I just found my perfect summer Bluetooth speaker — ground-shaking bass and it only costs $129
The Tribit StormBox Lava speaker has blown me away. This speaker amplifies bass like no other I've tried and is an absolute steal compared to some of the best bluetooth speakers.
While the speaker has the ground around me shaking (especially on the XBass preset), the crisp treble and punchy mids it produces are also awesome. Meanwhile the Companion app also allows you to customize the sound, and even rack the bass up higher.
The sleek design and portable nature of the speaker means it is easy to take anywhere, and its IP67 rating means it's well protected for any scenario — from a sandy beach to the side of the pool.
Admittedly, the battery is lower than previous speaker models by Tribit and if you want to use the True Wireless Stereo function you will need to purchase another speaker, but don't let that put you off because the volume that this speaker produces means you won't need the stereo function.
To find out more about how I got on, you can read my full Tribit StormBox Lava review.
Price
$129 / £129
Dimensions
12.20 x 5.98 x 5.78 inches
Weight
5.07lbs
Water resistance
IP67
Connectivity
Bluetooth 5.4
The Tribit StormBox Lava is priced at $126 and is available for purchase from Amazon U.S., and from Amazon U.K for £126. For a similar price you could pick up the JBL Flip 6 ($129), which has the same waterproofing rating, but is much smaller and has half the quoted battery life.
The speaker only comes in black, which I think makes it look pretty sleek. But if you are in the market for something that gives you a choice of colors, you could check out our favorite Bluetooth speaker for bass performance, the JBL Extreme 4 ($379), or the Sonos Move 2 ($449).
But there is no doubt that the TRIBIT StormBox Lava is the most affordable of these options, while still offering plenty of bass, so sacrificing color may not be all that bad.
The Tribit StormBox Lava is a very good-looking speaker. It may not have any flashing lights on it like the Tribit StormBox Blast 2 ($279), but its looks mean it will look good in any situation with a practical design.
The Lava isn't too heavy, weighing only 5.07lbs, and is easy to carry around. Included with the speaker is a detachable shoulder strap that can be adjusted to make carrying it even more comfortable. I, however, opted to use the detachable woven handle (also included) during testing. I found this a more manageable option as the shoulder strap meant the speaker was swinging against my side.
While it's objectively large, especially compared to the JBL Extreme 4, the StormBox Lava is pretty compact given the sound it produces. Measuring 12.20 x 5.98 x 5.78 inches, I got whole-house-filling sound with comparatively little bulk.
As well as being easily transportable, it's built to be used anywhere, with a waterproof rating of IP67. This rating means the speaker is waterproof when submerged in 1 meter of water for 30 minutes, making it perfect for pool parties or rainy conditions.
IP67 also means the speaker is completely dust tight, so you can take it to the beach and not worry about sand running the mechanics. However, it's only fully sealed when the rubber cover protecting the USB ports on the back of the speaker is closed.
The Tribit StormBox is extremely simple to control, but there are quite a few options for how you can control it.
There are controls on the top of the speaker which include the power button, volume controls, play/pause, Bluetooth pairing, XBass and True Wireless Stereo (TWS) pairing (more on that later).
Frustratingly, the play/pause button needs to be double-tapped to skip a song, or triple-tapped to skip back. It wouldn't have hurt the styling to add two extra dedicated buttons for playback controls, and would've made the user experience a whole lot easier. When I wanted to skip songs, I simply used my phone, which proved easier.
I also downloaded the Tribit companion app. You can control the volume from the app, but more interestingly, there are EQ presets and a 10-band custom EQ options. The XBass EQ preset is the signature of this speaker, though, hence why it has its own dedicated button on top of the unit. I'll discuss the EQ in more detail in the audio performance section.
The Tribit Stormbox Lava can pair with another Lava unit in TWS mode, which is for dual speaker surround stereo playback. This is activated via the button on top of the speaker and then the two speakers will play music in unison — an awesome feature but then you'd be dropping $260.
The speaker uses Bluetooth 5.4 which gives a more stable connection for Bluetooth speakers than previous versions. It also decreases any lag experienced with the speaker and has a 40ft Bluetooth range.
