Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8: Two-minute review

The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is, in many ways, about as Bang & Olufsen a product as it’s possible to imagine. As far as its broad functionality is concerned, it’s ‘just’ a wireless speaker with a fairly unremarkable specification (if you ignore the ‘Mozart’ platform that offers a degree of technological future-proofing). It doesn’t do anything that any number of more affordable alternatives can do.

What very few alternatives can do, though, is look quite so decorative, so elegant and, yes, so expensive while they’re doing, though – in fact, I can really only think of Devialet’s ‘Phantom’ range of speakers that have anything like the visual drama of the Beolab 8. So if you want a speaker that looks, as well as sounds, the part, stick with me…

Play to its strengths and the Beolab 8 is an energetic and energising listen, able to balance considerable attack against deft detail resolution with real skill. Where the most visceral aspects of music-making are concerned, this Bang & Olufsen is one of the best wireless speakers around. If you try to lumber it with some more soothing, less lively content, though, you’ll find it’s rather intolerant. And no matter what you listen to, don’t listen to it at big volumes – that can skew the speaker’s sonic balance a little.

There’s an elephant in the room, though – and just because it was introduced early on, that doesn't make it any less elephant-like. The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is stunningly expensive compared to the best wireless speakers, which means you’ll have to do some negotiating with yourself before any of the other stuff becomes a consideration…  

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 review: Price and release date

• Release date: November 2023
• Price: $2,749 / £2,199 / AU$4,499
  

The Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 is on sale now, and it sells for a minimum of $2,749 in the US, £2,199 in the UK and AU$4,499 in Australia. That’s for the ‘natural’ aluminium chassis with grey ‘mélange’ grille and table-stand though. 

Things being what they are at Bang & Olufsen, of course, it’s possible to spend plenty more than this if the fancy takes you. The version I’m testing, for instance, is in ‘natural’ aluminium with slatted natural oak cover and table-stand – and it sells for £2,699 in the UK.

It’s worth noting that the Beolab 8 has very little price-comparable competition, even at its most affordable. It’s really only Devialet (a company just as distinctive as Bang & Olufsen, at least in some ways) and its bonkers Phantom wireless speaker that competes in anything like the same area of the market.  

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 review: Features

• 300 watts of Class D power
• 24bit/192kHz DAC
• Wired and wireless connectivity 

As seems only reasonable, given the asking price, the Beolab 8 is a sensibly and thoroughly specified device. Your options for getting audio content on board, for instance, are numerous. There are wired and wireless options available, naturally. Dual-band wi-fi and Bluetooth 5.3 (with SBC and AAC codec compatibility) take care of the wireless stuff, and you also get the option of Apple AirPlay 2, Chromecast and the ‘Connect’ versions of both Spotify and Tidal. 

On top of this, the control app features access to Bang & Olufsen Radio, which brings a huge number of broadcasts from around the world into the Beolab 8’s orbit. There’s DLNA compatibility too, so any content on a local server is available too. Wired connectivity runs to a couple of Ethernet sockets and a USB-C input, all of which are just slightly fiddly to access at the rear of the cabinet.   

No matter how you access your content, though, it’s pored over by a DAC chipset of 24bit/192kHz resolution and compatibility with most worthwhile file formats. It’s then delivered by a 15mm tweeter, 76mm midrange driver and 136mm bass unit – the Bang & Olufsen has a total of 300 watts of Class D power available, with the bass driver taking 200 watts of that and the remaining 100 watts divided equally between the other two drivers.

Before you get to the point of actually listening to music, though, the Beolab 8 would like to optimise its performance to your specific environment. There’s an ‘advanced room compensation’ routine available in the control app - it takes next-to-no time to maximise the output of the speaker. ‘Adaptive bass linearization’ [sic] does something similar, but with greater emphasis on the possibly problematic low frequencies. After that, it’s simply a question of deciding which of the ‘beam width control’ options (‘wide’ or ‘narrow’) you prefer – and then you’re in business.

During the early part of 2024 Bang & Olufsen will introduce a feature of interest to those who are running a couple of Beolab 8 as a stereo pair. ‘Fluid sweet spot’ intends to use the position of your smartphone to optimise the stereo image to suit, which sounds like an intriguing idea.

The Beolab 8 is built on Bang & Olufsen’s increasingly ubiquitous ‘Mozart’ platform, which gives it compatibility both forwards and backwards. Because the platform is adaptable and modular, the Beolab 8 has been proactively designed to be easily upgradable  to take account of new technologies not currently on the radar. And because ‘Powerlink’ is part of the ‘Mozart’ platform, the Beolab 8 is compatible with Bang & Olufsen audio and video products dating back three decades and more. 

Controlling the Beolab 8 can be done in a couple of (well-implemented, reliable) ways. The glass top-plate is home to some illuminated capacitive touch controls – they’re woken by a proximity sensor. Here you can take care of ‘play/pause’, ‘volume up/down’, and ‘skip forwards/backwards’ - and it’s also where you can access your four presets, and where you can initiate Bluetooth pairing.  

