I just found my perfect summer Bluetooth speaker — ground-shaking bass and it only costs $129
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.
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Tom's Guide
4 days ago
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I tested this soundbar and subwoofer combo with Dolby Atmos — and I can't believe how affordable it is
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These were easy to connect with a 'Pair' button, and you can individually alter volumes with the remote. All in all, the 'lack' of features didn't negatively affect my listening experience, and I genuinely enjoyed testing this soundbar. I test every soundbar by watching 'Top Gun: Maverick' on 4K UHD Blu-Ray, TV on Netflix, and by listening to music on Spotify and Qobuz. First, I watched 'Top Gun: Maverick' with the 'Music' EQ. In the opening scene, I could feel the jet engines rumble through the floorboards, but this bass performance didn't overpower the high-frequency sound effects of ropes whooshing and metal clinking. When the iconic 'Danger Zone' by Kenny Loggins started up, I was amazed by how clear the vocals sounded. Although I wanted a little more oomph in the bass, I couldn't get over the vocal clarity. I found myself rewinding just to hear that crystal-clear voice again. For the second run, I increased the bass volume to 5, which is the loudest it can go. I could still hear the high-frequency whirring and whooshing sound effects without losing that powerful bass. I actually found myself longing for the scene to be longer, as everything sounded so good. In the dogfighting scene, the radio dialogue felt immersive and close, but I didn't feel as submerged in the scene as I did with the JBL Bar 1300X — a soundbar nearly three times the price. The soundtrack was a little lacklustre, even with the bass turned up to the max. This didn't majorly impact the overall effect of the soundbar, as the treble and dialogue were so clear. I never struggled to understand speech, which I've found a little tricky with cheaper soundbars like the Samsung HW-S60D ($349, 5.0 channel). After 'Top Gun: Maverick', I watched 'No Time To Die'. This movie is renowned for its Dolby Atmos performance, particularly in the opening scene and the first car chase scene through Matera. When the young girl is hammering on the locked door, I could feel the reverberations as if they were just next to me. The masked killer's breathing and dialogue were horrifyingly close, as if vibrating right in my eardrums. When Bond knocked out the attacker's glass eye, I felt it bounce off the road. During the car chase, when the church bells are ringing, I could hear the scene all around me. Then, when Bond and Madeline are being pummeled with bullets, I could feel the impact of the bullets in my chest. Finally, I watched 'Wicked' to test the musical performance. Again, the bass wasn't as powerful as I would've liked. It was still good, but just not mind-blowingly good. Even so, the vocal performance was excellent, and I never struggled with understanding dialogue. When Elphaba summons stones and throws them at other children, I heard the stones rising as if they came from behind me. For the most part, I was really impressed with this performance. I wish the subwoofer was just a touch louder — but I still had a great time. To test the TV performance, I watched a variety of shows on 'Netflix'. To reflect real-world usage, this is basic Netflix with 5.1 sound, not Dolby Atmos. I'll discuss 'Stranger Things' here, as it had the most challenging sound performance of the shows I watched. Unlike while watching 4K UHD Blu-rays, I found the dialogue a little muffled. As a result, I turned down the bass and changed the EQ to 'Voice'. This performance is likely due to Netflix's inferior audio resolution rather than the soundbar itself, but it's still worth noting. 'Voice' EQ did little to help this dialogue issue. However, as I mentioned earlier, when I say a little muffled, I literally mean a little. Overall, I could still hear every word said, but it wasn't as clear as while watching the movies. Of course it wouldn't be — it's like comparing apples to oranges. 4K Blu-ray and Netflix basic aren't really in the same ballpark. Yes, the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar is intended for movies, and that's where it excels. And of course that's the case — give an F1 racer a 1999 Toyota Corolla and see them come dead last. However, the soundbar still performs well for TV shows. I use the Bose Smart Soundbar at home, and while its 4K movie performance is lacklustre, it excels at TV. I'd get a cheaper and lower-spec soundbar if you're not going to watch movies. To test music in a real-world setting, I listened via Bluetooth on Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles. You can also use a 3.5mm aux connection or a music streaming app on your TV. It was easy to connect to Bluetooth: I simply changed the source input on the Sharp remote and selected the soundbar from my settings menu. I know soundbars will never sound great for music. If you want a decent speaker, you should just get one of the best Bluetooth speakers, like the JBL Xtreme 4 ($349). Therefore, it's unfair of me to massively criticise the lacklustre music performance, as soundbars simply aren't designed for it. I will, however, describe how it sounded. I upped the bass to the max and changed the EQ to 'Music', but the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar still sounded pretty tinny. I listened to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana, and was excited for the bass to kick in after the intro. However, that bass never kicked in, and I was left disappointed. I tried a few different genres. First, something a little more acoustic, with 'Garden of Eden' by Billie Marten, which sounded great and really immersive. I could feel the guitar strings around me, and Marten's vocals were soft and clear. After, I switched it up dramatically to 'Hot In It' by Tiesto and Charli xcx. Like with the Nirvana track, the bass was pretty disappointing, even turned up to max. However, the vocals were clear. I just don't think the soundbar likes bass-heavy genres: I didn't like listening to bass-heavy genres on it anyway, so it's a mutual breakup. The Sharp 5.1.2 HT-SBW55121 Soundbar and subwoofer is really very good. No, it's not perfect, but it's most of the way there. The soundbar handles 4K UHD Blu-rays like a boss and excels with dialogue and immersive sound effects. If the subwoofer was a touch more powerful, this could be a soundbar worthy of battling with the big names like Bose, Sonos, and Samsung. This isn't a TV-oriented soundbar: it would be an injustice to watch anything but 4K Blu-rays and high-resolution movies on it. If you want to get the best performance out of it, you'll need something capable of playing Dolby Atmos, like Netflix's Premium tier or physical media. But if you want to transform your home cinema for less, then the Sharp 5.1.2 Soundbar is a fantastic way to achieve that. £449 is almost unbelievable for this quality. There's not much competition at this price point.