The first thing I look for whenever I test out new audio equipment is how the bass performs, so I was excited to try out the XBass function on this speaker. XBass is an EQ preset, but there is a dedicated button on top of the device that lets you turn it on and off without needing the app.
The Tribit StormBox delivers on all fronts, but excels with its bass performance. The low frequencies are very powerful — it had the floor literally shaking. The 30W neodymium magnetic woofers drive the bass with ease, and it's very impressive.
I listened to Tonight (I Wish I Was Your Boy) by The 1975 which has some delicate high vocals but a driving bass throughout the song. It sounded absolutely epic and the bass in the song became so strong that it shook the table the speaker was on. I would argue this song is best listened to on speakers like this rather than earbuds so you get the full immersive experience, and the Tribit made me put the song on repeat.
To test the range of the speaker, I listened to Gethsemane by Sleep Token. The song is truly varied, starting off gently, before lifting into driving hip-hop and then reaching a metal apex — it showed me the speaker can handle anything you throw at it with ease. The Tribit captured the delicate vocals with minimal tinniness, and kept them at the forefront even when the heavy mids and bass from guitar and drums began.
Finally I listened to Simple As This by Jake Bugg, a mellow folk song. And yes, the speaker can even make a folk song's bass boom. Even without the XBass, the speaker still delivered awesome sound, it just didn't shake the floor.
I tested out the 10-band Custom EQ on this song, lifting the low frequencies to enhance the kickdrum and raising the mids to compensate for the prominent vocals. This sounded great, although I lost some treble, particularly the track's violins. When I increased the high frequencies to bring them back, I experienced some tinniness, but overall the Lava put in a stellar performance.
Tribit says that the StormBox Lava takes around 5 hours to fully charge and that it has a battery life of 24 hours. This is pretty impressive, although less than the StormBox Blast 2 which has a max battery life of 20 hours. The Lava's battery life specs rely on XBass being turned off and volume only being turned up halfway.
I preferred to use the speaker with XBass turned on as this gave such a fuller sound to the music, but it did drain the battery faster. After 3 hours of listening at half volume with XBass, the charge had decreased by 20%, so I would expect to get something more like 14 hours with XBass on. If you listen with the volume higher though this will decrease further.
The EarFun UBOOM X speaker ($189) has a rated battery life of 30 hours when not using any of the built in lights at low volumes, but this dramatically decreases to around 20 hours with use of all the features. So it isn't uncommon for speakers to underperform, just inconvenient.
To conserve battery on the Tribit StormBox Lava as much as possible, you can enable auto shut down through the app which will turn off the speaker if nothing is played for a while. I found this feature great as I often pause my music and get distracted, so it meant I wasn't wasting battery unnecessarily.
The speaker has ports under the rubber cover at the back that allow it to act as a portable charger. This is super useful for beach days where you're nowhere near power but still need your phone.
I am seriously blown away by the StormBox Lava. It's cheaper than previous Tribit models like the StormBox Blast 2, but still packs one hell of a punch.
The speaker looks sleek and is easily portable with the carry handle and strap, so you can take it with you on hikes or vacations. The waterproof protection makes it an incredible all-rounder, from beach days to getting caught out in the rain (piña colada not included).
The XBass function is incredible, making the ground literally shake, even at half volume. At high volumes though, sound quality isn't compromised across the frequency range and there is hardly any tinniness — I only experienced this when I manually increased the high frequencies.