The real action, though, lies with the Bang & Olufsen control app that’s free for iOS and Android. It remains one of the more useful and better-looking examples of its – and it covers every eventuality. For instance, EQ adjustment is available both via ‘bass’ and ‘treble’ sliders and via the lovely ‘target’ graphic alternative. Playback controls, software updates, forming a stereo pair or creating a multiroom system, running the ‘room compensation’ calibration routine, accessing presets, switching between ‘wide’ and ‘narrow’ sound dispersal characteristics… you name it, the app has it covered.

There’s no voice control available here, though. Given how effective the control app and the touch controls are, it’s not a massive miss - but then again, I can’t help but think that All This Money ought to buy as many niceties as are available…

Features score: 4.5 / 5

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 review: Design

• 290 x 189 x 165mm (HxWxD)
• 4.1kg (without stand)
• Several stand options

Obviously, whether or not you enjoy the design of the Beolab 8 is very much a matter of taste. But there are some aspects of ‘design’ I feel able to discuss without fear of contradiction.

For instance, there’s no arguing with the impeccable nature of the way this speaker is built and finished. It’s hard for a piece of audio equipment of this sort of size to justify its asking price where the look (and, for that matter, the feel) is concerned, but Bang & Olufsen has nevertheless given it a shot. At 290 x 189 x 165mm (HxWxD) the Beolab 8 is big enough to look purposeful, but small enough to be either decorative or discreet depending on your preference. 

As mentioned, the £2,199 I quoted at the outset buys you a speaker in ‘natural’ aluminium with a grey ‘mélange’ grille, sitting on a table-stand. Of course, you may prefer the slatted oak grille of my sample (it’s a finish that features on quite a few Beolab models) - this can be yours along with the ‘natural’ aluminium finish for £2,699. This is also the price that ‘gold tone’ with light oak grille or ‘black anthracite’ with dark oak grille will set you back. 

There are also options where stands are concerned. A wall bracket and a floor stand are both available - and both make a lot of sense if you’re running a stereo pair of Beolab 8 or (for the extraordinarily well-heeled) using them as rear speakers in a surround-sound set-up. The wall bracket (which can also be a ceiling bracket) adds £100 to the price, the floor stand is an extra £200. 

Design score: 4.5 / 5

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 review: Sound quality

• Detailed, energetic sound
• Good low-frequency presence and control
• Can get a little toppy at volume

Has your Beolab 8 calibrated itself to your specific environment? Have you experimented with ‘wide’ and ‘narrow’ beam width? Investigated your B&O Radio preferences and given the control app access to all the music you have stored on a common network? Well then, you’re good to go. 

A 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of Los Campesinos’ You! Me! Dancing! gives the Beolab 8 ample opportunity to explain a fair bit about the way it goes about things, and the news is almost entirely positive. From the get-go, the Bang & Olufsen strikes a balance between ‘forcefulness’ and ‘deftness’ that brings the song vividly to life.

It summons impressive low-frequency presence, for example. Bass sounds are deep, properly shaped and textured, and carry plenty of fine detail regarding tone and timbre along with a serving of straight-ahead punch. Control of the bottom end is good, which means rhythmic expression is confident, and the speaker maintains the momentum of the recording in fine style. Bass sounds stay carefully in their lane, and leave the midrange alone to get on with doing its thing without sticking their oar in.

‘Its thing’ turns out to be communicating in a pretty direct and eloquent style. There’s an absolute stack of character and attitude in the tune’s vocal line, as well as some endearingly approximate technique, and the Beolab 8 makes it plain without sounding in any way analytical or judgemental - it’s an engaged and engaging listen where singers are concerned, and it allows a stack of detail to emerge. There’s an articulacy to the way the Bang & Olufsen handles the midrange that’s by no means a given in any speaker – even one as optimistically priced as this one.

The story is similar at the top of the frequency range, at least where detail levels, control and insight are concerned. The top end attacks with crisp determination - there’s about as much brightness to treble sounds as is acceptable, but unless you’re really pressing on in terms of volume everything remains disciplined. If you enjoy bigger volumes, though, the top-end reproduction here gains quite a lot of ill-deserved confidence, and the result is a skewing of the frequency balance towards the top - and there’s hardness and edginess there as a result.

The entirety of the frequency range is quite smoothly integrated, with scant suggestion of handover at any of the crossover points. The Beolab 8 is a quite spacious and well-defined listen, able to describe space between the competing elements of a recording while maintaining focus at the same time. Dynamic headroom is considerable, and the distance it’s capable of putting between the quietest and the loudest moments in a recording is considerable. It’s similarly attentive to the more minor, but no less significant, dynamic and harmonic variations apparent when listening to an unaccompanied voice or solo instrument.

There’s a definite sensation of directness and positivity to the sound the Beolab 8 makes, no matter the attitude of the music it’s playing. In most circumstances, this works just fine - it’s not as if the speaker is feral in its delivery, but it most certainly knows how to attack. On occasion, though, its determination to impose its ‘up-and-at-’em’ attitude bumps up against recordings that require a gentler, less forthright touch - something like a 24bit/96kHz FLAC file of Arooj Aftab’s Last Night, for instance - and the result is a compromise that doesn’t really suit either party. 

