Trusted Reviews is supported by its audience. If you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a commission.Learn more.
Tribit Stormbox Pro Review
Good portable sound at an affordable price
In This Article
Verdict
Solid sound at an affordable price, the Tribit Stormbox Pro is a rugged portable speaker worth considering if your budget is around £100.
Pros
Cons
Availability
Key Features
Introduction
Tribit’sStormbox Microwas a surprise package of 2020, a diminutive budget speaker with excellent sound at an inexpensive price. So, it’s with interest that the Stormbox Pro emerges on theTrusted Reviews’ radar.
The Stormbox Pro is Tribit’s flagship portable Bluetooth speaker, big in size and with a price to match; it’s a wireless speaker that looks to undercut the bigger, more recognised names.
It will appeal to those looking for an affordable, rugged, portable audio companion, but you’ll have to accept a few rough edges.
Design
Tall, and with a shape that tapers towards the top, the Stormbox Pro’s is a bit wider than you might expect as it fits in a 3-inch subwoofer, two 40mm speakers and two passive radiators.
There’s a rubbery handle for carry and the top surface is home to multi-function (MFB) and volume (up and down) buttons, plus power, Bluetooth and the Xbass button, with five-strong row of LEDs that show the current battery charge. It’s all easy to get to grips with. Using the onboard controls proves to be awkward as they feedback they offer feels rigid with flat button presses.
The MFB can be used in music and conversation modes, the latter means the speaker can be used as an external speaker for taking calls. Press the Xbass button and that livens up the low end, while a five-second hold on the Bluetooth button puts the Stormbox into pairing mode.
The speaker’s body is wrapped in a tough looking cloth that mirrors the one on the Micro, and it speaks to a look that is rather nondescript. For £120 you might expect some more pizzazz – not to mention more colour options than just black.
On the rear is a cap that covers two USB ports, a USB-C for charging the speaker itself and a USB-A for connecting a smartphone or other device to charge.
Features
Have another Stormbox Pro to hand? Put the first speaker into pairing mode, and a five-second hold on a second marries them together, activating Party Mode. A short press of the Bluetooth button sends the two speakers into Stereo mode, forming a left and right channel. When I did this the speakers seemed to go straight into Stereo mode so presumably Party Mode is the same sound coming out of both speakers.
The Stormbox Pro matches the Micro with its IP67 rating, good enough to guard against dust and a drop into a metre deep of water for 30 minutes – useful for pool party set.
Bluetooth is 5.0with Qualcomm’s aptX codec for playback. It can remember up to 8 paired Bluetooth devices (for those who like to chop and change sources), while multi-point Bluetooth support enables a connection to two devices simultaneously. To avert any sneaky takeovers of music, playback on the source device needs to be stopped before playback from another can be started.
Battery life is triple that of the Stormbox Micro with up to 24 hours available, though as always, that varies on the type of music and volume. Charging back to full takes a while – 7 hours – before its sizable 10,000mAh battery is filled.
Performance
The Stormbox Pro is an enjoyable listen, but it is also a performance that can, at times, come across as unbalanced at higher volumes. It’s surprising just how loud the speaker can go – even at a third of its volume the Stormbox Pro is louder than most around its price point – but above that and the Stormbox Pro loses composure and sounds strained, with overly sharp treble and thin sounding voices.
It’s much better to keep it at ‘lower’ volumes as the Stormbox showcases a solid sense of dynamism that’s coupled with an engaging sense of energy. Clarity and definition levels are good, the speaker avoiding sounding muddy or indistinct. Vocals of singers comes across decently, although to my ears they lack that bit of sharpness and projection to etch them out with even more clarity.
Given the shape of the speaker, you might expect a lack of a width but with The Jam’s That’s Entertainment there’s breathing space out to the sides and above to ensures the track never comes across as cluttered or jumbled. If you want more width, you may want to consider purchasing another Stormbox Pro and pairing the two speakers together in Stereo mode, which works well in opening the soundstage even further.
Press on the Xbass and the low end is beefed up with some more weightiness, depth, and rumble; and with the Xbass mode on, the Stormbox Pro’s sound feels more substantial. When used to play Jidenna’s Long Live the Chief, there’s a weightiness to the delivery, with vocals having more of a presence than there was with Xbass turned off. A good effort from Tribit, as long as you dial that volume down a little.
Latest deals
Should you buy it?
An affordable portable speaker with good soundThe portable speaker market is full of options, and the Tribit makes a decent case with its emphasis on value. If what you’re after is good sound and decent spec at an affordable price, this is another solid effort
If you like to play music loudAt higher volumes the Stormbox Pro piles on the energy but in doing so lacks composure and discipline that makes for a messy, unfocused performance.
Final Thoughts
The Stormbox Pro has a few rough edges but if you can look past them, there’s a solid sounding wireless speaker and decent feature set at a very competitive price.
How we test
We test every wireless speaker we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in ourethics policy.
Tested for a few weeks
Tested with real world use
You might like…
FAQs
There’s no built-in support for voice assistants, but you can call up the voice assistant on your smartphone through the MFB button.
Yes you can! Plug it into the USB-A port and the speaker will charge any device connected to it.
Full specs
Kob began his career at What Hi-Fi?, starting in the dusty stockroom before rising up the ranks to join the editorial and production team as the Buyer’s Guide editor. Experienced in both magazine and …
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Why trust our journalism?
Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
