so, and the spaces in the shell are plenty. They also come with the added benefit of taking some weight off, which is needed because the F01 Noctua Edition is pretty heavy at 73 g.
8-20 hours (depending on polling rate and fan speed)
✅ Your hands get sweaty while gaming: The fan is a joy to use, and fine-tuned for fast movements, making it a boon for a sweaty gamer.
❌ You won't use the fan: Though it's still a solid gaming mouse without the fan, it is expensive, and you are adding to the weight for that airflow.
Then again, Pulsar's fanless Feinmann F01 has all the same holes (though at almost 30 g lighter), so maybe Pulsar just likes the 'this thing took a couple of bullets, but it still works' look. I personally think Noctua's iconic beige and brown colour scheme makes the mouse look pretty decent despite all the gaps, but a trypophobe (warning, don't click on that link if you have trypophobia) may want to look for something a bit less holey.
Despite the holes, the F01 is no slouch in durability. I have intentionally tried to place pressure on the thinnest parts of its carbon composite shell, and it barely flexes. The same is true of the sides of the mouse, which hold in place despite me squeezing far harder than one would traditionally with a gaming mouse. Noctua made a series of "custom-built torture-test rigs" for testing the fan in the mouse, and I'm happy to say that despite my flailing around, it too holds up incredibly well.