Sound quality score: 4 / 5

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8 review: Value

• Priced beyond its performance...
• ...but Bang & Olufsen customers tend not to mind
• Looks as distinctive as it sounds

Obviously you can buy comparable sound quality for a fair bit less than this. So the question of ‘value’ really rests on how much you enjoy the Beolab 8 aesthetic, and how much you admire Bang & Olufsen’s commitment to premium materials and individualistic design (as well as its determination to make its products both future-proof and compatible with its older models). 

Value score: 3.5 / 5 

Should I buy the Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8: Also consider

How I tested the Bang & Olufsen Beolab 8

• Tested in different positions in my home
• Tested with a variety of digital audio file types…
• …and with a variety of genres of music

I used the Beolab 8 for well over a week, and it occupied quite a few different positions in my home during that time - always on its table stand, of course. As the review makes plain, this speaker has its preferences as regards the type of music you ask it to play - but it turns out to be admirably unfussy about the quality, or resolution, of the digital audio information you feed it. And as long as you don’t position it on a shelf with another shelf directly above, it’s not all that bothered about where you place it, either. 

Read more about how we test

First reviewed in December 2023

The Sony HT-AX7 is in a category of its own. It's a portable Bluetooth-connected surround sound system, where you can just grab the two rechargeable mini 'puck' speakers from the top of the main unit, place them behind you, and be surrounded by movie audio. Or you can just place them around a room for more diffused music than from a single speaker, Sony says.

The Sony HT-AX7 isn't promising 5.1-channel sound or anything quite so simple. It's processing your music and adding Sony's 360 Spatial Sound Mapping to create its best approximation of a bubble of sound around you, based on the location of the three units. There are two speaker drivers plus two passive bass radiators in the main unit, and a speaker in each of the satellites. The price for all this tech is pretty steep compared to your average portable Bluetooth speaker, though, at $499 / $499 (approx. AU$960).

We're not aware of any of the best Bluetooth speakers with a setup like the Sony HT-AX7's. And while some of the best soundbars have detachable and rechargeable rear speakers, as well as Bluetooth, they're far from portable. This device measures just 12 x 5.2 x 4.8 inches / 306 x 133 x 123 mm with the speakers attached.

Clad in simple gray fabric, it's an odd, though not ugly, device aesthetically – kind of like a Lego brick when the speakers are on. The plastic on top has a high-quality matte feel. It bends inwards where you press the buttons for turning it on and off, activating Bluetooth pairing mode, playing/pausing (and taking calls – it has a mic), volume up and down, and the 'Sound Field' button that activates its surround-sound processing.

The two satellite speaker pucks are held on by magnets, and have a smartly designed charging system so you don't have to worry about their rotation at all. The magnets aren't especially strong, which makes them easy to grab, but also is easy to knock off accidentally. If you move the speaker too quickly when picking it up, you may lose one – I did exactly this when turning it to put it on charge. They're also easy to nudge off. However, they're built very solidly, so dropping them was no problem for me. The fabric is the thing most likely to get damaged if they hit something rough.

I had the Sony HT-AX7 out of its box and connected to my iPad Pro in about a minute, with surround sound following seconds behind that. Like all the best Bluetooth speakers, it's super simple – you hit the Bluetooth pairing button on top, connect from your tablet, phone (or whatever), play a movie, and position the rear speakers however you want them.

And with Sony's Sound Field tech on, it sounds good – though I was disappointed by the lack of strong rear effect at first. The volume of the satellite speakers and main speaker is controlled all together, and they were just too quiet by default. But Sony's Home Entertainment Connect app enables you to ramp up the volume of the rear speakers, and I found that increasing their volume by three gave me the impact I was hoping for.

With my iPad or phone, the effect is great – I watched lounging in bed, with the rear speakers on the head board, the front speaker down by my feet, and the tablet in my hand. But I don't actually watch like this all that often – most of my tablet or phone movie watching is done on planes or trains, with some of the best noise-cancelling headphones pulling audio duty.

So next I connected it to what most excited me: my portable projector. I have a Samsung The Freestyle (2022), and for a while I've been planning to get rid of my spare-room TV and just use the projector, but I haven't known what to do about good sound. Its own speakers aren't sufficient, but I haven't found anything that's quite right to connect it to instead – either the connection is wrong or the size is.

But the Sony HT-AX7 is ideal. It connects to the Freestyle over Bluetooth, and the HT-AX7 doesn't have to be permanently out. I can put it on a shelf when I'm not watching, and then just grab it, spread its three speakers out in a few seconds, get in position and start enjoying genuine surround sound with the projector. I'm instantly in love.

And happily, the Sony's sound is really effective when watching movies. It's got enough bass to provide meat to action or big movie soundtracks, but I found dialog easy to pick out, and it's dynamic enough to give impacts and sound effects some heft.