With the Tribit StormBox Lava's booming bass and insane volume capability, I've just found my perfect speaker right in time for summer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Tom's Guide
15 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
I took some of my best photos with the Canon EOS R5 Mark II — and it's currently at its lowest ever price
As part of my job as reviews writer at Tom's Guide, I get to test some of the best mirrorless cameras, whether they're for beginners, enthusiasts or professionals. If it's a high-speed camera with a solid burst rate, I always put it through its paces by photographing animals and birds — and if you're on the lookout for a camera that can withstand anything, the Canon EOS R5 Mark II is the one for you. However, there's no sugarcoating it: the EOS R5 Mark II is an expensive camera. Its body alone costs $4,299 / £3,799, and I haven't seen it get a major price drop... until today. Right now, you can save $500 at Amazon U.S. or £238 at Amazon U.K.. If you're a pro photographer and are looking to upgrade, I'd snap (pun fully intended) this deal up immediately. The Canon EOS R5 Mark II improves on its predecessor by introducing a 45MP Stacked sensor that captures lots of detail for extreme cropping. Its intelligent autofocus system with auto subject-detection quickly locks on to animal and human faces and eyes, as well as vehicles. It's built well and handles sublimely, and its 30fps burst shooting and 8.5-stops of IBIS make capturing action effortless. The EOS R5 Mark II is capable of withstanding anything you throw at it. Fully weather-sealed and protected against dust and rain, you can use it in virtually any environmental setting — indoors and outdoors. It's sublime to handle thanks to the sculpted grip, and it never feels too bulky to carry around your neck. Brits, rejoice! The EOS R5 Mark II is discounted in the U.K. too. Bad news is that it isn't as big a discount as the one being offered to the Americans. At Amazon U.K., you can save £238... which isn't a lot but it's something. But of course, the EOS R5 Mark II's prowess lies in its imaging capabilities. Featuring a 45MP Stacked CMOS sensor which enables speedier readouts to minimize rolling shutter distortions, it takes stunning photos with beautiful color science. 45 megapixels also give you room for extreme cropping. Canon has also perfected the EOS R5 Mark II's autofocus system. With auto subject detection, the camera quickly locks on to animals, birds, humans, vehicles, you name it. In my testing, the camera took mere milliseconds to focus on the subject regardless of how many times I switched between, say, humans and vehicles. It even locked on to a slightly obscured squirrel which even my own eyes could not see! A picture is worth a thousand words, of course, so you can browse through the sample gallery above and see just how gorgeous they are. The EOS R5 Mark II has a stacked feature set and you can read all about it in my full review. Its in-camera upscaling (powered by AI) for images shot as JPEG/HEIF is a highlight. It enhances resolution by 4x, extrapolating the image's EXIF data, creating stills up to 180MP from the original 45MP image. You can upscale either one image or a series of burst shots, and it's one feature that can revolutionize how you photograph subjects. The EOS R5 Mark II is our pick for the best full frame mirrorless camera for a plethora of reasons. It's super straightforward to use with a well-laid out control scheme, its autofocus system gives you little to complain about, and it takes ridiculously good photos. If I were you, I'd save $500 at Amazon U.S. or £238 at Amazon U.K. right now — that's the lowest I've seen the camera drop to!
Tom's Guide
19 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
My favorite Bluetooth speaker just crashed to its lowest ever price — the EarFun UBoom L is just $49 right now
When I'm using one of the best Bluetooth speakers, nothing makes me happier than feeling the bass in my jaw or in my temples. I want earth-shattering bass that makes me concerned for the walls in my rental. I want it to be so rich that I feel like it's calling me poor. I want it to feel deeper than the pseudo-feelings I had as a Tumblr emo girlie. My poetic musings aside... I love testing wireless speakers and putting them through their paces to determine whether they're good value for money. I have a couple speakers at home but the one I (and my partner) use the most is the EarFun UBoom L — and right now, it's down to its lowest ever price as it's discounted by 38% at Amazon U.S. and 13% at Amazon U.K. The EarFun UBoom L offers big sound on a budget. This portable speaker produces powerful bass, clear vocals and well-balanced sound across a range of genres. With a dedicated outdoor mode and an IP67 resistance rating, the speaker can soundtrack pool parties and hikes, it's got great battery life, and the customizable EQ via the user-friendly companion app works really well. Even at its retail price of $79 / £79, the UBoom L easily warrants a recommendation. It provides big sound on a budget, and it's highly portable so you can take