Bluetooth speaker Tronsmart Bang in the test: price-performance tip from China The Tronsmart Bang wants to convince in the test with powerful stereo sound, cool lighting effects and a good price-performance ratio. 07/18/2022 9:23 p.m. tech stage

Summer lures you outside. The right music should not be missing, which is why buying a suitable outdoor speaker is a good idea. With the Bang, Tronsmart has a portable Bluetooth speaker on offer that should meet the demands of outdoor use. We took a closer look at the Tronsmart Bang and revealed in the test what the box with integrated power bank and LED lighting is capable of compared to competitors such as the JBL Flip 5 (test report) or Sony XB33 (test report) .

When it comes to design, the Tronsmart primarily offers one thing: it’s big. Compared to the JBL Flip 5 or the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 (test report) , it takes up twice the volume and even exceeds the size of the Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) . The speaker makes a pretty massive impression, which is also noticeable in the wide handle.

The handle itself, like the housing, is made of plastic. Because the casing is made of two parts, not one, a seam runs over the housing on both sides. This gives it a rather cheap impression. On the other hand, the speaker is easy to clean, which is due to the easy-care mesh fabric on the surface of the box. Unfortunately, there is no shock protection – similar to the Sony XB33 (test report) and the Xiaomi Mi Portable (test report) .

The Tronsmart Bang has an IPX6 certification for this. So you can dip the speaker in water for a short time or use it in the shower, for example. However, the Bang does not survive a longer dive in the pool or in the bathtub at home, let alone in salt water. Because Tronsmart explicitly advertises the speaker as an outdoor party speaker , we would have liked a little more protection from external influences. But the manufacturer sees outdoor more in the sense of a beach party than a pool party.

If you want to put the Tronsmart Bang into operation, you need a smartphone. We download the associated app and link it to the speaker – just turn on the speaker and follow the instructions in the app. It only takes a few seconds and works without any problems. The Bang has a so-called TuneConn button, which allows us to connect up to 100 identical Bang speakers. This not only allows us to produce stereo sound, but also to fill large outdoor areas with sound without any problems.

Otherwise, we don’t experience any surprises when it comes to operation: A rubberized control panel on the top allows you to control the individual sound modes. We can also activate the so-called Soundpulse EQ button, which is supposed to ensure a particularly clear sound. We’ll find out later if that works. Like most Bluetooth boxes on the market, the Tronsmart Bang also uses the volume buttons twice, so we have to do without separate buttons for changing the pieces of music. We searched in vain for a key illumination. At least there is a charge indicator that tells us how much battery life is left.

The Tronsmart app, which is required for many of the Bang speaker’s functions, includes its own equalizer with different sound modes, a playback mode controller, broadcast mode controls with up to 100 speakers and a lighting control. We found the app to be clear and functional. The EQ modes are absolutely sufficient for the average user, even if an individually adjustable mode would have been desirable. If you want, you can play music on the Bang not only via Bluetooth, but also from a TF card, a playback device connected via a jack cable or an external hard drive (via USB). All of this worked without any problems in our test, as did the lighting.

With its price of around 100 euros, the Tronsmart Bang has to hold its own against tough competition such as the Sony XB33 (test report) , Sonos Roam SL (test report) or JBL Flip 5 (test report) . In terms of equipment and extras also against the Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) . In theory, the Bang should cut a fine figure here, because with an output of 60 watts it is significantly higher than the competition from JBL’s Flip 5 (20 watts) and the Soundcore Motion Boom (30 watts). Tronsmart specifies a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, which means that the bang covers a larger range than the JBL Flip 5.

However, the sound turns out to be rather disappointing in practice. Because somehow, despite the size of the speaker, neither the performance nor the sound range really comes into its own. Adele’s Rolling in the Deep remains pale, the guitars are scratchy and when the bass is activated, the deep tones come out of the box uncomfortably dull. If we increase the volume, the high tones ring in our ears.

Our test with Brothers in Arms from Dire Straits also gave a sad picture: the vocals sounded muddy and dull, the guitars also scratchy again. Other sound modes like hi-fi didn’t bring any improvement here, because the sound comes out of the speakers in general too muddy and undifferentiated. Although all sound modes of the equalizer differ significantly from one another, we did not get a really satisfactory result. Soundcore shows with the Motion Boom (test report) how it can be done better.

All in all, the sound remains to be said: The Tronsmart Bang is not a total failure and for the price of around 100 euros (depending on the supply situation) it is a useful outdoor speaker for relaxed parties. However, you shouldn’t expect too much here – and the Soundcore competition simply has the edge here.

According to the manufacturer, the battery life of the Tronsmart Bang is up to 15 hours, depending on the sound profile and volume. This puts the Bluetooth speaker in the midfield of comparable speakers and on a similar level to the Sony XB33 (test report) . We can confirm the manufacturer’s information on the runtime in the test as well as the relatively long charging time of 4.5 hours. Tronsmart does not provide information on the capacity of the battery.

Like the competitor model, the Tronsmart Bang offers an integrated power bank. Users can also charge their own smartphone or comparable hardware on the go, even if this is of course at the expense of the playback time. In addition, the Bang supports the use of language assistants such as Siri or Google Assistant, but otherwise has no other extras.

Tronsmart is officially selling the Bang Bluetooth Speaker at an RRP of 119.99 euros. Geekmaxi (purchase link) is currently only selling the Bluetooth speaker with the voucher code 6PLKV4NN for a short time for 90 euros. The model is thus in a similar price segment to the Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) or the Ultimate Ears Boom 3 . The Tronsmart Element Force (test report) is significantly cheaper, but at least not much worse in terms of sound .

The Tronsmart Bang is by no means a bad speaker – but it doesn’t surprise with any special unique selling points either. The sound is solid and is okay for the asking price. The battery life is in the midfield, as is the price and the equipment.

But that’s exactly the catch with this speaker: The mediocre IPX6 certification, the mediocre battery and the rather cheap look lack real highlights. The Bang is therefore definitely suitable as an outdoor speaker for users who do not want to spend much more than 100 euros. But in a direct comparison, it has to admit defeat to the competition, especially the significantly better Soundcore Motion Boom (test report) .