The soundscape feels wider than the small box across the front. Even with my projected screen hitting about 80-inches, the audio didn't feel like a mismatch compared to the screen.

There was impressively little lag over Bluetooth, and absolutely no discernible lag between the front and rear speakers – they felt like a coherent unit. I would not say the surround sound effect is as impressive as my Sonos setup I use for my TV – the rear speakers are too weedy to create a feeling of totally enveloping you (the system doesn't pump bass to them meaningfully at all, relying solely on the front speaker for that) –  but they add directionality for music and effects, and really enhanced the cinematic feeling beyond just having a speaker at the front.

As well as the all-important Sound Field mode, it has two audio modes (accessible through the app) that may come in handy. There's Voice Mode, which pushes the EQ up into higher registers to help speech stand out further, and Night Mode, which clamps down the bass and reduces dynamic range, so it's less likely to wake people in other rooms if a movie turns loud suddenly.

I can certainly imagine there are kids and students who watch a lot more movies on their tablet than I do, and for them the HT-AX7 will be a better fit in a bedroom or dorm room. For me, it's a super-convenient companion to the new breed of small projectors, and it's a total winner in that regard.

However, there had to be a however. We need to talk about the music performance of the Sony HT-AX7, because that's what really causes the $500 / £500 price tag to stick in your throat.

If this were half the price, its music performance would be okay. But at this price, it's an outright disappointment. The mid-range and treble feel weighed down by the bass, and are only able to orbit it rather than express themselves freely, which makes the soundstage feel constrained.

I compared the Sony HT-AX7 directly to a Sonos Era 100, and the Sonos speaker has better balance and detail as a result. It also has a bit more energy… and it's half the price.

Now, the Sony HT-AX7 does, of course, have its party trick: you can take those satellite pucks and place them around the room so it's no longer like you have only one speaker. The sound is more diffused, great for actual parties. And in a party, no one cares about total audio fidelity. 

But as I mentioned before, the system doesn't let the satellites handle bass, so they're only spreading part of the sound around – bass still clearly pulses from the main unit. You could spend the cost of this speaker on two Sonos Era 100 speakers for sound that's dispersed around a room, or less than it on a Sonos Move 2 if you want portability. You'd get better results either way.

It's also worth noting here that there's no support for higher quality sound of any kind. No LDAC for higher-res Bluetooth, no Wi-Fi, no 3.5mm jack or USB-C audio input (its USB-C port is used for charging only).

And for TVs, there's no optical connection or HDMI connection, so you can't connect it to any TV or projector without Bluetooth. I can understand not wanting to deal with HDMI ARC here, but an optical/3.5mm input would have really raised the flexibility of the HT-AX7 for people.

The technical features it does have work perfectly, though. It has multi-point pairing to two devices, which worked totally seamlessly for me. I had no trouble switching between my tablet and projector without any connection freak outs.

And the battery life is far better than Sony's promises, in my experience, though it may depend on volume. Sony says 30 hours officially, but I got well over 40 hours, admittedly playing it mostly at only about 20% of volume (because that's all I've needed while it's in the room with me, trying to run it down while I work). Still, that was with the two satellite speakers separated and playing wirelessly too, and the Sound Field processing on. It's extremely impressive (though I don't like that the app only reports battery life in 20% increments).

Sony recommends a 45W charger for using and charging at the same time, and it doesn't come with this in the box – just a USB-C cable. However, it will charge from a lower charger (I used my 20W phone charger), it just might take a while. But you won't need to charge it often, thanks to that battery life.

I really like the Sony HT-AX7 despite its flaws. I think for the price it simply needs to be more versatile and better with music – but someone who prioritizes those is not who I'd recommend it to. As I said, get two Sonos Era 100 speakers if music is your focus.

This is designed to solve a particular problem. To be a soundbar for Bluetooth devices, without the baggage of an actual soundbar. To be the portable sound equivalent to the best portable projectors, easy to pull out for a thrilling movie night, and to tidy away afterwards. If you're a cinephile in a small space, the Sony HT-AX7 is a quiet revolution. It was for me. I just wish the price felt more justifiable, and the speakers stayed on more steadily.

Sony HT-AX7 review: price and release date

• $499 / $499 (approx. AU$960)
• Released in August 2023

With a price of $499 / $499 (an Australian release is still pending), the Sony HT-AX7 finds itself in the company of products like the Sonos Move 2. As a Bluetooth-only speaker, something like the UE Epicboom is still much cheaper.

But maybe we should compare it some soundbars, too. For the price, the Sonos Beam Gen 2 is a direct competitor to connect to a projector or TV, though it doesn't have Bluetooth. The Samsung HW-Q800C can actually be found for a similar price now, and that has Dolby Atmos, a wide array of speakers, and a separate subwoofer. Of course, it's huge, not portable, and really prefers to be wired, though it has Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

Sony HT-AX7 review: Specs

Should I buy the Sony HT-AX7?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Sony HT-AX7 review: Also consider

How I tested the Sony HT-AX7

• Tested at home, in different rooms
• Used to stream movies and music
• Connected to iPad Pro, iPhone and Samsung The Freestyle (2022)

I tested the Sony HT-AX7 over the course of a week in my home. As mentioned in the review, I used with my 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Samsung The Freestyle projector for watching movies, and with my iPhone for listening to music. I watched movies from Netflix, Disney Plus and Apple TV. For music, I streamed tracks from Apple Music.

