Tronsmart Mirtune S100 Wireless Speaker Review: Power to spare

Although this is the first Tronsmart product we’ve reviewed, the company is far from new to the market. Founded in China’s “Silicon Valley” of Shenzhen, it started 12 years ago with power banks and Wi-Fi adapters, but quickly moved to audio devices ranging from headphones to speakers. And for 9 years now, it’s been focused on their production.

So Tronsmart Mirtune S100 is far from the first (and not even the tenth) step of the company in this direction, but a product created on the basis of a lot of accumulated experience. And it feels like this — the speaker is assembled as if on the principle of “all inclusive”. Water protection, a built-in carrying handle (yes, you don’t need to just drag it like a tube), a proprietary sound enhancement system, a solid set of ports (and not just a charging port), there is even a backlight in the area of ​​the passive emitters. And this is with a declared power of as much as 50 W. And also with a price of about 7,700 rubles — it sounds even too attractive, maybe there is some kind of catch?

⇡#Design and construction

The Tronsmart Mirtune S100 looks, let’s be honest, exactly as you’d expect when you see the phrase “wireless speaker”, the main thing here is to guess the size. The S100 is a large device, its dimensions are 231 × 88 × 100 mm. Weight – 1.36 kg. In any case, this is a portable device – and portable without the slightest effort, but this is not a compact “pocket” speaker, it is perfect even for a small outdoor party.

Carrying the speaker is doubly easy thanks to its well-thought-out design. That is, the cylindrical shape, due to which the speaker can be easily grasped with one (male) hand, is only the first point. The second point is more important – the carrying handle, hidden in the upper part of the device. Moreover, it is made very ergonomically – it is attached to a kind of “sled”: to get it, you just need to pull the central part; and press to put it back.

The handle is made of silicone, as is the stand on the bottom, the rest of the body is finished with either soft-touch plastic or plastic “braid”: the most popular solution for wireless speakers is used here too.

Large control elements are integrated into the woven surface: a power button, Bluetooth pairing activation, volume control, play/pause, and activation of the proprietary SoundPulse sound “enhancer.” Between the buttons is a panel that displays the charge level and the status of the “enhancer” (blue — SoundPulse is on, blue — off; it is off by default).

At the ends there are passive emitters with LED strips: they add visual “liveliness” to the speaker, vibrating and flickering.

On the opposite side of the control panel is a block with interfaces. In addition to the expected USB Type-C for charging, there is also USB Type-A, through which you can connect a storage device (flash drive) with music, a slot for a MicroSD memory card, and a mini-jack – the speaker can be connected to a signal source not only via Bluetooth, but also via a wire. There is also a pin key for rebooting the device. The block is covered with a very large and dense silicone cover.

The Tronsmart Mirtune S100 case received protection from moisture according to the IPX7 standard – that is, there is no physical protection from dust (although I interacted with the speaker on the beach, and nothing happened to it), but the device can be immersed to a depth of one meter for up to half an hour. There are no questions about the assembly, materials, quality of workmanship – the sensations are very good.

⇡#Functionality, connectivity and software

As I already wrote, you can connect the speaker to the sound source either via a cable (with a 3.5 mm jack) or via Bluetooth. The Tronsmart Mirtune S100 has a module version 5.3 installed – and, unfortunately, it does not support codecs “faster” than SBC (that is, neither AAC, nor, especially, LDAC). The connection itself is organized in a standard way – there is no need to install special software for simple synchronization.

Of course, the Tronsmart app exists for both iOS and Android. It lets you view the current charge level of the device, update the firmware, adjust the equalizer, or choose one of three options for the LED backlight flickering on the ends.

As for that same SoundBlast “enhancer” – it is presented as another version of the equalizer preset. When it is activated, the sound seems to become a little “cleaner”, space is added, but I did not notice any serious effect.

In addition to playing music, the Tronsmart Mirtune S100 can be used as a communication device – there is a microphone, so you don’t have to run to your phone in case of a call while you are connected to the speaker. And the USB ports here are not only for connecting to a socket or storage device – the speaker can give off charge, working as a power bank. We often encounter this function on such devices, but still not always.

