Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2023
I struggled between getting this Tribit Stormbox, or the W-King 80w, for months. I got this tribit instead of the W, since I have had and still have 4 or 5 ? Tribit devices (from earbuds to Stormbox Micro 2), and their sound is always good, they dont lie about how long their devices will play for, they dont lie about bass, their usb ports have NEVER gone out on me because they were loose or cheaply made/applied, and their tech support is as good as Anker is (top 2 support companies on Amazon says me and many others), and also the Tribit was 10w louder, lol.
Anyway, the 1st thing I did with this was charge it, 2nd was play music on it.
Most of my music I have is mids/high type, and this didnt disappoint me much about a softer bass. BUT, for those musicians who I do like with lots of bass, I was thinking: man, this is kinda low bass. THEN I remembered there was a Bass Boost button! And man, when you hit that thing, it is perfect (to my ears, and for no$5k setup mind you). The Bass Boost REALLY does boost the bass, without drowning out the mids and highs. Dont ask me how the do it, but they do.
The wireless reaction time from my phone is instantaneous on this boombox (unlike the micro 2, which has about a .5 second delay).
I have been trying to get my computer speakers to work on my tv because there isnt any bass since the speaker bar wireless bass/rears went out, so I hooked this Tribit boombox to my TV ! LOL Funny thing is, is that it actually works, even though I still have the speaker bar hooked into my tv. It takes a few minutes to get the speaker bar and the Tribit to sound evenly (since I have the Tribit next to my bed between my tv with speaker bars and the Tribit acting as bass and Left Rear, lol), but once it does man does it sound good. There is a little delay when my tv is paired with the Tribit, but I know its from me having an old tv, with wireless 3.x or 4.0 max, and also with 2 sound bars hooked up to it (man I wish my 1st sound bar bass/rear didnt go out on me. I cant afford another $700 to $1100 for just a sound bar bass and rear).
Anyway, this Tribit is 'almost' what I was looking for, so here comes the Negs/Wishes.]
There is NO Remote control. Why not? Because we should be able to stand up every time we change the channel, or the next song is blaringly loud, or too soft, or we actually want to have a conversation with someone next to us and its too loud? Very big missed chance here, assuming we will just use our phones to sound up/down? You have to find the right loudness on both the Tribit and the whatever-it-is you are doing on the phone to have to turn it up/down also? What about when we are on a call, and cant turn the Tribit off, higher or lower? Oh, just turn your music off from the phone you are talking on! Right.......
When I turn the Tribit lights off, I dont want to have to turn them off EVERY time I adjust the volume on it. Big mistake having the lights tuned to the Tribit sound up/down (when you physically have to get up, go to the Tribit box, find the sound button, turn it up or down, go back to where you were and see if it is loud enough or not, and keep doing that all day/night long? What about when you arent using your phone, and have music on a usb thumb drive? Way too many scenarios where a remote control would have upped this a star. No way. Another reason why a remote is good in these situations. On, Off, Up, Down sound, turn lights off completely (heck, put a light bar on the remote, so we can see if it is topping out or not), Last song, Next song. Not much to ask for, right? A remote control goes a LONG way on a limited product like this.
Did I say this thing is heavy? It really is. I had an older product like this, with more features, that weighed 1/2 or less than this Tribit. A carrying strap would have been nice! Or a bag? Or something, even rubber handle over the plastic would make hauling this around much nicer.
Did I say Limited? Yes, I did. This tribit does 2 things, play music from app and lights. Thats it. No Radio (I know, only us old folk listen to the radio). No cd player. No Time/Day/Date etc (would be nice to be able to use this as an Alarm clock. USB port for thumb drives? Port for sd/micro sdhc cards?Power bank? What device is NOT more portable for a power bank? Or even less pricey? I have a 5 hour bank charger I got for $30 that will power my phone longer than this thing when it is not plugged in, lol. Although, I did say they never lie about their products run time, and 30 hours IS a long time, so maybe a power bank is ok, except most of us have our phones in our hands, on a 1/4 pound or less charger if need be, not laying next to a digital dj, heh. Seems this was just one of those Checkbox 'features' because there arent any features (mostly because that would require a remote control for? maybe).
AUX In? Hello, phones dont have a 3.5mm port anymore. Or are we supposed to tie ourselves to the Tribit, yet again, and carry a 3.5mm to usb-c cable around? Maybe we could put it in the Tribit carry bag...Oh, wait, there isnt one. Heh.
Overall, for what I use it for, its almost perfect. And it seems W-K is going down this road now also with their new lineup (I was choosing between this and the squared W-K back before the new sleeker W-K came out). Except for a remote control, just to turn up or lower volume, and turn it on off (basically a remote that has the buttons on top of the Stormbox, this thing is almost perfect for me, except when I have to lug it somewhere else in the room. Tribit does 2 things VERY well, and those are Sound quality which this has, and real Time mentioned on how long it runs, which is usually on the lower side rather than the higher side. And Tech Support, so 3 things. I havent needed support for this Stormbox, so its 2 for now.
Recommended?
Yes. If you are strong enough to lug this thing around, just want to play great sounding music outside while you sit, or do yardwork, or have lots of parties. Oh, also if you want to use it for your tv speakers instead of the tinny sounding wimpy ones that come with tv's nowadays, lol.
I almost gave it 5 stars, it is that good, but w/o a remote control and very limited use, I just cant give it a 5.
