The Soundcore Boom 2 Plus vs Tribit Stormbox Blast vs JBL Boombox 3

Soundcore Boom 2 Plus looks gorgeous but it didn’t turn out to be the kind of a banger that I hoped it to be. This speaker is much bigger than the Soundcore Boom 2 but in a similar category with the JBL Boombox 3 and Tribit Stormbox Blast in terms of size. Despite having a similar size, Boom 2 Plus can’t even get close to the deep bass response that the other two speakers can produce. In the first batch’s current firmware, the bass extension is pretty much similar to the much smaller Boom 2. Today, I will be comparing these 3 speakers and they should be capable of reaching down to 40 Hz - way more details later.

Inside-the-box Comparison

Soundcore Boom 2 Plus has black foam inserts inside, which is better for protection and looks rich too. The outer cardboard box is pretty much similar for all of them. Except Boom 2 Plus, the other two have cardboard molds for speaker protection. The Boombox 3 and Stormbox Blast both come with a mains lead for charging while Boom 2 Plus comes with a C to C cable. Only Boom 2 Plus has a carrying strap, which is color-matched with the accent color of the speaker. The blue accent is really well done on the Boom - in love with the looks. You will get user guides with them too. Check Boom 2 Plus, BB3 and Blast’s manuals.

Design & Build Analogy

I really like the design of the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus. However, I didn’t like the design of its smaller brother “Boom 2”. Mostly because of the silver front grille, but the Boom 2 Plus has a black front grille. I think this time the color of the metal grille suits well. On top of that the passive radiators' design makes the speaker look cool, modern, bold, hot and sexy as they can glow. I would like the grille design more if it was less condensed and you could clearly see the drivers moving - way to make it more hot and sexy. Although I like the design of the Boom 2 Plus, the plastic build makes it feel less premium than the other two. Only the JBL Boombox 3 has a metal handle that screams quality - makes sense for the high price.

Soundcore Boom 2 Plus weighs about 3763 grams vs Tribit Stormbox Blast’s 5450 grams and JBL Boombox 3’s 6700 grams. So Boom 2 Plus is the lightest of the bunch, which makes it more portable but less solid than the others. All of them have passive radiators on the lateral sides. They are beefy radiators and they all have massive excursions. The Boom 2 Plus has an additional plastic piece attached to the passive radiators, giving them a striped look when the radiator lights are on. They do give it a very cool bold look, and hoping the glued plastic piece is very lightweight, otherwise they can have negative results.

The Boom 2 Plus has 3 colors available and I am in love with the “BLUE” model. The blue accent looks so good to me. I think the design is done really well and Soundcore did put a lot of effort into designing this speaker. Out of all the speakers from Soundcore, I only loved the design of the Motion+ and Boom 2 Plus till today. So I love the design but not the build. However, it doesn’t feel very cheap, pretty decent - just not premium. Out of these 3 speakers, the Boombox 3 is the most premium and solid feeling, then the Tribit Stormbox Blast and Boom 2 Plus at the end. Only Boombox 3 doesn’t have LED lights. Design-wise I like all of them but overall the Tribit Stormbox Blast offers more at a lower price compared to others.

Configuration Check

Regarding driver configuration, the JBL Boombox 3 is the most interesting one. I am going to talk about that a bit later. However, the other two speakers have the same configuration. The Soundcore Boom 2 Plus and Tribit Stormbox Blast both are stereo with 2 woofers and 2 tweeters. Woofers handle the bass and mids, tweeters handle the highs. Even though they both have the same configuration, the tweeter placement is significantly different on them. The Tribit has its tweeters on the top corners vs on the middle left-right corners for the Soundcore. Because of this, the sound dispersion is better on the Stormbox.