For testing the battery life, I played music from my phone to the speaker, with the two satellite speakers removed, and the Sound Field processing mode on.

• First reviewed in October 2023
• Read TechRadar's reviews guarantee

Editor's Note

• Original review date: July 2022
• Launch price: $60 / £60 (approx. AU$86)
• Target price now: $60 / £50

Update: February 2024. We still rate the Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 as the best Bluetooth speaker for cheap bang-for-buck – delivering loud volume that resists distortion, and impressive bass that helps the sound to feel full, without overwhelming the well-detailed treble. The official price has risen in some regions since launch, but you can regularly find it for the target price listed above, or with even bigger discounts in sale events such as Black Friday. We haven't tested anything that's beaten it at this price so far. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2: two-minute review

The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 is the latest proof that 'Tribit' and 'value' are two words that skip happily hand-in-hand down this road we call life. The Chinese audio specialist doesn't yet have the big-brand clout of heavy-hitters such as JBL, Sony, Ultimate Ears and Bose in the best Bluetooth speaker realm – and we almost don't want to shout out the virtues of Tribit's latest offering for fear that it'll join them and prices will go sky high. 

But we're duty bound, so know that Tribit's Stormbox Micro 2 cheap Bluetooth speaker takes everything that was good about the original and betters it – and that little speaker was a high-level contender to begin with.  

With a standard price of $60 or £60 (around AU$86), but already seeing a 10% discount on Tribit's own website, you simply can't do better for design, durability, features and sound quality in a cheap Bluetooth wireless speaker at this wallet-friendly level. 

As with the original 2020 Stormbox Micro, the StormBox Micro 2 is about the size of a stack of drinks coasters, and it has a handy strap on the underside so you can lash it onto a table leg, bag strap or your bike's handlebars – we even managed to strap it onto a hire car's cup holder. 

Now though, the Stormbox Micro 2 is just a little bit larger and weighs 35g more (315g rather than 280g). Like its older brother, the Micro 2 is IP67 dust- and waterproof, but its battery life is now a claimed 12 hours at moderate volumes, which is up from eight hours for the original – and remember, you'll only get five from similarly-sized options such as the JBL Go 3.

The power rating is also improved, from 9W to 10W, which means that the Stormbox Micro 2's loudness is increased. You're also getting Bluetooth 5.3, (up from Bluetooth 5.0) the chief perk here being a new Bluetooth range of 120 feet, according to Tribit. Personally, I was able to stray up to 60ft (18m) from the speaker before it lost connection to my phone – which is seriously impressive when walls and doors were involved. 

Perhaps the biggest improvement is that you can use the Stormbox Micro 2's two-way USB-C port to charge out (ie. to juice up your mobile device) as well as to charge the speaker itself, although it's standard 5W charging rather than fast charging. You get a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box, although no plug, and do note that if you own an iPhone you'll need a USB-C to Lightning cable to use the feature. 

You can also pair two Stormbox Micro 2 speakers together to get either 'Party' (read: mono) sound or create a stereo pair. Although it's a little disappointing to see you must have two Micro 2s to pair them up at all, so you can't daisy-chain other original Stormbox Micros as you can with JBL's PartyBoost tech or the UE WonderBoom 2 and original Wonderboom, say, it's a relatively small gripe at this level. 

And the sound is now beefier, crisper, more exciting and will bring even more fun to your picnic, hike or campfire. The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 offers features you'd never expect at this price, and it's hard to imagine anyone balking at the minimalist, refined design. 

All things considered, the cheap Bluetooth speaker category has a new front-runner – and because of the Micro 2, Tribit is about to get a lot more famous. 

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: price and release date

• $60 / £60 (around AU$86)
• Released in Spring 2022

The Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 was unveiled in April 2022 and right now it is available in black only (the first-gen model occasionally came in a fresh and limited-edition orange colorway but this was an exception rather than a rule), and although regularly priced at $60/£60, it is already discounted by 10% when buying direct from Tribit – which means it'll cost just $54/£54. 

Price cuts and Tribit are fairly common too (and we're very grateful for them) across big online retailers such as Amazon – so keep your eyes open because even at the original price, this is a supremely talented Bluetooth speaker. 

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: design and features

• Compact, pocketable design with built-in bike-friendly strap
• Cushion-shape means a large driver
• Up to 12 hours paytime – ie. four more than the first-gen model

Every design tweak Tribit has made here for the second-generation Stormbox Micro is both welcome and adds value – irrefutable proof that a little more can always be squeezed out of even the best-value portable wireless speaker designs. 

