BluAnt Pump Air 2 True Wireless Microbuds review: Tiny, affordable earbuds

Australian electronic company BlueAnt has released its next generation of true wireless earbuds. The Pump Air 2 microbuds are marketed as some of the world's smallest true wireless earbuds.

While the new model has only a few improvements over the first-generation Pump Air earbuds, the Pump Air 2 still offers a lot of bang for your buck.

Design

• Extremely small earbuds
• Seven different ear tip sizes
• Small carrying case
• Sweatproof

• Read our full review of the BlueAnt Pump Air 2's design

  The Pump Air 2 microbuds claim to be one of the world's smallest earbuds at just four grams each.

  BlueAnt includes a whopping seven different sizes of ear tips in the box to suit a wide range of ears. The ear tips are designed to create a tight, yet comfortable seal. I ended up using the smallest buds, which were smaller and more comfortable than any other earbuds I've tried. They fit snugly to create a seal that's noise-isolating but not noise-cancelling.

  

  The earbuds come with a charging case that looks almost identical to its predecessor. It's lightweight, plastic and small enough to put in a pocket or small purse. The plastic case feels cheaper than some competitor cases, but it slid more easily into the small cross-body bag I carry every day than any other headphones case I've tried.

  The case isn't magnetised, so you have to push it closed. On the plus side, it never opened in my bag, which many other earbud cases have done. It charges through a Micro USB port on the back and a set of magnets holds the earbuds in place.

  

  The Pump Air 2 microbuds are not fully waterproof like some other fitness earphones we've reviewed, but they are sweatproof and designed for activity. They come in three colours: black, white and black rose gold. For the purposes of this review, I was given a pair in white.

Performance

• Fast, automatic pairing
• Connection occasionally cut out
• Adequate noise-isolating audio
• No touch volume controls
• Not good for phone calls

• Read our full review of the BlueAnt Pump Air 2's performance

  The earphones turn on and automatically connect to your paired device as soon as you take them out of the case. They paired quickly and I never had to fiddle around with the connection, unlike with other wireless headphones I've tried. However, the connection did occasionally cut out for a few seconds, usually just in one of the earbuds but sometimes in both.

  One downside was that when I put a single earbud back in the case, I couldn't take that earbud back out and reconnect it. Instead, I'd have to return both earbuds to the case and take them out again. This only took a few seconds, but it was annoying.

  

  The audio is delivered through 6mm drivers that are adequate but not exceptional. The sound doesn't offer many improvements over the first-generation pair, but it's not disappointing for the price. Also, for the small size, the earbuds have a decent amount of bass and the in-ear earbuds create effective noise-isolation.

  The buds work using a single touch button control that lets you play and pause music, but you have to use your phone to control the volume. You can also use Siri or Google Assistant to operate the earphones.

  They don't include a stalk microphone, which made them virtually impossible to use for phone calls. However, this allows them to be smaller than earphones that do include a microphone stalk, like the Apple AirPods.

Battery

• Short battery life
• Quick charge gives one hour of listening
• Little improvement from first-generation Pump Air earbuds

• Read our full review of the BlueAnt Pump Air 2's battery

  The Pump Air 2 microbuds offer four hours of audio at 75% volume. After four hours, you'll have to return them to the charging case. The earbuds fully charge in one hour, or you can charge them for 20 minutes for an hour of listening.

  The case holds multiple charges offering a total of 15 hours of audio, which is less than other new true wireless earbuds. The Pump Air 2 earbuds are great for exercising and short bursts, but not usable for long flights or any time you want to listen for more than four continuous hours.

  The earbuds are supposed to notify you when the battery gets low, but my pair shut off several times without warning when the battery was dead.

Verdict

• Affordable
• Adequate audio
• Seven ear tip sizes offer a superb fit
• Disappointing battery life

The BlueAnt Pump Air 2 microbuds don't offer the best audio available, but at an affordable price they don't disappoint either.

If you have the first-generation pair, there's not enough of an improvement to upgrade. But if you want earbuds that fit well both in your ear and in your pocket, the Pump Air 2 microbuds are a solid option.

After using them for several weeks, they've become my go-to daily headphones. Even though they don't offer the audio quality of high-end earbuds, they are the most comfortable in-ear earbuds I've tried and so lightweight that I forget I'm even wearing them. The small case size is perfect for tucking into a small bag or pocket, but the smaller size does sacrifice some charging power and battery life is a big drawback.

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Images: BluAnt