Tronsmart Halo 100 portable Bluetooth speaker: Powerful, compact and up to 18 hours of battery life
Tronsmart Halo 100: Picture: Tronsmart.
Portable speakers come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and the latest from audio specialists Tronsmart bucks the typical speaker design trends with something that’s a little different. The Tronsmart Halo 100 speaker not only looks great but comes with trippy lights, stellar sound and up to 18 hours of playtime.
The Halo 100 reminds me of an old radio or jukebox — it’s flat on the bottom with a curvy top. It features a handy carrying strap that makes it easy to transport its compact form factor (10 x 5 x 3 cm) that weighs 3.25kg.
It has a metal grill that protects the four speakers on the front. The large 5.6-inch woofer is on the bottom with two mid-tweeters above it and a single tweeter between them.
On the top is a section of rubber which protects eight buttons beneath. The buttons provide several functions including power, input select, play/pause, volume up and down, light modes, SoundPulse EQ, Stereo Pairing and finally, there’s a tiny low-battery LED indicator.
Around the back, there’s a giant rubber flap that protects the ports that include a USB-A (used to charge other devices), USB-C (for charging the speaker), a pinhole for resetting the speaker, 3.5mm AUX and a TF/microSD card slot (play music files directly from a memory card or stick). The reason for all of these flaps is to ensure the Halo 100 meets its IPX6 rating which means it can resist high-pressure, heavy sprays of water. This doesn’t mean it can be submerged in water.
I love the shape and design and you can see the speakers behind the grille. What makes the grille extra special is that it also allows you to see the incredible light show that surrounds the woofer and two mid-tweeters.
Finally, on the base of the speaker are four rubber feet that help to reduce vibrations whilst adding grip and stability.
The Halo 100 supports the Tronsmart app, which adds a few extra features not available directly through the buttons on the speaker itself. Here you can update the firmware, see the battery level, change the EQ presets and even create your own five-band EQ preset. The SoundPulse button on the speaker will toggle between the default and SoundPulse EQ presets but if you want to use the custom EQ you can only select it in the app.
The Halo 100 features the latest Bluetooth 5.3 and supports two devices being connected simultaneously. This is a seriously convenient feature that comes in handy.
If you have two Halo 100 speakers you can connect them to a stereo pair for double the sound and fun. I wasn’t able to test this feature but having used it on other Tronsmart speakers I know it works seamlessly and offers a more expansive and immersive soundstage.
The speaker has a built-in mic which means you can use it for calls. It works well as a loudspeaker and callers never complained about the sound quality on their end.
The Halo 100 has an impressive light system with five lighting modes. The dedicated light button toggles between all five modes and then to off. It will return to the last mode, including off, each time you switch the speaker on. The RGB lights are bright, colourful and perfect for parties but they will drain the battery a little quicker. The lights will dazzle and keep in sync with your music.
One cool feature is when you turn up the volume the circle of light around the large woofer speaker will display the volume level dynamically.
The USB-C charging port isn’t particularly fast — Tronsmart says it takes up to 5.5 hours for a full charge. However, a full battery is good enough for 18 hours of playtime depending on volume, music and lights. Using a few different chargers I saw charging speeds of 9W maximum, so using anything bigger than 10W won’t make it charge any faster.
You can use the USB-A port to charge other devices in an emergency which is extremely handy but it’s limited to 7W and the internal battery is only 6000mAh, so you have limited resources to charge and play music.
The Halo 100 is a compact speaker that can pack a serious punch for its size. The bass is good but not overpowering. The midrange is excellent and in particular, I really enjoyed listening to folk and acoustic music — I’d love to have tried it in stereo pairing mode which would further enhance and expand the sound stage. The addition of a custom EQ also helps to tweak the speaker to your personal listening taste.
The Tronsmart Halo 100 is a great little speaker with a big heart that offers lots of great features in a stylish design. In terms of value, it’s unbeatable.
Tronsmart Halo 100 — €102 Amazon or Tronsmart
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