Last spring, I was caught off guard by the performance of a $120 portable Bluetooth speaker from an audio brand I’d barely heard of before. The company was Tribit and the speaker was the Stormbox Pro. It made a big impression. Tribit is at it again with another portable Bluetooth speaker, this one aimed more at the “party to go” crowd than rugged outdoors use. The new Tribit XSound Mega is a 30W portable that boasts long battery life, a built-in EQ with Xbass, and an integrated LED light show. All for a $99.99 price tag.

How does the Tribit XSound Mega stack up? I just wrapped up testing and it seems that once again, Tribit has hit a home run.

Tribit even includes a carrying strap in the box.

The Tribit XSound Mega has a familiar form factor. It’s a traditional pill shape, about 10 inches long and weighing about 2.2 pounds. It’s black with a black metal grill on the front and a series of control buttons across the top. The upper surface is covered with a rubberized material that’s patterned to look something like carbon fiber. The back is covered with a plastic grill and features a sealed compartment that conceals USB-C in/out, USB Type A out, and 3.5mm Aux ports. 

The speaker charges using USB-C, and can charge devices using either the USB-C port or its USB Type ... [+] A port.

Tribit doesn’t publish details on the speaker’s driver configuration, but peering through the grill, there is a driver visible, positioned beside a passive radiator that measures about 4-inches x 2-inches. When the speaker sits, the drivers are tilted up slightly for better sound dispersion. The speaker is elevated slightly by four nubby, rubberized feet and stays quite firmly in place.

There is a recessed metal ring on each end, and Tribit includes a carrying strap in the box that can be attached. Also included in the box are a 3.5mm cable and a USB-C to USB Type A cable for charging — you supply your own charger. Plugged into my laptop charger, the XSound Mega takes about three hours to go from zero to fully charged.

This isn’t meant to be a rugged speaker, but it is IPX7 water resistant, which means a bit of weather shouldn't bother it. Tribit warns to avoid temperature extremes, but I used it outdoors in the snow (about 17 degrees) and it was fine.

The XSound Mega is rated for IPX7 water resistance.

The speaker is equipped with a microphone, allowing it to be used in speakerphone mode. However, that mic is also put to another use — as part of a music-synchronized light show.

The front face of the XSound Mega is surrounded by a LED strip that sits beneath the edge of the speaker grill. A dedicated button cycles between three different lighting patterns, or you can turn the lights off altogether. Two of the modes that were more “pulse-y” didn’t do much for me, but the the one that keeps the entire ring lit up with color that changes based on the music beat was pretty entertaining.

The LED lighting is a nice addition. It would be great in a party situation, but I left it on all the time because I like the splash of color.

The LED light show. It's even more impressive in dimmer lighting.

As I mentioned, Tribit’s not saying much about the official driver configuration of this speaker, other than to say it has 30W of power and a 60HZ to 20KHz frequency response. That’s actually pretty powerful for something of this size. There is an EQ button, and this lets you switch between Music mode, Xbass, and Audiobook. Yes, it has an Audiobook setting... Although I suspect that setting would also be appropriate for voice calls. 

Listening to music with the Audiobook setting (I had to try it), was a little like listening to an old-school AM radio. That’s okay, it’s not meant for music.

In Music mode the speaker did a nice job. Music was high energy, clear, crisp, and with more low-end punch than you would expect from a speaker of this size — or price. However, the best results were with the Xbass mode and some volume. That EQ setting adds just a little bit of bass thump, especially when the volume is turned up. I found the sweet spot was with Xbass active and the volume at between 30% and 60%. Any lower and the bass is a bit underwhelming. Start pushing the volume beyond that and distortion in the mid and upper ranges becomes increasingly problematic. However, with 30W on tap, even 50% volume is pretty loud.

I spent much of the time listening to Apple Music’s “Synth-Pop Essentials” playlist. This speaker is very well suited to listening to tracks in that genre: Depeche Mode, New Order, Kraftwork, Gary Numan, and others. The light show seems appropriate as well...

The StormBox Pro was a very different speaker from the XSound Mega. That speaker was upright, with 360-degree audio and a multi-driver setup including a downward-firing subwoofer. It put out a total of 40W of power. It also supported aptX, while the new speaker supports the SBC codec.

The XSound Mega sounds good — especially with Xbass active and some volume — but it isn’t at quite the same level as the StormBox Pro. 

I didn’t have a second speaker to try it with, but Tribit says two or more XSound Megas can be wirelessly connected in a “broadcast” mode. This won’t be true, two-channel stereo audio, but it’s a nice option if you have additional speakers and want more room-filling sound.

Using the speaker to charge a smartphone while also playing music and putting on a light show.

Tribit claims up to 20 hours of battery life for the XSound Mega’s 4000mAh battery. Naturally that varies with music volume, and whether you use the lighting. The speaker also includes both USB Type A and USB-C power output for charging a smartphone or mobile device. 

During one mixed testing session, I used the USB Type A (5V/2A) to charge an iPhone 7Plus from dead to 100% in roughly three hours. The speaker was also good for eight hours of music at about 30% volume, with the lights going the whole time. Considering that iPhone has a 2900mAh battery, I’d say the XSound Mega’s battery life was excellent.

The Tribit XSound Mega is a lot of speaker for the price.

If you’re in the market for a portable Bluetooth speaker and don’t want to spend more that $100, Tribit has you covered. The XSound Mega is a solid pick. It packs impressive bass and volume into a compact and water-resistant package, offers the ability to charge your smartphone, keeps the music going for up to 20 hours, and even provides a colorful light show. 

For $99.99, you really can’t ask for more.

Disclosure: Tribit provided a speaker for evaluation but had no input into this review