The much more expensive JBL Boombox 3 has an interesting 3-way design to look at. In the middle of front side, there is a big beefy racetrack-like so-called subwoofer to handle the bass. The woofers are on the left-right sides of the subwoofer and the tweeters are mounted on top of the woofers. This is an interesting implementation that can have some disadvantages if not implemented properly. However, the implementation seems to work without noticeable issues. On battery, the BB3 is rated at 136 watts vs 180 watts when plugged in. Dimension of the drivers, Boom 2 Plus has 2 x 115 mm woofers 2 x 20 mm tweeters, JBL Boombox 3 has 1 x 189 mm subwoofer 2 x 81 mm woofers 2 x 20 mm tweeters, Stormbox Blast has 2 x 107 mm woofers 2 x 25 mm tweeters - check the original source Alan Ross's video.

Soundcore Boom 2 Plus is rated for a peak of 140 watts on battery. It doesn’t become any more powerful in AC power. The woofers are 50 watts each and the tweeters are 20 watts each - in total 140 watts of power. For the Tribit Stormbox Blast, it is rated at 90 watts. So woofers are 30 watts each and tweeters are 15 watts each. They all have 2 passive radiators per unit placed on the sides. The Boom 2 Plus has a Type-C port for both charge-in and charge-out, along with an AUX-in. Both the Blast and Boombox 3 have ports for AC-in, charge-out and AUX-in. AC-in is used for charging the speaker and the difference between the ports is, USB-A on the JBL Boombox 3 vs USB-C on Blast for charging other devices.

Sound Quality Comparison

Each one of these 3 speakers is very interesting. To figure out their strengths and weaknesses, we should take a look at their frequency response. I will be comparing their frequency responses when they are in their default BASS mode. So the Boom 2 Plus in BassUp, Stormbox Blast in XBASS and Boombox 3 in default mode as it doesn’t have a specific BASS mode. They all show distinct differences in their raw frequency response data.

So the frequency response of the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus looks like it has a lot of energy in the mid-bass to upper-bass region with a little dip in the lower-mids. And after that, it’s pretty much close to flat with a slight dip around 5.5 KHz. This type of frequency response immediately tells you that the sound will be pretty muddy as a lack of treble. However, the mids are gonna be affected more because of the overdose in the bass. The Boom 2 Plus has issues because the frequency response seems like it can reach pretty deep like 40 Hz. But in real-time, there isn’t much below 55 Hz - there may be some crazy detection in place.

The Boombox 3’s frequency response looks more right to me at 60% volume. The sub-bass will be pretty prominent as the upper-bass is toned down. And in real-time the 40 Hz response is quite noticeable. The only slight problem can be the 700 Hz peak that can make the mids appear a little busy, like a lot of things going on in the background.

The Tribit Stormbox Blast has a huge dip at 5.5 KHz. The dip is kinda narrow but not too narrow, which seems to not have a dramatic effect in real-time listening. Tribit has a more rounded bass response from low-bass to mid-bass. Mids and highs are just okay there. So depending on how you measure, JBL Boombox 3 has the deepest bass and Boom 2 Plus has overall the most energy in the bass area. Fun fact, only BB3 limits bass after 80%.

Low Volume Check - 40%

Now let’s talk more about real-world listening like music tracks. This is a whole different story for the new Soundcore Boom 2 Plus. I wonder ..! they probably detecting the difference between frequency sweep and music tracks. So they are trying to give us overall more mid-bass and upper-bass by sacrificing a significant amount of deep bass. This will make the Boom 2 Plus more punchy and more fit for outdoor listening, but less accurate and less fit for indoors. Boom 2 Plus sounds muddy in the midrange at a lower volume. However, the 5+ dB boost makes it sound very powerful - not good for low-level listening.

The Boombox 3 and the Stormbox Blast, both can reach pretty deep in terms of bass delivery. However, BB3 sounds the deepest as the upper bass is toned down deliberately to make the deep bass stand out more. With the BB3, the huge 700 hz peak at these lower volumes is not an issue because we have a pretty extended bass response. However, that might be an issue at a much higher volume - more details later. The treble and the rest of the areas sound balanced. The JBL Boombox 3 and Stormbox Blast, both sound pretty musical with decent details. Boom 2 Plus is too powerful sounding to hear the midrange details. So the massive bass boost has a negative impact at lower volumes on the Boom 2 Plus. Stormbox Blast sounds mostly fine, just a slight issue with the 5.5 KHz dip. I won’t pick the Soundcore.

