The Outdoor Master Vortex Pro is a portable battery-powered pump perfect for compact SUP users.
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review – Overview
Outdoor Master has been making top-rated electric pumps for nearly a decade, improving on each generation. The new Vortex Pro SUP pump has a fast-inflating pump powered by its own internal battery.
The Vortex Pro seemingly takes the place of the now discontinued Cachalot 2S pump. While the Vortex is slightly larger than its predecessor, it’s also nearly 25% faster when it comes to getting you on the water while still being an extremely compact pump.
— Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review Summary and Ratings —
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump
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Features
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Portability
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Usability
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Inflation Speed
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Battery
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Warranty & Customer Support
Overall Score
The Vortex Pro is compact, quick, and versatile – great for paddlers on the go.
Pros
- Built in battery lets you inflate your board anywhere
Incredibly fast inflation time - 20 PSI maximum pressure and user-selectable pressure cutoff works with any iSUP
- 57.7 Wh battery can fully inflate and deflate two standard paddle boards
- Active cooling fan keeps the pump from overheating
- USB C charging and doubles as a 45W fast-charger for your other devices
- Can also charge and pump on 12V or 15.8V car power
- Included travel case has a zippered pocket for small accessories
- 2 year warranty
Cons
- The Vortex Pro is larger and heavier than the previous Cachalot 2S, but it can still be easily packed into Compact-style SUP bags
- The LCD screen is larger and brighter, but can still be hard to see in full daylight without shading the screen<
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Outdoor Master Vortex Pro – Specifications
Specifications
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 8” |
| Width | 8“ |
| Height | 4“ |
| Weight | 3lb |
| Capacity | |
| Max Pressure | 20 PSI |
| Internal Battery Capacity | 57.7 Wh / 4800 mAh |
| External Battery Capacit | NA mAh |
| Buying Info | |
| List Price: Pump | $140 |
| List Price: Battery | Included |
| Warranty Period | 2 years |
| Returns period | 30 days |
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review – Features, Usability, and Portability
The Outdoor Master Vortex Pro is compact, but fully featured.
The Vortex Pro comes with a storage case.
First off – the Vortex Pro is small for an electric pump, but it is not the smallest. One of the tradeoffs we’ve seen with extremely small pumps is how fast they can inflate a SUP, so it is a balance between overall pump size and efficiency. With that, the Vortex Pro is still small enough to easily fit in any iSUP bag including compact iSUPs.
The front of the pump features the stylized inflation and deflation ports that give the pump a sci-fi vibe. The top of the pump has a very large LCD screen and four control buttons at the base of the screen.
There is a hidden carry handle on the back of the pump.
The backside of the Vortex Pro has some round styling on the case as well as a fold-flat hard plastic handle and two power ports.
The top port is USB-C and can be used to charge the Vortex Pro internal battery, but it can also be used as a battery bank for other electronics like your phone. The USB-C port can supply up to 45W of fast-charging performance.
The bottom port is for the included 12V/15.8V (compatible with EVs) power cord.
Once the pump is charged (or plugged in), simply hold the power button a few seconds to turn the pump on. You’ll see the fan icon as the active-cooling fan kicks on to start, a battery icon, and then two numbers.
The control system is very easy to use.
The first (larger) number is the current pressure in the system. If you plug the pump into an inflated board you’ll see what the pressure is in the board. It will also count up showing the live pressure reading while it is inflating your board.
The smaller number is what pressure you have selected for the pump’s automatic cutoff. You can adjust this pressure setting at any time with the + and — buttons and change from PSI to BAR with the PSI/BAR button.
You can inflate just about anything with the included valve adapters.
Outdoor Master includes 8 different valve adapters that simply screw into the end of the hose. You can inflate most SUPs, IK’s, rafts, pool toys, and more with these adapters.
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review – Inflation Speed and Battery Life
The Vortex Pro has an actively-cooled two-stage pump to inflate your board quickly.
The Vortex Pro Battery will fully inflate 2 iSUPs on a single charge.
The first stage is a rapid-inflation low-pressure/high-flow mode. It takes just over two minutes to fill a standard all-around iSUP (11’ x 32” x 6”) and bring it to 1 PSI.
That’s where the low-flow/high-pressure mode kicks on, bringing your iSUP to the set pressure before automatically shutting off once it reaches your chosen pressure.
When running on its internal battery, the Vortex Pro inflated our test iSUP (11’ x 32” x 6”) to 15 PSI in 9:30 seconds on the first go and 10:06 the second time around.
The Vortex Pro did start to inflate the SUP a third time, but did not have enough power in the battery to take it beyond a few PSI. However, the pump will run when plugged in to either 12V or 15.8V power from your car. Inflation times when plugged into a 12V source are around the same (between 9:30 and 10:00).
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review – Warranty and Customer Support
Outdoor Master offers the longest warranty on an electric pump that we’ve found – 2 years for the pump itself when purchased from Outdoor Master. Additionally, they offer a 30-day return period, and sell replacement hoses and adapters separately if you lose or break them. If you have questions about your Vortex Pro pump, you can reach Outdoor Master via email, phone, website form, or social media.
Outdoor Master Vortex Pro Battery Electric Pump Review – Final Thoughts
The Vortex Pro is a great, small-size pump for up to two iSUPs.
The Outdoor Master Vortex Pro hits a sweet spot of small size, decent inflation times, battery or DC power operation, usability, and cost. While it is not the least-expensive option available from Outdoor Master, when you compare its features and performance the Vortex Pro offers a fantastic value to paddlers looking for a portable pump for up to 2 iSUPs.
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