The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 ($59) is a fantastic improvement over the original Stormbox Micro ($49), offering a a convenient way to listen to your favorite tracks on-the-go with a detail of audio you would expect from a much larger speaker.
It’s exceptionally good value for your money at just $59, and will last you a long time thanks to its durable, waterproof case. The Stormbox Micro 2 is cheaper than its closest competition, the JBL Clip 5 ($79) and arguably more versatile thanks to a strap (versus the Clip 5’s carabiner) for attaching to bags, belts or bicycle handlebars securely.
The main drawback to the Stormbox Micro 2 is the lack of power — the volume and bass is weaker than that of other excellent budget speakers. However, while it underperformed in certain genres, it happily handled tracks that would usually demand a larger speaker, and champions audio fidelity over raw power.
The Stormbox Micro 2 is one of the best budget bluetooth speakers available, especially if you’re looking for your next travel speaker. It is more than worthy as a successor to the Stormbox Micro and should be high up on your list.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Specs
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A miniature speaker that doesn't compromise on quality
- Who is it for? Anyone looking for a speaker with dazzling clarity for their next trip suited for the outdoors as much as it is for personal listening
- What does it cost? The MSRP is $79, but the Stormbox Micro 2 can be yours for just $59 on the manufacturer's website and on Amazon
- What do we like? It’s as durable as it is portable, without sacrificing sound quality
- What don’t we like? The bass is quite weak, and speaker isn't the best in louder environments
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Price & availability
While the MSRP is $79 at Amazon, at the time of writing, the Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 is on sale for $59 from Tribit’s website. In the UK, this speaker can be yours for just £52. This places the speaker slightly more expensive than some quality speakers like the Anker Soundcore 3 ($51), but cheaper than the main rival, the JBL Clip 5 ($79).
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Design
The Stormbox Micro 2 features a rounded speaker pointing upwards from the resting position on its short, rubberized back legs. On top of the speaker are two volume control buttons, with a center button that can be used as a play and pause button, as well as a quick way to activate Siri via a long press. I’m personally not a fan of the Tribit branding emblazoned across the front of the speaker, though — it ruins an otherwise very sleek visual design.
On the opposite side from the speaker, you can find the standout feature of the speaker, a rubber strap that lets you securely hook the speaker to anything you can think of. The strap is held in by a small piece of plastic, but was reliable enough that I never feared for it coming loose — it more than makes up for the lack of a handle.
The only drawback is that the strap can be hard to re-hook to the attachment point, requiring you to pull and stretch the rubber a fair amount.
The powerful sound is poorly contained by the small size of the Stormbox Micro 2, with the nearly-square 4.1 x 3.9 inch case shaking quite a lot when listening to most songs, even at a moderate volume.
This fortunately didn’t disturb the sound quality or unclip the speaker, but it was enough to shake my desk considerably. The JBL Go 4 ($49) is capable of a higher volume than the Micro 2, but didn’t shake anywhere near as violently as the Tribit.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Sound quality
The Stormbox Micro 2 offers incredible sound quality for the price, with a fantastic level of detail. I found the noisier the song, the better it sounded — songs like “Census Designated” by Jane Remover was a rich listening experience thanks to the level of detail from the vocals to the noisy instrumental.
Many speakers I test struggle with intentionally lo-fi audio, such as the noise rock of Weatherday’s “Come In”, but the Stormbox Micro 2 performed impressively well, with the little speaker giving an all-encompassing performance of the ‘wall of sound’ and heavy distortion.
Unlike some other cheap speakers, the bass was not overpowering — although sometimes this went too far. I was able to hear a vivid level of depth on “Prada” by Arca, yet both the reggaeton treble and bass lacked a kick. The song felt fully fleshed out, but the lack of power left me wanting more.
The same can be said for the way the speaker performed Charli xcx’s “club classics”: the usually-booming bass was not so punchy, and it felt ill-equipped to handle the low-end synths on “Sympathy is a knife”. If bass is a priority, I would recommend opting for the powerful Tribit XSound Plus ($69) — as long as you can sacrifice some portability.
