The New X7 Phenom: A Sign of Things to Come?

When Tippmann releases a new product it sends shockwaves throughout the online paintball community. Info regarding their latest release, the Tippmann X7 Phenom, was published just last wednesday direct from Tippmann themselves. We can’t help to think that this may be a sign of things to come not only from Tippmann but all the other woodsball and scenario paintball gun manufacturers.

Hardcore electro-pneumatic technology has always been commonplace in tournament speedball-style paintball. $1000+ guns with insane 30bps rates of fire have been the ‘norm’ for xball play for some time. Over the years, woodsballer and scenario players have pride themselves on simplier designed mechanical markers.  Preferring paintball guns that offer a military look and feel over the space age technology of highend speedball markers common is other sectors of the sport.

BT Paintball was really the first to bring high-end, speedball type technology into the woods. The BT TM7 borrows most of its guts from the Invert Mini. No external airlines, wicked fast firing all wrapped in a truly tactical shell were concepts never seen before in the woods at weekend recball games. Tippmann seems to be following suit with the release of the X7 Phenom. No longer will woodsball players have to comb the internet looking for milsim style parts for their high-end speedball marker. The two worlds are finally being merged via the production of military style paintball guns with highend, technologically advanced, efficient internals.

The core of the Phenom is Tippmann’s new FlexValve technology. Tippmann abandoned the standard powertube valve design seen in nearly all their paintball guns over the past 10 years when they designed the Phenom. This new design allows the X7 Phenom to operate on a much lower pressure of 300 psi. This means better efficiency and more shots per fill than your typcial high pressure marker. Also the internal design uses a forward moving bolt, not the typical blowback. This means less kick or recoil. That normally will allow you to steady the marker better during higher rates of fire therefore improving accuracy. The electro-pneumatic technology found in the Phenom also allows you to shoot the gun with or without battery power. If your battery is dead you can simply fire in mechanical semi-auto mode. This could be a life-saving feature for anyone playing long games or weekend events where backup supplies like batteries are limited.

Other features of the Tippmann X7 Phenom are obvious. The receiver incorporates a new milled design, no external airlines yield a cleaner look and a shorter front shroud gives the Phenom a tighter feel. The cyclone feed received a revamp as well. Now capable of 20 bps straight out of the box, this updated cyclone feed system should be the ticket for keeping up with the smooth, rapid firing action of the Phenom’s electro-pneumatic engine.

Tippmann kept most of the factory X7 Upgrades compatible with the new X7 Phenom. They didn’t say which upgrades would not work but from the looks of it, the molded magwell on the Phenom may pose a problem for adding older X7 mag kits. We will see if Tippmann produces an adapter or solution for players who need to change that mag kit to achieve the look and feel of a certain style gun.

All in all we’re anxious to get our hands on the new X7 Phenom. We think it is a positive move forward for woodsball technology. Although priced higher than most woodsball markers, the Phenom will likely save you money by limiting the number of aftermarket parts needed for maximum performance. Only time will tell if the changes seen on the Phenom have any affect on the other paintball guns in Tippmann’s lineup or on rest of the paintball industry at large.