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Soul S-Storm Max waterproof Bluetooth speaker: Superb bass and pulsing LED lights
ZDNET Recommends
Soulnation positions itself at the more expensive end of the audio consumer market -- and for a good reason too.
Its products certainly look good and deliver a rich sound experience for the audiophile -- and the Soul S-Storm Max Bluetooth speakercertainly fulfils its promise to impress.
Inside the box, there is the 720g speaker, an aux cable, a USB Type-C charging cable and a carabiner to attach it to the lanyard affixed to the speaker.
The Soul S-Storm Max Bluetooth speaker is a nice looking cylindrical speaker with recessed ends which protect soft silicone 52mm speaker cones to improve bass sounds.
All of the controls for the speaker are in a line. A silicone rubber cover protects the ISB Type-A and USB Type-C ports and the port for an SD card.
Next to this is a soft touch switch for a light that toggles around seven colour LEDs at each end, including a rainbow display and the ability to turn the lights off completely if you prefer.
Also: Best Bluetooth speakers: Here comes the boom
There are volume/track control buttons, Bluetooth indicator light and a power switch. An infinity switch symbol also allows you to pair two S-Storm Max speakers together for True Wireless Stereo and use it to answer phone calls.
Connecting to Bluetooth 5.0 was quick and easy -- from my mobile phone. I could not connect the S-Storm Max to my windows PC at all. I turned on and off the Bluetooth stack, deleted other pairings and even rebooted the PC, but I could not get the speaker to pair. I paired the speaker to my mobile device, disconnected the speaker from my phone, and it popped up in my Bluetooth list to connect to my PC. Heck.
Connecting to the PC and the phone was quick and easy -- once the speaker appeared in the list of devices. Each time I turned the speaker on, it connected quickly to my PC.
The S-Storm Max has 20W of output power from its dynamic and passive radiators. It is IP66 dustproof and waterproof so that it can be left out in the rain. However, it is not immersion proof.
Also: Best Wi-Fi speaker: Hi-fi, wireless listening
The battery will give you loud sounds all day. I got about 12 hours of playtime, and the 2,000mAh battery still showed that it was 20% full. When the battery is fully discharged, it will take about 4.5 hours to recharge it.
If you ignore the speaker and do not play any music, the S-Storm Max will turn itself off after about 10 minutes. If your phone battery dies, you can switch to music playing from your micro SD card or your Aux cable.
It will deliver sound across a dynamic range from 80 to 20KHz. Its sound is excellent, with good deep bass and clear mid ranges. The cones vibrate when the volume is high to enhance the bass notes. Upper notes are not tinny but crisp and clear.
I was a little disappointed that the LED light cycles did not pulse in time to the beat of the music -- but this is a tiny criticism for a superb speaker.
At $89.99 the Soul S-Storm Max Bluetooth speaker could give comparable sound output to speakers twice the price. This speaker is certainly worth trying if you love pumping bass from a splashproof portable speaker.