As mentioned, it now doubles as a useful power bank (although it's a 5W charger so don't expect super-fast charging of your phone) and it's just a tad bigger and more rotund. If you think of the Tribit Stormbox Micro as a stack of drinks coasters, Tribit has simply added another coaster to the pile for the Micro 2 – and it has paid dividends when the thing is playing music. 

Visually, there's a little more flair too; the plus, minus and multi-function buttons are now white so as to show up better in low-light situations, and the blue Bluetooth light on the front edge is a little wider and easier to see, although the useful five-strong LED volume indicators are still there. On the underside, the excellent rubberized and slightly stretchy strap remains, but the rubber feet are slightly more substantial. 

And if you thought there were no microphones for speakerphone duties here, you'd be wrong – there's an integrated mic on the front corner, next to the power button, which works just fine as long as you stay relatively close to the speaker on calls. Start strolling up and down the room dictating an email and your caller may tell you to come closer a little closer and speak up. 

It's important to note that the JBL Flip 6 has none of those speakerphone/power bank features and still costs significantly more, so Tribit is performing well before it has even relayed a note. And things don't go downhill there either – but we'll get to the sound later. 

Perhaps our only gripe (and emphatically the only reason we removed half a mark) is the lack of backwards compatibility. Because the first and second-gen models look so similar (and because other firms such as JBL offer it) it would be good if you could beef up the sound by pairing old and new-gen Micros in mono – but this is not possible. 

That said, for newcomers to Tribit, at this money it is well-worth buying two Micro 2s to create an affordable wireless desktop speaker setup – we watch Carrie Underwood's Ghost Story on Apple Music Sessions on our MacBook Pro and found pleasing levels of separation and minimal lag between the music video and its sonic accompaniment. 

• Design and features score: 4.5/5

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: sound quality

• Meaty, zealous, remarkably talented sound
• Impressive bass performance given its size
• Only starts to distort at 80% volume

Tribit has remained tight-lipped about the driver under the grille here, but whatever is going on inside the Stormbox Micro 2, we like – and it'll certainly go loud enough to fuel your picnic, barbecue, campfire or beach day with tunes, even at 60% volume. 

Listening to You Should See Me in a Crown by Billie Eilish is among the toughest test for a bijou speaker's bass chops we can think of, and the Tribit doesn't disappoint. Treble elements (what sounds like the dragging of a knife over a jar) and a synth scream ahead of the low-level beat are impactful, but when the bass drops it really sinks low in the best possible way, delivering a gifted, snappy, agile performance. 

Provided you don't go too loud (anything beyond 80% starts to upset the mix and bloat the bass – but that's hardly surprising given this speaker fits comfortably in your palm) you'll find yourself digging out different tracks to see what the Tribit makes of your more niche music. 

We stream The Waterboys' The Whole of the Moon and cymbal crashes, backing vocals, violins and even the cannon are given ample space to shine in a cohesive and well-handled mix that has us tapping our feet happily. For this money, it's head-scratchingly good. 

The Chemical Brothers' In Dust We Trust is a similar story: sounds fly in with ease and energy, but smaller musical articles which we might have expected would be lost in the mix given this speaker's dimensions are still layered here within its commendable tuning. 

And seeing as it's a five-star review, of course we have to put it to the ultimate classical test, don't we? Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries features all of the three-dimensional strings and soaring trumpets we could possibly hope for at this level, all held firmly in check and with a perceptible, rumbling and exciting dynamic build.

• Sound quality score: 5/5

Tribit Strombox Micro 2 review: value

• Incredibly competitive pricing
• A recommended alternative to bigger brands

We hope we're not over-egging the pudding by saying the Stormbox Micro 2 is incredibly good for its nominal pricing – and as such is incredibly good value. 

It's important to balance this glowing praise by saying it is not the best Bluetooth speaker ever – this tiny design cannot compete with the bigger JBL Charge 5 and its brethren, because aside from their relative size, these designs feature more power, a dual-driver design and a more significant asking fee. 

What you need to know is that for this size and price, nothing on the market comes close, across the board – and by that we mean in terms of design, durability, feature-set and sound quality. Tribit's Stormbox Micro 2 has set a new benchmark. 

It is worth noting that although Tribit does have an app (which works for the splendid Stormbox Blast and two of Tribit's earbud options), the Micro 2 doesn't get app support, so there's no scope for EQ alterations or a numerical volume indicator – but at this level, we think it would be churlish to expect such a thing. 

• Value score: 5/5

Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 review: should you buy it?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Also consider…

Think the Tribit Stormbox Micro 2 might not be the Bluetooth speaker for you? That's cool, here are three alternatives that could offer just the design, feature-set and sound quality you're looking for. 

