Disclaimer:
Good morning, lads! Today I am reviewing a speaker with decidedly large dimensions, the Tronsmart Bang Max. This “portable” speaker is one of the largest and most powerful that Tronsmart currently provides. I don’t know if the term portable speaker fully suits it; it’s more like a dressed-up sound system.
First of all, I wanted to thank Nora from Tronsmart for sending me this review unit.
I’m going to be as objective as possible, and being a common audio enthusiast, I will use simple words in this review.
I will highlight what I liked and what I didn’t, without any fear.
Tech Specs:
- Product Dimensions: 469 x 196 x 264mm / 18.46 x 7.71 x 10.39 inch
- Product Weight: 5.98kg / 13.18 lbs
- Package Dimension: 517 x 248 x 303 mm / 20.35 x 9.76 x 11.93 inch
- Package Weight: 6.965kg / 15.35lbs
Packaging:
The packaging is practically gigantic, and as always, it is very careful and well made. Already, from the weight itself, you can immediately understand the “portability” of the product, but you can already savor the actual quality of the speaker.
Inside, we find the following accessories:
- 3.5mm Audio Cable
- Warranty Card
- User Manual
- SoundPulse® Card
- DC Power Cord
Very stock accessories, but more than enough. I perhaps expected the power supply to be bigger, but instead it is very small and delivers 15V at 2A for a total of 30W.
Design/Build Quality:
Even before removing it from the box, its upper handle already indicates the dimensions of the product. The speaker has enormous proportions; the weight practically reaches 6 kg, and inside we find a complete 3-way audio system. We have the tweeters, the mids, and the woofers. On the sides, we find the passive radiators with a ring of very beautiful and colorful LEDs around them. In terms of design, there is nothing particularly elaborate or special. The handle is a must for a similar product, the grip is excellent, and the plastic has an excellent thickness. There is purple rubber at the bottom of the handle to prevent it from slipping. If it falls, it will pierce the floor. The base on which it rests is also rubberized to dampen vibrations and prevent it from walking on surfaces.
On the front, we notice the grille covered in fabric with the Tronsmart brand in the center; honestly, perhaps I would have preferred white writing printed directly on the fabric. Above, we have the various controls; behind, instead, we have a huge silicone cap that hides:
- TF Card
- USB output (power bank function)
- Aux In
- 2 Mic Input with gain and volume functions
- Charging port
Built-in Technology:
The 6 mounted drivers reach a declared power of 130W, which for a portable speaker is a decidedly high value. All this is managed by the same technology used on the T7 Lite, or SoundPulse technology, which is nothing more than an integrated DSP with the possibility of correcting the equalization and customizing it. This way, customization can make it suitable for more people. Obviously, it has an app for remote management of these particular features, but if you want to activate them quickly, there is a dedicated button. Furthermore, it also has ECHO functions on 3 levels, which allows you to give a sort of concert hall effect to the sound. You don’t hear much.
App & Features:
An app on products in this price range is always nice to see. The app allows you to manage the LEDs, select different presets, or customize the EQ. Furthermore, there is the possibility to receive firmware updates and execute them easily. Below, I leave you with an example of a firmware update performed during the review. It would be nice to know, with some extra detail, if any fixes were performed.
As regards the graphic equalizer in the custom version that you can see in the screenshots, I slightly corrected the presence of the mids and highs.
A minor issue was discovered: if you set a different preset and then press the SoundPulse and then want to deactivate it, it does not retain the last one used but returns to default.
It can be connected to other identical speakers, but without the limit of 2, up to 100 can be connected.
As you may have noticed, it also has functionality for Karaoke (which I will never use) and the possibility of connecting a guitar with the possibility of adjusting treble, bass, gain, reverb.
First configuration and test:
The Tronsmart Bang Max, just like all the other Tronsmart products, has Bluetooth 5.3, and the connection is very fast and stable. Once the first pairing has been carried out, the connection is lightning fast. As regards the codec, unfortunately, we always and only find the SBC. On a similar product, I would have at least opted for an AAC. I’m not sure if you could actually hear an improvement, but I think it would have been the right compromise.