⇡#Sound quality and battery life

The key feature of the Tronsmart Mirtune S100 against the background of competitors is not the design (everything is as usual here) and not a wide choice of connection options (although this is very cool), but the acoustic scheme. The fact is that here, unlike all or almost all competitors, two tweeters are installed at once (speakers responsible for high and – in this case – mid frequencies), and not one – with a total power of 20 W. And one low-frequency emitter with a power of 30 W. The total power of the audio system as a result is an impressive 50 W for a wireless speaker.

Well, thanks to the two speakers, even a certain stereo effect is created – when using the speaker indoors, it is quite clearly felt. The declared frequency response is 50-20,000 Hz.

Subjectively, the Tronsmart Mirtune S100 sounds quite impressive for a portable speaker (even a large one). A large power reserve allows you to use it both indoors and outdoors, the sound does not “dissipate”, the speaker sounds at least loud. At maximum volume, there are almost no artifacts – sometimes the vocals seem to be slightly stratified, but the low frequencies sound normal, which does not always happen in such cases. If you do not twist the “volume knob” to the limit, the sound will definitely be clear. The bass is quite powerful, albeit, for my taste, a little clamped – here, however, we must make allowance for the fact that we are not dealing with an audiophile stereo system. Two channels for mid and high frequencies at once allow you not to overload each separately – there is a good stage, the instruments are distinguishable. Low frequencies do not prevail, Tronsmart Mirtune S100, in my opinion, copes well with music of any genre.

For a more objective assessment of the sound of acoustic devices, we use the FSQ method. In its standard version, it includes 14 test tracks, with the help of which the following characteristics of the acoustic system are assessed:

• Sound path margin for undistorted loudness level;
• Correct phasing of audio equipment;
• Presence of extraneous overtones, noise and interference in the sound path;
• The ability of the sound path to reproduce the lowest sound frequencies;
• Uneven frequency response of the sound path;
• Linearity of the stereo picture across the width of the sound stage;
• Microdynamics and depth separation of the soundstage;
• Position and focusing of the stereo picture in the horizontal and vertical planes and the naturalness of the transmission of the musical attack;
• Musical and timbre balance of sound of musical instruments and vocals;
• The linearity of the sound picture in terms of loudness and macrodynamics.

For those wishing to test their own audio system or headphones, we recommend downloading the test disk “Audio Doctor FSQ” and testing instructions. One of the advantages of this method is the clear evaluation criteria, which compensate for the subjective nature of testing. In many tests, the expert only needs to answer whether the recording contains the sounds that should be there, or, conversely, those that should not be there.

Below we will list the results of listening to the FSQ test recordings on the Bloody S3 Carry. Each test will be accompanied by a brief description from the instructions for “Audio Doctor FSQ”. The testing was carried out in conjunction with the Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max smartphone.

The test results are generally positive, although it is noticeable that in some places the speaker lacks microdynamics and detail in complex compositions, and the bass is still relatively limited. But for a wireless speaker, the level is still quite high.

As for battery life, the manufacturer promises up to 20 hours of battery life with the backlight off and at half volume. A good level, and in general I can roughly confirm it – the battery here is capacious (which is especially nice considering the possibility of using Tronsmart Mirtune S100 as an external battery). But the speaker charges slowly – only 5 W of power is supported, and a full charge will take 4.5 hours. Moreover, there is no charging adapter in the kit, only a USB Type-C—USB Type-A cable.

⇡#Conclusion

Tronsmart Mirtune S100 managed to surprise, although, it would seem, how can another wireless speaker surprise? This one takes the combination of successful ergonomics (with a folding handle and a round non-slip body with moisture protection), serious power (50 W + stereophony), very good sound quality, several connection options in addition to the basic (Bluetooth) and the ability to use as a power bank. Of the shortcomings, I can only note the tediously slow charging and the lack of a power adapter in the kit (fortunately, a standard USB cable is used).