The Tribit StormBox Blast 2 is a major upgrade from its predecessor, the $199 StormBox Blast. And I don’t just mean in audio terms — its price has also been upgraded from $199 to $299. But, with a higher price, comes higher specs, and more wiggle room for super epic sound. Could this be one of the best Bluetooth speakers?
If you’re looking for a massive beast of a speaker, the Tribit StormBox Blast 2 could be just what you need. While describing this monster as portable is a stretch, its IP67 rating means it could easily drive a beach or summer BBQ party. I wouldn’t want to carry this thing from place to place, though — it weighs an astonishing 19 pounds.
But within this titan of a speaker is an equally gigantic 80W subwoofer that performs mind-bogglingly well. When I was listening to this beast in the park, I could feel the bass vibrations through my coat — and I wasn’t even holding the speaker. Is it worth the extra $100 from its predecessor, though? Find out in this Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Cheat sheet
- What is it? A powerful outdoor boombox speaker
- What does it cost? A mega $299
- Who is it for? Ideal for people who host or soundtrack parties
- What should you use it for? This bass is best served on a dancefloor
- What are its weaknesses? It’s ridiculously heavy and costs $100 more than its older sibling
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Specs
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Price & availability
Priced $100 more than its predecessor, the Tribit StormBox Blast. The StormBox Blast 2 is $299 at Amazon U.S. and £279 at Amazon U.K.. Coupons seem to be consistently available to knock off an extra $60 or so, but I’m duty bound to evaluate the StormBox Blast 2 by its MSRP of $300.
The JBL speaker of this caliber is the $499 Boombox 3, which is more expensive than the Blast 2. Soundcore’s party speaker effort is the $249 Boom 2 Plus. If you wanted to get a famous name to soundtrack your next gathering, you’d be looking at the $399 Bose SoundLink Max. The closest Sonos offering is the $449 Move 2, which is considerably more expensive, but also much smaller and lighter. This places the StormBox Blast 2 at the higher end of midrange, but it’s still a far cry from the $400+ prices of the high-end brands.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Design
To quote Queen Ke$ha, “The party don’t start ‘til I walk in.” This is the kind of speaker that deserves its own seat at the proverbial table. Not only do its LED lights dance around to the bass, treble, and mids, but you can also customize this light show in the Tribit app. I selected the rainbow color pattern and couldn’t stop watching the rainbows shine.
I like that all of the controls are on the speaker’s top, so I can easily access everything I need. There’s a bass boost button, a bright button, play, pause, volume, pairing, and the battery display. You’ll also find the TWS "pairing" button for joining two Tribit speakers together, but I only had one, so I unfortunately couldn’t test that out.
The speaker looks like a rugged outdoor party speaker, and that’s exactly what it is. The showy thumping cones pulsate with the speaker’s monumental bass, and the grille covering is functional yet a little fancy, thanks to the dancing LEDs.
The main downside of the design is its considerable heft. This speaker is absolutely massive and heavier than I expected it to be. I had to get my boyfriend to carry it around the park during testing because my spindly little arms couldn’t manage to lug its 19-pound weight around.
As long as you’re comfortable carrying 19 pounds, this’ll be fine. If you’re using it as a static party speaker, this wouldn’t be an issue either. It’s well worth bearing in mind if you want this to be your new portable speaker, though.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Connectivity
The StormBox Blast 2 connects via the new Bluetooth 5.4, which you’d expect from a speaker of this price. I was able to connect it simultaneously to my and my boyfriend’s phones, which prompted a DJ battle. It brings me great pleasure to announce that I won.
I wanted to test the range of the Blast 2, so I took the speaker to a local park. I was able to walk 240 feet away before the speaker started cutting out. Tribit claims that its range is just 164 feet, so I’d call this a major win.
I’ll discuss this more in the Features section, but the Blast 2 also has 2 6.5mm mic inputs for karaoke; there's also an aux cable for wired playback.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Features
The StormBox Blast 2 has a number of features. Not only does it offer dual mic inputs for karaoke, it also has an aux input, dual speaker TWS connectivity, and full customization in the Tribit app. Unfortunately, the only mics I own are USB-C or XLR connections, so I couldn’t test out the karaoke feature.
