Gadgets: Tribit StormBox Blast portable Bluetooth speaker loaded with features

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The Tribit StormBox Blast portable Bluetooth (5.3) speaker brings back the boombox days of the past. The portable speaker has a precise sound blasting out and 32 built-in flashing LED lights to put on a show by brightening, pulsing and syncing to the music, adding to a party ambiance.

The StormBox Blast is loaded with features, with the sound coming from 90 watts, two 30-watt woofers and two 15-watt tweeters. Body-shaking XBass Technology is built into the speaker to take it to the next boom-boom level. With the press of a button, the bass is pumped up for a head- and body-shaking sound experience. At high volumes, yes, you should warn your neighbors, since they will hear it loud and clear.

You'll get about 30 hours of playtime out of the rechargeable battery. It has an IPX7 waterproof rating, meaning it will withstand splashes and rain showers. The IPX7 rating states it can even be submerged in water for 30 minutes at a depth of 1 meter, but I would not recommend that with any electronics.

The built-in handle on the 6.41-by-15.94-by-8.89-inch speaker makes the portable part of the Tribit StormBox Blast speaker. It's all built in a black plastic body with black metal grills. Lights are built into the sides and the front-facing speaker.

All the controls have easy access on the speaker's top but right under the handle, including all the usual features, including volume, power, Bluetooth pairing, pausing, and controlling the LED light show.

There is a Tribit app to control the sound with customization features and update the speaker's firmware. A USB-C port works as a power bank, allowing smartphones and other USB devices to charge.

A second Tribit StormBox Blast can be purchased and paired for a full stereo sound. The sound was rich and clear, with just one speaker at low volumes. Adding the XBass makes it better if you like a bass-heavy sound. Bringing the speaker outdoors and cranking up the sound to very high volumes was just as impressive and even triggered the loud environment warning on my Apple Watch.

www.tribit.com $199.99

The Monoprice BT-600ANC Bluetooth headphones are a great deal for the money. I hate to say this and have the company raise the price, but they are worth the sub-$100 price point for anyone wanting decent sound without breaking the bank.

They are far from no-frills headphones; in fact, they have some features that are typically in more expensive brands. First and foremost is the active noise cancellation, which impressed me from the start, using multiple microphones in the headset for exceptional background noise reduction.

A button on the headset controls the noise canceling modes, which according to Monoprice, has up to 35 decibels of noise reduction and suppresses environmental noise for hearing what you want clearly.

Like with any headset, the sound is most important, and with the BT600s, 40 mm drivers are in each earcup, which has soft and comfortable pads to rest on the outside of your ears. With any music playlist, my preferred choice of live baseball sounds precisely as they are promoted: exceptional clarity throughout, with deep, accurate bass response.

Bluetooth 5.0 allows for multidevice pairing and will play for up to 40 hours. The touch controls are responsive for track selection, volume mute and hands-free calls. Three buttons are on the side for the ANC modes, power and Bluetooth pairing. A 3.5 mm audio jack is there for direct wired listening.

www.monoprice.com

Scosche has a fast USB-C wall charger with the Dual-Port USB-C power delivery wall charger.

The pocket-sized AC wall outlet charger has foldout prongs, making storage and travel easy. A built-in pair of USB-C ports are on the front, and the Powervolt PD35 supports fast charging with GaN technology.

There's not a lot to it, but when you consider most of the chargers included with smartphones only have a few watts of charging, now this goes to 35 watts with built-in safety measures to prevent overcharging and overheating. It's a significant upgrade for safe and fast charging.

When two devices are plugged in, an iPhone and an iPad, the iPad will automatically get a more significant share of power (20 watts) from the Powervolt PD35. The iPhone will get 15 watts, and both will charge safely and fast.

www.scosche.com $49.99

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