Tribit StormBox 2 is the water bottle-sized, affordable Bluetooth speaker I’ve always wanted

July 11, 2024

These days, the Bluetooth speaker market can seem crowded. This has led to many manufacturers adding lots of gimmicky features that might initially attract attention but don’t matter in the long run. That’s why I was refreshed by the thought of Tribit’s latest portable Bluetooth speaker, the StormBox 2. It focuses on the essentials and not much more. That’s what I loved about the StormBox Micro I bought four years ago. It delivered solid battery life and surprisingly high performance despite its compact form factor. When Tribit offered to send me a review unit of the StormBox 2, I enthusiastically accepted the offer. Read on to get my hands-on impressions as part of the latest entry in the Tested with 9to5Toys Series.

You read Tested with 9to5Toyswhere we deal with everyday technical basics that make life a little easier. Browse through our full guide for the latest reviews and let us know in the comments below if there’s anything you’d like to see featured.

Hands-on experience with the Tribit StormBox 2 Bluetooth speaker

The new Tribit StormBox 2 Bluetooth speaker arrived on Amazon in April for $99.99. With 34W of power, that was a great price compared to something like the 40W JBL Charge 5, which retails for $180. Still, the StormBox 2 seems to have settled down significantly in price after being listed at $67.99 for just over a month now. For that amount, it offers a lot of value, and I’ll explain why below. But before that, I want to point out that it’s a 10% discount coupon on the site at the moment this lowers the price to $61.19which makes the deal even sweeter. But that’s enough said. Read on to find out more about my hands-on experience with this adorable little speaker.

Take a closer look at the specifications:

The detachable modular design is intended to provide a versatile and portable power solution for travelers. You can use this charging station in three different ways: as a 4-port USB-C wall charger, a 1.5m extension cable with 2 outlets, or a 5-in-1 travel power strip. It’s compact and lightweight so you can take it anywhere in your bag!
The USB-C fast charger charges your MacBook Pro 14″ to 42% and an iPhone 15 to 50% in just 30 minutes with an impressive 67W of power. Also supports Programmable Power Supply (PPS) for compatibility with Samsung Super Fast Charging 2.0.
Features 3 USB-C ports, 1 USB-A port, 1 AC outlet, and a 5-foot detachable extension cable, allowing you to power 5 devices simultaneously, saving you valuable charging time.

The opinion of 9to5Toys

With all the testing I’ve done recently, from JBL’s £36 speaker to UGREEN’s new 2-in-1 MagSafe charging station to Baseus’ power strip with detachable USB-C wall charger, I’ve had plenty of opportunity to unbox these kinds of devices and get an idea of what to expect. Not surprisingly, Tribit hits the nail on the head here: the packaging looks great and does its job without overdoing it.

Inside the box was the speaker, manual, and a short USB-A to Type-C charging cable. I knew before opening it that it would probably be well built given its weight. I even got out my scale and it weighs 1.3 pounds. That’s about half the weight of my beloved YETI Rambler when filled with water, and it’s about 1.5 times the size of the Tribit StormBox 2. By my own measurements, this speaker is about 7 inches tall and about 2.5 inches in diameter.

On the back of the Tribit StormBox 2 you will find four buttons, an AUX input and a USB-C port for charging the speaker. The four buttons are for power on, Bluetooth pairing, XBass mode and pairing with another Tribit StormBox 2. On the front there are three buttons for increasing or decreasing the volume and a play/pause button which can also be used to activate a Siri/Google Assistant, answer/end a phone call, skip music and much more.

I found everything about this speaker to be very intuitive. There wasn’t a single time where I wasn’t sure what a button did, how to enter Bluetooth pairing mode, etc. This makes it a solid option that virtually anyone can enjoy without being overwhelmed by unnecessary features, even if you’re not very tech-savvy. The only tricky thing when using this speaker for the first time was peeling off the rubber gasket to access the USB-C charging port. It was pretty tricky to open, but after I managed it the first time, it hasn’t been a problem since.

One cool little visual feature that I noticed straight away (and liked) is that you can see the bass in action at the top and bottom of the speaker. Little rubberized bits vibrate and drum to the beat and it’s pretty cool. And that’s about it as far as gimmicks go. You won’t find RGB lighting or anything like that. There’s a companion Tribit app that you can download, but it’s mainly used for firmware updates, equalizer settings, and viewing battery levels, and that’s about it.

Having used many speakers over the years, Tribit impressed me with both the StormBox Micro in 2020 and the StormBox 2 in 2024. The only feature the StormBox 2 lacks that the Micro has is a rubber band to quickly attach a speaker to something. Yes, the StormBox 2 has a fabric band on the top, but other than acting as a small carrying strap, it doesn’t do much else. So overall, I love this speaker and highly recommend it. It’s worth the money and has a design that just about anyone will find user-friendly.