Tribit StormBox Micro speaker review: A pocket-size Bluetooth speaker with surprisingly big sound

More than the several years Tribit has built some of the greater funds portable Bluetooth headphones and speakers, commencing with its XFree Tune and XSound Go, respectively. The latter speaker is however all over and delivers surprisingly superior seem for less than $thirty. The larger MaxSound As well as ($sixty) offers you much more bass and volume and the StormBox ($fifty two) is Tribit’s much more affordable acquire on such popular speakers as the UE Boom and JBL Flip 5. Now it can be executing a funds edition of Bose’s excellent SoundLink Micro speaker. The more compact product is termed the StormBox Micro and it can be one particular of the greatest-sounding pocket-measurement speakers I’ve heard. It retails for all over $fifty. 

Like

  • Very compact (pocket-friendly)
  • Additional bass and volume than most speakers this smaller
  • Water-proof and dustproof (IP67)
  • Built-in strap
  • Can be connected to another StormBox Micro for stereo manner
  • USB-C charging
  • eight several hours of battery life

Really don’t Like

  • Not as tough as Bose SoundLink Micro
  • Distorts slightly at bigger volumes with sure tracks

Whilst we initially reviewed this product back in Might of 2020, it can be stood the take a look at of time versus merchandise that have appear after in the group. As such, we are awarding it an Editors’ Preference.

Measuring three.87 by three.87 by 1.37 inches (7.three by 7.three by three.5 cm) and weighing 9.9 ounces (280 grams), the StormBox Micro has a slightly more substantial footprint than the Bose, which weighs ten.2 ounces (290 grams). The StormBox Micro is IP67 dustproof and drinking water-resistant, which suggests it can acquire a dunk in shallow drinking water (the Bose is IPX7, which suggests it has not been tested against dust). Its battery life is rated at up to eight several hours at reasonable volume stages, versus six several hours for the Bose. It has USB-C charging and it can also be employed as a speakerphone.

Go through much moreVery best Bluetooth speakers of 2020

The speaker with an Iphone eleven. It also will work with Android telephones just great.


David Carnoy/CNET

Like the Bose SoundLink Micro, the Tribit StormBox Micro has an integrated rubber strap that lets you to clip the speaker to anything from a backpack to poles, tree branches, your bike’s handlebars or a belt loop on your pants. With its material masking, the speaker will not seem to be as tough as the Bose, but it looks sturdily adequate developed. It need to suit in most pockets as prolonged as you usually are not wearing tight jeans.

Apart from its great layout, the SoundLink Micro stood out because it was in a position to provide much more bass than every speaker in its measurement course (and it also managed to have confined distortion at bigger volumes). And it can be the StormBox Micro’s bass and total volume level for its very small measurement that allow for it to stand out. For illustration, it can be plainly remarkable to the JBL Clip three, which costs all over $fifty but is slightly more compact.

The StormBox Micro does have its restrictions and distorts slightly with sure tracks when you acquire it to max volume. But the point is it sounds a lot fuller than you would assume from a speaker this measurement. You can also wirelessly pair up two of these small fellas in get together manner for expanded seem. Once connected in get together manner — it can be an easy course of action — you can then swap to stereo manner with one particular speaker serving as the left speaker and the other as the correct.

I fired up a Spotify playlist of tunes with loads of stereo separation (the aged standbys are Pink Floyd’s Income, the Beatles’ Listed here Will come the Solar and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody). The speakers are basically utilizing the same technologies as accurate wi-fi earbuds, and stereo seem certainly sounds greater than the mono seem you normally get from these small speakers. 

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The integrated strap will come in handy.


David Carnoy/CNET

There is just not a lot else to say about the StormBox Micro, other than that it can be settled in to a greater value point. When we very first reviewed it, it marketed for all over $sixty. But toward the conclude of 2020, it can be outlined at $fifty, and nearly usually on sale for nearer to $40. That’s a great value for a incredibly superior small wi-fi speaker.