Tronsmart Bang review: Great Bang for your buck

Most people won’t have had much use for a Bluetooth speaker like the Tronsmart Bang over the past couple of years. But now that the world has opened up again and we’re free to socialise as we please, a boombox-style speaker capable of providing a loud and lively soundtrack to any occasion suddenly seems a lot more appealing.

The Tronsmart Bang may not have the battery life to make it through a weekend away, but what it lacks in stamina it makes up for in raw power and value for money. If you’re after an affordable Bluetooth speaker with plenty of muscle, the Bang fits the bill very nicely.

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Tronsmart Bang review: What do you get for the money?

The Tronsmart Bang has an RRP of £110 but you’ll likely be able to pick it up for a discounted price on either Amazon or Aliexpress. The speaker operates over Bluetooth 5.0 and, given its budget price, it should come as no surprise that codec support is limited to SBC. While its wireless connectivity fails to make an impression, the same can’t be said for the Bang’s design.

Measuring 361 x 150 x 183mm (WDH) and weighing a touch over 3kg, this is a speaker designed to be noticed, a fact that’s hammered home by the inclusion of RGB LED lighting under its grille and surrounding its passive radiators. It’s designed to withstand the elements, too, with an IPX6 rating for water resistance certifying it protected against powerful water jets from all directions.

The colour of the LED lights can be controlled in the Tronsmart companion app, which also lets you choose whether you want solid lighting or lights that vary based on the music that’s playing. Should you want to turn the lights off entirely, there’s an option for that, too, and the app also provides access to seven EQs in addition to the default sound profile (Deep Bass, Hi-Fi, Vocal, Sound Pulse, 3D, Classical and Rock).

Turning off the lights has the practical benefit of almost doubling the Bang’s battery life. With the LEDs on, you can expect roughly eight hours playback at moderate volume. With them off, this shoots up to 15 hours, although that figure is still meagre compared with some of the more expensive options in our best Bluetooth speaker guide.

That battery life will be further affected if you choose to make use of the USB-A port that allows the Bang to function as a power bank and charge other devices. The Bang itself is charged via USB-C and you get a charging cable included in the box, along with a 3.5mm audio cable.

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Tronsmart Bang review: What do we like about it?

There’s a surprising amount to like about the Bang. The design may not be particularly stylish, but the handle makes lugging it around relatively easy and the speaker seems sturdy enough to survive minor bumps and knocks. I wouldn’t recommend dropping it, however, as there’s a chance the plastic handle could crack.

The inclusion of a 3.5mm AUX-in jack and a TF/SD card slot gives you a couple of welcome physical connection options in addition to Bluetooth, while NFC is also supported – a rare inclusion for a speaker in this price bracket.

Control options are extensive and easy to access via physical buttons built into a rubber panel on the front of the speaker. They cover everything from switching your output source to increasing volume, changing the EQ and activating “TuneConn”, which enables you to pair multiple compatible Tronsmart speakers together. The company says you can pair up to 100 speakers in this way, but I was only sent a single unit so I couldn’t test this.

Thanks to its built-in microphone the Bang can be used as a speakerphone for calls, and there’s support for voice assistants as well. Features such as these are nice to have and sometimes omitted by budget speakers, so their inclusion here is a big plus.

The same can be said of the Bang’s power bank capabilities. Having a source of power to top up your smartphone in a pinch is very handy, although you should avoid letting too many friends use it if you don’t want the Bang’s battery to run dry.

All of the above would be redundant were the Bang to sound terrible. Fortunately, that’s not the case. The Bang’s speaker arrangement consists of dual woofers, a pair of tweeters and two passive radiators, and these deliver up to 60W of sonic output.

That’s a lot of power for a speaker costing around £100 and, at maximum volume, the Bang filled my flat with sound and then some. The output is ample for outdoor gatherings, too; if you’re pushing the Bang to the max, don’t be surprised to get the side eye from other visitors to the park.

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Mids and treble are front and centre in the Bang’s default EQ and this lends itself well to vocal-heavy pop tracks. You can’t create your own EQ but there’s a decent range of presets available in the Tronsmart app and each of them makes a tangible difference to how the Bang sounds.

Of these, the most noteworthy is “Sound Pulse”, which uses Tronsmart’s trademarked Sound Pulse technology in a bid to minimise distortion, enhance bass and aid sound dispersion to help generate a wider stereo soundstage. I found the mode worked pretty effectively and there’s definitely an increased sense of breadth, although I found bass a little lacking.

Tronsmart Bang review: What could be improved?

In fact, that lack of low-end impact is present across all but one of the Bang’s sound profiles. Even “Deep Bass”, which boosts the reproduction of frequencies below 300Hz and has a bit more weight to it, isn’t able to muster the same level of ribcage-rattling bass as the JBL Boombox 2.

The restrained bass is surprising given the Bang’s potent output is perfect for parties where weighty basslines are the order of the day. It’s likely to leave dedicated bassheads a little disappointed, but the upside is you’ll never struggle to make out sounds in the lower mid-range or higher up the frequency spectrum.

The increments at which volume is increased and decreased could do with a bit of work, too. There’s a big leap in how loud the speaker is between the second and third volume notch and I yearned for something somewhere in between while using the Bang at my desk. As a speaker primarily designed for use outdoors this isn’t a major problem, but it did make me less inclined to use it for more relaxed listening sessions.

LED lighting isn’t for everyone and, while I can just about get on board with the ambience created by the Bang’s “Solid On” setting, the “Vary With Beats” mode is just too much. More often than not, the lights flashed at a seizure-inducing pace and this actively detracted from the overall experience. It might serve a purpose at a dingy house party, but I eventually turned the LED lights off to save battery and to prevent headaches.

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Tronsmart Bang review: Should you buy one?

The Tronsmart Bang is a portable, rugged speaker that’s easy to recommend to those looking for big sound for reasonable money. Even at its list price, it’s significantly cheaper than the similarly styled JBL Boombox 2 or its stablemate the JBL Xtreme 2.

You’re not getting the same level of build quality or bass reproduction, and the LED lighting can be a bit much, but the Bang is capable of delivering decent audio at loud volumes and projects sound effectively both indoors and outside.

Coupled with its power bank and speakerphone features, the Tronsmart Bang offers great value and it makes a fine choice for group gatherings and sizeable social events.