TRIBIT StormBox 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker Review

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy. Or at least it is if you have the TRIBIT StormBox 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker to hand. This thing has powered us through both Summer and Autumn with utter ease. It’s Winter now, and we’ve still kept it to hand… 

We’ve been lucky enough to have had a few portable wireless speakers available for use during 2024, as we’ve used them for party opportunities through the year, as well as becoming totally obnoxious whilst gaming through Game Pass on our phones. And yes, we may have been asked to ‘turn those bloody games down’ once or twice. 

But hey, testin’ is testin’ and we’ve put the TRIBIT StormBox 2 through its paces over the course of the last few months. It’s come out the other end with flying colours. As would be expected really as past history has proved when we spent time with its smaller cousin, the TRIBIT XSound Plus 2 Speaker. 

Whilst the XSound Plus 2 was a horizontal piece of kit that ran a landscaped lifestyle, the StormBox 2 switches up 90 degrees to rise high into the sky. Although that’s a little bit of an exaggeration as this thing, although mighty, is still pretty teeny tiny. Yes, it’s not pocketable, but it’s easily small enough to drop into a rucksack or satchel, as you head out for the day. 

Weighing in at 580 grams and measuring 180mm x 69mm x 69mm, the StormBox 2 is far from a big device. But that’s probably not what you want from a portable Bluetooth speaker, one that you’ll be looking to take on your travels, powering your music, party and – at least for us – Game Pass sessions with aplomb.

All black in design, with a handy carrying strap up top, the first thing you’ll notice about the StormBox 2 is the material vibes that surround pretty much the entire unit. Housing 360° sound, two embedded full-range speakers and two lots of 17W power outputs, the front of that grill is only broken up by some seriously oversized buttons – a plus, minus and circle, with a tiny Tribit logo underneath though. 

We don’t think we need to sit here and explain what those are for, but it’s great that these up and down volume buttons are so front and centre; they are extremely easy to hit. The middle one very much works as a bit of a multi-function button, pausing, skipping tracks, answering calls and the like. Honestly though, for as easy as the StormBox 2 is to use, we’ve mostly resorted to on-phone/on-laptop controls for ease of use. 

Around the back is a soft-touch strip, running top to bottom of the speaker, housing some more important buttons and ports. There’s a power button (although with auto-off capabilities, you’ll use this less than you would imagine), and a Bluetooth button which lets you connect up to two different devices at once. Frankly, set-up of the Bluetooth from our phone to speaker was about as simple as you can imagine, and since that first install, it’s been extremely solid throughout. You’d expect that to be the case with Bluetooth 5.3 on board. 

There’s also then a Bass boost button, which is fine if you need it. The thing is, out of the box, the StormBox 2 is pretty hefty on the old bass as is, and we’ve been more than happy with the audio this thing has pumped out. We’ve used it for a range of things, from music listening in the garden, running multiple genres, each of which has sounded great. But then we’ve also used it whilst gaming on our phones. Thanks to the power of Game Pass and Cloud Gaming, it’s something we do much more than we ever imagined, and have enjoyed listening to the TRIBIT SoundBox 2 pushing out all manner of gaming clatter. Yes, perhaps we should be using our SteelSeries Arctis GameBuds more, if only to be less annoying to our family members, but where’s the harm once the sessions get powered up… 

The final button on the StormBox 2 is that of TWS, allowing you to link up multiple speakers, with one hosting, the other slaving. We’ve never really felt a need for such a thing, but if that is required, it’s good that TRIBIT have it included here. 

Hiding away right at the bottom edge of the StormBox 2 is a sealed rubber flap that houses a 3.5mm audio port, as well as the USB-C port for charging. That flap ensures an IPX7 waterproof rating (although we’re not sure we’d chuck it in a pool), whilst a full day – 24 hours – of audio play is promised here. With that much battery and juice, you won’t need to reach for the charger all too often. 

It’s the sound you’ll come to the StormBox 2 for though, and we’ve – again – been mighty impressed by what TRIBIT have offered up. Is it a game changer if you’ve already got a portable speaker? Probably not, but as a first foray into the scene, as something you can sling into a bag for a day trip, it most certainly does the business. 

Huge thanks go out to TRIBIT for providing the StormBox 2 Portable Bluetooth Speaker for review. Grab one for yourself from TRIBIT direct (£59.00) or Amazon (£62.00).