• First reviewed: July 2022
• How we test: explore TechRadar's review guarantee

Editor's Note

• Original review date: July 2022
• Launch price: $199 / £199 / AU$319
• Target price: $160 / £160

Update: February 2024. The Tribit Stormbox Blast is still our pick among the best Bluetooth speakers if you want something big and powerful for a great-value price. It costs about half the price of the likes of the Ultimate Ears Hyperboom, but delivers the kind of massive, weighty sound you want for a party. There have been several party speakers released since the Stormbox Blast from the likes of LG and Sony and more, but when it comes to value for money, we don't think you can do better even now. Especially if you can get it for a great sales price – we've seen it go for under $140 / £150, but if you aim for our target price above in a smaller discount, that's still absolutely worth getting. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Tribit Stormbox Blast: Two-minute review

Let's address the elephant in the room: the Tribit Stormbox Blast looks about as unsubtle as a brick wrapped in Christmas tree lights coming through your (closed) window. It's a big black plastic cuboid, and to say that the branding, RGB lighting panels and flashing LEDs around the drivers are a little too much for our liking is an understatement. But that's where the harsh criticism ends.

The Stormbox Blast is the biggest and most powerful Bluetooth speaker in Tribit's ever-growing arsenal of portable speakers and it sounds every inch as detailed – even at higher volumes – as models from better-known audio specialists at three times the price. If it's a room-rockin' speaker you're after, this is one of the best party speakers we've tested. 

It's heavier than most of the best Bluetooth speakers out there (5.45kg, to be precise), but, unlike some of the best wireless speakers we've tested, Tribit is unconcerned with multi-room support, voice assistance or accessing your Wi-Fi for higher-quality streaming – although you can pair two of them in stereo, and there is a companion app.

Oh how we wish Tribit's talented audio engineers had run the finished article past a design team a few more times, to ask if all 32 LED lights should really flash at every beat (or were even necessary at all), but close your eyes and its 90W output, handled via two 4.2-inch 30W woofers and two 1.2-inch 15W tweeters, is not far off the performance you'd expect from a set of decent entry-level bookshelf stereo speakers.

It shouldn't sound this good for this money. It shouldn't sound this good given its appearance. It shouldn't have made us smile, nod our heads in time to James Brown's The Boss before looking up and exclaiming, "Wait, that's the Sonos Five playing… right? Right?!" But, what can we tell you? It did. And it wasn't the Sonos. 

If you can bear the idea of bringing it into your home (although, with an IPX7 water-proof rating and a 30 hour battery, you'll rarely need to charge it. It could live in the shed…) and you want a good dollop of fuss-free music, you need to know about the gifted room-filling sonic capabilities of the Stormbox Blast. 

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Price & release date

• Costs $199 / (around £163, U$290) 
• Available from July 6, 2022

The Tribit Stormbox Blast is available to buy now (although, only just), costing one dollar less than $200. Other available regions include Germany (€230), Canada ($260 CAD) and India (₹16,999). 

In the UK however, it doesn't seem to be immediately available and indeed, our sample came with an EU two-pin charging cable, so it remains unclear whether we can expect it to launch in Britain. And that would be a shame. 

If you want something cheaper and more portable, the JBL Flip 6 or JBL Charge 5 are excellent shouts, and the Bose Home Speaker 500 or Amazon Echo Show 15 also boast voice assistant smarts. 

The Sonos Five is considerably pricier (and a Wi-Fi only home speaker) but the JBL Boombox, probably the closest product in this list for design and feature-set, would set you back $450 / £400 (around AU$650) upon its release in April 2020.

What we're saying, however you look at it, this Bluetooth 5.3, 90W beast is an awful lot of speaker for the money. 

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Features

• Bluetooth 5.3 for dual device connection
• USB-C external charging port for your phone
• XBass boost button

Let's begin with physical connections, because you'll find three ports on the back of the Tribit, shielded by a rubber cap: power cable (the Stormbox Blast does not need to plugged in to function, but 3.5 hours is the time it'll take to fully charge if fully drained of its impressive 30-hour battery) a USB-C out for charging your device, and a 3.5mm aux in for wired listening. 

Elsewhere, Bluetooth 5.3 is onboard for dual-device pairing and a wireless range of 40m (which is helpful if two of you are organising the playlist from the dancefloor, say) but sadly you're not getting aptX or AAC codec support; according to the spec sheet your protocols here are A2DP and AVRCP, aka the more basic Bluetooth streaming standard.

Surprisingly for today's market, the Stormbox Blast might not be the best candidate for beach listening either, since it's IPX7 rated – ie. waterproof only, rather than water- and dust-proof (you need to look for IP67 if you want both). Good for a pool party, maybe not if dirt is involved. And there are no mics and no built-in voice assistance either, unlike the Sonos Move, for example. 

What you do get, whether you want it or not, is 32 LED lights – 15 either side of the metallic grille and two behind the dual woofers, which are flanked by the two tweeters, placed in the top corners of the baffle as you look at the speaker. There are three ambient light profiles in total; one scrolls through colors for both the speaker LEDs and the volume-effect side panels, another keeps the speaker LEDs white and gives a rainbow effect to the side panels, and a third turns off all beat-driven light effects, but still fires up those side panels every time you alter the volume. It's not possible to turn all lights off, all the time, even via the Tribit app – more on this in a minute. 