Starting from the top, we find:
- On and off button + switching of LED games
- BT button to start pairing manually
- Volume up button / if held down – next song
- Play/pause
- Volume down button / if held down – previous song
- TWS pairing
- Soundpulse to activate the mode
- TC to connect more than 2 device
- Echo
Equipment used for the testing above:
Device:
- Redmi Note 7
- Poco M4 Pro
Software:
- Amazon music UHD 24bit 96kHz
Sound impressions:
The speaker puts a stupid smile on your face for the first few seconds. The difference from normal sized speakers is evident; having speakers for each frequency brings notable advantages. If we also add the dimensions to be able to correctly reproduce the low frequencies, we finally have an almost complete sound. We are far from the concept of high fidelity, but I can assure you that for a party speaker, the sound reproduced is excellent. My only criticism is that I have not made more use of the presence of the tweeters. The sound is a little dark, probably due to the bass having a strong presence, especially if used in small spaces where it can be reflected against the walls. It feels like having a subwoofer. Here, the equalizer comes to our aid as it allows us to create our own preset, and in my case, I wanted to restore brilliance to the mids and highs.
The volume is really high; I couldn’t tell you if we actually reach the advertised 130W, but as far as I’m concerned, the volume is really high. It should be disassembled to see the specifications of the amplifier and drivers to understand if it is a true value.
In terms of decibels, it reaches 100 dB in a closed environment; perhaps by working better on the frequencies, we could have reached a few more decibels. The bass, on the other hand, also impacts the body; you don’t just hear it, but you also feel it.
Fast comparison:
Honestly speaking, I don’t have any other portable speakers of similar size, so a direct comparison is difficult. But I can tell you my thoughts on this and the Bang SE.
I gave the Tronsmart Bang SE to a friend of mine who fell in love with it at first sight. In fact, I can’t blame him. The aesthetics of the Bang SE are definitely spot on; the lights that illuminate both the drivers and passive radiators make it particularly beautiful, and when you turn up the volume, seeing the excursion of the woofers increases the visual effect. But it’s not just a matter of aesthetics; the drivers also sound particularly good, with an excellent frequency response. I think in terms of sound, it is more balanced than the Bang Max. The bass, despite its size, articulates very well. If you consider the portability and audio quality factors, the Bang SE is the one with the greatest balance.
Conclusion:
If you like to party, if you like to make noise, or if you like to annoy your neighbors, this speaker is what you need. We cannot define it as portable because 6 kg is quite a lot. But if we want a complete 3-way audio system to listen to music at high volume and enjoy excellent bass, then the choices always go for something that is quite bulky.
I had the opportunity to use it a couple of times at aperitifs and parties with friends. I never pushed it to the max on these occasions, as you wouldn’t be able to talk to each other without shouting, but I must say that at a low volume, it still did an excellent job, with full sound and a good presence of bass. Everyone present was impressed by both the sound and the size of it.
It is not a product for everyone, but given that young people used to carry around huge stereos powered by massive batteries, I believe this is a legitimate heir to that era.
The photo above shows how the normal-sized T7 Lite looks almost ridiculous in comparison to the Bang Max. The former is unquestionably portable, whereas the latter is questionable. Even in the car, it takes up half of the trunk space in a European small car. The Halo models, which are more squared, optimize the overall dimensions better.
8.5/10
Pros:
- Build quality and materials are good
- Nice charging Cable
- Built in DSP
- App with Preset EQ/ Effects
- Good power and clear sound
- Massive Bass response
- RGB LEDs
- Battery
Cons:
- Treble is a little bit shy (fixable with personal EQ)
- Size and weight are quite massive
- EQ memory after switching SoundPulse ON/OFF
More information (no affiliate links):
https://www.tronsmart.com/products/bang-max-portable-party-speaker
