A portable party speaker that goes by the name of Bang? Tronsmart have pretty much nailed their marketing right there. At least they have as long as this speaker lives up to the initial premise.
Spoiler alert: it does just that, and it does so with aplomb.
I’ve been extremely impressed with the Tronsmart Bang in the weeks that I’ve spent using it. Sold as a ‘party speaker’, I’ll admit to having rarely – read: never – having utilised it for any party activities. But instead this has come in alongside the likes of the diminutive little Tribit XSound Plus 2 for a bit of outdoor Game Pass fun and music listening opportunities as the BBQ has been fired up. Would you class that as a party? Probably not, but that’s more down to personal situations than anything else. We can’t hold Tronsmart culpable for a lack of friends…
As you may expect from something of such a name, the Tronsmart Bang is a beefy, yet portable, speaker. Much bigger in size than the little Tribit XSound Plus 2 that we’ve dragged pretty much everywhere, for our liking it’s a little too large for utter portability. But even though this comes in with dimensions of 370mm long x 180 high x 150 deep, it weighs less than you would expect, running at a smidge over 3kg in weight. That means that whilst we’d not consider packing it up and chucking it in a rucksack, for other situations, throwing it in the boot of a car and heading to the beach perhaps, it’s near perfect.
In fact, that beach scenario is where the Bang would find a spiritual home. Extremely robust and with IPX6 waterproofing, this is a speaker that is more than capable of whatever you throw at it. And most importantly, whatever that is, it sounds good too. Full of bass but still well balanced, the bulk of the Bang is a huge speaker grill, covered down the front, bottom and sides by plastic trims to keep it safe and ensure that the portable nature comes to the fore; an easy-to-grip Tronsmart branded top works brilliantly as a handle.
That speaker seems to be able to cover anything thrown at it too. We’ve not felt the need to ramp this up to 11 and beyond in terms of volume, if only as the Bang gets very loud, but the SoundPulse Audio included has always felt rich, deep and fairly bassy, no matter whether it has been pushing out some of the finest tunes sent its way, or the gaming audio coming through our phone and Game Pass Cloud Gaming.Â
All black in colour, the Tronsmart Bang is an aesthetically pleasing piece of kit – it’s certainly one that you’d be happy to take to the nearest party. That grill makes it stand out well, but highlighting the ends and around the front are strips of LED lighting. Again, those party vibes come to the fore with these, as you are able to switch through various cycles, colours and the like. Those lights really do help set the Tronsmart Bang off well, especially as the sun goes down, and the fire ramps up. That lighting is very impressive, especially as it pulses to the audio being distributed. The only downside is that the pulsing only kicks in once the volume is over a certain level, otherwise the lights just subtly breathe.
So how is the Bang controlled? Well, a big old battery gives this roughly 15 hours of use on a single charge, with a USB-C port ensuring there’s no issue with powering it back up again. In a neat touch a separate USB-A port allows the Bang to be used as a power bank, delivering some juice back to your phone if you need it. We’d prefer that to have been another USB-C if we’re honest, but with connection via Bluetooth 5.3, any drain should be kept at an absolute minimum. Four front-facing LEDs helpfully signal the battery level too.Â
From there come other ways of connecting. An Aux-in port feels a bit old-school but will be fine for many, whilst the lesser known TF/SD card slot covers a couple of extra bases. Perhaps this latter inclusion would have been great for years gone by, and there’s probably a niche subsect that will find use, but for us, the Bluetooth connectivity is pretty much the only one of appeal.Â
And as with very much every speaker every made, we’ve found controlling the Tronsmart Bang to be a cinch. Connection has been utterly stable and the inclusion of various soft touch buttons on the top mean you’ll rarely find yourself in a pickle. A power button, volume controls (doubling up as a track switcher) and play/pause, an EQ indicator and a Mode button allow for some tactility if required. There’s even an NFC area ready for chips to be slammed on if you so require whilst the TuneConn button lets you pair it with up to 100 other speakers. Yes, 100 other speakers. We’re sure there’s a use case scenario somewhere in the world for that…
For us, we’ve found the vast majority of our time with the Bang has been controlled through the rather decent Tronsmart App. On Android, this has worked flawlessly, connecting to the Bang in seconds, allowing for switching of light colours and EQ settings. We’ve been left impressed by the App, even if it’s not required once everything is set up to a personal liking.
So yeah, the Tronsmart Bang Portable Party Speaker – a worthy purchase? Consider the asking price of $109 / £85 and you’ll find that this one is sorely tempting – especially if you do find a proper use for its party vibes. We’d go as far to say that if you’re after a do it all speaker that you can take to a variety of places, it’ll sort you out, leaving you extremely happy.Â
Huge thanks go out to Tronsmart for providing us with the Tronsmart Bang Portable Party Speaker for review. You’ll find the Bang kicking around on Amazon if you wish to purchase.Â
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