Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Excellent sound quality
- Superb bass
- All-day battery life
Cons
- Heavy
- No speakerphone function
Our Verdict
The Tribit StormBox Blast is an imposing, powerful speaker with a long battery life that should please most consumers, provided that weight isn’t a limiting factor.
Tribit knows how to make a mark on the audio market, with powerful, affordable and durable products. The company wants to prove this once again with the Tribit Stormbox Blast Bluetooth speaker.
Tribit promises customisable stereo sound with great bass, at a reasonable price.
Find out what we thought and whether the brand has delivered on its promise!
Design
- Multitude of multicoloured LEDs
- Heavy
- Robust
The StormBox Blast is both imposing in size and weight, measuring approximately 16.28 x 40.49 x 22.58 cm and weighing almost 5.6 kg. And while it’s mostly compact speakers that are popular these days, this portable speakers in fact takes up a lot of space and seems more suited to home use.
However, while this may be a problem for you, it didn’t spoil our experience.
Made from sturdy black plastic, with good workmanship and materials, it reminds us a little of the quality of rival JBL’s build quality.
On the other hand, its tubular design isn’t exactly discreet, especially with its front panel housing a mesh rope protective grille surrounded by around thirty multicoloured LEDs. Not to mention the fact that behind the grille are two additional LEDs illuminating the speakers.
Mathilde Vicente
They light up and synchronise when music is being played. While this may seem a bit old-fashioned to some, others will find it amusing and welcome at parties.
Made from sturdy black plastic, with well-made materials and finishes, it reminds us a little of the quality of rival JBL’s build quality
On the top, in addition to a wide handle for a good grip that gives it a nice ghetto-blaster look, there are buttons. There are seven of them, each with a specific function: on/off, Bluetooth, volume up/down, turn LEDs on/off, and activate bass. They’re simple to use and don’t require a lot of pressure.
For use outdoors, on the beach, by the pool or in the rain, it’s good that the StormBox Blast speaker is waterproof to IPX7 standard.
Mathilde Vicente
Connectivity and app
- Very stable connection
- Can be used as an external battery
- Intuitive companion app
- 3.5mm port
The StormBox Blast is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3, with a transmission distance of 40m that never failed to be stable during our tests. Unfortunately, it only supports the SBC codec by default and, at over $200/£200/€200, we were hoping to see more with support for the popular AAC and aptX codecs.
On the other hand, thanks to its USB-A port, like the Marshall Middleton and the JBL Charge 5, it can be used as an external battery to recharge your various devices. What’s more, you can also play audio via an aux cable thanks to the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. This works with a phone, tablet, or even vinyl turntable.
Mathilde Vicente
To configure and customise the sound of the Stormbox Blast, we used the Tribit companion app (available on iOS and Android).
The StormBox Blast is Bluetooth 5.3 compatible, with a transmission distance of 40m
It’s easy to use and we navigated through various options such as EQ presets (Music, XBass, Audiobook, Classical, Jazz, Party and Rock), adjusting standby time, launching firmware updates and setting lighting parameters.
However, we missed the ability to control brightness of the LEDs.
Mathilde Vicente
Audio performance and functions
- Great sound quality
- XBass function not that useful
The speaker is equipped with two 1.2in tweeters and two 4.2in woofers which together deliver 90W of power and a frequency range of 50Hz to 20Hz, emphasising quality over quantity.
The loudspeaker unit is located under the speaker’s shell, with two 30W woofers, two 10W tweeters and two passive radiators for a total of 80W of sound.
What’s impressive is the detail and separation of the soundstage, with balanced bass, midrange, and treble, resulting in the clear reproduction of all instruments.
For faithful bass reproduction, we preferred not to activate the XBass function which, during our tests, spoiled the listening experience with distortions when the volume was at its maximum.
In fact, we found tracks stood out quite well on their own with nice depth and didn’t need any extra bass support. The two passive radiators at each end help to improve bass response.
On the other hand, after changing a few settings in Party mode, we enjoyed electronic music more, which sounded very good.
Even the lower sound levels are solid, proving that Tribit has done a good job with the design. With so much power, it shakes the walls and covers even the largest rooms quite well, although the lack of spatial audio support would have been welcome at this price.
While it does the job well indoors, its outdoor capabilities should not be overlooked either, as it makes quite an impression.
Battery life
- 30 hours playback per charge
- Rechargeable via USB-C
In terms of battery life, the Tribit outdoes itself with around 30 hours of listening time before needing to be recharged, which is more than the UE Hyperboom‘s 24 hours. However, the battery life decreases fairly quickly at 50% and higher volumes, but the result is still more than satisfactory and continues to defy all the competition.
This good longevity is down to its 2,200mAh battery and Tribit’s Runstretch technology. Even when the battery gets hammered there’s more than enough for outdoor use without worrying about running out of juice for the day.
The speaker recharges via USB-C cable, which is supplied. My review sample didn’t come with a wall plug, but the back has a slot for one to power the speaker from the mains, and the product listing on Tribit’s website lets you pick a US, UK, or EU plug at purchase.
As for battery life, the Tribit surpasses itself with around 30 hours of listening time before needing to be recharged
Price and availability
The Tribit StormBox Blast costs $269.99/£239.99/€299.99, but at the time of writing you can find it cheaper if you buy it direct from Tribit.
In the US you can buy it direct from Tribit or Amazon, in the UK direct from Tribit or Amazon, and in France from Amazon.
It’s more expensive than some speakers in the same category such as the Soundcore Motion Boom Plus, but that’s because the Tribit offers far more impressive audio performance and battery life (30 hours compared with 20).
If you’d like to compare it to other models, then take a look at our selection of the best Bluetooth speakers.
Verdict
The Tribit StormBox Blast is a Bluetooth speaker that can more than hold its own against the top brands at a decent price. With all its sonic depth, perhaps even a little too much for simple use, it offers a rather explosive listening experience.
It’s very large and heavy, but remains portable. You’ll probably prefer to leave it where it is without moving it too often.
The least we can say is that such a design gives it real solidity, which also enables it to adapt to any environment, especially supported by its IPX7 waterproofing.
Add to that the 3.5mm audio jack and fun LEDs and you’ve got a pricey but performant Bluetooth speaker with outstanding battery life.
Specs
- Bluetooth 5.3
- 40m portability
- XBass technology
- 90W power output
- IPX7 RATING
- 16.28 x 40.49 x 22.58 cm
- 5.6 kg