With summer just around the corner, we’re moving into Bluetooth speaker season. These portable powerhouses are a convenient way to enjoy your music in the great outdoors. Ideal for a camping trip, a day at the beach, or to provide the soundtrack to a summer BBQ. TheTribit XSound Plus 2is one of the latest mid-range offerings and could be the perfect way to bring the party atmosphere to your leisure pursuits.
Tribit XSound Plus 2
The Tribit XSound Plus 2 packs plenty of punch into its compact frame and is an excellent and relatively inexpensive option for enjoying your music in the great outdoors.
Price and Availability
The Tribit XSound Plus 2 retails for approximately $70 on theTribit websiteand is available in a black color option only.
Specifications
The XSound Plus 2 packs plenty of punch into its compact frame and is an excellent and relatively inexpensive option for enjoying your music in the great outdoors.
Unboxing and Setup
As you might expect, inside the box the contents are fairly spartan. You’ll find the speaker itself, a USB-C charging cable, and a set of operational instructions. There are no frills here, but you have everything you need, and setting things up takes a matter of seconds.
Pairing the XSound Plus 2 with my smartphone took around 30 seconds, and I was happily listening to some of my favorites straight away.
Simple Yet Intuitive Design
The XSound Plus 2 has a pill-shaped appearance, and it looks…fine. Visually, it lacks the cool aesthetic of some other portable Bluetooth speakers, but it’s sleek and smooth if a little underwhelming.
Across the top of the speaker, you’ll find a button array that includes the usual power, Bluetooth, and volume buttons. In addition, there’s an EQ button that you can use to switch between three different sound modes (Normal, Audiobook, and XBass).
Lastly, there’s the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) button, which allows you to pair two XSound Plus 2 speakers together. This works by pairing the first speaker with your phone, and then the second speaker with the first.
Once two speakers are connected, you may engage Party Mode (literally and figuratively) as you crank up the sound. With only one review unit supplied, I wasn’t able to test this function. However, given the ease with which I was able to access the rest of this device’s functions, I have no doubt it would have worked smoothly, as intended.
Performance: Small, Yet Powerful
Crucially, this is where the Tribit XSound Plus 2 really shines. Its 30-watt speaker delivers crisp and clear audio, with the XBass feature kicking out a meaty slap of bass for such a small speaker.
With Bluetooth 5.3, you get a flawless and reliable connection. This speaker supposedly provides 150 feet of wireless range, and although my garden is sadly nowhere near that long, I didn’t experience a single issue with the XSound Plus 2’s connectivity. It worked like a charm.
Plus, with the Tribit app onAndroidandiPhoneyou can customize the EQ settings to tweak things to your liking, with slider settings to make the job nice and simple. It’s not exactly the most comprehensive of apps and its features (although easy to navigate) are fairly minimal.
There are one or two custom presets to choose from here as well, if tweaking everything individually feels too arduous. Overall, and despite lacking any real depth of options, it still manages to feel satisfying, and it’s unlikely that you’ll feel short-changed with the quality of the output.
During my time with the Tribit XSound Plus 2, I used it mostly for music and found the XBass mode to be my go-to for that purpose. It rounds out the overall sound nicely and puts a bit more meat on the bones for your tunes.
Normal mode is more than adequate for more vocal, less bass-heavy tunes, although you’ll likely want to shift gears to XBass mode when you want a bit more of a punch for larger gatherings. Audiobook mode is satisfyingly fit for purpose, and ideal for enjoying the dulcet tones of your favorite narrators, giving their voices a clear and crisp quality.
30 Hour Party People
One of the Tribit XSound’s biggest boasts is its excellent battery life. Supplying 30 hours of power on a full charge, you don’t need to worry about it conking out on you anytime soon.
The caveat to this is that if you’re listening at high volume for extended periods, or engaging the XBass mode continually, you can expect the total run time to be a little less overall.
Nevertheless, however you’re using it, the XSound Plus 2 is a marathon runner among Bluetooth speakers. And its long-lasting battery adds to its portability, making it a sound choice for any occasion or excursion.
Should You Buy the Tribit XSound Plus 2?
The market for dependable Bluetooth speakers has become saturated during the last couple of years, and offerings within the $50-$99 bracket are plentiful. TheTribit XSound Plus 2sits in the mid-range of that bracket and has an impressive price-to-performance ratio that helps it to stand out.
Granted, it’s unlikely to win any prizes for its looks, but it has the sauce where it counts. The sound quality is great, despite the options for customization being a little barebones. It also has an excellent battery life, giving you plenty of juice for any occasion.
It’s robust enough to handle a fair amount of rough and tumble, with an IPX7 waterproof rating to protect it against splash and dust damage, and is compact and lightweight enough to be easily stashed inside a bag while in transit. It’s ideal for personal use or for smaller gatherings.
The Tribit XSound Plus 2 is simple to use, sounds great (particularly for the price point), and loves being outdoors, come rain or shine.
For the $70 (approximate) asking price, there’s plenty of value for money to be had with this speaker. And if you’re looking for an affordable and reliable all-weather Bluetooth speaker that’s easy to operate, this one’s a doozy.
