The Tribit StormBox Lava is the latest Bluetooth speaker to have enough oomph to make your neighbors hate you a little bit more each time you turn it on at full blast. It undercuts similar products in price, but I have quibbles with its audio performance, so don’t rush in too fast.
Tribit StormBox Lava
The Tribit StormBox Lava packs 80W of total power to a portable speaker that can be taken to most places, thanks to its IP67 water and dust rating.
- Audible hiss when using wirelessly
- Outdated USB-A port for reverse charging
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Price and Availability
The StormBox Lava retails for $129.99. It comes with a removable shoulder strap and handle in the box. At launch, it’s only available in black.
80W of Output Is the Main Feature
The StormBox Lava isn’t completely void of features, but far and away its main appeal is being a speaker with plenty of volume. That’s the part to focus on. It plays music loudly through its four drivers—two 30W woofers and dual 10W tweeters for 80W of total output.
For comparison, the competing speaker that the StormBox Lava rips its design off from, the JBL Charge 6, is $70 more expensive and has around half the total output power. The StormBox Lava is physically bigger, with a few extra pounds of weight over the Charge 6, but they’re close enough to be competitors.
In terms of the sound performance of the StormBox Lava’s beefy drivers, that’s a mixed bag. Out of the box, there was a noticeable hiss when using it wirelessly. A firmware upgrade performed through the Tribit mobile app, available for iPhone and Android, mitigated that to some degree, but not completely. During quiet songs or getting up close to it, the high noise floor was still obvious.
I connected different devices in different rooms to try to avoid any potential interference, but the results were the same. The company touts its TI (Texas Instruments) amplifier chip and Bluetooth version 5.4 as a feature, but that doesn’t seem to improve the wireless connection experience. This is not a problem I experienced on the Tribit StormBox Flow either. I used the aux output with a wired 3.5mm cord, and the issue was still present, though not quite as prominent.
Most casual listeners might not notice the low hiss from the speaker. I could get over it most of the time when used outside.
On the flip side, it’s pretty annoying if you do notice it. In between songs, it sticks out like a sore thumb. It has the same effect as noticing a tiny dead pixel on a computer monitor that you can’t unsee.
Going beyond the low, static hiss, which may or may not be obvious, the overall sound is well-balanced and sounds solid. Songs from a variety of genres sounded well-represented when playing them on the speaker.
Of course, I fell victim to the urge to turn the volume up just to see how loud it could get. Inside a house, you probably won’t be able to utilize the full volume without angering people. When used outside, at a park, or in the backyard, the full volume is much more appropriate. I found the StormBox Lava to be capable as a powerhouse relative to its still portable size.
The XBass EQ adds a noticeable bass thump—down to an advertised 43Hz frequency. There’s a dedicated button on the top of the speaker for a good reason. Turning the XBass EQ setting off makes the speaker feel empty. There are times at night when you need a thinner, less bassy sound, but otherwise, it should be the default and left turned on.
Extra Features and Battery Life
While the StormBox Lava is advertised as having a 24-hour battery life, that number comes when the speaker is used at 50% volume with the XBass feature turned off. I didn’t find myself needing to turn the speaker up past that volume level too often, but I did leave the XBass on most of the time.
In terms of some of its extra features, the speaker features a water and dust resistance rating of IP 67. That means you can use it by the pool or take it to the beach, and it shouldn’t fall to those natural elements. The company also advertises being able to group up to 160 of these devices together. Maybe that’s the case, but please don’t buy more than one of these. Spend the $260 you would have on a different speaker(s).
Even though the StormBox Lava is a speaker with volume, it skimps on other things like the reverse charging output being a USB-A port. You’ll need to keep the cheap included USB-A to USB-C cable close by when you travel from home if you want to utilize the feature.
Should You Buy Tribit StormBox Lava?
The Tribit StormBox Lava Bluetooth speaker is mediocre at best. If you can find it on a steep sale, and you’re looking for something to pump out the volume more than anything, then it’ll do the job. That said, I would be hard-pressed to recommend it at its full retail price of $130, even though it undercuts competing speakers.
The constant hiss from the speaker was bothersome most of the time. Its USB-A output port was more annoying than helpful. Past Tribit speakers have mimicked reputable brands more faithfully, but the StormBox Lava falls flat.
Tribit StormBox Lava
The Tribit StormBox Lava packs 80W of total power to a portable speaker that can be taken to most places, thanks to its IP67 water and dust rating.