it anywhere you like. Adding to that is the UBoom L's IP67 rating, which means it's waterproof down to 3 feet and fully dustproof. Trust me, I use this speaker in the shower nearly everyday, and I've even submerged it in a sink full of water just to show off to my friends — and it has always come out unscathed. Now, onto the sound quality... Utilizing the brand's "JumboBass technology," the UBoom L delivers powerful bass thanks to its passive bass radiators on each side working in conjunction with the 55mm drivers. When you play a bass-heavy track, you can see the side radiators vibrate and, like I mentioned up top, you can feel the bass in your soul (depending on how far you are from the speaker, of course). Residents of the rainy British isles will be pleased to hear that the EarFun UBoom L is discounted here too... although not by much. It's down to £69 from its retail price of £79 but even though you aren't saving as much as the Americans, it's still worth the investment. One thing I really like about this speaker as that basslines never feel overpowering. They have an oomph with a lovely warmth to them, so you can really appreciate each note that the bassist is plucking. Even at high volumes, music remains free of distortion, making the UBoom L the ideal speaker for soundtracking social gatherings. Vocals sound just as good, if not better, and there's plenty of detail in every track to be enjoyed and appreciate. I often hook it up to my laptop too when I'm watching a horror or thriller movie, and the speaker creates an eerie soundscape. For a small, portable speaker, I'm always taken aback by how powerful the UBoom L sounds. If you want a rugged speaker that doesn't cut any corners, I'd recommend saving $30 at Amazon U.S. or £10 at Amazon U.K. You can thank me later.
Tom's Guide
19 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
I haven't stopped thinking about the Sennheiser IE 200 buds since I tested them — and they're currently on sale
I'm a self-professed music nerd, and very rarely will you find me not wearing earbuds or over-ear headphones. I love listening to music a lot. I also play the guitar and bass so it's very important to me that I hear every instrument in a track. While wireless earbuds have become the norm today, there are some wired earbuds — or in-ear monitors, to be precise — that give the best of the best a run for their money. The Sennheiser IE 200 buds are one such pair. I tested them back in March and, honestly, I haven't stopped thinking about them since. What's even better is that the buds are currently 19% off at Amazon U.S., bringing them down to $129 from their retail price of $159. And if you're in the U.K., they're available for £109 instead of £129. A win! The Sennheiser IE 200 buds are ideal for audiophiles and music technicians as they feature a wide soundstage and fantastic instrument separation. The bass sounds powerful while vocals sound crystal clear. The earbuds are very lightweight and comfortable too. So what makes the IE 200 a downright fantastic, powerful, must-have pair of earbuds that help you appreciate music in a whole new way? First of all, they feature a braided cable which gives them a premium edge, and the wires are detachable too so you don't have to worry about not being able to use the IE 200s if the stock cable breaks. They are mighty comfortable and lightweight too, and their cables wrap around your ears to ensure they don't fall off. But what good is a pair of earbuds if it doesn't make music sound as God intended? The IE 200s also have a frequency range of 6Hz-20KHz, so they can reproduce most sounds accurately, and boy do they make music sound absolutely incredible! Sound technicians will also appreciate Sennheiser's patented True Response technology which helps reproduce sound with precision so you can appreciate every single instrument in a song. Fret not, my British comrades! The Sennheiser IE 200 earbuds are discounted in the U.K. too, currently available for £20 off at Amazon U.K. The IE 200s' bass response is outstanding as you can hear every single note plucked in the likes of 'Money' by Pink Floyd and 'Every Other Freckle' by Alt-J. Instrument separation really shines in tracks such as these, as you can make out each guitar riff and bassline. They work in harmony together but also really shine — perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Vocals and details are super clear and distinguishable, especially when there are multiple voices harmonizing, like in 'Labour — The Cacophony' by Paris Paloma or 'Ballad of the Witches' Road' from Agatha All Along. High notes never sound piercing either, and it really feels like the artists are in the room (as Sennheiser intended). Even if you use wireless earbuds on, say, your commute or when you're out and about, I still think you need to own a pair of the IE 200s, especially if you want to enjoy music to the fullest. They've made me appreciate music in ways I didn't think were possible. And now, you can save big by taking advantage of the 19% discount at Amazon U.S. or the 16% discount at Amazon U.K. Trust me, these deals are too good to pass up on.