The top plate is where you will probably alter this most of the time, (volume and playback can also be handled from your phone) where the seven buttons for power, Bluetooth pairing, volume, playback, ambient light show profiles and XBass are fairly self-explanatory, but we feel the need to say something about that last one. Although XBass can be deployed by pressing the button on the top plate, we would not recommend it – you can do better in the app. This button is supposed to pump up the bass, but for us it simply draws a slightly tinny veil over the otherwise talented sound. And you can do so much more! 

In the Tribit app, which feels a little sparse initially but adds value nonetheless, you can also choose from jazz, audiobook, party, classical or music EQ presets and tweak them using a five-band EQ tab – or you can customize your own from scratch. We like the jazz and music presets a lot, and although the bulk of this review is written using the pre-existing music profile, there's a lot of scope for tailoring things to your liking here. 

Tribit hasn't shouted much about its app, and perhaps it should. Although a relatively simple affair, it allows you to see the remaining battery in the speaker, which is a huge help if you're planning a shindig. 

• Features score: 4.5/5

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Sound quality

• Meaty, zealous and musical sound
• Regimented and impressive bass floor
• Vocals textured and resonant

Want a shy, retiring sound for personal listening so as not to irritate your neighbor? You will have to tread carefully here, and it's important to note that during our tests, we found the difference of two to three volume increments was enough to go from too quiet to too loud indoors. But Tribit has made no secret of wanting to bring the party to both your ears and your body, and it has delivered. This thing can go loud. If you're worried whether one speaker will be enough for the garden party, it will here. 

Compare it to one of Ultimate Ears' bigger options such as the Boom 3 and there's no contest in terms of bass weight: we stream Snoop Dogg's Lay Low and the stop-start hip-hop riff is full, regimented and snappy through the Tribit and actually makes the UE sound lightweight and treble-centric in direct comparison – and although we realise that's not a fair comparison for size, for price, there's only about $50 in it. For our money, the smart money goes on the Tribit here. 

Our playlist continues to Poison by Bel Biv DeVoe, and vocals are textured and celebrated within a wide soundfield, where everything from the percussive riff to the walking bass is given enough space to be impactful. At this level, it's a lot – in a good way. 

Kristin Chenoweth's Taylor, The Latte Boy proves that the Stormbox Blast isn't just a one-trick pony and a bit of kit for avid for bassheads, though. Keys are three-dimensional as Chenoweth's stunning mixed belt comes through with oodles of fun and emotion. She sits a little close to the microphone here, and the fact that you can tell is a huge compliment to Tribit. 

Ghetts' Know My Ting is one of the most challenging tests of timing we could suggest for a speaker intended for Bluetooth streaming at a party, and the Stormbox Blast doesn't disappoint. Leading edges of notes are crisp and held resolutely in check. Juicy bass registers leave as quickly as they arrive, too, never muddying the layered and often intense dance mix. 

• Sound quality score: 5/5

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Design

• A heavy black plastic design
• Actual speaker configuration is inspired though
• Lights and branding may not be to your taste

This speaker is heavy – it's a brave soul that takes it on public transport because if you drop it en route, someone's foot is going to be sore for days.

Look, as we've said, we're not big fans of the light-up feature and general aesthetic here, plus it's only available in black and the branding and buttons are a little big. The big chunky plastic handle seems to lack a bit of finesse, too. 

Then again, this is a speaker built for a party, it's not intended to merge into your lounge like the plethora of demure fabric-covered spheres, cushions and oblongs currently on the market. 

And if you've got younger family members who want a house party, it may well appeal. Does the return of the original boombox sound novel and interesting to you? Well, you'll certainly be able to feel the weight of one here, and the passive rubberized radiators on the side of the unit are actually a nice feature. They don't move as much as those on the JBL Flip 6, but they're fun and they certainly seem to aid the sound dispersion and accuracy. 

What you need to know is that its innards are spot on; the four-driver configuration provides a nice wide soundstage and we wish that those drivers had taken a little more of the limelight rather than the LEDs – but each to their own. 

• Design score: 3.5/5

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Value

• A huge dose of good quality music and bass for the money
• No voice assistance or mics 
• For solid, room-filling sound though, it's a no-brainer

Sonically, the Tribit Stormbox Blast isn't just good value, it's simply unbeatable value. But this is no shy and retiring speaker you can slip into the water bottle holder on your bike. When you listen to it, people will not just hear it, they'll see those lights too. 

In terms of feature set, there are a few holes on the spec sheet (no mics, no scope for multi-room integration) and the app is standard rather than exhaustive – but then again, those detailed, customizable EQ presets are something few propositions boast at the level. 

And we hope we have truly impressed upon you how good it sounds – for a cheap one-box speaker design it's truly surprising. We thought we might hate it and what we actually feel is light years away from hate. In fact we love the sound. 

We might hide it when not listening to it, you understand, but it can always be a guilty pleasure, for those nights when you're hosting a party of one – ie. you, and no guests. 

• Value score: 5/5

Should I buy the Tribit Stormbox Blast?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Tribit Stormbox Blast review: Also consider

• First reviewed: July 2022
• How we test: explore TechRadar's review guarantee