If you already own karaoke mics, it would be as easy as plugging them into the back of the StormBox Blast 2, and you can adjust the volume of each mic individually. So if one of your friends has a truly terrible voice, no one ever has to hear it. There’s also a reverb dial on the reverse for ultimate power ballads.
With wired playback, I couldn’t notice a substantial difference in sound quality compared to Bluetooth. As I’ll explore further in Sound Quality, the bottom line is that this speaker has phenomenal bass. While the mids and the trebles can sound a little unclear, if you’re using this speaker to fill dance floors, that might not be an issue.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Sound quality
Thanks to the powerful 80W subwoofer, the StormBox Blast 2 has bass. This speaker brings the party, regardless of where you are. Alongside the 45W mid-range woofer and the 15W tweeter, this is a recipe for a pretty hefty sound.
But as I touched on above, the speaker isn’t as adept at transmitting mids and trebles with as much clarity as detail connoisseurs would like. Those using the speaker for its intended purpose — partying hard — won’t have a problem, though.
I took this speaker to the park and played a range of genres. First, I started with "Parful" by Kneecap, which is an electronic hip-hop track with booming bass. Even with the unforgiving nature of being outside, the bass was grooving, and the vocals were clear and vibrant. I didn’t dance, because there were people perceiving me, but I definitely could’ve done. Should’ve done.
I also played Kendrick Lamar’s "squabble up," which rides on a squelching turn-of-the-millennium-bass. The StormBox Blast 2 conveyed this absurd groove with as much rhythm as you’d expect from an 80W subwoofer.
To test the range of genres, I put on "R&B" by English Teacher. The indie band’s experimental post-punk basslines were groovy and delicious, and I couldn’t get enough of vocalist Lily Fontaine’s husky yet syrupy singing.
No matter what genre you’re into, as long as it’s danceable, the StormBox Blast 2 will make light work of it. The only time when this speaker wasn’t monumental was listening in a silent room — but that is not what this type of speaker is made for.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Battery life
Tribit claims the battery can last up to 30 hours — but there’s a catch. This is rated with no light show and no X-Bass. When I listened to this speaker, my favorite aspects were the light show and the X-Bass, so my battery ran down considerably quicker.
I listened to the speaker for about 5 hours and the battery went down to 70%, which suggests it’ll last about 16 hours with all the bells and whistles switched on.
One of the cheapest high-power boombox speakers, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus, has a max battery life of 20 hours. At the other end of the spectrum, the JBL Boombox 3 runs for 24 hours max, so I’d say that 30 hours sounds good on paper. All of the other options are affected by volume level as well, so their battery stats end up differing in real use. Overall, the battery life is pretty solid.
The StormBox Blast 2 also takes 12 hours to charge via USB-C and 5 hours to charge with the AC cable, neither of which are small amounts of time. You’ll need to plan ahead if you want to take this speaker out and about.
Tribit StormBox Blast 2 review: Verdict
While $299 is not a small amount of money, you’ll likely not find a speaker of similar quality for much cheaper. More premium rivals start at $400 and I think the Tribit StormBox Blast 2 makes light work of masquerading as one of them. Yes, I admit that some of the vocal clarity is lost in favor of pulsing bass, but that’s what these boombox speakers are made for. This is a speaker designed to pump out party tracks into the early hours of the morning. Or the early evening, if you love sleep like I do. You can even link up karaoke mics and turn this speaker into a portable recording studio, should karaoke be your thing.
The battery life is pretty awesome, at 30 hours (with no light show or bass boost, mind you) of nonstop playback. This is much better than JBL and Boses’ boombox efforts, at 24 and 20 hours respectively.
All things considered, $299 is actually a fantastic price for what you get with the Tribit StormBox Blast 2. If you want a party speaker for less, this should be a no-brainer — unless 19 pounds is too heavy.