Average Volume check - 70%

This is a more real-world listening volume level and I am comparing them in their BASS mode except the BB3, which doesn’t have presets. So, the massive powerful bass continues here on the Boom 2 Plus. You have to understand this - Boom 2+ is getting its bass power from mid-bass frequencies which are overly boosted while you are missing a huge chunk in the deep-bass frequencies. This is way less accurate than the original track’s characteristics. Both the Boombox 3 and Stormbox Blast are more accurate in bass reproduction. So, you will be able to feel the bass traveling through the ground with the BB3 and Blast while you will mostly hear the punchy bass from the Boom 2 Plus - missing the feelings.

If you want a more accurate sound that is close to the original and how the musician would want you to experience the music track, you should skip the Boom 2 Plus. Stormbox Blast and Boombox 3 are way more musical and good for somewhat critical and analytical listening. At this average volume, the muddiness of the Boom 2 Plus is less noticeable, which is a good thing. However, the 700 Hz peak on the Boombox 3 is a bit more noticeable now, which might be causing some problems with some tracks that have a lot going on in the mids. So you may detect some dirtiness and busyness there in the midrange.

The Tribit also has a bit of an issue going on, which also depends on tracks. If any track has significant details in the 4 to 7 KHz area, you will miss noticeable details. You will probably lose slight definition and clarity in the treble. All of these speakers have pretty different types of issues going on. So, the Boom 2 Plus has bass issues, Stormbox Blast with treble issues and Boombox 3 with midrange issues. Overall, the BB3 is the one that is gonna give you the best sound but also gonna cost you a bank. However, the Tribit Stormbox Blast comes close without destroying your bank as it’s way-way cheaper - champ Tribit.

Max Volume Check - 100%

Thanks God ..! well, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus only makes sense at this sort of higher volume. It’s because you are only gonna play it that loud probably outdoors or in party environments. Even at 75% volume for outdoors, the Boom 2 Plus did make sense slightly. However, at maximum volume, it makes more sense. So the Boom 2 Plus is kinda muddy with pretty decent powerful bass performance. It’s just giving you way more edgy mid-bass and upper-bass than the other two. The bass isn’t even proper mid-bass like around 65 Hz, it’s more like pushing 90 Hz to 200 Hz way too much. You may perceive this as fake powerful bass.

There are a couple of very good things to say about the Boom 2 Plus. The volume steps are pretty linear and the bass isn’t limited after 80% volume, like the Boombox 3 that limits bass. This is why the Boom 2 Plus doesn’t sound harsh, tinny or sharp. You might like the Boom 2 Plus more at 100% volume if you just want massive boom. However, the Boom 2 Plus is a narrow, closed in and muddy-sounding speaker. The Stormbox Blast is limiting the bass but not as aggressive as the JBL BB3. Also, there is a slight high-end boost on the Blast at max volume - slight harshness. Weird things going on with the Boombox 3’s treble/high-end, it sounds pretty sharp and quite harsh because of the huge 700 Hz boost. The frequency response says that there is a high-end roll-off on the BB3 at max volume. This is very unexpected, which makes the sharp sound come out as unnaturally harsh despite having dropped highs in real-world listening tests. Overall, I choose the Blast here despite Boom’s loudness.

There is a slight problem with the image. The tracks' response curves between X20 and Blast are swapped, I am pretty sure. From the total bass measurement, it's pretty clear that the X20 can't be the orange one, it should be the pink one. The Boom 2 Plus has the most bass -22.3 LUFS vs BB3’s -26.6 LUFS vs Blast’s -28.3 LUFS. However, on average Boombox 3 has the deepest bass at -36.3 LUFS vs Boom’s -45.4 LUFS vs Blast’s -41.6 LUFS. Soundcore Boom 2 Plus has the highest peak, which is in the bass. It is also the loudest of the bunch. Overall loudness-wise, Boom 2 Plus scored -13.9 LUFS vs BB3’s -14.1 LUFS vs Blast’s -15.5 LUFS. Check Alan Ross Reviews on youtube for original measurements and more.

