A Portable Powerhouse with a Punch
In recent years, we’ve found ourselves spending time with a number of ‘party’ speakers.
From the huge Tron Bang, to a couple of offerings from TRIBIT, in the form of the XSound Plus 2 and then the StormBox 2, they’ve powered our audio across multiple scenarios, including that of Game Pass play, connected up to our mobile device and laptop for enhanced gaming sound.
And now we’ve been doing exactly the same with the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+. For a ‘Mini’ device, this thing is rather excellent.
A Compact and Colourful Design
It should come as no surprise to hear that the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ is a speaker that works similar angles to the previous StormBox 2, but minimises pretty much everything, packaging it all up in a neat little device that has a teeny tiny footprint. If you’re looking for a portable speaker that can be chucked in a backpack, or take up next to no space when camping, we’re not sure you’ll find many better; especially not many that can handle audio in such a way.
Don’t think that this thing weighs next to nothing though. The TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ may be small – 119mm x91mm x 91mm – but it’s extremely hefty in weight, coming in at 545 grams. In fact, we were initially astonished by the mass out of the box, expecting something much lighter. But hey, TRIBIT have obviously slammed a ton of tech, features and more into the Mini+, and that is all for the best.
Coming in various colours – black, blue, and the gorgeous green that we’ve been hands-on with – the Mini+ is a good looking little speaker. It’s essentially a squashed down StormBox 2 with oversized buttons front and centre, sitting across the good looking grill; a grill that hides some immersive 360° stereo sound. Those are volume and control buttons, ensuring that ramping things up, bringing it all back down again, skipping tracks, answering calls and the like is a cinch. In fact, we’ve very much taken to these buttons, even if we have mostly preferred to use on-device controls for integration.
There’s a handy little hold hoop on the top, TRIBIT logo’d and perfect for carrying or hanging from specific places. And then around the back are three more buttons – power, Bluetooth and one that controls some top mounted LED lighting. Yep, if you’re looking for some injection of colour to your party, gaming, or audio listening moments, the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ is fully complete with a ring of LEDs up top, pulsing away to the tunes that are being smashed out.
Those latter three buttons are situated on a cool strip that breaks up the speaker grill round the back, with a 3.5mm AUX port and USB-C charging port hidden away behind a sealed cover. We’ve not seen much use for the 3.5mm port, but grabbing any old USB-C cable to charge the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ means that you should never be without power. And if you need it, a pretty short USB-A to USB-C cable is included in the box.
Performance and Portability
There’s no doubt that the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ is a hugely impressive speaker, one that has been put together with plenty of care and attention, but it’s in the audio where this shines. Perhaps getting a little muddy at the very top end of the volume it allows – which for the record is LOUD – but knocking the sound down a tiny bit brings plenty of clarity across all areas. It’s super bassy if you need it to be, totally belying the size of the unit. It’s been pretty neat to use this as a Game Pass audio provider, especially when out and about, getting in some game time on mobile, combining it with the likes of our GameSir X5 Lite USB-C Controller. In fact, we’ve camped with the Mini+ and found it near perfect.
It’s helped that the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+ is IPX7 rated in terms of waterproofing, whilst TRIBIT themselves sell this as capable of running for some 12 hours before charge is required, all thanks to the 2600 mAh battery. We’ve not put a stopwatch on things, but over the course of a good month or so of use, have found it to more than deliver the power, although we’d suspect that if you fire the volume up to 11 and keep those LEDs blazing, that power consumption may increase. Thankfully, the USB-C power port means it’s easy to chuck in a ton of juice too. Further to all that, and if you need it, running a Stereo Mode with another Mini+ is possible, but we’ll be honest, with the sound it produces, we’ve never felt that is something needed.
A Mini Speaker with Major Value
Of course, those stats and numbers don’t allow the Mini+ to go toe-to-toe with the StormBox 2, but we’re not sure we care, especially not when you consider this is basically half the price, and half the size, of that other unit. The sheer portability of this one makes it extremely enticing and whilst we’d possibly want just a tad more battery, it’s more than capable of powering on through a day, for very little cash outlay.
Should you need a new portable speaker, and want something that takes up next to no space, consider the TRIBIT StormBox Mini+.
Huge thanks go out to TRIBIT for providing the StormBox Mini+ for review. Grab one for yourself from TRIBIT direct, or head to Amazon where you’ll find it for around £29.99
*If you use our Amazon affiliate link, we may receive some commission on your purchase. Thanks in advance.
