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Get $40 off Tribit's new Bose-like StormBox Pro Bluetooth speaker

Tribit's new flagship Bluetooth speaker, the StormBox Pro, lists for $120 but a CNET-exclusive 35% off code brings the price down to $78.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews

Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET's Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He's also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Kobo e-books and audiobooks.

Expertise Headphones, Bluetooth speakers, mobile accessories, Apple, Sony, Bose, e-readers, Amazon, glasses, ski gear, iPhone cases, gaming accessories, sports tech, portable audio, interviews, audiophile gear, PC speakers Credentials

Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Consumer

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David Carnoy

April 8, 2021 12:01 p.m. PT

2 min read

tribit-stormbox-pro — Tribit's new StormBox Pro lists for $120 but can be had for less.
David Carnoy/CNET

Tribit has built up a strong reputation in the past few years by delivering some of the better-sounding affordable Bluetooth headphones and portable speakers in recent memory. A good case in point is the StormBox Micro, a budget take on Bose's excellent SoundLink Micro speaker. It's one of the best-sounding pocket-size speakers I've heard and retails for $40. Now, with its new StormBox Pro ($120), Tribit is taking aim at Bose's SoundLink Revolve Plus ($250).

To celebrate the launch of the new speaker (and presumably to get some people to buy it and review it on Amazon), Tribit is offering a special "launch" deal to CNET users. If you apply the code CNETSBPRO at checkout at Amazon, you get 35% off, bringing the price down to $78. The deal ends at midnight PT on April 24.

See it Amazon

I recently got my hands on a review sample and can tell you that's a very solid Bluetooth speaker that can play loud and has punchy bass for a speaker its size. In fact, the speaker is equipped with a bass-boost button labeled XBass that indeed makes the speaker produce more bass. Why you'd ever turn it off, I don't know. But that's usually the case with speakers that have a bass-boost button -- they simply don't sound as good sans bass boost, so I'm not sure what the point of the button is except to market the speaker as having an extra bass mode.

tribit-stormbox-pro-vs-bose — Mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery? The StormBox Pro next to the Bose SoundLink Revolve Plus.
David Carnoy/CNET

While the StormBox Micro actually sounds pretty close to the Bose SoundLink Micro, I can't say that the Stormbox Pro sounds as good as the Bose SoundlLink Revolve Plus, which is due for an upgrade this year. The Bose just sounds a little fuller with a bit more detail and bass definition and better overall tonal balance. The Bose also has a swankier design although the StormBox Pro is fully waterproof and dustproof with an IPX67 rating and seems pretty sturdy. Its battery life is also very good (it's rated at 24 hours at 50% volume).

The Bose costs a lot more, particularly after you use the code CNETSBPRO on the StormBox Pro at checkout (it's a little more than three times the price). And if you're just looking for a mobile speaker that you plan on using outdoors a lot, you should be happy with the StormBox Pro. I like the Anker Soundcore Motion Plus for around $100 (it does sound a little better than this speaker), but the StormBox Pro does have that convenient carrying handle integrated into its design.

I should note that Gizmodo reported that the speaker made a "popping sound" when its volume was cranked to the max. I did not experience that in my tests, but I would recommend only taking the volume up to around 85% because smaller speakers like this -- even though they can play loud -- tend to distort a bit at their max volumes. Also, your battery life will drop if you crank the volume.