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

Last updated: Feb 3, 2021

Quick verdict: The Pump Air 2 microbuds have decent audio quality for the price and size, but sacrifice battery life for a small charging case.

Affordable
Extremely lightweight earbuds
Seven different ear tips for exceptional fit
Small charging case can fit in a pocket

Sound quality is decent but not great
Short battery life
No touch volume controls

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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

Close up of BlueAnt Pump 2 wireless microbuds

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

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

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.

Pricing and availability

Price

$169.95

Where to buy

Amazon THE ICONIC BlueAnt Pump Air 2 True Wireless Microbuds

Specifications

Where to buy

Build

Category

In-ear headphones

Colours

Black, Rose Gold, White

Driver Diameter

6mm

Connectivity

Wired/Wireless

True Wireless

Bluetooth

Yes

Bluetooth Version

Bluetooth 5.0

Features

Rechargeable Battery

Yes

Water Resistant

Yes

Battery Life

Up to 4 hours

Battery Charging Time

1 hours

More from shopping and tech

Images: BluAnt

Sarah Brandon

Sarah Brandon is an editor at Finder specialising in technology and reviews. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from New York University and loves learning about why people do what they do. Sarah has researched and written about a wide range of topics, from air purifiers to AirPods. But no matter the subject, her number one priority is figuring out what information our readers need to make the best decisions.

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