With this being said, in my testing I found that it was able to handle some background noise in outdoor environments. The sound remained clear despite the noisy wind or rain of the infamous British summertime weather. The higher noise level of a busy road was a little too much for the Stormbox Micro 2, though, and even inside my house I found myself having to turn up the speaker to about 60% to get a listenable volume across my room.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Durability
Boasting an IP67 rating, the Stormbox Micro 2 is one of the cheaper high-durability speakers on the market. It can survive a plunge of 3 feet for up to 30 minutes, so rain or drops in a shallow pool will pose no issues whatsoever.
The plastic elements of the Micro 2’s body are rubberized, while the grille is made out of a tightly woven polyester fabric. While the rubberized plastic is prone to scratching, it’s resilient to knocks and drops and I never feared for serious damage when carrying it loose in my backpack.
This sturdiness results in quite a bit of weight — at 16 ounces the Micro 2 can be too heavy to attach to clothing or a belt, and is nearly triple the weight of the JBL Go 4. The Micro 2 is also 6 ounces heavier than the JBL Clip 5, which may be preferable for those after a lighter weight travel speaker.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Features
The main extra feature supported by the Stormbox Micro 2 is the ability to pair two speakers with each other, either in a stereo configuration where you can designate one speaker as ‘left’ and the other as ‘right’, or in a party mode for dual mono playback. While this is a nice feature to have, the speaker only allows you to pair with another Stormbox Micro 2 rather than any Tribit or Tribit Stormbox device. This is something that the Ultimate Ears ‘Boom’ and JBL lineups do better, with cross compatibility across multiple products at varying price points.
A more subtle feature is the ability for the Stormbox Micro 2 to double as a powerbank via a USB-C connection — ideal for those panicked moments caused by a rapidly depleting phone battery. The power output is only 10W, so don’t expect any rapid charging. This is a feature we’ve seen on much more expensive speakers like the JBL Xtreme 4 ($379).
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Mobile app
Unlike the original Stormbox Micro, the Micro 2 pairs with a mobile app, compatible with both Android and iOS, which allows you to adjust the EQ, update the firmware, and adjust miscellaneous settings for the speaker. Being able to choose between 6 EQ presets, including an audiobook mode was the cherry on top of the fantastic audio quality. Switching off the signature Tribit EQ alleviated some of my issues around the poor amplification of the bass, as I was able to easily adjust this to my personal preference.
I particularly appreciate the ability to have an uncapped number of custom EQ profiles — despite sounding simple, even high quality speakers like the UE Everboom ($249) struggle to get this right with only one custom profile.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Battery
For its size, the battery on the Stormbox Micro 2 is decent — a full charge will net you about 12 hours of usage. There is an automatic power-off function that’s adjustable via the app, which can extend the battery when not in active use. This is enough for a day or two before needing a recharge.
The battery out-performs that of the JBL Go 4 as well as the original Stormbox Micro, with lifespans of seven and eight hours respectively. It brushes shoulders with much larger bluetooth speakers like the UE Wonderboom 3 ($99). You will need to abandon the portable size of the Micro 2 in favor of the full-sized Tribit Stormbox 2 for a longer battery life — it boasts a fantastic 24 hours of battery. The Clip 5 is also capable of a longer battery life if you enable Playtime Boost, with 15 hours of listening up from the standard 12.
Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: Verdict
If you’re looking for a cheap, convenient speaker with solid performance and which will hold up to the elements, this is the speaker to beat. With a convenient strap, it's as easy to take this on an outdoor adventure as it is to use it indoors speaker for gatherings or solo listening.
There are not many alternatives for the price, besides the excellent JBL Go 4 and the JBL Clip, both of which offer a slightly muddier sound quality but pack much more power. Those wanting a bit more oomph might want to opt for the Micro 2’s bigger sibling, the Tribit Stormbox 2 ($67), for just $8 more, although we had some concerns about the audio balance with that speaker.
It’s a close call between the Micro 2 or the JBL Clip 5 as the best portable speaker at this price point, but the Micro 2 edges out as my favorite — being able to attach it to nearly anything is too good to pass up, and the $20 cheaper price tag makes the Stormbox Micro 2 incredible value for money.
