Heading into summer and new years resolution territory, BlueAnt launched the Pump X over-ear headphones. Local boys BlueAnt says these are designed and engineered for gymgoers and the everyday user alike.
As luck would have it, that is, luck for the gymrat teenager at my place who was sniffing around for some headphones to use when he can’t find his own. Pump X designed for gymgoers, teenager who is always heading off to the gym, seems a match made in review heaven.
I have also put the Pump X through their paces personally. In this review I rely on Jett’s feedback particularly for the in-situ experiences.
First Impressions
The Pump X has a bold design language. I am sure the teenager would not have picked a black and gold colour scheme if I had asked him first. I didn’t. The other colourways are white and gold or black and silver.
Just on looks the black and gold colourway screams a little of look at me. The unit is all semi-gloss black with plenty of highlights in a brassy gold. On the left earcup is the BlueAnt branding, further up is the word Pump which appears on both sides of the headphones
The extension for the arms are also lined with gold, as is the edge of the earcups where the pads are detachable. Yes you can swap our the pads with cooling ones for workout use, this is included in the package.
On the right earcup is a very bold “X” that is cleverly three buttons for controlling your music – volume control and play/pause. Also on the right earcup is the power button, USB-C charging port and the ANC control.
The earcups are “held on” by a fork arrangement.
There is an Easter egg on the inside of the band says “Never Give Up”.
In Use
Looks aside, how does the Pump X go in a live gym situation?
Setting the scene, my 17 year old is a strapping lad. He is no Arnie but years of gym work has bore fruit. So has lots of visits to the piercing parlour. I stopped counting a while back, he has quite a collection of piercings which will come into play later.
The first observation was made that there was limited adjustments available with the band. By my measure the band travels 25mm on each side which is just 5mm short of my daily driver.
The second observation he made was that whilst the cups do tilt, there is no swivel to them. So movement is in two directions only.
This plays into one of the strengths of the Pump X – with a focus on use during exercise, the fit is very snug, almost to the point of tightness. Jett said that it felt small and tight on his head, and that fit carries naturally to when he wears him around his neck.
And that tight fit also makes it harder to wear with ear piercings. In particular the vertical helix, stacked lobe, lower helix and third lobes were the ones that got in the way the most.
After some heavy usage at the gym, there was definitely a preference for the cooling pads over the standard ones. By all reports they are more comfortable to wear for long durations, and does a decent job of not getting the ears hot in the process. The tight fit means there is never any fear of the headphones dislodging during a workout though.
If you do prefer to interchange the pads depending on the environment, they are a simple twist off, twist on design. It takes seconds to do and you will be ready to rock and roll in no time.
Audio Quality
Jett has always loved his music and is fussy over the sound quality. He is also no stranger to helping me out with reviews and nabbing the audio gear that he fancies.
Overall he reported that the sound quality is very clear. He genre of music revolves around Hip Hop, Emo, Rap Trap, Sigilkore, Alt Metal et al.
If what you need is your music, your thoughts alone while you focus on your workout, the Pump X has you covered. Boasting up to 35 dB of ANC (Active Noise Cancelling), the Pump X easily drowns out the background noise leaving you in a cocoon of your music.
There is also a transparency mode for when you need to hear the outside world. Under real life conditions though, the audio sounds muffled. Not an unexpected outcome given mics are turned on and outside noise is mixed with the music.
The microphone on the Pump X does a pretty decent job on pick up. When the teenager was calling for the UberDad, I thought he was on the phone itself talking to me.
Gripes
There are a few, some are a little more so than others on the scale.
Both Jett and myself found the earcups to be on the small side. This means we are not achieving good passive noise cancellation. For Jett this is made harder with his ear piercings. I would say this does affect some of the sound quality, which is my next point.
We are both in agreement that the bass response leaves something to be desired. It is not absent but you have to search for it. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the fit of the headphone contributes to this issue.
There is an X mode that can be toggled. Neither of us notice any significant difference in the music either way.
Lastly the hard button functionality is limited. You can change the volume, pause your playback. You can’t skip a song though via the headphones themselves.
Also the finish on the buttons looks plasticky and cheap. It detracts from the rest of the unit which is much more premium looking and feel.
Other Features
The Pump X has a IP54 rating, means you are protected from limited dust ingress. More importantly it is protected from water spray from any direction. So splash proof and sweat proof, but critically important in the gym. You won’t be able to take these swimming though.
Battery life is rated for up to 34 hours with ANC on, and 58 hours with ANC off. That is good enough to see you through multiple gym sessions before recharging.
Jett had been using them for a fortnight, a gym session before or after work a few times a week. At the end of that cycle he has just needed to recharge them.
If you are in desperate times though, a ten minutes charge will give up to 4 hours playback with ANC on (6 hours if ANC is off).
For those interested in the nitty gritty, the BlueAnt Pump X sports a pair of 40mm dynamic drivers and four microphones. Bluetooth 5.4 is in play here which is the latest standard.
Lastly the Pump X comes with a rigid carry pouch with a carabiner, you can hook it anywhere.
Conclusions
There is a lot going for the BlueAnt Pump X, keeping in mind the target audience. It looks the goods and fulfils the brief for a gymgoer’s headphone.
Primarily they stay on your head well, and the level of ANC to drown out other noises are, in the words of Jett, does a much better job than the other unnamed branded pair he currently cannot find.
It is a solid device in use, although I do feel some of the audio quality suffered due to less than optimal fit with the pads. Speaking of pads the cooling version is definitely the way to go when working up a sweat.
On the other hand, if stunning studio quality music is your jam during a workout and you can’t live without it, then BlueAnt isn’t looking at you as one of their customers.
The Pump X is available for A$299 nationally at JB HiFi, Harvey Norman, and also direct from the BlueAnt website. There is a $50 discount at time of publish from the direct website.
DRN would like to thank BlueAnt for providing the review unit, and no, I won’t be seeing them again as they are pretty much permanently attached to the teenager.
