Gili Sports 12v Electric Pump Review 2024

Gili Sports 12v Electric SUP Pump: Overview

The GIli Sports 12v Electric SUP Pump is a simple, but effective, electric pump that makes getting ready to paddle easy. The pump does include adapters for other inflatables, however does not include a carrying case, spare parts, or battery.

— Gili Sports 12v Electric Pump Summary Ratings and Review —

Specifications

Features, Usability, and Portability

The Gili Sports 12v electric pump is a bare-bones electric pump system that gets you everything you need to inflate your board. The pump itself has a 2-stage, 120 watt motor that is capable of inflating your iSUP to 20psi. The simplified controls and LCD display are easy and intuitive to use.

Users can select their preferred units (PSI or Bar) with one button, change the preset value up and down with the + and – buttons, and activate/deactivate the pump with the power button. The Gili 12v pump remembers the previous settings, so you don’t have to reset each time you use the pump.

From a portability standpoint, the Gili 12v Pump has a convenient carry handle designed into the shape of the pump, but no cable keeper or bag to keep the hose and adapters with each other. The handle can also make it a little awkward to pack as it adds significant height to the pump body.

Inflation Speed and Sound

To measure the inflation speed for each pump we use the same iSUP regardless of the brand of the pump. We use a medium-sized iSUP (11’ x 32” x 6”) and start with it fully deflated (all air removed) and time how long it takes the pumps to inflate the board to 15psi.

The Gili 12v electric pump was not the slowest pump we tested, but only by a few seconds. When plugged into a constant 12v power source, the Gili 12v pump inflated our test board in 13.75 minutes on average. Depending on the size of your board, this time could be longer or shorter. When plugged into the Gili battery pack, the inflation times did slow down to 15.5 minutes.

Electric iSUP pumps use a two-stage motor in order to inflate the board and bring it to the correct pressure. The first stage is a low-pressure/high volume mode that is quieter, and the second stage is a high-pressure/low volume mode that is louder. We measured the peak volume of the second stage from head height at 80 dB. This is the quietest pump we’ve tested so far. Our test results have ranged between 80-82 dB. While this does not seem like a large range, the difference between the loudest and quietest pumps is roughly a 15% difference in perceived volume. Deflating the board measured 89 dB – or roughly 35% louder perceived volume than the Gili 12v pump. For reference, normal conversation occurs at about 60 dB, and 90 dB is the lower harmful limit for hearing.

Battery

The Gili Sports portable 12v battery pack is easily packable and simple to use. Once you’ve plugged in your pump or other device, press the power button and you are ready to go. The battery pack has a four-LED indicator on the front that shows the remaining battery capacity in roughly 25% increments.

We tested the 4000 mAh battery with the Gili 12v pump to see how many times we could inflate our 11’ x 32” x 6” test board. Unfortunately we were only able to fully inflate the test board to 15 PSI once. The second round we did reach 14 PSI, but the pump turned off for a low-voltage error before we could reach 15 PSI. The number of reliable inflations will depend on the actual size of your board, and the battery should have enough power to inflate at least two boards if they are smaller than our test board. We were able to coax one more pound of pressure from the battery by re-starting the pump when it would cut off, but it took 7 tries to get there. It’s not recommended to do this regularly as repeated full-depletion of lithium-ion batteries does ultimately reduce the capacity and lifespan of the battery itself.

The battery recharges via an included Micro USB (USB type B) cable. Because of the lower voltage of the USB cable, it is a long process to recharge the battery from empty – taking roughly 8 hours.

Warranty and Customer Support

Both the Gili 12v Electric Pump and Gili battery pack are covered by a 1 year warranty and Gili’s 60 day return policy. If you have any questions or need to file a warranty claim, you can reach the team at Gili Sports via email, phone, website form, or social media.

Overall Impressions/Review Summary

The Gili Sports 12v iSUP pump is a bare-bones electric pump that gets the job done and is easy to use. It is the quietest pump that we tested, however it does fall short in several other categories. I do still find myself using the Gili 12v Pump from time to time, but generally reach for faster pumps first.

Gili Sports 12v Electric iSUP Pump FAQ