Custom EQ Check

All of them have an app and custom EQ support for personalization. Both the Boom 2 Plus and Stormbox Blast have custom 9-band EQ but the Boombox 3 has only 3-band EQ. You will not be able to get any more deep bass extension by using the custom EQ in the Soundcore app. However, you can fix the muddiness and bass overdose. Boombox 3 sounds hollow with a perception of missing upper bass because of the 700 Hz peak. You can tone it down a little bit but not totally fixable. Same thing with the Stormbox Blast, the huge 5.5 KHz dip is not totally fixable. Overall, the Boombox 3 is less tuneable than others.

Features & Battery Check

Except the JBL Boombox 3, other two have beat-synced RGB LED lights built-in. I personally like the lights on the Boom 2 Plus, which looks more cool. However, if someone likes the Stormbox Blast more for light shows, I wouldn’t argue as Stormbox Blast’s stack of LED lights can act like a volume indicator. Boom 2 Plus with its BassUp 2.0 creates a significant difference (40-watt boost) at max volume by not limiting the bass. Blast has its XBASS mode, which is less interesting. The Boombox 3 offers a 3-way system having a big so-called subwoofer in the middle featuring deep bass. Both the Boom 2 Plus and Stormbox Blast feature IPX7 vs IP67 support for the JBL Boombox 3 - BB3 with better protection.

All of them have Bluetooth 5.3 and TWS paring options. Audio codec support is basic SBC with additional AAC support only for the Boom 2 Plus. Boom 2 Plus with PartyCast 2.0 vs Boombox 3 with PartyBoost for paring up more than 2 units - Blast only has TWS pairing. They all have power bank support for charging smartphones. Boombox 3 has the JBL Portable app vs Boom 2 Plus’s Soundcore app vs Stormbox Blast’s Tribit app support - more features there. In terms of who has more and advanced features overall, I will go with the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus. The Boombox 3 shines in build and protection but is too costly.

Battery life is a key differentiator for portable speakers. The Tribit Stormbox Blast takes the lead with a massive 71.3 Wh battery, translating to a whopping 30 hours of playtime on a single charge. Following closely behind is the JBL Boombox 3 with its hefty 69.7 Wh battery, promising an impressive 24 hours of playback. Soundcore Boom 2 Plus offers a still-respectable 20 hours with its 54.8 Wh battery. Remember, these estimates are based on moderate volume levels, so real-world usage might vary slightly. The power bank out is 5V 2A for all of them. Charging time will vary from 3 hours to 6.5 hours as the Boombox 3 has the fastest 80-watt mains charging vs Boom 2 Plus’s 30-watt Type-C charging on the bottom end.

Conclusion - Pick Wisely

None of these are bad speakers, and they are good for different types of environments and situations. Outside of an expensive price tag, the Boombox 3 is the most suitable one for around 50% or below. Then above 50% to 90% on the volume scale, the Tribit Stormbox Blast sounds more musical, faithful and balanced. After 90% to maximum volume, for partying and outdoors, the Soundcore Boom 2 Plus does a better job by providing the maximum thumping bass possible without limiting the bass like others. The Boom 2 Plus is also heavily customizable with the custom EQ. So for maximum volume, you should increase the high-end bands by a bit, and for low-level listening, reduce the mid-bass sliders by a bit.

My recommendation is gonna be the Tribit Stormbox Blast, which offers deeper bass and is only a bit quieter than the other two. The biggest advantage is that the Blast is a much cheaper speaker that doesn’t feel cheap at all. Also, the Boom 2 Plus doesn’t have even close to the deep bass that the other two have and the Boombox 3 has issues with super high price. The Stormbox Blast is the cheapest with much fewer perceived issues. You should expect better tuning from the Soundcore and the JBL fails to justify its higher price by limiting the bass. Check the official pages of Boom 2 Plus, Stormbox Blast and JBL BB3.

IF you're interested in even smaller speakers, check out my Soundcore Motion 300 vs Bose Soundlink Flex article. Both did well in a head-to-head.

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